Text randomly disappears in most programs


  1. Sui
    Posts : 12
    Windows 10
       #1

    Text randomly disappears in most programs


    After installing creators update, the text in most programs would disappear randomly, making them impossible to use.

    Symptoms before this happens:

    • Computer usually hangs (sometimes even mouse cursor freezes) for at least a few minutes
    • If I happen to have task manager resource monitor up at the time of the freeze, read/write would be 0kbps, yet disk usage is 100%
    • Usually I'd have some kind of CPU/GPU intensive program open like a game, but it's always minimized. In other words my computer never hangs while actually playing the game


    Programs with missing text or glitched text:

    • Desktop. Some letters get replaced with weird symbols, and hovering over icons with mouse would turn text a blurry black colour (see screenshot below)
    • MS Paint
    • Explorer (hovering over icons would cause text to disappear)
    • CMD (completely blank black screen)
    • Any windows prompts or confirmation popups
    • Games
    • MS Office apps like Word


    Programs that don't get affected:

    • Internet browser (even foreign characters display fine)
    • Windows context menus, like when you right click
    • Task bar and start menu


    I'm assuming something crashed, like fonts? But it's very weird why some programs or features don't get affected.

    I Googled this and only found two "solutions", run SFC scannow, or uninstall "Comodo firewall". I've already ran SFC with no errors, and I don't have Comodo installed. Graphics drivers are all up to date (Intel HD + Nvidia Optimus). Also my issue is different as some programs aren't affected.

    Simply restarting computer will fix this, but I'd like to find out what's causing it, as it's happening almost every day.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 16,784
    Windows 10 Home x64 Version 22H2 Build 19045.4170
       #2

    Sui,

    Where you say that "Graphics drivers are all up to date (Intel HD + Nvidia Optimus)" is that according to your hardware maker? Windows update cannot be relied upon to identify & install the latest hardware updates or even, sometimes, the correct ones.

    Have you also checked your computer maker for any BIOS updates? An outstanding BIOS update can also affect hardware operation.

    Denis
      My Computer


  3. Sui
    Posts : 12
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #3

    The maker (Lenovo) doesn't provide any up to date drivers for this laptop (Y510P) for Windows 10, as it's a few years old.

    I use windows update for the Intel driver, and manually download Nvidia GeForce drivers on their site.

    For BIOS, since Lenovo doesn't provide any updates I'm not sure where to update this. I assumed this kind of high level thing would be covered by windows update.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 16,784
    Windows 10 Home x64 Version 22H2 Build 19045.4170
       #4

    Sui,

    Since Lenovo no longer provide any BIOS updates, that option is not relevant. So my earlier post was of no use to you.

    I also have computers that are no longer supported.
    • When I upgraded them I initially accepted the hardware drivers that Windows 10 installed then did one cycle of Windows update to get whatever Windows was gong to offer me.
    • I went to the Intel site to get the latest hardware drivers directly from them. Their automatic checking utility does not cover no-longer supported hardware so I had to search around the Intel Download Center manually.
    • I went to my PC maker's website and got the latest drivers they had for my non-Intel hardware.
    • I then just made the decision that these were as good as I was ever going to get and stopped Windows being able to update hardware drivers at all - Control panel, System, Advanced system settings, Hardware tab, Device installation settings, No, Save changes.
    • If I ever start to get problems after a Windows software update I will not know if it is a Windows problem or a problem with Windows accessing the hardware. But they have both been okay so far.


    My new computer gets hardware driver updates every month or so and has had two or three BIOS updates in the 10 months I have owned it. I always assume that the updates are required to maintain compatibility with Windows as it gets updated.

    Denis
      My Computer


 

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