White pixel line in desktop tile ONLY?!?!

gypsyinhersoul

New Member
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Location
Dublin, Ireland for now
I have a Dell XPS12 Ultrabook (amongst other things) and out of the blue a white line of pixels popped up on my desktop. It is there no matter what windows or programs I have open through the desktop however when I go to the start screen or open any other tile it goes away....I've tried restarting, changing the resolution, etc and can't make the line go away. Its still under warranty if it was the screen, but in the past my experience with blown out pixels (white lines on the screen) has been a screen replacement because its there no matter what....this goes away in the start screen or any other tile.... None of my other laptops/tablets with windows 8 have done this before.

Any suggestions?!?!

Thanks!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E5520
desktop.jpg open window on desktop.jpgyou can see the line on the desktop here and any windows open in the desktop......
start screen.jpgphoto viewer.jpg but it disappears on the start screen and photo viewer or any other tile...
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E5520
Well, those picture were definitely better than a thousand words! Strange happenings. However, humor me for a minute on this one and set your desktop back to the default theme and see what happens. This is not logical so why not try the unlogical; yes?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro Windows 8.1 Preview
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
And while you are at it, try moving those items (above the line) to a different area of the desktop to see if the line moves with them.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro Windows 8.1 Preview
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Don't want to jump in on JustATest (he is going down the right path), however, have you attempted to go to a black screen to see if this problem is there. . .just an idea, and a thought. . .Good luck.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8, (VM win7, XP, Vista)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion p1423w
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 3330 Ivy Bridge
    Motherboard
    Foxconn - 2ADA Ivy Brige
    Memory
    16 GB 1066MHz DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 5450
    Sound Card
    HD Realteck (Onboard)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Mitsubishi LED TV/Montior HD, Dell 23 HD, Hanspree 25" HD
    Screen Resolution
    Mit. 1980-1080, Dell 2048-115, Hanspree 1920-10802
    Hard Drives
    1 SanDisk 240Gig SSD, 2 Samsung 512Gig SSDs
    Case
    Tower
    Cooling
    Original (Fans)
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Keyboard 2000
    Mouse
    Microsoft Optical Mouse 5000
    Internet Speed
    1.3 (350 to 1024 if lucky)
    Browser
    Firefox 19.1
    Antivirus
    MSE-Defender
Don't want to jump in on JustATest (he is going down the right path), however, have you attempted to go to a black screen to see if this problem is there. . .just an idea, and a thought. . .Good luck.

Hi Lee... please join in... this looks like it might one of the more interesting issues posted recently.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro Windows 8.1 Preview
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Don't want to jump in on JustATest (he is going down the right path), however, have you attempted to go to a black screen to see if this problem is there. . .just an idea, and a thought. . .Good luck.

Hi Lee... please join in... this looks like it might one of the more interesting issues posted recently.
I was trying to think what would cause this type of malfunction in the screen, but at this point I am stumped. It actually doesn't appear to be pixels because it isn't happening full time, or on all programs. . .interesting. . .:what:
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8, (VM win7, XP, Vista)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion p1423w
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 3330 Ivy Bridge
    Motherboard
    Foxconn - 2ADA Ivy Brige
    Memory
    16 GB 1066MHz DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 5450
    Sound Card
    HD Realteck (Onboard)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Mitsubishi LED TV/Montior HD, Dell 23 HD, Hanspree 25" HD
    Screen Resolution
    Mit. 1980-1080, Dell 2048-115, Hanspree 1920-10802
    Hard Drives
    1 SanDisk 240Gig SSD, 2 Samsung 512Gig SSDs
    Case
    Tower
    Cooling
    Original (Fans)
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Keyboard 2000
    Mouse
    Microsoft Optical Mouse 5000
    Internet Speed
    1.3 (350 to 1024 if lucky)
    Browser
    Firefox 19.1
    Antivirus
    MSE-Defender
Okay, so I tried desktop personalization to change the background and it was still there no matter what default, black, etc. Restarting, recalibration of display, etc - no change....
black screen.jpg default desktop.jpg

