Video/Graphics Card Problems: Fixing Video and Graphics Problems - Page 2 |
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VIDEO/GRAPHICS CARD PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS - PAGE 2
Visit the Video and Graphics section of this site for graphics-related information on video/graphics cards, TV tuners, etc.
| Click here! to go to Page 1 of video/graphics card problems and solutions If you don't find the answer that can help you to fix your video/graphics problems here, try using various search terms that describe the problem in the Google search box at the top of this page with its Web radio button enabled. |
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3. - Why can't I use Windows Movie Maker to play my home movies?
4. - How can I upgrade the video/graphics card of my Dell Dimension 3100 desktop PC?
5. - The most common of video/graphics card problems
7. - How can I get an old program that requires 256 colours (US: colors) to work in Windows XP?
9. - Can I use the DVI and the VGA ports on my video/graphics card to run two monitors?
13. - How can I connect my laptop computer to a TV? - Hooking up a laptop to a TV
14. - Small boxes and strange colours appear on the screen and the computer freezes when I play fast games
15. - I need a monitor that can be connected to my PC and to my Xbox 360 games console
16. - My video/graphics card doesn't support my PC monitor's native resolution of 1440x900 pixels
17. - Will two nVidia GeForce 6600 GT video/graphics cards play the latest games at high resolutions?
18. - How can I tell which video codecs are required to play a video file with a particular extension?
19. - Permanent white lines have appeared on the screen of my laptop/notebook PC
20. - What to do when video files in the AVI format won't play
21. - Why do some PC games look stretched on my widescreen LCD monitor?
22. - An AGP video/graphics card only works in PCI mode
| Click here! to go to Page 1 of video/graphics card problems and solutions |
Which cables do I need to connect my laptop PC to my LCD TV in order to play high-definition movies using its Blu-ray/HD DVD drive?
Problem
I have a laptop PC that has a Blu-ray/HD DVD optical drive. The computer has both standard analog VGA and digital DVI video output ports. I want to know which cable or cables are required to connect the laptop to my LCD TV in order to be able to watch high-definition movies. The back of the TV has SCART, component, S-video, HDMI and VGA input ports. The laptop has a 3.5mm jack plug audio output.
Answer
You can't use an HDMI high-definition cable that supports both video and sound because the laptop doesn't have an HDMI output port. Since the laptop has both VGA and DVI outputs, there are two ways to connect it to the LCD TV: a VGA cable connected to the laptop's VGA port and the TV's VGA input port and a DVI-to-HDMI cable from the laptop's DVI output to the TV's HDMI input port. Both methods have pros and cons.
Being wholly digital, the DVI option should provide superior image quality to analog VGA, because there is no analog-to-digital conversion involved. However, many LCD TVs don't display their native screen resolution when plugged into a laptop via HDMI; they scale the image to standard HD resolutions such as 720p or 1080i. The video should display acceptably, but text looks terrible and is difficult to read.
Whichever of the two available options (VGA or DVI) you choose, you will have to use a second cable to carry sound, because only HDMI can carry both video and sound. The cable you use depends on the TV. Most TVs have a 3.5mm jack plug audio input and twin phono inputs next to the HDMI video input. Depending which video input is being used, the TV will choose which audio input to use. The laptop has a 3.5mm jack plug audio output, so you need either a 3.5mm-to-3.5mm cable (for a VGA connection) or a 3.5mm-to-twin-phono cable (for the DVI connection). In the UK, both cables are available from http://www.maplin.co.uk/. If you live in the USA or Europe, you can make use of a suitable search term in the Google search box at the top of this page (with its Web radio button enabled) to find a local vendor.
Playing normal DVDs or downloaded video should work fine, but it won't work for playing high-definition Blu-ray or HD DVD discs, because they are protected with High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP), which prevents the copying of high-definition discs by making them playable only on HDCP-compliant monitors/screens through an HDCP-compliant digital video and audio (HDMI) connection, which the laptop doesn't have.
