Screen resolution after installing a new hard drive

[paulus goodeye]

Greetings all,

I have recently installed a new hard drive with W98se as the o/s. I have found that when I install my hardware (display adapter/monitor etc) that most of the generic windows drivers are installed which leaves me with a screen resolution problem. At least I think that is the cause??

When I try to alter my display settings the resolution bar is greyed out & I can only select 16 or 2 colours??? My monitor & video card both support a greater number of colours & higher resolution? Not sure what card I have to obtain a new driver - it is listed as standard pci graphics adapter (vga).

Please help!

PGE

[tjaymadison]

Welcome, paulus! http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

You should always include as much info about your system as you can.
Who is the vendor -- for example Compaq, IBM, Dell etc?

To get some info about your video adapter do this:

Right-click on a blank area of the desktop, click Properties,
the Settings tab, the Advanced button, and the Adapter tab.

This will show you the Manufacturer, the Chip type and
the amount of video memory.

Then you can go to the manufacturer's web site to look for
and download the most current drivers.


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"I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."
-- Charles Babbage, mathematician, computer pioneer, analytical engine designer (1791-1871)
-- (Question: 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?')

"Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand."
-- Homer Simpson

[AwARe]

Hello paulus, http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

When in the adapter tab of the display settings its most likely simply going to say "Standard Adapter" so youre not going to be able to find what video card it is this way........

Go to the control panel "start button/settings/control panel" and try clicking "add new hardware" let it auto detect your hardware and see if it can tell you what the card is that way........(then go online and get the correct drivers if you dont have them)

This still might not tell you, but its the first place to try.......

If after doing that it doesnt tell you what the video card is......there are several other ways to determine what card it is.....if it was purchased as a complete system such as compaq dell gateway etc.....you may be able to get that information from the mfg'.....it may also be built into your mother board, in which case you need to find out which mother board you have.........it gets kind of complicated from here out and may even require that you open your case and physically look at the components, so Ill leave it at this for now, and hope you can get it to auto detect the card......

If this doesnt work post back and Im sure someone can help you to figure it out further.........

Good Luck.....

EDIT: If you have a cd that came with your computer it probably has a set of drivers on it for your video card....you could "try" to use those drivers and see if it works........go in the adapter tab and click on change adapter.......then use the browse button to see if you can find any video driver files on the cd......that is "if" you have such a cd...

Also, if by any chance you still have your old Hard drive, and it still has your old Windows installed on it, and its a usable hard drive......
Probably wouldnt be a bad idea to reinstall it....then boot it up...after its running.....right click "my computer" go to properties, then click on "device manager".....then go in there and write down all your hardware specs..........then you should be able to find the drivers you need fairly easily once you know what the hardware actually is......

Hope this helped!

[This message has been edited by AwARe (edited 05-26-2001).]

[BigBlue66]

Hey,

Another way to find out a little something about your video adapter is to go to Start/Run and type the following:

hwinfo /ui

Scroll down until you find the Display category.

Cheers,

Big Blue 66


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The 50-50-90 rule: Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90% probability that you'll get it wrong.

[paulus goodeye]

Everyone - thank you ever so much for your tips. Absoluteley superb!!!
Especially "hwinfo /ui" how much time has this saved me...........

I finally solved the problem by installing a new ATI driver (may or may not have been the right one) - it works though.

What an excellent forum. I will be back for more....................... and remember Mrs Pickford it's only a vegetable? http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif

[This message has been edited by paulus goodeye (edited 05-30-2001).]