changing the plug and play monitor

[phreaqe]

i recently redid my gramas computer, upgrading it from windows me to XP. i brought the computer to my house to reformat it so it was plugged into my monitor when i installed XP. when i got the computer back to her house the screen went to the 16 colors mode woth 640x480 resolution. so i unistalled the plug and play monitor drivers and reinstalled them. i restarted the domputer and they worked fine the first restart but after the the next restart it went back to the 16 color mode. i have tried this a few times and it does the same thing.

i have tried everything that i can think of to fix it short of messing with the monitor ini files. i do not know how to do that so i am not to eager to do that and mess up the computer.

it is a generic LCD panel that came with the computer. i do not know a brand name.

any ideas on how to make it work would be nice. thanks

 

[Ken90630]

I'm a long way from being an expert on this, but I believe you can go to "Add/Remove Hardware" in the Control Panel folder and remove the monitor that, er, installed itself via plug 'n play when you set it up at your house. In fact, you'll probably see both monitors listed in there now. Just remove the one you don't want.

If it were me, I'd do that and see if it removes all the drivers and associated files (it should). It's possible you might have to go into the registry to remove some lingering files, but not real likely. Most modern plug 'n play devices remove fairly easily nowadays. You can also get some indication of what's going on with your monitors via Device Manager (right click on My Computer, choose Properties, then Device Manager).

I personally wouldn't go messing with ini files unless I really knew what I was doing (and I wouldn't!) Heh heh.

Give this post a few hours or even a day or two and see what other advice you get. As I said, I'm not an expert, and there are some guys on these forums that know 10 times as much about this stuff as I do. I will tell you that the problem should be easy to fix, so don't go down a long path of regedits and googling for drivers and such things. It should not be necessary.

Good luck!

 

[phreaqe]

i have already tried going into the device manager. that was my first thiung i did. that makes it work for the first restart but when i restart it agian it goes back to the messed up settings.

 

[Ken90630]

Did you try "Add/Remove Hardware" in the Control Panel? You're gonna have to do that first because until you do, the monitor will still be installed on the computer. You need to get it out of there entirely, and that should do it. It should take all of 30 seconds (or less).

If it were me, I'd remove both monitors from "Add/Remove Hardware" and then just plug in the one you want and let it install itself all over again (or install its drivers from a CD if appropriate). Who knows -- maybe with the tinkering you've been doing, some drivers got corrupted or something.

Hope that helps. Again, this should not be a hard problem. If you're still stuck after trying what I suggested above, just call the tech support number for whoever makes the computer/monitor. Even the dumbest tech support rep should be able to walk you thru a fix for this. Plug 'n play monitors are just not that complicated.

 

[phreaqe]

i have tried going into the add/remove hardware menu as well. i thought this would be simple too but it does not seem that way. after it unistalls the monitor it reinstalls itself but it only works until i restart it. after i restart it, it goes badk to being messed up.

the monitor is a generic monitor. i do not know the manufacturur.. it came with the computer throught one of those deals off of QVC or something(my dad bought it without asking me or i would have told him not to buy it.)

 

[stevty2889]

I am thinking it's more likely the video card drivers rather than the monitor drivers. I have never seen the standard plug and play monitor driver cause any problems with windows XP, but not sure since you say it works fine until you you restarted it. What resolution are you trying to change it too? Perhaps you are setting it too high, so it reverts back at reboot. What size is the monitor? LCD's have a native resolution which is what they work best at. Also check the refresh rate. You don't need it higher than 60hz for an LCD.

 

[phreaqe]

the monitor is a 15 inch with 1024 resolution. the computer has an old nvidia vanta 16meg card in it. i put new nvidia drivers on the computer and that did not help. i tried unistalling everything and reinstalling everything as well. still nothing.

 

[Ken90630]

Hmmm ... this is really a weird problem. Answer these questions for me if you can:

1) When you go to Add/Remove Programs, do 2 monitors show up or just one? If just one, what is its "name" (i.e., what is your computer calling the monitor)?

2) When you go into Device Manager, how many monitors show up? If 2 show up, does one have a red "X" thru it or a yellow question mark?

3) On the monitor itself, is there any identifying name whatsoever on it? Like maybe on the back panel, or under the base or something?

4) If the monitor is part of one of those package deals like you mentioned, what brand is the computer itself? You might get tech support from that company since the monitor was part of what your dad bought from them. There's got to be SOME brand name or identifying number on the system somewhere (I would think anyway!).

