My computer is all messed up so naturally I decided to turn to the finest minds on the internet, you guys. The problem I'm having is the display. The resolution is stuck in 640x480 and the colors are in 4 bit. I try to change it but when I hit apply, it resets. So everything is giant looking and my screen looks like a gameboy color. The problem is immediate when I turn the computer on, though before it gets to windows, it's not as bad. Before it gets to windows, the Vaio logo is clear but there are some green lines on the screen. Once it gets to Windows it's completely messed up. I tried booting in safe mode and it's still the same. I also tried doing a system restore with no luck either. If anyone has any suggestions, I would greatly appreciate it.

This is what's listed for my video card:



Unless that's not the right thing I'm looking for, I'm guessing that my computer is not detecting the card or something.

Found it.

pcg-2a1l

Got some more info. I found the video card model and there's obviously a problem with it. I right clicked on it and clicked "Update Driver Software" only to have it tell me I already have the latest update. Then I went to Nvidia's website to find the driver and when I download it and it goes to install, it tells me that it isn't compatable with the hardware found. I also disabled it and enabled it again, then restarted with no results. An interesting thing I noticed was that when I found the driver on the website, it said it was a notebook driver.

New developments:

So while digging around some more, I found a code 43 error for the video card driver. I googled it and found that code 43's are a very common thing with the geforce 8400M GT.

Anyway,, I found this site and it's pretty much my problem exactly, except mine isn't a laptop. There's a lot of faulty 8x00 video cards in Sony Vaio machines. But from what I've read, the average life is about 18 months, I've had mine for almost 4 years. Guess I'm lucky. Probably going to need a new one but I'm still open to ideas.

http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=90875

When I check the properties of the video card in device manager, it says under the general tab:

Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems. (Code 43)

I tried to open up the computer to check the video card but the screws are embedded deep into the case and I don't have a screwdriver that's thin enough to get into the holes. I'm willing to wager that the video card is built onto the motherboard. That's the case with laptops and I think it's the same way on these all-in-one computers. I'm just going to take it in somewhere to see if I can get the card swapped out. If it turns out I need a new motherboard, I'll just get a new computer.