Computer Boffins- Advice Needed

[Atgets_Apprentice]

I have begun to encounter a problem with my laptop in the last couple of days, where my monitor suddenly jumps to look like this:



It also wont refresh, and the window has to be closed & restarted to carry on working. It will do the same thing again after 5-10 minutes. I have tried all sorts of maintenance, such as driver updates, running AV software, registry clean ups, etc.... But nothing seems to work.

The machine is a 2 year old Toshiba L300 satellite, running Windows 7 Ultimate for about a year, currently on service pack 1.

Can anyone give me any ideas what the problem might be, and if there is any solution, before I take it to a repair shop?

[[SiC]]

Does it only affect IE?

[Atgets_Apprentice]

I only use IE9, so I don't know!

[[SiC]]

I only use IE9, so I don't know!

But no other programs, word processor or so? And it only affects web page layout, no menus, buttons or such?
Have you emptied the cache?

/Z!

[Dusty]

Before this happens, load Task Manager and then, when the screen blanks, look at it to see how much CPU and Memory you have being used.

Also, make sure that on the Processes tab, you have the columns checked for Peak Memory usage, Paged Pool, GDI Objects Threads and Handles. Check "Show Processes from All Users" on the bottom, too.

This may give you an indication of what's going on.

BTW, how much memory does your laptop have?

Dusty

[KevinBarrett]

I'm still waiting for the punchline...

[Javelin]

just re-install the video drivers. they are damaged, you can probably even get an updated driver from the tosh website

[Atgets_Apprentice]

Thanks, guys, I have cleared the cache, and so far, it seems stable.

The laptop has 1gb of memory, and the CPU load was OK. I tend not to run a million and one things on it at once, as I do most of my photo stuff on the PC.

I checked the video drivers, Javelin, and they came up as OK, and up to date. Weird!

Kevin, my advice about computer boffins is don't share an apartment with one like Sheldon Cooper....!

[[SiC]]

Good to hear, hope it stays ok

[bossel]

For any weird and unexplainable behaviour of your PC, you might also try to return to a system restore point a day or a week or a month earlier. This might roll back any unwanted changes you're not aware of.