[theedqueen]

so this morning I open microsoft excel, and all of a sudden this fadded/scan-lined bar pops up on the middle of my screen. I tried to do a printscreen to see if it would capture on an image, but it doesn't. Here's an idea of what my screen looks like (done in ps):



I'm not sure if this is a video card problem or whatever, but I have no clue on how to fix this, not even sure how to start googling.

If it helps, my computer is a laptop dell inspiron 9300 from 2005. I rarely take it out anywhere and I've never dropped it. I don't know if it's because my computer is getting old and starting to crap out, but I'd like to know if this can be fixed.

Thanks so much in advance.

[awdark]

Whats odd is a screen shot often actually captures the glitches on a failing card. So its a good sign that you weren't able to capture those lines. On the other hand that pretty much leaves the screen... in the future if that happens again you can try plugging in a monitor, or gently twisting the screen from the top. (Like hold top corners push one side away from you pull the other towards you gently) If twisting the screen makes it work normally then your screen is probably going bad... One of the ribbons on the top is coming loose and pretty much isn't fixable.

So try that and hopefully we can figure it out

[theedqueen]

i tried twisting the screen and that didn't work.

I was gonna get a new computer anyways, but I was gonna wait til I got a proper job. I guess now I'll have to talk to my parents...

[jas0n]

Are you still getting this screen after you turned off your computer and back on? Or it only happens when you open excel? I would test the monitor on another computer if you have one to see if it's the monitor itself or the video card.

If it's the video card, you can get a cheap one nowadays. By the way, what video card did you have?

[theedqueen]

I turned off my computer when I went to school and it was still like that when I turned it back on. And it's like that all the time now, not for any specific program.

I don't know how to tell what video card I have. I also don't have a monitor to hook this up to either.

[awdark]

Hmm ok that sucks. A new screen is about $100 http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=inspiron+9300+lcd not sure if it would be worth it.
As far as I know the ribbon cable would not cause this and is generally caused by the LCD itself.

[jas0n]

Oh sorry, I missed out on the part where you stated it's a laptop.

Well, since it's a laptop, you can bring it to your relative's or a friend's house and test with their monitor. If it still occurs, then it's definitely the GPU itself. Sadly, you'll have to replace the whole motherboard as your GPU is most likely integrated.

This reminds me of the Dell XPS M1330 laptops where the GPU was damaged due to heating. Black lines and such would appear. I also did a search on your laptop and some people had their GPU died out as well. You can try searching "dell inspiron 9300 dead video card" or something along those lines. Hope this gives you an insight on your matter.

[theedqueen]

=[ Thanks for the help guys. I think I'll just hold out for a couple more weeks and see what I can do about buying a new laptop entirely since that was my plan anyways. It'd just be nice if I had the option of keeping this computer for a while longer in case some financial difficulty comes up *knocks on wood*