Minimizing Problem

Hello there, the problem that im having is that my screen will blink off for a second and then come back on. That wouldnt be a big problem in of itself, but the problem is that it minimizes the windows I have open at the time. I tend to play a lot of games full screen and when it minimizes like that it freezes the game and I have to exit out and restart the game. I doubt this is a problem with my monitor because of the minimizing. Im on Windows MCE.

This kind of problem can be caused by a variety of things. Is this a CRT or a Flat Panel LED? Check your cords and connections. Reinstall the video driver. (check for problems with video adapter via Device Manager) Your Monitor may have a "set" or "preferred" refresh rate. If you've increased the refresh rate, back it of a bit. Are you overclocking that machine? More information may help us help you more effectively. Best Regards

It is a CRT monitor. All of the cords and connections are OK. No problems with the video adapter, although I did update the drivers, just in case. There is a setting in the refresh rate area that says "do not show rates which this monitor cannot display" or something like that, so that should be fine. And the machine is not overclocked. One other thing about the problem, it happens frequently when i first power on or restart, but as time goes on it happens less and less frequently. I will let you know if the driver update did anything, but until that time, got any suggestions? EDIT: The updated driver did not fix the problem. Back to the drawing board

Your machine is "working harder" during Boot (startup) than at most other times.
Next most vigorous work load may be during a higher-end first-person-shooter type online interactive game.
Next most vigorous work load may be Multi-Tasking browsing, email, and office applicaitons with several windows open.

So if the Problem is going to occur, it is most likely to occur at one of those times.

have you tested your RAM?
Have you opened up the case to blow out the dust-bunnies?
Have you checked the seating of your Video Adapter inside the case?

go to http://www.pcpitstop.com
register and create a password
Run the Full Tests <– first item in the left-hand column
Accept the ActiveX component to run the Full Tests

takes 2-3 minutes on most machines

When you get your Results, post the TechExpress Link back here into this Forum thread.

Best Regards

No I havent tested my ram because I dont know how to. The computer is fine inside, and there is no seating for the video adapter because it is onboard.

Here is the TechExpress link.
http://www.pcpitstop.com/techexpress.asp?id=LEWQHWUDA3VS9UUW

Thank you for your quick responses

Follow the recommendations provided in the PCPitstop Full Tests.
Customized Tune-up Tips
• Upgrade disk space (Drive D) <– This is probably your Operating System backup Partition. You should not be adding "any" folders or files to D:\
You do not need "any" Space Reserved for System Restore on D:\ Use the slider to reduce to 0% on Drive D:\
• Defragment files (Drive C)
• Reduce System Restore space (Drive C) <– use the slider to reduce Reserved Space to 1% at most. hopefully around 1024mb
• Adjust IE browser cache size <– Max size between 80-100mb recommended
• Adjust Receive Buffer Size <– follow these steps precisely. You may notice significant online improvement.

Disable all of the following via MSCONFIG:

