Startup screen problems

[Receptor]

Hi all.
About 3 years ago, I bought a Dell Inspiron 5100 intel inside pentium 4 laptop with Windows XP.
And for some reason, latley and mostly all the time, When I turn it on, the screen goes fuzzy. It is like it is unorderd. all the pixels are mixed up or somthing. When I press Ctrl + Alt + Delete repetivley after a number of times, It will show the startup screen sometimes a bit weird other times normal. :(
So could you please tell me whats wrong and how I fix it? The computer crashed last time because it got so bad. We only recently got it up again and re-installed Microsoft Word and the internet settings etc.

Any help would be EXTREMELY great. As this thing is really annoying :mad:

Thanks again

[Receptor]

ALSO when I do get the Ctrl alt delete thing and it goes normal, It will come up and say "windows has encountered a problem" and then it has all options on how to startup, like "Safe Mode" Normal Mode" etc...:(

[daniel_g]

What happens if instead of hitting cntrl-alt-del you wait for, let's say, a couple minutes? Have you tried turning off, then back on the monitor several times instead of hitting cntrl-alt-del?

The reason I ask, is because depending on your computer speed and your monitor, chances are that every time you hit cntrl-alt-del and the computer resets, the monitor may temporarely go to standby mode, and then turn back on by itself, and that might be what's fixing it everytime.

I assume that the "windows has encountered a problem" thing shows up becuase the computer resets everytime you hit cntrl-alt-del, and it probably has nothing to do with the problem itself.

[Receptor]

I turn it on over and over again. Then, I press Ctrl alt dlete after several times of turning it on. It only sometimes does this, but it is becoming more frequent now.

[goughy000]

is the screen fuzzy straight away?
or do you get any loading screen before it goes like this

[intiendes]

just back up your files needed and reformat your laptop

[daniel_g]

just back up your files needed and reformat your laptop
Nah, I don't think the problem has anything to do with the Hard Drive or drivers(That's what you imply when you say reformat).

I turn it on over and over again. Then, I press Ctrl alt dlete after several times of turning it on. It only sometimes does this, but it is becoming more frequent now
I guess you can always take it to the local computer repair shop, and if you are a new costumer, just ask for a free estimate. Usually they will tell you the reason, and if you think that is something you can fix yourself, then just take it with you, if not, just leave it with them and pay the repair, or in the worst case, pull the plug.

Anyways, I think that's better than hitting cntrl-alt-del everytime it happens(you might end up killing other perfectly good components).

BTW, when I said turn off/turn on, I mean the screen, not the whole thing. It's not obvious on laptops since they don't have a power button for the screen, but you could play with the settings and make it turn off when you close the lid without turning the hard drive and memory off.