Because of these limitations, it would probably be a better option to buy a standalone HD DVD or Blu-ray player instead. Bear in mind that Toshiba has stopped developing its HD DVD standard because most of the movie studios have abandoned it. Sony's Blu-ray has won the high-definition standards competition. Therefore, in future only new Blu-ray high-definition movies will be in the stores.
I have upgraded from a CRT monitor to an LCD monitor. How do I set the correct screen resolution for my LCD monitor?
Question
I have replaced my 19" CRT monitor with a 19" Acer X192w widescreen LCD monitor. The CRT monitor had a screen resolution of 1280x1024, which is also being used for the LCD monitor. However, that looks wrong to me, because a 19" LCD screen has more display space than a 19" CRT monitor, because part of a CRT screen is hidden behind the case. Am I correct, and, if so, how do I set the correct resolution?
Answer
An LCD screen has a fixed number of pixels that display the image and it therefore uses what is called a native screen resolution to produce the best picture. Different resolutions can be set, but if that is done, the monitor either displays a smaller image or attempts to reproduce the resolution that has been set by using 'interpolation', which means that it maps each pixel in the requested image to the nearest appropriate one on the screen. A CRT monitor can be set to display the picture at many different screen resolutions with no loss of image quality because it can change the frequency of its scan beam to use more or fewer pixels.
Therefore, you should set an LCD screen to use its native resolution, which is 1440x900 for your 19" Acer X192W monitor. That is different from the 1280x1024 resolution used by the 19" CRT monitor, because the two monitors have different aspect ratios. The LCD monitor has a widescreen and the CRT monitor is squarish. The LCD monitor at its native resolution (1440 x 900 = 1,296,000 pixels) uses fewer pixels than the CRT monitor (1280x1024 = 1,310,720 pixels). If the resolution set in the (Windows) Display Properties differs from the LCD monitor's native resolution, a fuzzier picture than would be the case if the native resolution were used is produced, because 'interpolation' is used to simulate a non-native resolution as well as possible.
The aspect ratio is the ratio of the height and width of the screen. Standard, squarish CRT monitors have a 4:3 aspect ratio, and use screen resolutions such as 800x600, 1024x768, and 1280x1024, whereas widescreens have an aspect ratio that is closer to, but often not exactly the aspect ratio of 16:9 used by DVD movies, and use resolutions such as 1440x900, 1680x1050 and 1920x1200. This difference can confuse a PC graphics card that was designed to use a conventional 4:3 aspect ratio. If that is the case, blank edges can be displayed in order to reproduce the picture in its correct shape, or the image can be stretched horizontally to fit the screen.
To fix the problem, set the correct screen resolution for the monitor, which is 1440x900, and install the latest device drivers for the PC's graphics card, which you download from its manufacturer's website. If you don't know the make/model of the card, enter devmgmt.msc in the Start => Run box in Windows XP to bring up the Device Manager, and click the + beside Display adapters. The graphics card or the graphics chip make/model (if the graphics is integrated on the motherboard) should be displayed there. In Windows Vista, enter devmgmt.msc in the Start => Start Search box.
Then open Display Properties and click on its Settings tab. Slide the slider under Screen resolutions to 1440 by 900 pixels.
As in Windows XP, you can access Display Properties in Windows Vista by right-clicking with the mouse pointer on an empty space on the Windows Desktop and then selecting Properties in the menu that presents itself.
When you have set the native resolution for the screen, the aspect ratio should look correct. If the icons and text are too small to read, that can be rectified in Display Properties by increasing the DPI setting, which is accessed by clicking the Advanced button. Look on the General tab of the window that comes up. You can use one of two set options or experiment with different custom settings.
Why can't I use Windows Movie Maker to play my home movies?
Problem
I have a Kodak digital camera that I am trying to make home movies with, but when I try to import the files to Windows Movie Maker, a message such as, "The file 120-0050.mov is not a supported file type," comes up. How can I get my movies to play in Movie Maker?
