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NT4.0 display settings

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10 replies

by gfaze

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I loaded a video game on my PII 266Mhz 128Mb
NT WS 4.0 SP 5 machine it loaded fine but
at runtime I get "unable to initialize video card using
directx controls" Anybody know if this could be caused
by incorrect directx version 3.0 on my system.
IF so how. MS KB doesn't seem to have anything on directx and
NT together only directx and win98. Also can't set display
properties above 800 x 600 x 16 viewsonic P775 monitor is
not on change list. Have driver for diamond stealth 3D 4000 AGP
card from the oem site but when executed it gives error -
"display setting invalid" system using HW defaults.
Per MS diagnostics my diamond stealth is set to ?
?vga compatible display adapter? I think it must be reset
to ?Standard VGA? but I can?t find any way to do this.
Does anyone know how to set the display type to standard
There just doesn?t seem to be any way to do this using the
Start|settings|cpl|display approach .
Any help is much needed and greatly appreciated.
This poor resolution makes it hard to read some pages.
Gary Fazenbaker MCP

10 replies

by bs

go to the properties of the display (either through the control panel, or from the desktop, right mouse button). And change the adapter there to standard VGA. Then it's best to reboot.
After that you should be able to reinstall the videodriver fromyour video card. Don't forgot after that to re-apply the service pack.
It can be hard to get windows NT to completely recert back to the original VGA drivers - but you have to make sure it has before you try to reinstall your video card.
If it doesn't work, then you might need to remove the actuall driver files the came with your video-card (but be carefull - make a ghost(a compressed version of the partition in which you have installed NT, so you can easily restore if you removed a wrong file) of your system to be sure)

by gfaze

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
CUT FROM ORIGINAL
reinstall graphics card
go to the properties of the display (either through the control panel, or from the desktop, right mouse button). And change the adapter there to standard VGA.

Clicking on Standard VGA does not change
the adapter definition it stays
"vga compatible adapter"
Thanks for the reply.
gfaze

by isaaca

Hi Gfaze,

Well as an experience gamer I know not to play games on a Windows NT machine. Also I believe that windows NT 4.0 does not support Direcx, or if it does, it does not do a great job. If you want the stability of windows NT I recommend upgrading to Windows 2K with fully suports DirecX 7.0.

As far as the video card is concerned I recomend dowmloading the latest drivers from your video card's site. I've noticed that some specific cards do not work well with Windows NT, what I mean by that is that you don't get all the option that you should be getting if you were running it WIndows 98SE. why I guess the driver's code was correctly written for Windows NT.
You can enter the display properties also by right clickling on the desktop and going to properties, and then display.

Ivan Aguilar
CCNA, MCSE, A+

by gfaze

Thank you Ivan I really need to learn more
about NT4.0 before going on to 2K since I
need one more test to get my upgrade voucher
I should have taken A+ first seems I don't
know as much about hardware as I thought.
Anyway here is a cutting from a deja post.
The game I had problems with is Starcraft.
PII 266Mhz WinNT4.0 SP 5 128Mb
Diamond Stealth 3D 4000 AGP adapter
Viewsonic P775 monitor
Unable to set resolution on my monitor.
800 X 600 X 16 will not budge.
Got driver from Diamond but when it tries
to install it errors off because the hardware
is using ?default hardware settings?.
I have been everywhere I can think of and
there is virtually nothing even at MS sites
that has to do with NT & VGA or display
just can?t find anything does anyone know
how to change from
vga compatible
to
standard vga
note clicking on standard vga in the change
box list does not change to standard
Per MS diagnostics my adapter is defined
as vga compatible I think that is why I
can?t change or add new driver.
TIA for any help
Gary Fazenbaker

by windowswasher

I agree with trying to reinstall the card. I checked the HCL http://www.microsoft.com/hcl/default.asp and found your card. According to the list the card is PC97 compliant. It lists the latest driver as Ver. 4.1024.322.0009 and has a link to download that driver. You failed to mention the name of the game. You may want to check their website. Check the HCL for your monitor. I use a ViewSonic A70 and run at 1024x768. Under display properties hit display type. This will tell you what you are running. Hit change and redirect to the source of your drivers. You will not be able to change your display size until you get your video card working. Good Luck.

by gfaze

I have submitted this ? many times
over at deja got 0 answers.
I think I have the right driver from
diamond mm but when I try to run it
the first thing it does is check the
resolution | decides it can't run in
the environment then aborts. I have
many times been down the start|settings
|control panel|display|type|change.
but there is simply nothing there to
change to unless I was to just pick a
random card. The change list says
standard vga adapters on the left and
the list of oem's below. The right
side says vga compatible adapter and
that is what I need to change but
can't.

by Member 33910582

NT (workstation and server) is notorious for not being compatable with software that requires an intimate access to the hardware (eg. games). This is not well documented because most people who use NT buy it for that purpose (security). I would try changing the video driver and select Have Disc, then browse to the I386 directory that came with your Service Pac, select this as the source of your new driver. Remember as a general rule you must reinstall the SP each time after you install software that reqires you to restart the computer. Also Microsoft is up to SP6A for workstation/server. A new service pac may help the problem. Once you install a service pack many of your drivers come from the I386 of the service pack instead of the original install dics.

by shanghai sam

Thanks for the reply sounds like it
could work. I'll try it if I ever get
the system up and running again. I
bought this system from a small
computer shop and I don't think they
knew much about NT, it was new at the
time. I have other machines for games
and am more interested in learning
how NT works. I figured win98 gave
great graphics with the same card
and monitor so I should be able to
make NT do the same. The main problem
I had was the driver I downloaded
for the adapter was a self expanding
exe and it checked the environment
when it opened up, promptly decided
it didn't belong in the neighborhood
(vga compatible) and quit. I got a
good tip above in this thread about
another download site for the driver
unfortunately I had already screwed
up the registry and blew NT away on
this machine, not sure what I did
but the emergency repair process
could not fix it. So I'm back to
DOS on this machine rebuilding from
the ground up. Oh well I wanted to
move thepage file off of the
system disk anyway. If you have
any knowledge as to how to make
setup install (standard vga)
instead of (vga compatible) give
me a shout.
Thanks again
Gary Fazenbaker MCP

by arg cio

for gaming, stay with 9x/ME.. the NT platform was not designed for gaming. The reason you only find 9x with directx, NT wasn't designed for gaming. If you do all software video, then it might work, but hardware excelleration, don't try it, NT wasn't designed for gaming.

Did I get my point across?

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