Screen goes weird - cascading colored bars

[rheasilvia]

HP G42
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-Bit
AMD Phenom(tm) II N640 2.9GHz
4GB RAM

Every once and a while I'll be on my computer, either surfing the web or modeling in Maya, and my computer will all of a sudden, I don't really know how to describe it - be showing these horizontal multi-colored bars that keep cascading. It's happened 4 times now and each time they last longer and longer.

Dose anyone know what's going on, and if it's something I can fix?

Thank you so much for your help!

 

[smorizio]

can be three issues..one a bad video cable to the monitor...broken wire or bent or broken pin. the other issues is a screen failure. the last is a gpu ram failure. if your using onboard video from your pc....when this happens try another monitor on the same pc see if the issue stays with the monitor or with the pc. if your pc has a video card...check that the fan is moving and the rig not full of dust. if you can see if a friend has another card you can use to rule out a gpu failure.

 

[MauveCloud]

The AMD Phenom(tm) II N640 is a mobile cpu, so the OP probably has a laptop, which means borrowing a video card to rule out gpu failure won't work. However, checking for dust buildup is an excellent idea. That picture looks like the gpu overheated.

 

[smorizio]

if it is a laptop is can also be a sign bad led cable. one that walked out or from age is failing.