Reinstalled Win 98se monitor problems

[TimL]

Hello,

Well I am writting about my fathers computer he is an elderly gentleman and doesn't know a lot about computers. He recently had his computer's hard drive reformatted and win 98SE reinstalled. Evrything seems to be working ok except for the monitor which is running on a generic adapter. His monitor is an Innovsion MAG. I have tried several times to get the correct driver but so far nothing has worked. I have even Downloaded every driver for every monitor that Innovision makes. But windows won't let me browse through them to pick the correct one or it tells me something about the hardware and software don't match.

Can someone please help? My father only need his computer for a few more months at which time he plans on buying a new one(Thank god! Lets hear it for the K6 processor)..

My email Tim_Lemont01@yahoo.com

Thank you,

Tim

[Cricket]

Has the right driver for the video card been installed yet?

Cricket

[GaryRouth]

[. . . and if you're not sure how to check that: try Start/Settings/ControlPanel/System/DeviceManager ...and click the plus (+) sign next to the "Display Adapter" category. If it just says "Standard VGA Adapter" - then you haven't a video driver written specifically for your device installed yet. . . . --- let us know if you need help finding one, or identifying the device]
. . . Gary

P.S. I imagine you might know this already, but it saves time in case you don't!

[TimL]

Ok here's a little more detail it has the generic vga adapter.His monitor is a 17 inch monitor BTW. I just don't know how to get it to use the correct driver. I used the have disk button, but for some reason it won't let me browes through the full list to the correct driver. Is there a way to do it manually or some way to get this to work?

Than you very much,

Tim

[bailey]

I don't think a monitor needs any drivers.
but the video card sure does, and I think that is where your problem is.
you need to find out what the video card actually is and download the driver for it if you do not have it.

[GaryRouth]

Hi again

Just as Cricket and bailey have mentioned, it does appear you need a "driver" written specifically for your video card (or "onboard video" - where the video chip is soldered onto the motherboard itself). It's also true that you may wish to add an ".inf" file specific for the monitor [and these are sometimes referred to as "monitor drivers"], but with plug-and-play, it isn't usually quite as necessary. Such monitor-model-specific .inf files can be found on the manufacturer's website. They add exact-match color profiles, which are nice if any desktop publishing is done on the computer.

You should be able to identify whether your video is onboard or an AGP or PCI slot add-in card by looking at the back of your computer. If the connector for the monitor is up close to the connectors for the mouse and keyboard, it's probably onboard. If the connector is just a bit below the mouse and keyboard, USB and printer connectors, and is on a little metal slot all by itself, it's an add-in card. You can look in the case for markings on the card (shutdown, power-off, and unplug the PC before doing this). Or you can look for documentation that came with the computer, including any driver CDs that may have come with it. If the computer is a store-bought brand-name model, and you're fairly sure that it's original equipment inside [that the original video card hasn't been replaced], post the make/model of the PC, and we might be able to point you to the right files.

Whoever did the reformat/reinstall should've also taken the time to install a video driver. If it was a local computer shop, they really ought to fix this for no charge. Perhaps they overlooked something, or perhaps the system still isn't stable. If something as basic as the video driver is amiss = it leads me to wonder if any of the other components are missing or incorrectly installed as well.

. . . Gary