You could, like Stevty said, have a vid card driver issue. Hey -- here's a thought: Windows XP has that "System Restore" (or whatever it's called) feature, right? Why not just roll the system back to the day before you started tinkering with the monitor? That'd be the easiest thing to do at this point! (Not to insult your intelligence, but be sure to save any files you've created since then to a zip disk or CD or USB drive or something before you do the rollback. That way you can put them back on your machine when you're done.)

Don't give up. There's a solution to this prob here somewhere.

 

[phreaqe]

1: there was only one monitor there. and it was called default plug and play monitor.
2: once agian once monitor
3: i looked and did not find anything. i did nto look that hard though and will go back to look agina when i get a chance.

4:i doubt that there will be any tech support for this problem. it was originaly an windows me computer. i upgraded it to XP.

i cannot go back to the system resore because i have had this problem since day on of the install. somehow i think that it is still thinking that is ising my monitor from my house. when i first formatted it and installed XP it showed up and the NEC LCD1760 (that is my monitor) then i took it up to my grandmas after i did all the updates and whatnot. that is when the problem started

 

[Ken90630]

You know, my guess would be that the computer is not thinking that your NEC monitor is still installed. When I check my Device Manager, it specifies my monitor as being a Viewsonic, and it shows the model number as well. And it's a plug 'n play monitor. I'd think that a brand name plug 'n play monitor like your NEC would be specified as such in your Device Manager (as opposed to just saying "default plug 'n play monitor"). "Default plug 'n play monitor" is precisely what you'd expect to find with a generic, no-name monitor.

You know what might be the prob? Does the computer have integrated video or a video card? If it has a card, the card might not be compatible with Windows XP. It might be incompatible all together, or it might need updated drivers or something. Take a look at the mobo & see if there's a vid card on it. If so, you might need to get the brand name & then check the mfgr's Web site or call them to ask about XP compatibility. That could be whole prob right there; having said that, however, I'd be a bit surprised if one of those QVC-type systems has anything other than integrated video. Even the integrated drivers could need updating for XP though (?).

If that's not the prob, you might wanna just call Microsoft tech support. If memory serves, I think you get 2 free tech support calls with a purchase of XP, so why not use one? You paid for it (or your dad did, anyway).

Good luck. Sorry I couldn't nail down a definitive, easy fix for you.

PS: Assembly-line computers like Dell, Gateway, and the QVC-type thing you describe are notorious for being difficult (and sometimes impossible) to upgrade. I had a heck of a time upgrading my 1998 Gateway computer from Windows 98 to Windows 2000 Professional awhile back. I had to call Microsoft & Gateway a half dozen times to overcome the barriers that Gateway put up to prevent upgrading, and it was Microsoft that helped me get around them. These mfgrs don't want people tinkering with systems that they're obligated to support, so they intentionally put up impediments to upgrading. (They also want you to buy another computer rather than upgrade.) Maybe this is why we're having such a time with what should be a simple thing to fix?

 

[phreaqe]

the video card is a 16 meg nvidia vanta. i downloaded and installed the newest nvidia drivers that were out about 1-2 months ago when i formatted the computer. i really do not know if this card is incompatible with xp.

after i get it to work i can crank up the res and the colors and it looks good til i restart. then it is crappy agian so it seems like it is not saving the changes that i am making to the settings.

thanks for all the help so far.

 

[GregMal]

Instead of attempting to remove it, can you disable it in the device manager? Then manually
add hardware with a monitor of your choice?
Greg

 

[phreaqe]

i will give that a shot. i ahve been working to much to get up there and take a look at it for a while.

 

[Ken90630]

I wouldn't be surprised if the Vanta is simply imcompatible with XP. According to this link on nVidia's site, it came out in 1999 (long before XP was even a synaptic impulse in some Microsoft engineer's brain). You might click on some of the links on the page I referenced above and read up on it a little bit. Apparently the Vanta was a low-cost vid card that nVidia provided to OEMs for use in their computers. nVidia doesn't even offer tech support on it -- they tell you to contact the mfgr/vendor that made the computer.

I'd call that company if you can, then call Microsoft if you don't get the answer you need. I'd suggest swapping video cards, but you may run into trouble there too since these generic rigs often hiccup when you try to add in aftermarket cards and certain kinds of hardware (I know my 1999 Gateway gave me fits when I put an ATI Radeon 7000 in it awhile back).

Hope you find the answer soon.

 

[stevty2889]

try this driver: Windows XP Nvidia Vanta driver

p.s. user login id: drivers
password: all

 

[phreaqe]

Originally posted by: stevty2889
try this driver: Windows XP Nvidia Vanta driver

p.s. user login id: drivers
password: all

i will give this a try tonight....thank you