I did a recent OS reinstall of XP on my laptop, and after running fine a few times, I got an error message on startup-
"A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer. The problem seems to be caused by the following file: nv4_disp (etc. etc.)"
After that, the computer would turn on, with the power and number lock icons lit, but I would only get a blank screen (backlight is on, however). After fiddling for a bit (removing and replacing RAM, HDD), the computer, seemingly randomly, booted up. I downloaded the latest driver for my graphics card (I'm assuming the nv4 disp refers to the Nvidia card), and restarted fine. When I shut down and started back up, however, I was back to the same problem. I just tried again and the computer again booted fine. I don't believe I'm doing anything special when it has booted. In terms of ratios, I have probably tried to start up about 20 times and it worked twice.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!