Strange "Missing Graphics" problem, but only in Windows

[alan.surry]

I've been given a PC to repair which appears to have some sort of problem with the graphics.  to cut a long story short, if I run a bootable diagnostics CD such as "Ultimate Boot CD", the graphics are fine and  I can use all of the diagnostics tools.  The same applies when I use a Linux Boot CD such as Suse or Knoppix, but if I try to use "Ultimate Boot CD for Windows" which has a virtual windows environment, or I attempt to install Windows from CD, the graphics only appear on screen for a few moments before fading away till the screen is black.  I have tried several different AGP and PCI graphics cards and the results are the same, so it's not a faulty card.  Other than that, I'm baffled.  I have repaired 1000's of PC's in my time, but never seen anything like this.  Any suggestions would be well appreciated.  

Best regards, Alan.

[guestolo]

Are you actually Formatting and installing XP?

May also want to try disconnecting all peripheals, except for mouse and keyboard
This includes disconnecting Network cable if attached

Does the motherboard have built in graphics onboard?
Are you using USB mouse keyboard, or have you tried with only
PS2 mouse/keyboard

[alan.surry]

Hi.  Thanks for the reply.  I would prefer to repair the current windows install by selecting this option during the install process, although I will format & reinstall if necessary.   As for the PC, it's got onboard VGA & NIC and I've removed every PCI card, so it's down to bare bones with PS2 mouse & keyboard.

Best regards, Al.

[guestolo]

Are you able to bring up anything in Windows?
Once loaded, how about Task Manager?
It could be malware related, but unsure
As you say you can boot with a Linux distro and no Windows enviroment CD's

If you can use Task Manager we can go from there
Can you boot to Safe mode?

With the Knoppix or SuSE live CD's you should be able to boot to them and burn what needs saved to CD/DVD
Then continue with format/install

[alan.surry]

Solved.  I managed to (blindly) flash the bios and  all is now well.  Thanks again for all of your help.  Regards, Alan.

[guestolo]

[quote name=\'alan.surry\' post=\'439187\' date=\'Aug 7 2008, 06:31 AM\']Solved.  I managed to (blindly) flash the bios and  all is now well.  Thanks again for all of your help.  Regards, Alan.[/quote]

Thanks for letting me know Alan, I'll be sure to remember that in the future