ATI taskbar icon ATI Technologies, Inc. C:\Program Files\ATI Technologies\ATI Control Panel\atiptaxx.exe
Sun Java Update Sun Microsystems, Inc. C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.6.0_01\bin\jusched.exe
Logitech WingMan Logitech Inc. C:\Program Files\Logitech\Profiler\lwemon.exe
QuickTime Icon Apple Computer, Inc. C:\Program Files\QuickTime\qttask.exe
ATI Hotkey Utility ATI Technologies Inc. C:\WINDOWS\system32\Ati2evxx.exe
ITMRTSVC.exe CA, Inc. C:\Program Files\CA\PPRT\bin\ITMRTSVC.exe
AOL Services America Online, Inc. C:\Program Files\Common Files\AOL\1164570012\ee\aolsoftware.exe
LightScribe Hewlett-Packard Company C:\Program Files\Common Files\LightScribe\LSSrvc.exe
Debugger Microsoft Corporation C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\VS7DEBUG\MDM.EXE
MS Works Calendar Microsoft® Corporation C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Share … \WkCalRem.exe
Compaq Connections Hewlett-Packard C:\Program Files\Compaq Connections\5577497\P … \Compaq Connections.exe
DISCover Drop Play System Digital Interactive Systems Corporation C:\Program Files\DISC\DISCover.exe
DiscUpdMgr.exe Digital Interactive Systems Corporation, Inc. C:\Program Files\DISC\DiscUpdMgr.exe
GoogleToolbarNotifier Google Inc. C:\Program Files\Google\GoogleToolbarNotifier … \GoogleToolbarNotifier.exe
HP digital imaging Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. C:\Program Files\HP\Digital Imaging\bin\hpqSTE08.exe
HP software update Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. C:\Program Files\HP\HP Software Update\HPWuSchd2.exe
MSN Messenger Microsoft Corporation C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
PictureProject Monitor Nikon Corporation C:\Program Files\Nikon\PictureProject\NkbMonitor.exe
Realtek HD Audio Realtek Semiconductor Corp. C:\WINDOWS\RTHDCPL.EXE
Media Center Remote Microsoft Corporation C:\WINDOWS\eHome\ehRecvr.exe
Half-Life Steam Valve Corporation C:\progra~1\valve\steam\steam.exe
America Online C:\Program Files\Common Files\AOL\1164570012\ee\SSCEvtHdlr.exe
AOL LLC C:\Program Files\Common Files\AOL\1164570012\ … \aolavupd.exe
Microsoft Corporation C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Bicycle Boar … \BicycleBoard.exe
Microsoft Corporation C:\Program Files\Microsoft Reference\Bookshelf 2000\qshelf2k.exe

_________
The following item requires a different sequence to disable:
Office speech Microsoft Corporation C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe

Control Panel - Regional and Language - Language - Details - Advanced
Place a Chieckmanrk/tick in the box in front of "Turn off Advanced Text Services"
_______

Not all MCE XP machines have "Away Mode"
It became available in MCE Update Rollup 2, whether or not the user's machine actually had the hardware equipment to take advantage of it.
It is an instant off to Stand-by and near instant return to Active/waking mode.

I'm suspicious that "Away Mode" may be involved in your problem occurances.
If you are aware of how to disable "Away Mode", particularly during your game playing, I wonder if you would experience fewer screen blackouts.
____________

you appear to have installed (2) two AntiVirus utilities.
Command AntiVirus (supplied by AOL..??) and McAfee AntiVirus.

A year or so ago AOL was supplying McAfee, now they may be supplying CA. I'm really not sure because I'm not a fan of AOL.

Nevertheless, you have (2) two Antivirus Products running active.
This will "always" provoke conflicts when both are Active.

Consider completely Uninstalling one or the other.
If you decide to keep both, then DISABLE one of them via MSCONFIG - StartUp and MSCONFIG - Services.

Ok, the above is quite a bunch to do.
Please keep us posted with your progress and any additional concerns.

Best Regards

Well, I dont know which solution fixed it, but its all good now. Ive restarted several times and played one of my games and all is well. When I first start up, the computer boots up MUCH faster so thank you for that. One other thing though, I couldnt find any instances of Command Antivirus in my add/remove programs, so if its on there and active, I dont know how to remove it. AOL uses Mcafee and im fine with that, but I dont want Command on there. So any help on removing that would be great.

Please Run and Post a fresh PCPitstop Full Tests.

Command AntiVirus (Authenium Security) uses the Control Panel - Add/Remove utility to Install/Uninstall/Repair Comand Antivirus.

When you Select Command AntiVirus via Add/Remove and Select - Remove, it will present you with Command AntiVirus Application Maintenance Wizard, where you can Select to completely remove the Command AntiVirus.

If it doesn't appear in Add/Remove, it may have already been "partially" removed.
We'll have to dig around a bit to fully root it out.
___________

Download and Run CodeStuff - Starters
Download here: http://www.snapfiles.com/get/starter.html
Note: Do not make any changes via CodeStuff - Starters without being sure you know what you are doing.

In the Starters Screen, Select - StartUps(tab)
in the FILE pull-down menu Select - Save as Plain Text
Name the Saved File TC.txt
Open TC.txt in notepad, - Edit - Select All - Copy

Then Paste the contents of that StartUps list (TC.txt) into this thread.

I'll have a look at what we may have to remove manually.
We may have to do the same thing for Processes(tab) and Services(tab)

I'll watch for your Reply.

Best Regards