Member Avatar for JeLa

Hi all,
I'm new here, and I hope you can help me out....

When starting up my pc (win 2000), it seems to go through the starting up process alright, but once the windows 2000 progress bar is completed, the screen suddenly blacks out and tells me "input signal out of range", and after a few seconds goes into power saving mode.
I can hear the pc's hard drive activity, but apparently somehow it doesn't get the signal to the screen (LG Flatron).

I suspects it's got something to do with the screen resolution. I lended my pc to a friend whose computer crashed, and supposedly she changed the resolution. Now my question is, can I change the screen's resolution BEFORE it starts up Windows 2000? For instance in that frighteningly black screen where all those intimidating commands are flashing by (<PRESS F1> etc....)?

Oh, erm... one thing: when explaining things to me, please bear in mind I'm a mac user, so I'm not too familiar with pc terminology.

Thanks in advance,
I'm counting on you....

Jenny

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Dani AI

Generated

Short summary: "Input signal out of range" almost always means the video card is outputting a mode the monitor cannot show (resolution or refresh rate too high). As suggested, booting with a basic driver is the right first step; later reported the problem was resolved by addressing the graphics driver.

Practical troubleshooting steps (Windows 2000):

  • Reboot and press F8 to get the Advanced Boot Options. Try "Last Known Good Configuration" first; if that fails choose "Safe Mode" or "Enable VGA Mode" so Windows uses the generic VGA driver.
  • In Safe Mode open Control Panel -> System -> Device Manager -> Display adapters. If the issue followed a recent change, choose "Roll Back Driver." If not available or if rolling back fails, uninstall the display adapter driver so Windows falls back to the standard VGA driver on reboot.
  • After rebooting with the generic driver, open Display Properties and set a conservative resolution and refresh (for example 800x600 or 1024x768 at 60Hz). Only then install the correct chipset/graphics driver from the PC maker or Intel and confirm the settings are within the monitor's specs.
  • If no picture appears even in Safe Mode, try a different monitor or cable to rule out monitor/cable failure, reseat the video card, or test the machine on another display.

Notes and cautions:

  • CRTs and LCDs behave differently: CRTs care about refresh rate, LCDs about native resolution. Setting a non-supported refresh or resolution can black the screen.
  • Use "Last Known Good" when a recent change caused the problem; use Safe Mode when you need to uninstall/repair drivers.
  • Avoid installing drivers that set nonstandard refresh rates until the correct driver and native resolution are confirmed.

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Member Avatar for waycoolgal

Try going into safe mode. Usually pressing f8 as pc is booting up. You should be able to change it in there.

Member Avatar for JeLa

I did. But when I rebooted, nothing had changed. :sad:

Try going into safe mode. Usually pressing f8 as pc is booting up. You should be able to change it in there.

Member Avatar for JeLa

I found the solution:
In safe mode I upgraded the Intel Graphic Controller.

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