blinking screen

If it does that before your OS starts up, you can try to open the case so that you can get to the contacts of the cables connecting to the display. check that they are seated well. You may also have to replace the display, although this probably is too expensive for such an old PC.

Try booting to a DOS prompt. Does the display blink here. If so, I agree with answer 1. If you feel comfortable "getting under the hood" then remove the case and check the display cables. Sometimes they can come loose.

If the display is fine at the dos prompt then try booting into safe-mode. Does the screen blink here? If so then it is probably a screen or graphics adapter going bad or it could still be a software problem.

If the screen does not blink in safe Mode then it is most likely a software conflict. If it just started doing this then what software have you installed recently (including any Windows updates). One of these could be conflicting. Try removing each new piece of software in the reverse order one at a time and rebooting to see if the problem goes away. You might also go to IBM's site and see if there are any new updates for your bios or graphics adapter (it depends if you have ever updated them before).

You might also want to download a diagnostic utility from the net and use that prior to doing any uninstallation or updates. A good free one is TuffTEST-Lite. You can download it here:

http://www.tufftest.com/tt01-lite.htm

Download the file and follow the directions to create a disk. You can run all of the tests or just the video test to see if your screen/adapter are having any hardware problems. If everything tests ok then it is definitely a software/driver issue.

Cheers.

RW

THis sounds like you have a harware problem. Sometime ago I saw a similar problem with a laptop. The cable running up to the lcd may be cracked. Have it checked or replced as it could go all together.

if after loading windows, this could be driver issue, espicially if win xp