My laptop screen keeps flickering with horizontal lines. Sometimes it stops for a while then starts again. Is the screen dying?
Screen flickering can be either a software issue or a hardware problem. To determine which, open Task Manager with Ctrl+Shift+Esc and watch if Task Manager itself flickers. If Task Manager flickers too, the issue is a display driver or incompatible app. If Task Manager is stable while the rest of the screen flickers, the issue is an incompatible app. For driver issues: open Device Manager, expand Display Adapters, right-click your graphics card, and select Update Driver. If updating does not help, try rolling back: right-click, Properties, Driver tab, Roll Back Driver. You can also try uninstalling the driver entirely and restarting — Windows will install a basic driver that may be more stable. For app conflicts, boot into Safe Mode and see if the flickering stops. If it does, recently installed apps are the cause. Common culprits are Norton antivirus, iCloud, and iTunes which have known display conflicts on Windows. If flickering happens even in Safe Mode or BIOS, the issue is hardware — either a loose display cable inside the laptop or a failing screen. A loose cable can sometimes be fixed by opening the laptop and reseating the connection. A failing screen needs professional replacement costing 100 to 300 dollars depending on the model.
