Topic: Can only boot in VGA mode

[jg]

Hi,

Recently I moved my PC from a 19" to a 15" monitor (took my PC to other country but could not take big 19" with me in plane).

When I connected the 15", it acted all funny. This is not surprising because a 15" cannot take the resolution that a 19" can.

Now I have to boot my PC in VGA mode every time (by pressing F5 and F8).

Is there a solution for this? Is there anything that I can do to change the resolution that it will take in normal mode so I don't have to boot in VGA mode anymore?

Thanks

[Dack]

Just boot into safe mode (pressing f8 on bootup and selecting it from the menu).

Then go into the display properties (right click on screen) and drop the resolution to the one you really want. (Probably best to go to 800x600 first). You can then reboot into 'real' mode and change it again to whatever resolution your monitor will support. BTW it may also be worth dropping the monitor refresh rates down at the same time as you may have been running at a rate the new monitor cannot support.

[jg]

Dack,

You are saying: Boot in safe mode. The problem is that I cannot boot in safe mode for the same reason that I cannot boot in normal mode. (To be exact it does boot but the graphics are screwed up, meaning that I see everyting 6 times on the screen). The only way I can boot is really VGA mode, which gives me 640*480 (refresh rate 60Hz).

So I will have to do something in VGA mode to make sure that the PC will boot in Normal mode using 640*480. I don't know if this is possible.

The only solution that I can think of is to temporarily connect to a better monitor, change the resolution to 640*480 and then connect back to the 15" that I am using now. The problem is that I don't have a better monitor here to do this with.

Joep

[Dack]

OK - try this then.

Boot into your VGA mode and then go into the hardware/device area and remove the monitor definition.

If you then exit and reboot it should detect the monitor again and set the rez etc. back to 640x480

Alternatively if you boot in VGA mode and uninstall your graphics drivers then, once again, XP should default a(and try and reinstall them).

[jg]

Problem solved. For those who are curious about the solution, I'll past my reply to the related thread on DivX DirectShow Decoder.

-------------------------


Thanks for the tip, Dack. You were quite right. These problems were related and they have both been solved.

I first tried to uninstall the monitor in Control Panel - System - Hardware - Device Manager and subsequently booted again in normal mode (so just letting the computer boot without pressing F8). That did not solve it. Graphics still screwed up.

Then I did something unusual: I booted my PC in Normal mode, but not by just letting the PC boot by itself but selecting F8 and explicitely choosing Normal Mode in the menu. This solved it. (No idea why, though.)

JG

p.s. I am really starting to like PC-Pals. It has already helped me solve two problems. Thanks.

[Simon]

Thanks for letting us know, JG.