Screen randomly going blank in Windows (Bootcamp) but not OS X

[DocGreen]

Hey guys, need some Mac help (I hate Macs)

Customer brought me an iMac (iMac24/3.06/2X2G/NVIDIA/500/WM/WK)... I think it's a Late 2008? Anyway, it used to have a dual-boot Vista/OS X but it wouldn't boot anymore. She wanted me to update it to W7Pro x86/OS X. Replaced a failed HDD and installed the OSes, everything seemed fine. Customer brought the computer back right away because the computer "kept shutting off." What was actually happening is that the screen was going blank, but the computer stayed on (unsure if it was frozen or not). This only happens in Windows... I've had it booted to OS X for days without a problem.

Anyone have any advice?

 

[Markverhyden]

I never recommend people use Bootcamp unless they have a specific requirement to access the underlying hardware layer, such as with a USB intra-oral camera. You should always recommend that they use a VM solution. They are low cost and very reliable.

Personally I would have installed W7 64 bit since the underlying hardware is 64 bit. When you rebuilt the machine did you download the Apple driver pack for that machine? Given the symptom I'd tend to think that it may be an issue with the video drivers and may be because it's 32bit. Have you tried to boot the machine off of a PE disk to see what happens?

 

[altrenda]

Basic troubleshooting says cut the problem in half. Is it a problem with the Windows installation itself or the Bootcamp drivers? I'd reinstall the latest update of bootcamp first, and if that didn't fix it, start looking at it like any other Windows machine.

 

[DocGreen]

I never recommend people use Bootcamp unless they have a specific requirement to access the underlying hardware layer, such as with a USB intra-oral camera. You should always recommend that they use a VM solution. They are low cost and very reliable.

Personally I would have installed W7 64 bit since the underlying hardware is 64 bit. When you rebuilt the machine did you download the Apple driver pack for that machine? Given the symptom I'd tend to think that it may be an issue with the video drivers and may be because it's 32bit. Have you tried to boot the machine off of a PE disk to see what happens?

I originally installed x64 until I found (through excessive troubleshooting w/ Apple) that even though the hardware is 64-bit, they never released any 64-bit drivers. Hence, that particular iMac only supports 32-bit Windows.

The customer isn't a Mac person (or terribly tech-savvy at all), so I don't think a VM option would be a good idea for them. Personally, I would rather install Windows by itself and skip OS X alltogether.

Basic troubleshooting says cut the problem in half. Is it a problem with the Windows installation itself or the Bootcamp drivers? I'd reinstall the latest update of bootcamp first, and if that didn't fix it, start looking at it like any other Windows machine.

I used the most recent drivers available from Apple.