Fix Distorted Screen or Gray Screen after Windows 10 Fall Creators Update
Jun. 23, 2022 / Updated by Helia to Windows 10
Display problems like screen resolutionissue, black screen, stretched screen, etc. are never free from Windows 10 updates, including the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update. Recently, the latest v1709 has brought the problem of the distorted screen (also known as stretched screen or gray screen) into focus. Most of the users who have upgraded or updated to Windows 10 Fall Creators Update come across the scrambled screen similar to the picture below:
Common complaints when Windows users encounter the distorted screen glitch are:
"Screen gets very distorted, and very hard to read whenever my laptop awake from the sleep.""After upgrading to Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, my display keeps getting distorted. What should I do?""My Dell XPS laptop is half covered with green and gray stripes and half covered in gray. I installed Windows 10 v1709 last night.""After power on, my display screen suddenly become scrambled, covering with gray lines.""I recently just updated to Windows 10. After I wake up my laptop, the screen is stretched, duplicated, distorted, and hard to work with."
What Are the Causes of Distorted/Stretched Screen on Windows 10
Many factors can trigger the distortion screen. To sum up, the main culprits of stretched screen after windows 10 Fall Creators Update are:
1. Improper Intel/AMD/NVIDIA display settings
2. Incompatible graphics drivers
3. Color depth
4. Power supply
5. Other unknown factors
It is frustrated to continue computing with such monitor with red or green or gray lines. How irritating the flickering, dizzy, and colorful screen is!
If you are in the trap of such display/graphics/video problem on your Windows 10 computer, don't be worried. This post will show you some workable solutions to troubleshoot the distorted screen on your Windows 10 Fall Creators Update running on various brands of computers, like Dell, Microsoft Surface, Lenovo, HP, Acer, Asus, Samsung, etc.
Top 6 Ways to Fix Windows 10 Distorted Screen after the Fall Creators Update
The following are six workarounds you can adopt to solve the distorted or scrambled screen issue. If it is hard to read anything on the display as the picture below, you can try the steps below to enter the Safe Mode and then continue the fixing:
Step 1. Hold the power button of the computer to shut down and press it to power on. Repeat this twice and you will have the Recoveryblue screen after a third attempt.
Step 2. Click the options on-screen: See advanced repair options>Troubleshoot>Advanced options>Windows Startup Settings>Restart.
Step 3. Press F5 key to Enter Safe Mode with Networking.
If you can work with gray screen reluctantly, see the common way to enter Safe Mode.
Way 1. Sign out Windows 10 Fall Creators Update and Re-sign in
Sign out and exit your current account on your laptop or desktop, and sign in again to see if the distorted screen error still persists. Some users also get their display available by logging in with a new account.
If this method did not work, try other solutions below.
You May Want to Check:
Way 2. Make Changes to the Computer Power Supply
Once the computer restarts, it comes with the distorted or sctretched screen. For users who are stuck on this hitch, it is better to plug out the charge adapter and re-plug in. Then turn on the computer to check the display. Also, if you're using a laptop, close the lid and then open it again.
If computing is not that difficult with the stretched screen, you can go to the Power Options to disable the Fast startup feature.
Step 1. Use Windows shortcut keysWin + R to launch Run.
Step 2. Enter powercfg.cpl and hit the Enter key.
Step 3. On the left side, click Choose what the power buttons do.
Step 4. Click Change settings that are currently unavailable.
Step 5. In the Shutdown settings, uncheck Turn on fast startup.
Step 6. Click the Save changes button.
Then restart the computer to see if this fixes the distorted screen bug.
Way 3. Repair Graphics/Display/Video Drivers to Fix Distorted Screen or Stretched Screen
The Windows 10 Fall Creators Update and other key updates often result in outdated, missing or corrupted driver issues. As some users described, the NVIDIA GTX 1070 graphics card driver, whose latest driver version on NVIDIA is 387.92, becomes incompatible with the Windows 10 v1709.
The Fall Creators Update has not installed proper display driver and has caused the distorted screen issues. To make your display work properly as before, it is necessary to install the best-matched graphics/video/display driver.
You can uninstall the current display driver in Device Manager, and download and install the last version of your graphics driver that helps stop the distorted screen.
