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 Post Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2018 5:07 pm 
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Strange happenings on a friend's Win 7 desktop. He suddenly started experiencing graphic and display issues. Desktop icons became fuzzy and scattered, Display Adapter no longer appeared in Device Manager, Free Cell would not open in a full window and the playing cards did not snap in place as usual, etc. So I think his video card failed.

At some point during the video card failing, Windows implemented 'software rendering' and loaded 'vgasave'. This allowed my friend to at least use his computer until the video card can be replaced.

But something else happened about this time. When he opened Backup & Restore from Control Panel, he had a message that his system had been restored and that any previous backups were lost. He says he didn't restore anything.

What would cause an automatic restore and would that be related in anyway to the video card failure? Thanks in advance.

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 Post Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2018 5:27 pm 
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The actual video issue could easily be a driver issue and not a failed card although it it is also possible that it could be a bad card. 'vgasave' USUALLY gets implemented when there are missing or corrupt system files. Video drivers can easily be considered system files.

I would do the following before replacing the card.
1) Download the most current drivers and software for the current video.
2) Uninstall any reference for the current card via Programs and features.
3) Install the downloaded drivers.
4) Reboot.

Possible other options:
1) As a shortcut before doing the above you could try removing the video from device manager and rebooting to allow Windows to reinstall the current drivers.
2) In case Windows Updates installed video drivers that are causing issues go to the properties for the video in Device Manager and see if there is the option to roll back the drivers.

This is just a guess on the auto restore but I consider it possible that the change over to VGAsave could be considered a restore of sorts.

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 Post Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2018 7:10 pm 
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Jay, all good advice as usual. But the video card does not appear in Device Manager....that's the first thing I tried to do and that's why I think the card failed. On my Win 7 computer it appears in Device Manager under Display Adapter.

I think I will just help him install a new video card, after first removing and reinserting the old one to see if that helps. It's been awhile since I replaced a card.....anything special I should do or not do?

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 Post Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2018 7:56 pm 
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Nothing special, just remove any old drivers first.

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 Post Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2018 9:41 pm 
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You keep talking about drivers. I can't find mention of any drivers because the video card no longer shows in Device Manager. Where else would I find mention of the video card and drivers?

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 Post Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2018 9:55 pm 
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Look in Programs and features for anything related to the current video card. Usually removing the software will also remove the drivers. In my case, since I use a AMD Radeon card, my Programs and features reference shows as 'AMD Software'.

As a note, after removing the video drivers/software, Windows will install a simple VGA driver to be able to display on the screen. The display will not look good and everything will be large. Once you install the drivers/software for the new card things should be back to normal.

Just curious... Are you sure that your friends current video is a card and not built on the mother board?

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