Graphics card issues

Ok, I'm fairly sure my card isn't fried, but maybe it is. Anyway, when I start up my laptop everything is fuzzy and bouncy on the right side of my screen, and gets better as I go towards the left side. After a bit it goes away and everything is fine. Sometimes the picture goes away completely and I just get a bright green color. Twice it's told me a driver stopped responding and recovered. I'm running vista and using an ATI Radeon Mobility X1800 card in my alienware. My system rating also dropped from 5.5 to 3.8 for some reason (something with the compatibility with Aero) but that's less of my concern at this point.

 

I can’t quite picture what you mean by "bouncy", but if whatever those distortions are visible even at the BIOS screen then it is a hardware error: most likely the graphics card; it could also be the monitor or a loose connection (but unlikely given the symptoms). If the notebook is still under warranty then call Alienware.

 

It sounds like one of three things:
1) its a software issue. Try downloading a different ATI mobility radeon 1800 driver from "Laptopvideo2go's" website
2) Your graphics card is burning out and showing artifacts
3) The ribbon cable between the video card and the screen is loose. (Requires you to take the lid apart, and reconnect the ribbon cable on the back of the LCD)

Try installing different graphics drivers first, and see what that does for you

K-TRON

 

Yeah I probably should have mentioned that it doesn't do it at the bios screen or when the giant alienware logo apears. It starts when Vista begins.

 

If it starts when Vista loads, than it is definitely a software issue.
Search laptop video's website for the latest drivers for your X1800. Its probably in the 50.00 series, cause the X1800 is a pretty old mobile gpu.

K-TRON