[PCG342]

So, I've had an Visiontek Radeon 9200 SE [128mb PCI] for about four years now, maybe five. It's served me well, but it just ain't up to scratch anymore. However, money's hard to come by, given my lifestyle - don't ask. So, I make do.
However, lately, whenever I start up my computer, Windows loads, and a few moments after I log in, my screen goes black. Not only that, but my monitor goes into standby mode [makes loud "click!" sound I've come to associate with a monitor powering on, and the light goes from green to amber.] This only lasts a few seconds, but it's long enough to be a distraction.
And I can't help but wonder if it's my graphics card, or if it's something else. If so, is it serious?
Also worth noting is the fact that the taskbar remains black for several seconds after everything else. What gives?

 

[jackdw]

So it all turns back on afterwards?

What screen resolution do you run it at and what size screen is it? I assume it's CRT with the clicks..

 

[PCG342]

All goes back, but as I said before, the taskbar lags behind everything else. I've run it at several resolutions, ranging from 800x600 to 1280x1024. Screen size is about 16-17 inches, by my estimate.
And yes, it is a CRT.

 

[jackdw]

It could just be the card switching resolutions from DOS/BIOS to a more graphical interface.

What OS are you running?

 

[PCG342]

WinXP. And the resolutions don't change. Nothing changes, really. If I could show you this, I would. Besides, like I said, it runs Windows for ten-twenty seconds before this happens. But you could be right.

 

[PCG342]

... by the way, it's never done this before, and I've been running with this setup for quite a while now.

 

[Triple6]

The newer ATI Catalyst Control Center can cause this on startup as it initializes - more so on computers that are older and boot slowly with lots of things on startup.

In any cause if it works fine then it would not be a hardware failure.

As for gaming, well its PCI and a Radeon 9200SE - its near the bottom for 3D performance for modern cards. For everything else its more then enough to run a 2D desktop and even older games it will do fine with.

 

[PCG342]

Eh, I haven't updated manually, but that could be it, too.

 

[Triple6]

Occasionally the drivers appear on Windows Update and can download and install automatically - or something could have changed in the driver.

 

[PCG342]

Right. Well, as long as we're pretty certain it's not hardware-related, I guess I can disregard it.