Help with FreeCell & Solitaire (Believe It Or Not!)

[Dan]

One of my customers closed down his office and is now working out of his home. Instead of calling me, he just unplugged his systems, loaded them up with everything else and did the move himself.

Naturally, after spending a couple of days plugging things in by himself, he called me in to pick up the pieces.

I thought everything was okay until I got a frantic call today that his "display was too dark." So, I swing by and take a look.

To me, everything looked fine but nonetheless I brightened the display and sharpened the contrast. When I asked for his feedback he said, "no, still to dark" and pointed to the desktop icon for 123freesolitaire.

Don't laugh. I swear to God. I checked into it and I discovered that all of his card games are affected the same way: every suit appears in black, even the hearts and diamonds.

I deleted/reinstalled his video card drivers but that didn't help, The OS is Win2K.

Has anyone else encountered this problem? Can you suggest a "fix?"

 

[DefRef]

B*tchslap the guy and tell him to do some friggin' work!!!!

What's the video card and other specs?

 

[Dan]

B*tchslap the guy and tell him to do some friggin' work!!!!

Really. I suspect his preoccupation with FreeCell may have something to do with the closing of his office and the move to his house.

At any rate, the system is a Dell. The video card is a Riva TNT 2, 32MB.

Edit: He has whatever 17" monitor ships with Dell systems. The resolution is 1280x1024x32-bit. The refresh rate is 85Hz.

I had to bring the system back to my place the other night to change out the modem. While I had it here I switched the resolution to 800x600 so I could use it with the 15" NEC on my test bench. I switched the resolution back when I set up the system again at his house day before yesterday. I gotta tell you, the color of the Solitaire icon was the last thing on my mind at the time. :Q

 

[Ly2n]

Had that happen to me one time. The video cable wasn't seated properly. I seated both ends and tightened the connections and the problem went away. Hope your solution is as easy. Lynn

 

[JW310]

Is there anything else that should be red that isn't? Do the areas that are normally supposed to be white have a cyan tint to them? Sounds like it might be a problem of either the video cable not properly connected to the video card and/or a loose wire in the cable going to the monitor. There's one monitor where I work that's like that. I know it's in the cable because when I get the cable the right way, the red comes back. Of course, one other monitor does that as well.... a few swift hits to the side of the monitor usually clears it up then.

JW

 

[Dan]

Good suggestion. (Checking the video cable connections. I don't know what the guy would think about my technical skills if I started whacking away at his monitor.)

Of course, like DefRef suggested, I should really start whacking away at him!

 

[JW310]

LOL... yeah, the suggestion works fine for the one workbench, but you're right; I wouldn't try it at a client's house.

JW

 

[Dan]

The problem was indeed a bent pin on the VGA cable. All I had to do was straighten the pin, reconnect the cable, and my customer was once again a happy, FreeCell-playing fool. :disgust:

Thanks everyone, for the help -- and the humor!