Answer
Files that have a .mov extension such as your example, 120-0050.mov, is a format proprietary to Apple that can be played by its QuickTime player - and other players, but not by Windows Movie Maker.
In my opinion, the free download of QuickTime isn't a player of excellence, but if you want to make you own mind up about it, download it from http://www.quicktime.com/. Note that it will want to make itself the default player/viewer of all of the main movie and image formats. There is a paid-for Pro version that can also convert .mov files to Windows media formats. But why pay for a player when there are plenty of excellent free alternatives that you can use, including Windows Movie Maker.
An excellent free picture viewer and movie player called Picasa is available from http://www.picasa.com/. Created by Google, it can play .mov files. Just make sure that you point it to the folder(s) that you want it to catalogue, otherwise it will find and catalogue every folder in your system that contains images and movie files. It is a file management program and a picture/movie viewer. When you run it, it shows all of the images and video files as thumbnails, allows you to do all kinds of file editing, and can also add captions. You should rename the video files to give them meaningful file names instead of leaving them with unmeaningful names such as 120-0050.mov. Picasa doesn't automatically make itself the system's default player/viewer.
But if you want to convert .mov files to formats that Windows Movie Maker supports, such as .avi and .wmv video files, try using the free Rad Video Tools from http://www.radgametools.com/bnkdown.htm.
How can I upgrade the video/graphics card of my Dell Dimension 3100 desktop PC?
Problem
I have a Dell Dimension 3100 desktop PC. I upgraded the RAM memory from 1GB to 2GB and installed a wireless network card so that I could connect it to my wireless router in order to share an Internet connection with a laptop PC. I wanted to upgrade the graphics card to an ATI Radeon X1950 card for video-editing and PC gaming, but, to my horror, when I opened the case, I found that the 230W power supply unit is inadequate for the upgrade and that the motherboard has no AGP or PCI Express graphics slot. Should I upgrade the motherboard in order to be able to upgrade the graphics card?
Answer
The Dell Dimension 3100 has integrated graphics, which means that the graphics chip is built into the motherboard. The Dimension models labelled 2400, 3000, and 3100 (renamed E310), were designed for basic home or small office use - emailing, word-processing, and surfing the web, etc. The model numbers starting with 4 and 5 provide a slot for a graphics card, but the above-mentioned models do not. The 230W power supply is meant to provide enough power for the upgrades that are possible, some of which you have already done.
It would not be cost-effective to upgrade the motherboard to one with a graphics slot, because Microsoft licenses the OEM copy of Windows XP that the computer was supplied with for use only on that computer. If you install a new motherboard, Microsoft calls it a new computer that requires a new license for Windows, which you would have to pay for. You can only reactivate Windows XP (or Windows Vista) in a PC with a new motherboard if it is an exact replacement (make and model), or the original motherboard died and an exact replacement was not available.
Dell supplies BIOS-locked versions of Windows that recognise a signature in the computer's BIOS. After you installed a new motherboard, Windows would refuse to run until you called a Microsoft Activation hotline to explain why you are running a Dell copy of Windows on a non-Dell motherboard. If you told the truth about your situation, you would not be given an activation code over the phone, but you would probably be given the code if your PC is out of warranty and you said that the motherboard had died and an exact replacement was not available.
In any case, the best option would be to sell your computer and buy a more upgradable model. You could remove the wireless network card for use in a new computer.
The most common of video/graphics card problems
Problem
I purchased a brand new AGP nVidia GeForce video card to replace an existing AGP video card, but I erroneously assumed that because the card supports my version of Windows that I'd be able to install it without encountering any problems. I removed the existing card and installed the new card. But when I switched the computer on, the monitor didn't work. Instead, the computer beeped three times, and went into standby mode. The instructions that came with the card stated that "Before installation, you must first set the driver to the Standard VGA or Standard Display VGA driver." I didn't understand this, and went ahead with the installation of the new card, hoping that Windows, as a Plug and Play (PnP) operating system, would install the correct driver. Although the new card didn't work, when I replaced the old card, it worked perfectly. I am therefore at a loss as to how to go about getting the new card to function properly.
