hi there,

i'm new here and pretty much un-tech savvy.
so here goes:
a month ago i was playing with a PC game and all of a sudden my screen just shuts down (black, starts looking for the signal, then goes into stand-by).
since then, any game i try will give me the same result.

i opened the case and removed the slot where the modem is located, so as to give the video card (Nvidia GeForce FX 5700LE with 128MB) more room to breathe, but nothing.
also, a couple of times the screen showed horizontal bright-colored lines, always to the same result: i have to force-shut off my HP pavilion a 120.it

nvidia drivers are up-to-date, so are directX (if it matters, anyway)
XP is constantly updated.

i followed a freind's suggestion and opened the case and cleand EVERYTHING in there (i do it every 6 months anyway, and the little fan on the video card had some little bundle of dirt on it.
but cleaning inside the case did not work.

but it did allow me to surf the web…
see, today i googled for my problem (nothing of consequence, of course) and i ended up installing lavalys' everest home edition. well, just trying to access the directX menu or the GPU menu under "video card" would freeze the monitor, and thet it would shut and re-start.

now i can at least access those menus

but after a few minutes of playing "knights of the old empire" the monitor shut itself off (music continues, by the way)



here is my hijacthis log file (hoping it can guide you to a solution or understanding of the problem)
oh, i'm running an XP Home SP2 (constantly updated)
with 768MB of RAM
monitor is a Samsung SyncMaster 151P


Logfile of HijackThis v1.99.1
Scan saved at 16.44.53, on 15/11/2006
Platform: Windows XP SP2 (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v7.00 (7.00.5730.0011)

Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\smss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\csrss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\Programmi\Windows Defender\MsMpEng.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
C:\Programmi\Windows Defender\MSASCui.exe
C:\HP\KBD\KBD.EXE
C:\windows\system\hpsysdrv.exe
C:\Programmi\Creative\SBAudigy2ZS\Surround Mixer\CTSysVol.exe
C:\Programmi\USB Storage RW\shwicon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\CTHELPER.EXE
C:\PROGRA~1\ALWILS~1\Avast4\ashDisp.exe
C:\Programmi\Comodo\Firewall\CPF.exe
C:\Programmi\Creative\SBAudigy2ZS\DVDAudio\CTDVDDET.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe
C:\Programmi\Creative\MediaSource\Detector\CTDetect.exe
C:\Programmi\Creative\MediaSource\GO\CTCMSGo.exe
C:\Programmi\Webroot\Washer\wwDisp.exe
C:\Programmi\Logitech\SetPoint\SetPoint.exe
C:\Programmi\SpywareGuard\sgmain.exe
C:\Programmi\File comuni\Logitech\khalshared\KHALMNPR.EXE
C:\Programmi\SpywareGuard\sgbhp.exe
C:\Programmi\Alwil Software\Avast4\aswUpdSv.exe
C:\Programmi\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashServ.exe
C:\Programmi\Comodo\Firewall\cmdagent.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\CTsvcCDA.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\system32\nvsvc32.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\HPZipm12.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\MsPMSPSv.exe
C:\Programmi\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashMaiSv.exe
C:\Programmi\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashWebSv.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\alg.exe
C:\Documents and Settings\Proprietario\Desktop\HijackThis.exe

