since there seems to be computer literate people here...

[bajabuc]

I spent 7 hours erasing my wife's second hard drive, using the DoD KillDisk, I couldn't use her computer (she's on Facebook 18/7) so I used mine. Removed my hard drives, installed hers, did the deed, and reinstalled my drives. Now my monitor screen jumps sideways and back on start up...annoying. Any ideas?

[Oh Shoot]

I spent 7 hours erasing my wife's second hard drive, using the DoD KillDisk, I couldn't use her computer (she's on Facebook 18/7) so I used mine. Removed my hard drives, installed hers, did the deed, and reinstalled my drives. Now my monitor screen jumps sideways and back on start up...annoying. Any ideas?

Duct tape screen to table top so it stays put.

(sorry, but that's pretty bizarre. sounds like it's simply changing from default VGA to whatever rez and color depth you have it set for when Windows hits it, but can't imagine why what you did would cause the visible behavior to change).

You might change rez/color depth in Windows, apply, and then set it back to what you want, apply, see if that "takes" better on startup.

- OS

[Guest Lester Weevils]

Hi Baja

You used the wrong tool. The proper way to permanently erase a hard drive is with a sledge hammer!

[Guest pfries]

I spent 7 hours erasing my wife's second hard drive, using the DoD KillDisk, I couldn't use her computer (she's on Facebook 18/7) so I used mine. Removed my hard drives, installed hers, did the deed, and reinstalled my drives. Now my monitor screen jumps sideways and back on start up...annoying. Any ideas?

Bajabuck,

go mouse over your my computer , right click and on the dropdown select manage it will open a console, on left side go to device manager, stuff will pop up in right frame of console, go to display on right side and left click, after it expandes right click on adapter and uninstall confirm and reboot.

if you have any problems PM me I will get you my phone number and walk you through it.

It sounds as if the driver/ adapter settings are off the easiest way to fix it will be to let windows reinstall the driver and reset the defaults.

I should be home from work by 1630 hrs

[bajabuc]

Windows XP sp3. Dell 3g hd 2.5g ram. Dell 19 flatscreen. Classic View.

[bajabuc]

Got it....I leave the room while it's booting. The problem is with my videocard...it works. Since it works I can't use my onboard video. One good thing about all the messing...I can read this tiny print now. The Video card is old but it has onboard memory and that's more ram for what I used to do.

[G27]

Hi Baja

You used the wrong tool. The proper way to permanently erase a hard drive is with a sledge hammer!

Is thought this was TGO, not TSHO...

[Oh Shoot]

Got it....I leave the room while it's booting. The problem is with my videocard...it works. Since it works I can't use my onboard video. One good thing about all the messing...I can read this tiny print now. The Video card is old but it has onboard memory and that's more ram for what I used to do.

Well, that's all clear as mud.

What changed except HDs being pulled and replaced?

- OS

[JC57]

Probably what changed is that he had to plug all the cables back in after he swapped out hard drives. If his computer has an on-board video card as well as an add-in video card, both would have connections for the monitor. For instance, the system I am running right now has that set up, and it is possible to run both at the same time if I so choose.

If he plugged the monitor into the wrong one, then he could have the problems described. I.e., before he took the computer apart, the monitor was plugged into plug A, and when he put it back together again it's now in plug B.

Most systems with an on-board video adapter will auto-disable it when an add-in card is also present, however if both are active then the device settings may be autoconfiguring or autodetecting the monitor, and hence the blinking of the video display that he's seeing.

The good news is that it hasn't shot him yet.

[Oh Shoot]

Probably what changed is that he had to plug all the cables back in after he swapped out hard drives. If his computer has an on-board video card as well as an add-in video card, both would have connections for the monitor. For instance, the system I am running right now has that set up, and it is possible to run both at the same time if I so choose.

If he plugged the monitor into the wrong one, then he could have the problems described. I.e., before he took the computer apart, the monitor was plugged into plug A, and when he put it back together again it's now in plug B.