The solution
The instructions about installing a standard VGA driver refer to removing the original video/graphics card's driver created by its manufacturer, and then forcing Windows to install one of its standard VGA drivers that Windows will use to make any video card work, albeit only with basic functionality.
When Windows boots, it installs all of its device drivers into RAM memory. Thus, removing a video card's device driver will not take effect until the system is rebooted. So, when you use the Add/Remove Piograms feature in the Control Panel to uninstall the original card's diver, and then use Display Properties (use the right mouse button to click on a blank space on the Windows Desktop, and select Properties => Settings => Advanced button => Adapter tab => Change button) to install a standard driver, the change will not take place until the system is rebooted, and you can therefore install the new card, and have the standard driver make it work. This basic feature of Windows allows it to detect any card properly, and then install its proper driver automatically, or allows you to install the card's proper driver - manually from a CD or floppy disk.
The problem with the video card in this case is that it is being detected by the computer's BIOS long before Windows loads. Three beeps is a BIOS beep code common to Award BIOSes signalling that there is a problem with the video card. Other makes of BIOS may give one long and three short beeps to signal a video-card problem. Award BIOSes normally give screen messages when they detect BIOS errors, but use a sound code for a video problem because the screen is likely to be out of action.
Although the video card might be faulty, or not seated properly in its slot (try re-seating it), the most likely cause of the problem is the incompatibility of the card with the motherboard, or perhaps a conflict with another add-on adapter card.- It is well known, for instance, that screwing a card too tightly into its slot can raise the end out of the card out of the slot, and that a card installed in the PCI card installed next to the AGP slot can cause problems, because these two slots share the same IRQ (interrupt request) - the feature that allows a device to claim the sole attention of the processor.
To check for conflicts, make a note of which slots the other adapter cards occupy, and remove them. If removing the other cards allows the new video card to work, replace the other adapter cards, one by one, into the same slots they used to occupy until you find the culprit. The video card will not function when you add the card that is causing the problem. Then install the suspect card in a different slot. Often a card will work in one slot and cause problems in another slot.
If the make and model of the video card and motherboard are known, it would be possible to check the respective manufacturers' websites to find out if there are any compatibilty issues. It is known, for instance, that there are compatibility issues with video cards that use an nVidia GeForce4 chipset, which are made by many different manufacturers. For example, a GeForce4 MX card might not work, while a GeForce4 Titanium card might work perfectly well on a particular motherboard.
Updating (reflashing) the BIOS might solve the problem, but in many cases the problem has arisen because the video card is drawing too much power from the motherboard. That is, the motherboard was not designed to use a video card that draws as much power as it does. If that is the case, there is no easy way to make the card function with that motherboard. Indeed, the only possible solution is to modify the motherboard itself so that it can meet the card's power requirement.
That is why, before making a purchase, you should visit the computer's motherboard manufacturer's ALT mainboard newsgroup to ask the members if a particular video card will work on that model of board. Most of those ALT newsgroups take the same form, with only the end changed to that of the manufacturer. For example, the Asus newsgroup is - alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus.
How can I improve the quality of synchronised audio and video files between my PC and Windows Media Player?
Question
I use Windows Media Player 10 to synchronise the audio and video files between my PC and media player. The quality is poor. How can I improve the quality of the synchronised files?
Answer
Download and install Windows Media Player 11 from http://support.microsoft.com/, because it gives you greater control of the quality of synchronised files.
When WMP 11 is installed, plug in your media player. The player should appear in the program's left-hand tree. Right-click on the player's icon and select Advanced Options. Click on the Quality tab in the new window, and then click on the Select maximum quality level button. The quality of converted audio and video files should now be improved.
If you require more control, download and install the Windows Media Encoder from:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/forpros/encoder/default.mspx
The program allows you to encode the files to WMA audio and WMV video yourself.
