Require urgent assistance, please help!

[Centaur6]

I have an urgent problem that no one else has been able to solve, and i was told that these forums would be my best (and last) bet. First off, i must say that my eyes are extremely sensitive - to the point where i can't look at a CRT running at lower than 100hz for more than a few minutes without developing a blinding headache. And that's what i'm doing now.

I was experimenting with PowerStrip earlier today when for some reason, my monitor went down to 85Hz and would not go any higher. On any resolution. I tried everything. I resetted PowerStrip to defaults. I uninstalled it, reinstalled it, and then uninstalled it again. I reinstalled my video card drivers and my monitor drivers several times and tried plugging in an older monitor inbetween to reset them. I resetted my monitor to defaults as well, but that didn't help either.

The refresh rates are still available in Display Properties, even though the 'hide modes that monitor cannot support' box is checked. I can choose my old resolution and my old refresh rate, but all i get is my old resolution with refresh of 85Hz instead. How do i know it's 85? My monitor has Viewmeter software built into it, which tells me. That, and my eyes are killing me. I tried scaling up the refresh with PowerStrip, but that didn't work either. When i would choose 100 and press YES, it would change the number to 85 and display it in red.

I've pretty much run out of ideas on how to fix this. I think i need to dig into the system directories and/or the registry and fix it manually, but i don't know what to look for. I have 75GB of data on my hard disk and absolutely no way to back it up, so i can't format. I was thinking of partitioning, but i don't think i can partition used space, can i?

So what do you think i should do? Is there a way to do this without formatting? If not, can i pull off the partition? I've never made one before, but i'm a fast learner. Thanks in advance for all your help.

 

[boyRacer]

Hmmm... maybe if you have that horrible thing called System Restore enabled you can go back to how it was before you started experimenting. Worked for my friend... don't know if it will for you though.

You can partition used space i believe... with Partition Magic 8. But don't do that unless you've done everything else...

 

[Centaur6]

I'm not touching System Restore, i'm not suicidal 😀 What's the big deal with Partition Magic though, can it damage the data?

 

[boyRacer]

Ummm... the only thing i used it for was to resize my partitions without having to start over from scratch... works awesome... 😀

I'm not sure but it seems like it could do anything with regard to partitions... so perhaps it could do what you want.

Although I'd wait for more responses here... even though you're going blind as you read this. 😀

 

[boyRacer]

Oh... and maybe you could post this in the video forums as well. Good luck!

 

[bigshooter]

glasses?

 

[Centaur6]

I just booted from my other hard disk and the monitor worked at 100 just fine, so it's definitely a Windows problem.

 

[speed01]

Have you tried installing a different video card then switching back to the one you want to use? That may clear out any settings for the current one and allow you to set it back up the way you want it to be....🙂

 

[Davegod]

After using some XP refresh rate fixes I notice some refresh rates dissapeared in the "list all available modes" in the pull down box. E.g. I set mine at 100hz for 1024x768 and now only have 100hz listed beside 1024x768, used to have loads.

I use NV Refresh Tool, which you can find on guru3d.com - I reckon if you run it to set yoru res at 100hz itll be ok again. many alternatives for refresh fix such as rivatuner etc etc, dunno if theyll have same effect as restricting monitor hz in registry; rivatuner does have some monitor hacks though which might also force your 100hz for you.