On windows Vista 32-but Ultimate Golly bad show grid in version 2.8, 3.0 3.2.
Instead grid like square it show blank canvas with upper left box (with 4 small arrows (2 vertical and 2 horizontal)).
After patern is loading and can running without showing grid.
on version 2.7 work properly.
Sounds like an OpenGL problem. Please post a screenshot and the first few lines in your GollyPrefs file (using version 3.2) showing the opengl_version info.
Also, try updating the driver software for your video card.