How can I get an old program that requires 256 colours (US: colors) to work in Windows XP?
Problem
I use two LG Flatron LCD monitors. I have a delightful old program called Crazy for Ragtime that I have tried to install on a Windows XP Pro computer, but the program always crashes. I discovered that it wants to display in 256 colours, but the two monitors don't display a colour depth that low. I have tried the Compatibility method without success.
Answer
Compatibility Mode in Windows XP has a setting that limits the display to runing 256 colours
Is the following what you've tried? If not, then try it.
Right click on the executable (.exe) file of the program that you want to run in Compatibility Mode, select Properties and then open the Compatibility tab. Select the version of Windows that the software was designed to be used with, e.g., Windows 95, and then select the Display settings.
There are three check boxes there that enable display settings: 1. - Run in 256 colors - 2. - Run in 640x480 screen resolution - 3. - Disable visual themes. Try enabling all of them by placing check marks in their boxes with the mouse.
If doing that doesn't work, there is an additional setting under Input settings. Place a check mark in the box beside Turn off advanced text services for this program.
Under that, clicking the link in the Learn more about program compatibility takes you to information about Compatibility Mode in Help and Support.
What Compatibility Mode does is create a virtual operating system in Windows XP in which old software can run.
If the software still doesn't work, then perhaps using a virtual PC, in which you can install the version of Windows that is designed to run your software, will work. By configuring the virtual PC to reproduce the limitations of the software, you should be able to make it work.
To find more information on Compatibility Mode, you can enter xp + compatibility + mode (as is) in the Google search box provided at the top of this page (with its Web radio button selected). To locate information on running a virtual PC, enter virtual + pcs.
I changed AGP aperture size setting in the BIOS for my AGP video/graphics card and now I can't boot the PC or enter the BIOS
Problem
I have a PC with an Asus A7S8X-MX motherboard, running Windows XP Home Edition. I have installed a new nVidia Geforce FX 5500 128MB AGP 8x graphics card. Everything was working properly until I changed the setting for the aperture size in the BIOS to 128MB. When I saved the settings, the PC wouldn't start up at all and it won't even respond when I try to enter the BIOS at startup. Help!
Answer
If you were under the impression that the setting for the aperture size should be set to the amount of memory on the graphics card, doing that is not recommended. The AGP aperture size is the amount of the PC's system memory (the amount of RAM installed on the motherboard) that is used by the AGP graphics card to store textures and other data when its own graphics memory is being fully utilised. The more memory there is on the graphics card itself, the less the need for a large AGP aperture size.
If the PC has plenty of RAM installed, setting a large aperture size shouldn't be problematic. The most commonly recommended AGP aperture size is 128MB for all AGP graphics cards with 64MB or more or memory, provided that at least 256MB of RAM is installed. Other experts recommend setting the aperture size to half the amount of system RAM regardless of the amount of memory on the graphics card. The PC will use only the amount of memory an application requires, so a large aperture size does not reduce the memory available to applications when the PC isn't playing graphics-intensive games. Moreover, you are unlikely to be playing a graphics-intensive game (that can make use of as much RAM as the aperture setting) and using an application at the same time, so the setting is unlikely to be the cause of memory problems. However, a large aperture size increases the size of the graphics address remapping table (GART) slightly, This is used to keep track of how this area of memory is being used.
It doesn't much make sense to set an aperture size that is larger than the amount of system RAM, and I wouldn't recommend setting it to more than half the total amount of system RAM. However, setting a large aperture size shouldn't prevent the PC from booting. Indeed, the only reason aperture size could prevent the PC from booting is because some AGP graphics cards crash if they are not provided with a minimum aperture size of 16MB.
