A30P - Display problem

[Oceanwatcher]

I have a few Thinkpad A30P and I have used one (at the time) as my personal laptop, the rest for training of video editors.

The one I am using now is the third one that has problems. And it all follows the exact same pattern. First the startup screen ("DOS") get a very reddish tint for 15-20 seconds before it gets its neutral color. Then I get vertical blue or red lines that flickers while it is starting. Next step - there can be several weeks from the reddish color show the first time until next stage. Then a few weeks with the vertical lines. Then the startup text starts to get garbled.. It all works correct from the point windows are starting. But then it suddenly crashes Windows.

This is where I am now. I have updated BIOS. I have updated all drivers through the driver installation program. I am running WinXP SP1. Not had the courage to go for SP2 yet. I am running NOD32 antivirus and has no detected viruses.

If I start with the driver installed, the PC either hangs just before the log-in is supposed to show (I am logging on Win2000 style), or it let me boot into Win, and then freeze. I then do a forced shut down, boot into safe mode, uninstall ATI drivers etc. When I reboot, I can log on and everything work. In 640x480 and 4 bit colors... I am usually able to get it up to 32 bit and 800x600 without installing the ATI drivers. And that is how I am able to write right now.

Is this a known problem? I tried searching the forum and a few other things. But could not find anything. Like I said, this is the third A30P that has died....

[JHEM]

Could be several things.

BOOT into the BIOS and test the display.

Could be as simple as a loose/dirty display connector to a dying video card.

Report back.

Regards,

James