Most systems with an on-board video adapter will auto-disable it when an add-in card is also present, however if both are active then the device settings may be autoconfiguring or autodetecting the monitor, and hence the blinking of the video display that he's seeing.

The good news is that it hasn't shot him yet.

Much better explanation from 350 miles away than from 2 miles away!

- OS

[Guest Lester Weevils]

Baja, an inexpensive gadget that comes in real handy if you occasionally need to mess with raw hard drives without opening up your computer to mount them--

NewerTech Universal Drive Adapter--

NewerTech U3NVSPATA Universal Drive Adapter USB... in stock at OWC

Just temporarily set the drive on something like an old mouse pad, hook up the drive and plug it in USB, and try not to spill too much beer in it while powered up.

====

If your video card and onboard video are both healthy (which it sounds like they probably are)-- If you have enough room on your desk, you could go get another monitor (they don't cost much nowadays) and run dual monitors for twice the desktop space. That works in most cases with XP. I've done it on several puters. After booting you just right-click the screen and select the video setting menu item, and then tell windows to use dual monitors and to span the screens, then mess with it until the Start Menu is on your preferred monitor and they both are "lined up" so that both monitors act like one big wide monitor.

====

JC7 made a good-sounding diagnosis.

There are settings in your non-volatile CMOS memory in the computer that remember setup items for the hardware.

Sometimes if the connected hardware changes inside the computer, the BIOS settings may change, or if windows boots and notices that the hardware has changed since the last time it booted, then windows may re-evaluate the hardware and re-set some of its params. On some BIOS, if it starts up and notices hardware changes, it will set some flags that windows uses to know to look for new hardware.

Is there any chance you booted windows off your wife's hard drive while it was in there? If you did that, and your wife's computer had a different video card or driver, then windows may have read that info, encountered an error, and reset some little pieces down in the bios so that it could boot and display video in spite of the driver mismatch.

Then when you put your old drive in, your windows would boot but see slightly different settings in the bios.

Sometimes when you install a video card and you want to disable the internal video, you have to boot into the bios and find a setting to tell the motherboard NOT to use the internal video.

Also in many BIOS, if there is both internal and external video, or multiple video cards, there will be settings to tell the computer what display to "boot into" that would be the default primary display.

But as long as you can see SOMETHING on screen, you can adjust windows to override many of those defaults once windows takes over from the bios when booting. For instance on my current win 7 computer the bios is convinced that the right monitor is the primary monitor, but after windows boots, I've set windows to treat the left monitor to be primary, and everything works as I want. When booting, until windows comes up, all the boot display and initial windows screens are on the right monitor.

If I didn't have the right monitor turned on so I could see it booting normally on the right video output-- If all I could see was the left monitor-- Then it would look like something was very wrong during boot because it would look dead for a minute or two and then suddenly show Windows booted up and ready to go on the left monitor.

[bajabuc]

Well, that's all clear as mud.

What changed except HDs being pulled and replaced?

- OS

other than my sweaty armpit being drapped over the edge of the monitor...no other change. I even checked all my connects

[bajabuc]

When I used the Department of Defense drive eraser I didn't reformat the drive...it's got nothing on it. She wants me to format and reinstall Dell xp home (I have it) I'll do that when she has her computer cleared off. I got both of my computers from the trash of the office building across the street...they'd been rained on, a lot... They both work but I had to "AAE" them a little. Lately I had popped caps and had to change motherboards in mine.. Other than tha annoying "step to the left, step to the right" on startup, it's fine.

Getting wet is no big deal...my original Win95 machine has been in the dishwasher...twice. Works...I still have it. The dishwasher story?...simple I ran it with the cover off and spilled a whole bowl of homemade chicken noodle soup it it. I had to unplug it to shut off. I figured...wtf it's dead, I can't hurt it more than it is, so I washed it.

Edited June 13, 2011 by bajabuc