The cause of the problem might be other changes you made to some of the other AGP settings in the BIOS, or maybe it is caused by a bug in the BIOS of the motherboard or the graphics card's BIOS. Whatever the cause is, you have to turn the PC off at the mains, open the case, and look for the three CMOS pins on the motherboard located near the round BIOS battery. A jumper is usually placed over pins one and two (usually marked Normal) and you need to move it to pins two and three (usually marked Reset). Doing that disconnects the battery that maintains the BIOS settings and shorts the CMOS chip of the BIOS to discharge its contents.
Leave the jumper on the Reset position for a minute or two, and then put the jumper back in its previous position position and switch the PC on. The CMOS chip the contains the BIOS settings should be reset to its default settings.
For an illustrated example on this site, read How to reset the BIOS itself, and how to reset the BIOS password.
Can I use the DVI and the VGA ports on my video/graphics card to run two monitors?
Question
My Dell Dimension 8300 computer runs Windows XP Home Edition, 512MBs of DDR400 RAM, a 3.0GHz Intel Pentium 4 processor, and an nVidia GeForce FX5200 video/graphics card. The video card has a standard blue D-sub VGA port and a white DVI port. I want to connect two monitors to it in order to be able to watch television on one of them while I work on the other, so I'd like to know if this is possible.
Answer
It depends on the make and model of graphics card you have. Some graphics cards with both analog (D-sub VGA) and digital (DVI) outputs support the use of two monitors simultaneously, but others can only be connected to one monitor at a time.
However, that said, there is nothing to prevent you from installing a PCI video card in a free PCI slot on the computer's motherboard, because since Windows 98 Windows has been able to support two video cards. Look under Help in Windows 98 and Help and Support in Windows XP for information on using additional monitors. Enter the search term Installing additional monitors.
With regard to your GeForce FX5200 video card, note that even though the card's chipset might support dual monitors, the manufacturer of the card that uses the video chip, for one reason or another, might have chosen not to enable it.
I haven't been able to find specifications of the Dimension 8300 that are detailed enough on Dell's site to find out if its video card can support two monitors simultaneously. However, there are reports on the web from users that have experienced no problem doing that, but also users who have not been able to achieve it. It could be that Dell changed the supplier of its FX5200 from a manufacturer that had the feature enabled to one that chose not to implement it, so you'll just have to find out what happens yourself.
Almost every video/graphics card on the market has dual output ports. However, you you connect a single monitor to the graphics port on the computer's motherboard, which also provides the USB, FireWire, parallel, serial, PS/2 mouse and keyboard ports, the graphics chip is on the motherboard instead of on a video card. If that is the case, in order to use two monitors, you'll have to install a PCI, AGP, or PCI Express video card. All current motherboards have one or more PCI slots, but a motherboard can only support one AGP video card or one PCI Express video card, but not both. Some motherboards provide two x16 PCI Express slots for a video card, but not motherboards that have an onboard video chip.
Most video current video cards now have one analog (analogue) D-sub VGA port and one digital DVI port to which the two monitors can be connected. If a monitor has a D-sub and a DVI input port, you can connect it to either of the ports on the video card if you have the correct cable. If you have two monitors which only have D-sub input ports, you'll have to purchase a DVI-to-VGA converter that costs about £5. It will allow you to connect one end to the DVI port on the video card and the other end to the D-sub port on the monitor.
If a retail boxed video card only has a standard analog D-sub VGA port, it might have come with DVI conversion cable that allows it to be attached to a DVI-only monitor.
Both DVI-to-VGA and VGA-to-DVI converters are available.
How to use a DVI-to-VGA converter [illustrated] - http://www.digimate.co.uk/index/convert.htm
The converter used in the above illustration allows the DVI connector on a video card and the VGA connector on an analog LCD monitor to be connected via a VGA monitor cable and a DVI video-card cable. It looks cheap and probably is. However, if you search the web for DVI-to-VGA and VGA-to-DVI converters, they cost hundreds of dollars. The converters that convert a VGA signal from a video card to a DVI input on a digital LCD monitor are particularly expensive. It would be cheaper to buy a video card that has a DVI output port.
