Monitor Compatibility

[Guest]

I have just recently upgraded to XP from 98 and Xp does not recognize my
moniter.
My moniter is showing up as a plug and play on Nvidia Riva 128/128 2x. I
used to have like 8 different color modes now I have only 2 ( 16 bit and 32
bit), Therefore some of my kids games wont download or run properly. I have
searched my computer for my gateway monitor and it is not anywhere. Please
Help

 

[Bob Knowlden]

While it would be good if XP recognized your monitor, it's not the reason
for your problem.

XP doesn't support 8 bit color, or resolutions below 800X600.

However, there's a feature that may give you what you need. See
"compatibility" under the help and support center (under the "help" pulldown
menu on any drive or folder window). The entry will be "Getting older
programs to run on Windows XP". If you set the program to run in Win98 (or
even Win95) compatibility mode, you'll be able to select 8 bit color (256
colors). I don't know whether it permits you to go lower than that (such as
4 bits, or 16 colors).

You can also use the Compatibility Wizard (start, programs, accessories) to
install a program from a CD, to get around the installer being unhappy that
you're not in 256 colors.

All that said, visit www.gateway.com and search for the monitor drivers
(really a .inf file, which decribes the characteristics of the monitor).
Once that's installed, it will allow you to select all of the modes
supported by the monitor, and prevent you from selecting modes that are not
supported.

It is also possible to run some DOS programs under XP, but it can be more
work. Sound tends to be the major sticking point. VDMSound
(http://www.ece.mcgill.ca/~vromas/vdmsound/) works better than the DOS sound
emulation built-in to XP. Don't bother with it unless you're installing
DOS-based games.

Good luck.

Address altered. Replace nkbob with bobkn.