How to Setup and Troubleshoot a Video Card and Monitor in Windows 95

Installing a Video Card

To install a software driver for the video card:

1. Click Start, click Settings, then click Control Panel.

2. Double-click the Add New Hardware icon.

3. The Add New Hardware Wizard displays. Click Next.

4. Click No, then click Next.

5. In the next dialog, select Display adapters. Click Next.

6. From the display lists, select the manufacturer and model of the video card being installed. Click Next.

7. Click Next again. When Windows is finished installing the software, click Finish.

8. If a dialog appears asking to restart the computer, select the option to do so.

Display and Monitor Settings

To set the monitor type:

1. Click Start, click Settings, then click Control Panel.

2. Double-click the Display icon. The Display Properties dialog appears.

3. Click the Settings tab.

4. Click the Change Display Type button. The Change Display Type dialog appears.

5. In the box labeled Monitor Type, click the Change button. The Select Device dialog appears.

6. Click Show all devices. Select a manufacturer and model for the monitor.

   If the manufacturer/model is not listed, select (Standard monitor types) in the Manufacturer list and select the model appropriate for the monitor. For example, if connecting a Super VGA monitor with a maximum resolution of 1024x768, the best choice would normally be Super VGA 1024x768.

   When the selections have been made, click OK. Click Close to exit the Change Display Type dialog. Click OK to exit the Display Properties dialog.

To change the display settings, follow steps 1-3 above, then:

1. Select a number of colors from the Color palette listbox. The maximum number of colors that can be used depends on the video driver installed, the amount of memory on the video card, and the current resolution setting.

2. Select a resolution on Desktop area slider. The maximum resolution that can be used depends on the video driver installed, the amount of memory on the video card, the monitor type setting, and the physical properties of the monitor itself (for example, dot pitch).

NOTE: Depending on factors listed in the above two steps, changing one of the settings (for example, the color palette) may cause a change in the other setting (for example, desktop area). This is done to prevent an invalid setting from being applied.

If the desktop area setting is grayed and cannot be changed, refer to the section "Video Card Troubleshooting".

Video Card Troubleshooting

Missing display options can occur when one or more of the following conditions exists:

• The refresh rates output by the video card are not set properly. Refer to the section "Setting the Monitor Refresh Rate".

• The computer is a PCI system and the Monitor Timing settings in the system BIOS are set incorrectly. The Monitor Timing settings should match the capabilities of the display monitor (screen). Check the monitor documentation for the maximum resolution supported by the monitor. Refer to the documentation for the computer system to obtain information regarding making the necessary changes to the Monitor Timing settings.

• The Monitor Type is incorrect on the Change Display Settings property sheet. (This setting can be accessed by clicking the right [secondary] mouse button on the display, clicking the Settings tab, and then clicking the Change Display Type button.) The Monitor Type should match the monitor brand and model being using. If the monitor is not listed, select the (Standard monitor types) setting that corresponds to the capabilities of the monitor.

• The Windows 95 display driver doesn't support the attempted display mode being used. When confident that the display and video adapter is capable of a higher resolution, try setting the Adapter Type to one of the high-resolution generic (Super VGA) modes.

• NOTE: This may or may not function correctly depending on your configuration.

• A Windows version 3.1 display driver is being used. When using a Windows 3.1 display driver, the Desktop Area and Color Palette settings are not changeable in Properties for Display. To change the resolution, click the Change Display Type button and change the Adapter Type to the Windows 3.1 display driver being used.

Setting the Monitor Refresh Rate

Setting the monitor type in the Display Properties does not affect the refresh rate output of the display adapter. To change this, run a utility which is supplied by the display adapter manufacturer or computer manufacturer. Some display utilities must be run in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file; however, on other computers, display type is set in BIOS configuration programs.

Examples of display utilities from adapter manufacturers include the following:

ATI	INSTALL.EXE
Cirrus Logic	MONTYPE.EXE, CLMODE.EXE
Diamond Stealth	STLMODE.EXE
Tseng Labs	VMODE.EXE
Western Digital	VGAMODE.EXE

The sections below describe different video cards and the requirements for these drivers to work correctly in Windows 95.

ATI Mach 8/32/64

This adapter must be configured correctly, using the ATI INSTALL.EXE program for Windows 95, in order to use high-resolution modes properly. The correct setting of the monitor type is especially important. This is because the high-resolution modes may not be available for selection, or the computer may fail when attempting to switch to that mode.

Matrox MGA

These adapters are supported with Windows 95 drivers. The VGA driver is installed by Setup.

Diamond Viper

Setup preserves Microsoft Windows 3.1 drivers for this adapter when Setup is run from within Windows 3.1. Setting up Windows 95 from MS-DOS causes the Windows 95 VGA driver to be installed. If this occurs, use the Diamond Viper Setup program to install the Windows 3.1 drivers into Windows 95. Copy the latest Viper files from the Drivers directory on the Windows 95 CD.

S3-Based Video Adapters

Windows 95 provides a hardware acceleration slide bar that can be used to correct the following problems with S3 drivers:

• If problems occur with your mouse pointer, disable the hardware cursor by setting the slide bar to the Most setting.

• If miscellaneous hangs are experienced with the S3 adapter, disable memory-mapped I/O by setting the slide bar to the Basic setting.

If problems continue, try the None slide bar setting.

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