video problem with XP upgrade

[Greg Dysart]

I have an older Dell 500mz pentium which I upgraded from
Windows NT4.0sp6 to XP pro. The upgrade went well with one
exception. A standard boot results in a unitelligible
video display. I have a NVIDIA RIVA TNT 16m card . I can
start up with an F8 key hold down, to get to Safe Mode
page and choose "Enable VGA Mode", and the everything
seems to work well. (I understand from reading Microsofts
article 315222 that the current video driver is loaded,
not Vga.sys.) Anyway, I tried several common strategies,
such as, 1) unloading the driver to let XP reload it. 2)
Downloading/loading update drivers from Nvidia 3)
Reviewing CMOS settings to see if there were possible
changes to my start up that would help. Dell's tech
support recommneded all of the above (again) to no avail.

Any suggestions?

 

[Chau Hoang]

Greg: I'm not an MVP, but it's like I'm reading a
synopsis of my own problem! Same problem here. PIII,
600+, 384 MB. 120 GB. Moved from 98 to XP pro. When it
was really a problem, my newer CRT monitor says the
refresh rate is too high. Checking on web, I reset the
video settings to refresh less, and use a lower screen
resolution. But ever since I updated the video drivers
from Nvidia (had a 16MB TNT too), it crashes EVERY time I
reboot. Safe mode with VGA on is the only way to go. So
what I get out of all this is to somehow retrieve the
default old NVidia drivers from XP. Kinda scared to do
that. And using Windows update --- can't get it to reload
the ones on MS site. I have never rebooted an MS OS so
many times in my life (and it's only been 5 months)!
Crash-proof alright -- it has PROVEN it can crash!
Anyway, anxious to hear the response from an MVP.

 

[greg dysart]

I seem to have found a fix for my own computer.
I read several notes to this forum today which seem to be
unanswered by Microsoft's experts. Anyway, I'm not an
expert, but this seems to work fine.

After booting with "F8" key held down at the DOS cursor
startup, I was able to go to Control Panel, then System,
then Hardware, then Device Manager, then Display adapters
where I found 2 adapters listed - the Nvidia Riva TNT and
a VGA compatible display adapter.

I then took a chance and disabled the VGA adapter. THIS
WORKED FOR ME! I don't know if it is the answer for all
users with this problem.

Are there any Microsoft people out there able to comment?
Would it be advisable to now unistall this errant "VGA
compatible display adapter"?

I can now boot up normally without the annoying F8
sequence...

Good Luck fellow Microsoft serfs.