my computer starts flashing if i try to open zip files.. have to shut it down

[sam sarrha]

to stop it..

is there a cure..?

ANTEC 900 Case.
ASUS Rampage Formula X48.
Intel Xeon 3110 3MHz Core2 Duo.
VISTA 64bit Home Premium.
Silent Knight2 CPU cooler.
8GB OCZ Reaper HPC DDR2 1400.
2x Western Digital Caviar 500GB HD RAID1.
VisionTec Radeon HD 3870 X2.
OPTI UPS Battery Back Up.
Cosair 750 watt PSU

[canetoad]

1. It all depends what is flashing

Is it the keyboard with an eerie atomic glow? Seriously, we need more information to have a clue about what is going on.

[whistler162]

2. PC's probably wearing a raincoat.

[sam sarrha]

3. flashes off/on about twice a scecond, as equal time off as on.. while frozen..has to be unpluged to

stop it

[ConsAreLiars]

4. Something to check:

Right click on a zip file and select "Open With." The bolded one in the list is what the left click tries to use as a default. That may be a totally wrong file, some malware, or a corrupted program that just crashes the machine. Download a new copy of WinRAR or WinZip and then use the right click selection process to make one of those the default.

[sam sarrha]

5. any way to fix it without paying for something i should have already,...?

[canetoad]

6. Still do not understand what is flashing

Is it the power to the computer? The screen? The zip menu? It may be a simple fix or it may be nothing to do with zip files. More info needed.

[sam sarrha]

7. the screen.. freezes and flashes, i did click start and > got the menue up and clicked shut down..

it took 4 tries to click in the right flash... i'll check the vista site

[ConsAreLiars]

8. Both are shareware

WinRAR is more versatile and will handle many more types of compressed files. You can send a contribution if you use it a lot, but if you do not register the only inconvenience is a requester that pops up when started asking if you wish to register. Using it to deal with zip files will let you determine if your default unzipper, whatever it might be, is the cause of the problem.

[PennDem]

9. Try booting into Safe Mode

Tap the F8 key about once a second while starting the computer until you get an advanced options boot menu screen and then choose Safe Mode. See if it still flashes when trying to open your zip files. Almost sounds like a video card problem.

[canetoad]

10. You may be right PennDem

It could be a monitor/vid card problem that coincidentally happened at the time Sam was opening zip files.

Being the eternal optimist, I'd check the DUH things first: monitor and power cables, then if graphics card is seated properly. I can't see a relationship between a flashing monitor and zip files.

[PennDem]

11. True that canetoad

Check all power and video cable connections and reseat the video card before any further troubleshooting.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

12. Izarc

Free.