Computer Question

[Lisa]

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!!

 

Hey, am I allowed to ask a question about my computer? My question has nothing to do with GA. I know there are quite a few computer gurus out there ( @Ron , @A.J. , @Myr...), and I thought maybe someone could tell me why my laptop screen (Win10, pc) goes black every 10 minutes or so. It's so annoying, and most of the time I have to restart the computer.

 

Thanks in advance!

[FormerMember4]

Lisa, I can think of few things off top of head. Some people encounter this with 10 updates. It might be screensaver or sleep settings that you can switch to never. Sometimes external hardware like keyboard or mouse can initiate sleep. Last thing is a faulty video graphics card.

Edited December 25, 2017 by BlindAmbition

[Myr]

It could also be you need a driver update.  Go to Settings, Updates and check for windows updates and make sure everything is installed.

[Cia]

Just because visual directions often help, here is how you can check the issues and disable/download/fix drivers that relate to black screen issues in Windows 8: http://www.windowswally.com/how-to-fix-graphics-driver-update-causing-black-screen-error-in-windows-8/

 

And here are a lot of links and options to screen issues fixes in Windows 10: https://www.drivethelife.com/windows-10/fix-display-video-graphics-problems-after-windows-10-update.html

[Lisa]

11 hours ago, BlindAmbition said:

Lisa, I can think of few things off top of head. Some people encounter this with 10 updates. It might be screensaver or sleep settings that you can switch to never. Sometimes external hardware like keyboard or mouse can initiate sleep. Last thing is a faulty video graphics card.

I can usually get the computer out of the sleep mode pretty quickly. With this, my cursor's also gone. And my screensaver is just the Windows bubbles.

 

8 hours ago, Myr said:

It could also be you need a driver update.  Go to Settings, Updates and check for windows updates and make sure everything is installed.

I did check to make sure I have all the updates. Can you check specifically for driver updates? Or are they included in the general Window updates?

[Lisa]

2 minutes ago, Cia said:

Just because visual directions often help, here is how you can check the issues and disable/download/fix drivers that relate to black screen issues in Windows 8: http://www.windowswally.com/how-to-fix-graphics-driver-update-causing-black-screen-error-in-windows-8/

 

And here are a lot of links and options to screen issues fixes in Windows 10: https://www.drivethelife.com/windows-10/fix-display-video-graphics-problems-after-windows-10-update.html

Thanks, Cia!! I'll try those links now!  

[Lisa]

Thank you, everyone!

 

Thanks, Cia! I wound up trying a free trial of CCleaner, and so far, so good!

[Ron]

@LisaYou may be overconfident of my PC abilities. I do use a range of cheap (read as free) and not hugely expensive paid utilities to keep my PC running well—knock on wood, the tactic seems to work. IObit has a number of free utilities such as Driver Booster and Advanced SystemCare, I use both. I can’t remember now if it was PC Mag or PC World that recommended IObit but I’ve found the company provides effective free utilities and for a little money the paid versions are even more effective (especially when you catch them on sale).

[DynoReads]

Create another user account with administrator privileges and log in with that, see if it’s still happening.  If it isn’, you have a virus on that account.

 

even if it is happening on another account, it could be a virus. Windows Defender, malware bytes, https://www.malwarebytes.com/ are free and can catch some things. AVG has a free version I think and that may help. 

[Lisa]

1 hour ago, Ron said:

@LisaYou may be overconfident of my PC abilities. I do use a range of cheap (read as free) and not hugely expensive paid utilities to keep my PC running well—knock on wood, the tactic seems to work. IObit has a number of free utilities such as Driver Booster and Advanced SystemCare, I use both. I can’t remember now if it was PC Mag or PC World that recommended IObit but I’ve found the company provides effective free utilities and for a little money the paid versions are even more effective (especially when you catch them on sale).

You know, I have IObit Uninstaller that was preinstalled on the computer (I think!), but I never knew what it was for! I thought it was for uninstalling programs. So I guess I won't need the CCleaner, then.

16 minutes ago, DynoReads said:

Create another user account with administrator privileges and log in with that, see if it’s still happening.  If it isn’, you have a virus on that account.

 

even if it is happening on another account, it could be a virus. Windows Defender, malware bytes, https://www.malwarebytes.com/ are free and can catch some things. AVG has a free version I think and that may help. 

Hey, Dyno! I have Norton, so my Windows Defender is turned off, and just last week I installed Malwarebytes. So far, so good, but if it happens again, I'll definitely take your advice and make up another account. Thank you!

[Ron]

1 minute ago, Lisa said:

You know, I have IObit Uninstaller that was preinstalled on the computer (I think!), but I never knew what it was for! I thought it was for uninstalling programs. So I guess I won't need the CCleaner, then.

You are correct, Uninstaller gets rid of unwanted programs. Try Advance SystemCare, it cleans up a lot of unnecessary things that just hang around and clog up the system.

[Lisa]

34 minutes ago, Ron said:

You are correct, Uninstaller gets rid of unwanted programs. Try Advance SystemCare, it cleans up a lot of unnecessary things that just hang around and clog up the system.

I can use that even with the CCleaner program?

[Ron]

35 minutes ago, Lisa said:

I can use that even with the CCleaner program?

I’m not familiar with CCleaner but the IObit programs can be run whenever you decide and they are completely friendly with the Norton antivirus program.

[Lisa]

1 hour ago, Ron said:

I’m not familiar with CCleaner but the IObit programs can be run whenever you decide and they are completely friendly with the Norton antivirus program.

Cool. I'll try it tomorrow, err, later.  

Thanks, Ron! 

[DynoReads]

On 12/25/2017 at 9:24 PM, Lisa said:

Hey, Dyno! I have Norton, so my Windows Defender is turned off, and just last week I installed Malwarebytes. So far, so good, but if it happens again, I'll definitely take your advice and make up another account. Thank you!

There is no single antivirus or firewall that gets everything. We have Trend on our machines, but I still run Windows defender once a month. It catches some things Trend misses. 

The second account as admin is good idea to do regardless. Then remove admin privileges from your main account. It can be a pain to give the password for admin every time you install something, but the first time you’re asked for password when you aren’t intentionally installing something you’ll be glad.

Edited December 27, 2017 by DynoReads