Member Avatar for deagle

Help. I was forced to reinstall Win 98 on my 4 yr old Dell desktop after it crashed when I tried loading a new CD-rom game for my kids. I recovered from the shock of it all after finding my "recovery" cd. I was delighted that none of my files were lost in the process. The only remaining issue is that I can't seem to change the color or dimension settings beyond 16 color and 640x480. I've tried reinstalling drivers with the recovery CD with no success. My family would appreciate getting this straightend out so surfing isn't such a pain. I searched a bit online for answers but I struggled to understand half of what people wrote. It was a miracle I even found the recovery CD and got it to work, so a simple solution to this problem from someone out there would be appreciated. Thanks.

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Most likely the machine is running the generic VGA driver, which is why Windows 98 is stuck at 640x480 and 16 colors. , and are on the right track pointing to drivers, but here are focused, practical checks and next steps that avoid redoing what was already suggested.

Run the DirectX Diagnostic (dxdiag) if it exists on the system and look at the Display tab — it will usually show the adapter name, chipset and driver version so you know exactly what to search for. If dxdiag is not available, peek on the Recovery CD: open any Drivers or \DRIVER folder and look for a display/video subfolder. Many recovery CDs include an installer (setup.exe) for the graphics driver that must be run from inside Windows rather than through the generic recovery routine.

If you can identify the chipset (NVIDIA, ATI/AMD, Intel, S3, Matrox, etc.), get the driver package that specifically names that chipset and Windows 98. If the Recovery CD installer keeps putting the generic driver back, try this sequence:

  1. run the video driver installer you find on the CD (or the vendor installer) from inside Windows;
  2. if that fails, remove the display and monitor entries from Device Manager (so Windows forgets the generic driver), reboot, then run the vendor installer;
  3. if you only have .inf/.sys files, extract them to a folder and use the vendor installer or the "Have Disk"/manual install option to point Windows at that folder.

If you cannot identify the card in software, inspect the card/motherboard label for model numbers (Dell service tag is also useful) and download drivers from the vendor or Dell support for that exact model. As a last resort, a low-cost PCI video card with explicit Win98 support will restore higher color depths and resolutions quickly.

Avoid installing drivers that are not explicitly for your card or for Windows 98. If further diagnostics show the correct driver is installed but color depth still limited, post the adapter/driver text from dxdiag or Device Manager so the exact driver version and chipset can be checked.

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Member Avatar for dlh6213

This certainly sounds like a drivers issue. Unless you replaced your video card, the drivers should have been on the Recovery CD. You could try Windows Update, there could be updated drivers for you system there. Other then that, you may need to open your computer to get the manufacturer and model number off the card, unless you have on-board video, in which case you would need to get the name and model of the motherboard. You would then go to that manufactures' website to get the latest drivers.

Sorry I don't have a 'simple' solution; perhaps someone else will have a better idea.

Member Avatar for Killer_Typo

go online and download the drivers. guarentee that should work. if not. its somthing else messing with yoru vid.

Member Avatar for TallCool1

The only remaining issue is that I can't seem to change the color or dimension settings beyond 16 color and 640x480.

Open your Device Manager window. The easy way to do this is to use the key combination of one of the Windows-logo keys + [Pause/Break] to bring up the System Properties window, or right-click the My Computer icon and select Properties.

Select the Device Manager tab, then click on the [+] symbol next to Display Adapters and see what it reports. If it has a mark next to it, or the reported video card does not match what you have, you will have to correct the problem. Double-click on the adapter listing; this will bring up the Properties window. Click on the Driver tab and click the Update Driver button. This brings up the Update Device Driver Wizard window. Click the Next button, then the Display a list option from the next screen and click Next. If your correct display card shows on the list, click on the name and then the Next button again. Let the system install the correct drivers, and you should be good to go. You may want to update the drivers as well, but get the system working first.

You may find MultiRes a useful utility, as well. See my Best Free list for the link.

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