Straight lines drawn in desktop after moving icons

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jordi32 · #1 Post by **jordi32** » Sat Nov 13, 2004 11:46 pm

I've just received a Thinkpad 2373 Q1U from Bill. I couldn't be happier so far. However I have a strange issue. When moving icons in the desktop, a short vertical black line (of the length of 4 or 5 pixels) is drawn. By right clicking the desktop and refreshing it, the line goes away. Does anyone else have this issue? Does anyone know how to fix it?

Thank you very much.

Best regards,

Jordi

jordi32 · #2 Post by **jordi32** » Sun Nov 14, 2004 12:13 am

By moving the icons, I mean dragging them in the desktop.

jordi32 · #3 Post by **jordi32** » Sun Nov 14, 2004 1:57 pm

The lines get drawn only when the icon auto arrange function is disabled. Can anyone please help me sort out this issue?
Thank yoi.
Best regards,
Jordi

gcchatel · #4 Post by **gcchatel** » Sun Nov 14, 2004 2:29 pm

I've never had lines like that, I have however had lines when selecting several icons on the desktop by clicking and dragging a box around them. The box sometimes stays around when it's not supposed to. Again, refreshing makes it go away. The fact that you can refresh makes it seem like an OS problem and not video problem. Have you tried getting all the updates to XP and updating the video driver just in case?

Gael

jordi32 · #5 Post by **jordi32** » Sun Nov 14, 2004 5:12 pm

Thank you for your post, Gcchatel. All the drivers installed in my system ARE the latest one. I checked. What else can I do? If it's a software issue, I guess it's not a big issue, but according to IBM support it may be hardware. How did you solve your issue? Any other suggestioms? I would hate to have to return this computer to Bill, especially because everything else seems to work great.
Thank you.
Best regards,
Jordi

jordi32 · #6 Post by **jordi32** » Mon Nov 15, 2004 12:35 am

I reinstalled the ATI drivers but the issue continued. Then, I did a restore to factory settings but this small horizontal black lines of a few pixels in length are still drawn on the desktop when dragging icons. Therefore, since after a factory settings restore, the issue persists, is it fair to say with certainty now that there is a hardware issue? If so, what could be faulty?

Thank you for your help.

Best regards,

Jordi

plucky duck · #7 Post by **plucky duck** » Mon Nov 15, 2004 2:32 am

How hot is the laptop? Seems like a hardware issue. Have you tried perhaps underclocking the videocard to see if it still occurs? Just a thought.

jordi32 · #8 Post by **jordi32** » Mon Nov 15, 2004 4:03 am

This issue starts right after turning on the computer. Therefore the computer is cold. How do I underclock the video card? The strangest thing is that it only happens on the desktop. I have watched a DVD in it and it looks wonderful. It doesn't happen when the auto arrange function is enabled. It only happens when it's disabled. Do you have it enabled or disabled?

Thank you.

Jordi

jordi32 · #9 Post by **jordi32** » Mon Nov 15, 2004 5:23 am

Thank you for your post, Gcchatel. All the drivers installed in my system ARE the latest one. I checked. What else can I do? If it's a software issue, I guess it's not a big issue, but according to IBM support it may be hardware. How did you solve your issue? Any other suggestioms? I would hate to have to return this computer to Bill, especially because everything else seems to work great.
Thank you.
Best regards,
Jordi

jordi32 · #10 Post by **jordi32** » Mon Nov 15, 2004 9:38 pm

Can anybody please volunteer to check to drag their icons with the desktop background called " Azul" or the IBM default desktop background (the one with the time zones) and report to me if you see any horizontal black lines (about four pixels in length) on the desktop? The auto arrange function must be disabled (please make sure of this by right clicking the desktop). I have some suspicion that this may happen with all Thinkpads but maybe no one has noticed. You would do me a big favor if you could check that. You have to be a little persistent in dragging the icons several times, since the lines are not drawn every time.

I am trying to find out if the issue is specific to the hardware of my computer or if it happens on all.

Thank you very much for your help.

Best regards,

Jordi

eriqesque · #11 Post by **eriqesque** » Mon Nov 15, 2004 9:49 pm

Just tried it with my X40
No such lines are being drawn.
background was set to Azul and Auto arrange off.

jordi32 · #12 Post by **jordi32** » Mon Nov 15, 2004 9:56 pm

Thank you for trying.

Eriquesque, how long did you try it for?