Video converters - http://www.networktechinc.com/video-converters.html and http://www.ramelectronics.net/html/DVI_ADC-converter.html
As long as you can connect them to the video card, or to two video cards, you can use any type of monitors (LCD or CRT).
After you've connected the second monitor with the computer switched off, after Windows XP has started (the same picture should appear on both monitors), right click with the mouse on the Windows desktop, click Properties on the menu that presents itself, and click the Settings tab in the Display Properties window. There should be images of two monitors there with the numbers 1 and 2 in them. Click on the second monitor (2) and place a check mark with your mouse in the option called Extend my windows desktop to this monitor. Click OK to apply the setting and the desktop will display on both screens. You click on either monitor's image to adjust its settings.
You can have, say, a MS Word document displayed on one monitor and an e-mail reader (Outlook Express, Mozilla Thunderbird) open on the other monitor. This is what Help and Support in Windows XP says about dragging and dropping windows between two monitors:
To move items between monitors
"This procedure applies when two or more monitors are connected to one computer. Open Display in Control Panel. On the Settings tab, click Identify to display a large number on each of your monitors, showing which monitor corresponds with each icon. Click the monitor icons and drag them to positions [within the space they are enclosed by] that represent how you want to move items from one monitor to another, and then click OK or Apply. Drag an item on your desktop across your screen until it appears on the alternate monitor. Or, you can resize a window to stretch it across more than one monitor. Notes: To open Display, click Start, click Control Panel, and then double-click Display. The arrangement of the icons determines how you drag items from one monitor to another. For example, if you are using two monitors and you want to move items from one monitor to the other by dragging left and right, arrange the icons side by side. To move items between monitors by dragging up and down, position the icons one above the other. The arrangement of the icons does not have to correspond to the physical positions of your monitors. You can place the icons one above the other even though your monitors are side by side."
Clock Start => Help and Support and enter dual monitors in the Search box for more information on them.
If you have an elderly computer you will probably have to update the video card's software device drivers. nVidia's nView software, which is part of its Forceware drivers, supports multiple monitors from release 60 and in later releases.
For your information, recent Dell notebook computers support dual monitors. They can use their LCD/TFT screen and an external monitor simultaneously.
If it turns out that your video card doesn't support dual monitors, either replace it with one that does or buy and install a PCI video card. Note that conflicts are less likely if you employ one card that is designed to use dual monitors than if you install two video cards - especially with an older version of Windows, such as Windows 98.
An analog and digital display problem with a Philips 200P3G LCD monitor and an ATI All-In-Wonder 9000 Pro video/graphics card
Problem
I own a Philips 200P3G LCD monitor connected to an ATI All-In-Wonder 9000 Pro video card with a digital DVI-I cable. The ATI card replaces an analog (analogue) Gainward GF4 MX440 SE video card that was connected to the Philips monitor (which has both analog D-Sub and digital DVI connectors), via its D-sub VGA connector. The problem is that the Windows Media Player and the DVD drive only display in digital mode, but the startup and BIOS screens that appear, or can be made to appear, during the startup, can only be seen when everything is set to analog mode. If the monitor is connected via the new video card's DVI connection, no startup screen at all will display when the system is powered on. I must toggle the monitor controls before shutdown to enable VGA mode and change the cable so that I can view the startup or BIOS screens during startup. Only when Windows XP actually loads fully can the monitor display video in DVI mode as well as in analog mode. The Windows Media Player and the DVD drive only display video in DVI mode not in analog mode - the reason for changing back to digital mode. I did not have this problem with the previous Gainward analog card, which displayed everything in analog mode. The fact remains that the manual for the Philips monitor specifies: "A Plug-and-Play monitor that supports VESA's Display Channel specifications (DDC1 or DDC2b)." Both ATI and Philips are members of VESA. It was all the more grating when I discovered that the NTSC TV tuner used by the ATI card is manufactured by Philips. The Windows XP driver for the monitor is called Ph_LCD20.icm, which is Philips own driver. The latest driver files for the video card and the motherboard, including its AGP driver, and the latest BIOS update have been installed. Any ideas on how I can get both operations working in DVI mode?
