Ok.... so i will be using my computer normally and then, randomly, the program im using will turn black and the GUI will be very messed up until i move the window around (ghost trails). I can get everything back to normal except the menus which will always have this strange black box on them. This happens for the menus in pretty much all the programs i use except Firefox and Thunderbird (I think they have another GUI thing?). It also happens on my right click menus, which is a bummer.

I included a screen shot from when it does it in Opera.

Here:

Any ideas on what is causing this or how to fix it?

Edited October 22, 200520 yr by everythingrock

Have you checked your video drivers? That'd be my first guess.

How would I go about doing that? Ive actually just switched to XPize but the problem could still happen. So how would i check my drivers?

Well... go to the website of the manufacturer of your video card (ATI or nVidia), and download the latest drivers.

Then go to Add/Remove Programs. You should have an option there to remove the ATI/nVidia drivers. Uninstall. Reboot.

When you've come back to your desktop, check to see if the problem is still there with the default drivers (ignore any options to automatically detect new hardware). If it is present, then it's not your video drivers.

Then install the new drivers from wherever you saved the file. Reboot.

Thanks. I think im going to just install the new drivers anyways (i hadnt updates em ever probably) and just wait until it happens again and hope it doesnt. XPize looks like its working fine so far.

Ok. I installed new drivers and it still happens every once in a while... any new ideas?

Most menu functions in applications are actually called using the MSV*.* files in system32. Run an sfc /scannow or (at worst) a repair installation. What you're seeing isn't a driver issue, it's file corruption (thankfully, they're most likely MS Windows files, so an sfc will fix them).

Ok. Im trying that now (looking for my windows CD ) How come the menus dont get messed up in firefox or thunderbird?

Ok. I did that... there were a couple files that it says it couldn't find in the CD. This was because i used an old CD that didnt have sp1. The thing that makes this problem so hard is that it happens randomly and I cant tell if its fixed for at least a couple hours after reboot. Should i re install sp1?

Ok. I did that... there were a couple files that it says it couldn't find in the CD. This was because i used an old CD that didnt have sp1. The thing that makes this problem so hard is that it happens randomly and I cant tell if its fixed for at least a couple hours after reboot. Should i re install sp1?

By saying that, I must assume your using Service Pack 1 ??

Yea... the CD i used to install Xp on this computer was XP w/ SP1 and all I could find was an older XP cd without SP1.

The Mozilla suite of apps run completely on their own, without using any built-in MS OS functions or API's (well, not entirely, but I won't bore you with the file API's and such). That's why those work fine - they aren't using anything in the OS to display menus or HTML, etc.

So that further proves the corrupeted windows file theory? Well... computers been on a couple hours and nothing has happened (knock on wood). Well... assuming this works: Thanks!