Since Windows 10 tends to install some latest drivers automatically, which may not work on the new OS, you can do the following to prevent this:
Step 1. Launch Run. Type into gpedit.msc and click the OK.
Step 2. Go to Computer Configuration and expand the Administrative Templates.
Step 3. Expand System, and then Device Installation.
Step 4. Highlight the Device Installation Restrictions.
Step 5. On the right side, double-click the Prevent installation of devices not described by other policy settings.
Step 6. Choose the Enable option.
Step 7. Click the Apply and the OK button.
Then you need to install the bested-matched display driver for your computer. Manual download and install drivers to fix the distorted screen is a time-consuming process. If you prefer a one-click solution, you can try Driver Talent, which offers a list of driver versions compatible with the Fall Creators Update.
Only 3 easy steps to solve the scrambled screen issue:
Step 1. Launch Driver Talent. Click the Scan button to find all the faulty drivers.
Step 2. Choose a proper graphics driver version and click Download from the drop-down menu beside to download and install the driver.
Step 3. Restart the computer.
As some users reported, you can also roll back the display driver to an earlier version to fix the AMD graphics card problem on Windows 10. You can refer to Fix Display/Video/Graphics Problems after Windows 10 Update for solutions.
Note: It is recommended to backup all the drivers before any system changes in case the computer runs into other severe problems.
See Also:
NVIDIA GeForce Drivers Download for Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7, XP, Vista
Top 2 Solutions to Download and Update NVIDIA Drivers for Windows 10
Download and Update Graphics/Display/Video Driver for Windows 10
Way 4. Change the Color Depth of the Monitor and Solve Distorted Screen Problem
Also, you can change the color depth in your graphics control panel to troubleshoot the distorted screen issue. Take NVIDIA Control Panel as an example:
Step 1. Right-click on the desktop and select NVIDIA Control Panel. (Note: If you can't open the control panel, see How to Fix NVIDIA Control Panel Won't Open on Windows 10)
Step 2. Expand the Display and then highlight the Change resolution.
Step 3. On the right side, select 8 bpc from the drop-down menu of Output color depth.
Step 4. Restart the PC.
Hope this can help to fix the distorted or gray display on your Windows 10 Fall Creators Update laptop or desktop and you can continue your office work successfully.
See Also:Common Display/Graphics Problems and Solutions for Windows 10 Fall Creators Update
Way 5. Disable Sleep Mode to Stop the Distorted Screen
If the screen is distorted with gray lines each time you wake up the computer from sleep or activate it from the lock screen, then you can try turn off the sleep mode on your Windows 10 Fall Creators Update PC.
Step 1. Open Settings with shortcut keys Win + I.
Step 2. Click the System menu.
Step 3. Choose the Power & sleep tab. Select Never under the Sleep. (If you're using a laptop, select Never for both "on battery power" and "plug in".)
After that, you will not come across the distorted screen or gray screen.
See Also:
How to Rouse Asus ZenBook that Won't Wake up from Sleep on Windows 10
Fix Computer Won't Wake Up from Sleep or Hibernate after Windows 10 Update
Turn on Microsoft Surface from Sleep Crash on Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, XP
Way 6. Remove Picture Password to Fix the Gray Screen
Some may run into the gray screen after activating the lock screen. If you have set picture password to unlock the screen, you can delete the picture password to troubleshoot such gray screen or distorted screen issue:
Step 1. Click the Start menu.
Step 2. Click the your account avatar and select the Change account settings.
Step 3. Choose the Sign-in options tab.
Step 4. On the right side, scroll down and click the Remove button under the Picture Password.
Other Screen Issue-related Posts You May Want to Check:
Fix Black Screen with Cursor after Windows 10 Fall Creators Update
Fix: Screen Flashing/Flickering on Windows 10 Creators Update
Fix: Screen Calibration Resetting after Windows 10 Creators Update
Fix Advanced Display Settings Missing after Windows 10 Creators Update
All of the above are possible the best solutions to fix the Windows 10 distorted screen or stretched screen after the Fall Creators Update 1709 or Spring Creators Update 1803. If you still fail to solve the screen issue, you can comment below or click the left menu for technical support. Any other Windows 10-related problems, please go to Windows 10 section on this site or our blog for help.
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