BUT, while uploading these pictures I discovered that the pointer changes to a hand in that corner and if a window has a button over it (OK button when selecting pictures to upload) it won't let me click the button. So when the pointer changed to a hand, I clicked and it opens Mozilla Thunderbird! It's like a hidden shortcut? Is that possible?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E5520
If you go all the way to the lower right. It will change to a hand, and if you click it, it will return you to the desktop view (its like a toggle) so if you have TBird open, that is what you will see. I'm a bit tied up on another issue right now but I'll check back shortly if nobody else steps in first.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro Windows 8.1 Preview
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Also did you try to move those icon on the right to see if the line moved with it? I didn't see any evidence that you tried that in your response. In fact, try removing that clock from your desktop to see what happens.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro Windows 8.1 Preview
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Update: I have managed to find one other individual that had the exact same problem as you are are describing and he fixed his issue by tuning his 2d graphics card idle speed. Now, I know that sounds goofy but it might be worth a look. If you are so inclined to concentrate on that area, I would first update your graphics drivers to the latest version and if that doesn't work, I would download the portable GPU-Z utility and just click the exe file. When additionally prompted, just select NO and this screen will pop up after clicking on the Sensors Tab:

Download TechPowerUp GPU-Z v0.7.2 | techPowerUp

core.jpg

The view you are looking at is my GPU core and memeory speeds at idle. Some rigs will throttle the speeds upwards as the graphics need intensifies. Just curious to see what you idle speeds are.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro Windows 8.1 Preview
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
The mystery area only opens Thunderbird even when it's been unpinned from the desktop.... but the white line extends out farther than the clickable area anyway. Oh well - back to square one. :think:
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E5520
The mystery area only opens Thunderbird even when it's been unpinned from the desktop.... but the white line extends out farther than the clickable area anyway. Oh well - back to square one. :think:

WAIT! Maybe you are on to something... Go to this view and see if you can identify any shortcut that may be hidden. Note that I have a valid TBird shortcut on my desktop:

short.jpg
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro Windows 8.1 Preview
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
I tried moving the clock and gadgets side bar etc. Before I saw the suggestion about the graphics card I accidentally fixed it.....I uninstalled and reinstalled Thunderbird. On restart after the reinstall, the line is gone and the hidden shortcut area to Tbird is gone too! Thanks for the assistance everyone!!!! I have no idea what the correct combination of steps was though. :confused:
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E5520
See my last suggestion. You were one step ahead. Glad you got it fixed and I hope my suggestions helped in some small way.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro Windows 8.1 Preview
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Maybe something (e.g. an alert) is popping up in that corner, but it is not being drawn correctly so you can't see it (except for that line of pixels).

The latest version of Firefox sometimes does something similar to that (on my PC).
I can see the outline of the menu box, but it is transparent inside.

Have you checked:
  • For malware (i.e. run your AV program)?
  • The process list in the Task Manager?
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 (64 bit), Linux Mint 18.3 MATE (64 bit)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    n/a
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II x6 1055T, 2.8 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASRock 880GMH-LE/USB3
    Memory
    8GB DDR3 1333 G-Skill Ares F3-1333C9D-8GAO (4GB x 2)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD6450
    Sound Card
    Realtek?
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung S23B350
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital 1.5 TB (SATA), Western Digital 2 TB (SATA), Western Digital 3 TB (SATA)
    Case
    Tower
    Mouse
    Wired Optical
    Other Info
    Linux Mint 16 MATE (64 bit) replaced with Linux Mint 17 MATE (64 bit) - 2014-05-17
    Linux Mint 14 MATE (64 bit) replaced with Linux Mint 16 MATE (64 bit) - 2013-11-13
    Ubuntu 10.04 (64 bit) replaced with Linux Mint 14 MATE (64 bit) - 2013-01-14
    RAM & Graphics Card Upgraded - 2013-01-13
    Monitor Upgraded - 2012-04-20
    System Upgraded - 2011-05-21, 2010-07-14
    HDD Upgraded - 2010-08-11, 2011-08-24,
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