Hey guys, I have quite an odd problem.

Occasionally (and becoming more frequent) when I start up Firefox or Opera, my monitor will simply switch itself off (even though power settings are 'always on'). Once it has done this it refuses to switch back on unless I restart the computer.

I have reinstalled both browsers several times and this sometimes works but the problem always returns after a day or so. I am sick of reinstalling browsers only to be relieved of this problem for a short period of time so I need your opinions!

My graphics card drivers are up to date and installed correctly, there are no yellow markers in device manager and the problem has so far only occurred on start up of Firefox and Opera (however I suspect it isn't the programs themselves causing this problem - though I could be wrong!).

My scans indicate no traces of any viruses or malware etc.

Here is my technical information:
Windows ME
1024 x 768 / 16 bit colour
NVidia MX 100/200
Studioworks 771B Monitor

And the only recent changes to my system are:
A defrag of my main hard drive (seems unlikely to be related though)
Updating of Intel 845 Chipset drivers (could this possibly be related?)

See if you find any coincidental events listed in the Event Viewer:

Computer Mgt > System Tools > Event Viewer > System (also) Application

Thanks for your reply!

I don't think Event Viewer is available in WinMe...

oops ... sorry about that

Try going to the sfp folder and looking in the log file in that folder.

The folder is located at C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM

The sfp, stands for system file protection, it's a Windows Me built in program that is supposed to protect any important and needed files from being corrupted or altered.

May I ask why you updated the chipset drivers?

Did you reload the nvidia drivers?

Yep, found SFP fine. There are quite a few 'critical' bits marked there, though I am really clueless as to their meaning. Would seeing this log mean anything to you?

And I updated the chipset drivers as I wanted to make sure WinME would run as smoothly as possible - there wasn't a specific problem, just your usual Windows slowness.

Basically I was really just trying to be fakely productive in my mass of free time :P

Is your NVidia MX 100/200 an onboard chip or is it a PCI/AGP card?

The Intel drivers might have bothered the nvidia drivers.

I am not familiar with the sfp layout. Are they time marked? Does it list events and or specific issues?

Post whatever you like. Wouldn't hurt to see it.

I believe it's onboard. I am wondering what would happen if I reverted to the chipset and nVidia drivers that were supplied with the manufacturer's release of the PC. As I am clueless, tell me if this is do-able?

The log has stuff from a few days ago (nothing since the 5th).. here is the bit that the 'critical' labels were applied to, all within the same few hours (can't remember what I was doing at this time!).

CRITICAL: [04/02/2006 23:03:59:710] SFP cannot restore file C:\WINDOWS\FONTS\ARIALUNI.TTF back
CRITICAL: [04/02/2006 23:04:10:030] SFP cannot restore file C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\CP_28598.NLS back
CRITICAL: [04/02/2006 23:04:10:090] SFP cannot restore file C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\CP_28596.NLS back
CRITICAL: [04/02/2006 23:04:10:140] SFP cannot restore file C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\CP_1361.NLS back
CRITICAL: [04/02/2006 23:04:50:020] SFP cannot restore file C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\msg711.acm back. Original file has invalid hash
CRITICAL: [04/02/2006 23:28:48:240] SFP cannot restore file C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\12520437.CPX back. Original file has invalid hash
CRITICAL: [04/02/2006 23:28:48:410] SFP cannot restore file C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\12520437.CPX back
CRITICAL: [04/02/2006 23:28:48:570] SFP cannot restore file C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\12520850.CPX back. Original file has invalid hash
CRITICAL: [04/02/2006 23:28:48:790] SFP cannot restore file C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\12520850.CPX back
CRITICAL: [04/03/2006 00:23:18:450] SFP cannot restore file C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\12520437.CPX back. Original file has invalid hash
CRITICAL: [04/03/2006 00:23:18:670] SFP cannot restore file C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\12520437.CPX back
CRITICAL: [04/03/2006 00:23:18:730] SFP cannot restore file C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\12520850.CPX back. Original file has invalid hash
CRITICAL: [04/03/2006 00:23:18:780] SFP cannot restore file C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\12520850.CPX back

What is the make and model of the PC?

Do you have original driver disks?

The nvidia drivers for onboard chips can be found here:

http://www.nvidia.com/object/win9x_archive.html

But it might be interesting to see if your computer manufacturer has a driver list.

Also seeing those errors and you mentioning that the computer was running slow you might want to consider reinstalling ME. Do you have the disks to do that?

Yes, I actually did a clean reinstall in March, though very soon despite my efforts not to collect junk files or programmes and maintain it well... it decided to become unfit again

The OS disk I have is in the form of a system restore disk so when you clean install it places a folder on the HD with the relevant drivers to the hardware supplied with the original PC (Tiny 2001).

From this folder just now I reinstalled the original drivers for the chipset and gfx card - and neither browser has crashed on start up yet :P

If the problem does not return within a few days I think we can safely assume this was my error in updating drivers that didn't need updating. If it does return, I'll be sure to start this post up again as clueless as before

Thank you for your responses

Glad you got it running (for now at least)

Let us know how it goes.

And thanks for the thanks!

We like to help here.