I would expect it to either be a video card driver issue or a video card that needs to be replaced.
Here is a basic step by step guide to updating your video drivers.
http://www.ehow.com/how_4921037_update-display-drivers-windows-xp.htmlTo clarify, once you get to the device manager, try to figure out which one is your video card and be sure to click all the little plus signs. If you are in doubt, right click on everything you don't know and select "update driver" on everything.
If that doesn't work, I would uninstall and reinstall the drivers for your video card.
If you aren't sure which is your video card, google some of the terms you see in the device manager section until you identify your video card.
If all that fails, I would replace your video card which is not as expensive as you might think. Though it might be a hassle with a laptop. Sometimes video cards are built into motherboards which would be bad. You should be able to google "video card replacement [computer model]" and probably find something on it.