The lines are hard to see (only about four pixels in length and they do not show all the time). It may be necessary to drag several icons before it happens.

Best regards,

Jordi

jordi32 · #13 Post by **jordi32** » Mon Nov 15, 2004 10:06 pm

To make it easier to see you can choose the Windows default background. Would you please move several icons from left to right (starting with the uppermost (dustbin)? The short black line appears on the left side of the screen.

What video card do you have installed? What driver version?

Thank you for your help.

Best regards,

Jordi

jordi32 · #14 Post by **jordi32** » Mon Nov 15, 2004 10:15 pm

Let me tell you something else, so that you can check it properly. Would please follow these steps:

-1) Set the Windows XP default desktop background.

-2) Disable auto arrange.

-3) Select arrange icons by name, for example.

-4) Drag the top icon to the right (by using the point stick and the point stick buttons). Just drag it to about the center of the screen.

-5) Look at the area where the icon used to be in the first place.

Do you see any very short horizontal black line drawn??

Please repeat several times.

Thank you for trying.

Best regards,

Jordi

eriqesque · #15 Post by **eriqesque** » Mon Nov 15, 2004 10:27 pm

Yep
that time i got it.
have no idea why and it is very small also a page refresh gets rid of it.

jordi32 · #16 Post by **jordi32** » Mon Nov 15, 2004 10:42 pm

Eriquesque,

Can you then confirm that you do see these black lines drawn on the desktop? What video card does your Thinkpad have? What version?

Thank you so much for your kind help, Eriquesque.

Best regards,

Jordi

eriqesque · #17 Post by **eriqesque** » Mon Nov 15, 2004 11:23 pm

Yes it appeared.
Intel Extreme 2 graphics.

And you are welcome glad to help.
I dont think its anything to worry about.

shahinrawther · #18 Post by **shahinrawther** » Mon Nov 15, 2004 11:26 pm

Hi jordi,

I checked on my laptop by following the steps that you mentioned in the post, i dont see any probs on my display. f the lines are disappearing when u refresh the desktop, could it be that your refresh rate is slow? I dont thin that is the case because the refresh rates of the monitors/lcds are preset and if it is lsow then u see a flickering effect. But i think it is worth while to check that..

How ever when the auto arrange is enabled and if you move the icons around a horiontal while line will be displayed by wndows xp to show you where the icon will be placed if you leave the mouse/pointer at that location. I would assume that to be an usability feature rather than an issue with the display

If you still cant figure it our, call the support talk to them and get the lap top exchanged, its a lot of money and u dont want to settle for anything less than perfect

S

jordi32 · #19 Post by **jordi32** » Mon Nov 15, 2004 11:36 pm

Dear Shahinrawther,

I did call support already. They are unable to help. How long did you try? There was someone else in my post who told at first he did not see any lnes and then after trying for a while, he confirmed that he saw one line. Can you try several times by following my steps again?? The line is very short (four to five pixels in length).

I would really appreciate it.

Thank you for your time, Shahinrawther.

Best regards,

Jordi

none · #20 Post by **none** » Tue Nov 16, 2004 12:45 am

jordi, why don't you take a screenshot of the problem and post it up here? Just get the lines on your screen, then click the PrtSc key (Print Screen). Then open an image editor (like Paint) and go to Edit > Paste. Then save the image, and make a Geocities.com account or something, and upload it, and post it up here..

I think by looking at it, it may be easier to say whether it's a video card bug or a Windows redraw bug (which it can easily be).

P.S. I don't get these lines, I've been dragging for 2 min now. ATI FireGL here.

jordi32 · #21 Post by **jordi32** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 3:22 am

I tried other computers at Circuit City of different brands (Toshiba, Sony, HP) and ALL of them had this black line drawn effect when dragging icons on desktop. I also went to an IBM service center They tried two IBM computers and they both showed the same flaw. My conclusion is that this must be a Windows XP bug. What I wonder is how come no one else here has reported this issue before. It is a mystery to me. Could someone else please confirm this?

Thank you.

Best regards,

Jordi

Ancient · #22 Post by **Ancient** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 10:14 am

i just tried it on :

my win 2003 server.
my toshiba satelite 1900-703
and my tower and it seems that all of the systems show the same issue-
seems like its a bug in windows no big deal and nothing to worry about.

Straight lines drawn in desktop after moving icons

Straight lines drawn in desktop after moving icons

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