Broken graphic card?

[boris80]

One friend brought a PC to me saying that something is wrong whit his system (kids messed up AV programs etc.), but when I turned it on I figured out that there're some strange lines over the screen (over letters), and it stucks on Windows booting screen.
I booted WinXP setup and everything went fine till part where it has to show graphics (after the blue screen, formatting, copying files needed for setup and restart), then the screen disappears and shows that it's out of the frequency. I assume that graphic adapter is defective, someone had experience with such cases?

[Midknyte]

Did you try swapping video cards? That's the quickest way.

[Lgbpop]

If that's an LCD monitor you'll get the frequency message if the resolution is set higher than 60 Hz. There's a small hope that the kids were screwing around with the settings. Connect a CRT monitor and see if the problem persists and change the resolution to 60 if necessary.

To be honest it sounds as if the video's shot, what with the bizarre graphics you describe. If it's a GEForce FX5200 assume the worst.

[boris80]

I replaced it with another video card (almost same one, 8400GS, just another manufacturer), and it's working.

[Lgbpop]

Your friend's computer is OK then, good.