Text Disappearing All Over Windows Randomly

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  1. Posts : 366
    Windows 10 Pro x64
       #1

    Text Disappearing All Over Windows Randomly


    Hello all,

    Ive got a weird issue here. More often than not, when I log onto Windows on my laptop, my desktop icons are missing text. It is not limited to just the icons though. Context menus are all missing text as well, along with everything when I open Windows explorer. Folders, apps, docs. etc are all missing their text. This happens to the extent where Im not able to use my computer, which is why I dont have any screenshots. I type in the search box for Cortana, no text. It comes up with suggestions for what I type, but no text again. No labels for anything so Im not able to see what it comes up with for results. Sometimes labels will be partial, parts of words, letters will show up but not the whole thing. If I either log off or restart, sometimes it will all come back and I able to use my computer

    Has anyone seen anything like this?

    Dell Precision M4800
    Windows 10 Pro x64, latest insider build
    Intel Core i7 4810MQ
    16GB DDR3-1600 RAM
    NVIDIA Quadro K2100M
    Intel HD Graphics 4600
    Samsung PM830 128GB SSD
    Seagate FireCuda 1TB SSHD
    1366*768 Screen Resolution

    EDIT:

    Ive searched all over Google. I cant find anything that really seems to match the issue I am having, and some are from a couple years ago. I really have no idea whats going on here.
    Last edited by ArazelEternal; 14 Mar 2017 at 21:03. Reason: More info
      My Computers


  2. Posts : 42,734
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       #2

    Hi, do you see the same thing in Safe Mode?

    And do you have a suitable system restore point or previously created disk image (which we strongly and repeatedly recommend using routinely e.g. Macrium Reflect (free) ) you could use to restore your PC?
      My Computers


  3. Posts : 366
    Windows 10 Pro x64
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Yes, the same thing happened in safe mode as well. I just did a clean install of Windows. I couldnt get the text to come back when I turned my laptop on today so I said screw it and reinstalled Windows. Thanks for your response though.
      My Computers


  4. Posts : 2
    Windows 10 x64 ver 1703 (build 250)
       #4

    ArazelEternal said:
    Hello all,

    [...]
    Ive got a weird issue here. More often than not, when I log onto Windows on my laptop, my desktop icons are missing text.

    [...]
    Yes, I have. It started on this box after Creators Update - no other box has this issue (all running Win 10 pre-Creators).I read somewhere that it's GFX card related (NVIDIA), but it looks like a Windows glitch. I run Windows 10 Home x64 ver 1703 (build 250)
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 42,734
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       #5

    Unlikely to be graphics related if it's apparent in Safe Mode (#3)... or at least that would seem to eliminate the NVIDIA driver as a culprit.
      My Computers


  6. Posts : 2
    Windows 10 x64 ver 1703 (build 250)
       #6

    dalchina said:
    Unlikely to be graphics related if it's apparent in Safe Mode (#3)... or at least that would seem to eliminate the NVIDIA driver as a culprit.
    This is very true -- I forgot about the Safe Mode part, thanks :) .

    Also, I can certify it's not due to some DISM corruption issue. To cut a long story short, Creators has this bug that gives a 0x800f081f DISM error, a matter that has been talked to death elsewhere, so I won't go on here :) All I'll say is that at first I thought that was the culprit, though SFC gave no errors. Anyway, the issue turned out to be two leftover test registry entries which (when removed) allow DISM to finally finish restoring the image (and it turns out wasn't needed on my box). So - the disappearing text problem persists even after that DISM issue is fixed. I have latest BIOS version (MSI BIOS 2.10/AMI BIOS 2.1) and all drivers updated.

    One thing I've noticed is that the problem tends to happen the very first time the PC starts. System drive is SSD, not sure if that makes any difference - but I did notice something else a bit weird (to me at least): a 'chkdsk /f /scan' gave a lot of unused index entries cleaned from security descriptors. Repeating the 'chkdsk /f scan' reduced them from 400 plus something down to 11, both from index $SII and $SDH of 'file 0x9'. Not sure if that's related. But then I tried a 'chkdsk /scan /forceofflinefix' without any problem anywhere, including the security descriptor indexes. Not sure if this is related, but thought I'd mention it.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 5
    W10/64
       #7

    Same exact problem on Acer laptop (Celeron 2.16 GHz, 2008 Phoenix, 4 Gb RAM) Just upgraded W7/64 to W10 (1909). When powered on, idle, all text disappears and returns only on reboot.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 42,734
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       #8

    That's a significantly older PC than Pi87's.

    Do note though that in upgrading an older unsupported PC to Win 10 (as millions do) nothing is guaranteed.

    This symptom is discussed elsewhere:
    https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...8-34f514f7e974
    => clean install

    Almost all text is missing from windows 10
    => reset fonts etc (posts at end)
      My Computers


  9. Posts : 5
    W10/64
       #9

    >dalchina

    Thanks for reply. It seems clear to me that the problem is NOT a result of old technology, at least in terms of program execution, but of an incompatibility in microsoft update.
    Changing ClearType ON to OFF performs a partial but temporary fix. On reboot, all text is normal, but as unit powered on for longer periods of time, text fails on new apps.
    Workaround has been deprecating my intel graphics driver. Trade off: poor aspect ratio but solid text.
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 42,734
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       #10

    Your problem may be related to getting just the right version of the graphics driver.

    Sometimes one used for a previous build of Windows works. Try the one for Win 7 or 8 (if available). But in your case, do you also see the same problem in Safe mode?
      My Computers


 

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