R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://www.libero.it/
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Search_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Local Page =
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Local Page =
R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar,LinksFolderName = Collegamenti
O2 - BHO: Adobe PDF Reader Link Helper - {06849E9F-C8D7-4D59-B87D-784B7D6BE0B3} - C:\Programmi\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\ActiveX\AcroIEHelper.dll
O2 - BHO: SpywareGuard Download Protection - {4A368E80-174F-4872-96B5-0B27DDD11DB2} - C:\Programmi\SpywareGuard\dlprotect.dll
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {53707962-6F74-2D53-2644-206D7942484F} - C:\PROGRA~1\SPYBOT~1\SDHelper.dll
O2 - BHO: SSVHelper Class - {761497BB-D6F0-462C-B6EB-D4DAF1D92D43} - C:\Programmi\Java\jre1.5.0_09\bin\ssv.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Windows Defender] "C:\Programmi\Windows Defender\MSASCui.exe" -hide
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Recguard] C:\WINDOWS\SMINST\RECGUARD.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [PS2] C:\WINDOWS\system32\ps2.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [NvCplDaemon] RUNDLL32.EXE C:\WINDOWS\system32\NvCpl.dll,NvStartup
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Kernel and Hardware Abstraction Layer] KHALMNPR.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [KBD] C:\HP\KBD\KBD.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [hpsysdrv] c:\windows\system\hpsysdrv.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [CTSysVol] C:\Programmi\Creative\SBAudigy2ZS\Surround Mixer\CTSysVol.exe /r
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [KYE_Showicon] "C:\Programmi\USB Storage RW\shwicon.exe" -t"KYE\USB Storage RW"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [CTHelper] CTHELPER.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [avast!] C:\PROGRA~1\ALWILS~1\Avast4\ashDisp.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Comodo Firewall] "C:\Programmi\Comodo\Firewall\CPF.exe" /background
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [ATIModeChange] Ati2mdxx.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [CTDVDDET] C:\Programmi\Creative\SBAudigy2ZS\DVDAudio\CTDVDDET.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SBDrvDet] C:\Programmi\Creative\SB Drive Det\SBDrvDet.exe /r
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [HotKeysCmds] C:\WINDOWS\System32\hkcmd.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Logitech Hardware Abstraction Layer] "C:\Programmi\File comuni\Logitech\khalshared\KHALMNPR.EXE"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [NvMediaCenter] RUNDLL32.EXE C:\WINDOWS\system32\NvMcTray.dll,NvTaskbarInit
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [nwiz] nwiz.exe /install
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [AlcxMonitor] ALCXMNTR.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [CTxfiHlp] CTXFIHLP.EXE
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [ctfmon.exe] C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Creative Detector] C:\Programmi\Creative\MediaSource\Detector\CTDetect.exe /R
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Creative MediaSource Go] C:\Programmi\Creative\MediaSource\GO\CTCMSGo.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Window Washer] C:\Programmi\Webroot\Washer\wwDisp.exe
O4 - Startup: SpywareGuard.lnk = C:\Programmi\SpywareGuard\sgmain.exe
O4 - Global Startup: Logitech SetPoint.lnk = ?
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\Programmi\Java\jre1.5.0_09\bin\ssv.dll
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Sun Java Console - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\Programmi\Java\jre1.5.0_09\bin\ssv.dll
O9 - Extra button: Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Programmi\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Windows Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Programmi\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O11 - Options group: [INTERNATIONAL] International*
O16 - DPF: {0A5FD7C5-A45C-49FC-ADB5-9952547D5715} (Creative Software AutoUpdate) - http://www.creative.com/su/ocx/15026/CTSUEng.cab
O16 - DPF: {14C1B87C-3342-445F-9B5E-365FF330A3AC} (Hewlett-Packard Online Support Services) - http://h20278.www2.hp.com/HPISWeb/Customer…DataManager.CAB
O16 - DPF: {6414512B-B978-451D-A0D8-FCFDF33E833C} (WUWebControl Class) - http://update.microsoft.com/windowsupdate/…b?1162468058812
O16 - DPF: {6E32070A-766D-4EE6-879C-DC1FA91D2FC3} (MUWebControl Class) - http://update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdat…b?1162468130156
O16 - DPF: {8AD9C840-044E-11D1-B3E9-00805F499D93} (Java Runtime Environment 1.5.0) - http://javadl-esd.sun.com/update/1.5.0/jin…indows-i586.cab
O16 - DPF: {E8F628B5-259A-4734-97EE-BA914D7BE941} (Driver Agent ActiveX Control) - http://www.driveragent.com/files/driveragent.cab
O16 - DPF: {F6ACF75C-C32C-447B-9BEF-46B766368D29} (Creative Software AutoUpdate Support Package) - http://www.creative.com/su/ocx/15026/CTPID.cab
O20 - Winlogon Notify: igfxcui - C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\igfxsrvc.dll
O21 - SSODL: WPDShServiceObj - {AAA288BA-9A4C-45B0-95D7-94D524869DB5} - C:\WINDOWS\system32\WPDShServiceObj.dll
O23 - Service: avast! iAVS4 Control Service (aswUpdSv) - Unknown owner - C:\Programmi\Alwil Software\Avast4\aswUpdSv.exe
O23 - Service: avast! Antivirus - Unknown owner - C:\Programmi\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashServ.exe
O23 - Service: avast! Mail Scanner - Unknown owner - C:\Programmi\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashMaiSv.exe" /service (file missing)
O23 - Service: avast! Web Scanner - Unknown owner - C:\Programmi\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashWebSv.exe" /service (file missing)
O23 - Service: Comodo Application Agent (CmdAgent) - COMODO - C:\Programmi\Comodo\Firewall\cmdagent.exe
O23 - Service: Creative Service for CDROM Access - Creative Technology Ltd - C:\WINDOWS\system32\CTsvcCDA.EXE
O23 - Service: NBService - Nero AG - C:\Programmi\Nero\Nero 7\Nero BackItUp\NBService.exe
O23 - Service: NVIDIA Display Driver Service (NVSvc) - NVIDIA Corporation - C:\WINDOWS\system32\nvsvc32.exe
O23 - Service: Pml Driver HPZ12 - HP - C:\WINDOWS\system32\HPZipm12.exe