Join the AMA (Ask Me Anything) with the Firefox leadership team to celebrate Firefox 20th anniversary and discuss Firefox’s future on Mozilla Connect. Mark your calendar on Thursday, November 14, 18:00 - 20:00 UTC!

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

Hortizontal black and white lines across web browser screen that appears and disappears but blocks usually 3/4 of web page, did not have with last version heard it might be my graphics card?

  • 6 replies
  • 71 have this problem
  • 1 view
  • Last reply by JohnDragon

more options

Since downloading Firefox 4, I will periodically get black and white horizontal lines that cover about 2/3 of the browser screen. There doesn't seem to be any trend to the website or areas it happens at, and will sometimes happen multiple times while scrolling through a large news article. The lines stay fixed to a certain area. The only way to get them to go away is to refresh the screen or if the page is big enough scroll to an area not affected and then scroll back. I've heard from someone that it might be my graphics card. My computer's a hand-me-down but not terribly old so it could be that the card is just old or bad, any other ideas?

Picture: http://s294.photobucket.com/albums/mm116/Alterationnn/?action=view&current=firefox.jpg

Since downloading Firefox 4, I will periodically get black and white horizontal lines that cover about 2/3 of the browser screen. There doesn't seem to be any trend to the website or areas it happens at, and will sometimes happen multiple times while scrolling through a large news article. The lines stay fixed to a certain area. The only way to get them to go away is to refresh the screen or if the page is big enough scroll to an area not affected and then scroll back. I've heard from someone that it might be my graphics card. My computer's a hand-me-down but not terribly old so it could be that the card is just old or bad, any other ideas? Picture: http://s294.photobucket.com/albums/mm116/Alterationnn/?action=view&current=firefox.jpg

All Replies (6)

more options

I too have this problem, computer is 3 months old running Windows 7

more options

Websites look wrong

https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Websites%20look%20wrong

Check and tell if its working.

more options

Tried everything relevant there! The problem has the same look as the image uploaded by ScottN. Just started using Firefox, impressed with its speed but this is driving me crazy! Thanks.

more options

Corrupt localstore.rdf

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Corrupt_localstore.rdf

Check and tell if its working.

more options

Try to disable hardware acceleration.

  • Tools > Options > Advanced > General > Browsing: "Use hardware acceleration when available"

If disabling hardware acceleration works then check if there is an update available for your graphics display driver.

more options

Thanks cor-el, I have been trying to work out how to do this for the last hour or so!! Will see how it goes, but it seems to have cured it. Fingers crossed. Will disabled hardware acceleration make much difference to performance?