Answer
I found this relevant post on the web:
"I have a Phillips LCD monitor myself, and it had the same problem with ATI video cards. An engineer from Phillips told me by e-mail that ATI cards output a non-standard VESA signal on startup and the monitor cannot handle it in DVI mode and thus remains blank during the startup. This is a known incompatibility between ATI video cards and Philips digital monitors, and it's difficult to place the blame directly, but I personally lean towards ATI being the culprit, although it is also true that ATI video cards don't do this on other brands of flat-panel monitors. That said, I solved the problem by using a digital AGP video card made by nVidia. Sorry to have to tell you that, but it was the only fix I could find after many months of frustration."
Why does my Dell P991 CRT monitor only use a 800x600 screen resolution without jumping when showing the film sequences in a game?
Problem
I have just built my first ever PC and decided to keep my good old (2000-ish) Dell P991 CRT monitor, which has a maximum screen resolution of 1600x1200 at a refresh rate of 85Hz. Anyhow, my PC, running Windows XP, has the following hardware: an AMD Athlon 64 3800+ processor, an Asus A8n SLI Premium motherboard, 2MB of Geil PC 3200 (DDR400) RAM, and a Leadtek GeForce PX6800GT TDH 256MB PCI Express graphics card, and onboard sound. All of the latest drivers are loaded. I didn't go into this blindly. I think that the PC that I built should make games like "Prince of Persia II" run on the best resolutions with no problem at all, especially since that game comes with the graphics card. But I am not Einstein, and I don't know why it won't support higher resolutions than 800x600 without jumping on the film-like sequences in that game. It runs okay at all other times during the game.
Answer
That is a good 19" monitor that supports a maximum resolution of 1600x1200 at a refresh rate of 85Hz. If the monitor works in other situations, I would say that the problem is not to do with it. The Asus A8n SLI Premium is a Socket 939 board and you are using an Athlon 64 3800+ processor. You are using a good graphics card.
The video card supports both analog D-sub VGA and digital DVI outputs, so you must be using it in analog mode with your analog monitor. I had a look at a side-on image of the graphics card, and it has two white DVI ports, but no VGA port, so you must be using a DVI port with a DVI-to-VGA converter in order to connect it to your analog monitor.
That could be the cause of the problem. The conversion process is too slow for the game when it is running the film sequences. It is best to use a monitor in DVI mode from the DVI port on the graphics card, so obtaining a DVI LCD monitor would be best for playing games.
When you upgrade, did you also upgrade the power supply. You didn't include its maximum power output specification. I would only use a quality 400W to 450W power supply. I would also try using just 1GB of RAM, because RAM uses power, and if the power supply is inadequate the extra RAM might make the game use the lower resolution.
Read this article on Geil memory: "Dual channel DDR mode is surprisingly demanding. Just using more than one memory module is well known to pull down the ceiling RAM bus speed you can achieve, in many cases, but dual channel is much worse. A lot of RAM that's fine running at full processor bus speed - 250MHz before doubling, say, for a decently overclocked P4 system - when it's the only module in the system, will probably need to be wound down to 2/3rds of the bus speed to work in dual channel mode. That'll put it well below its rated speed, if it's fancy PC-something-above-3000 memory. But anything faster just won't work. You may be able to load your OS, but good luck running applications." -
http://www.dansdata.com/quickshot002.htm
You might have to have the RAM set up with no very demanding settings.
A retailer rip-off: The SLI motherboard and the two SLI video/graphics cards I bought for it turned out not to be SLI- compliant
Problem
I purchased a Asus A8N-SLI Premium Socket 939 motherboard, two PCI Express graphics cards with nVidia 6800GT chips, and an AMD Athlon 64 4000+ processor from a well-known UK online retailer. The motherboard and the graphics cards were advertised with the SLI logo.
I installed the components in an existing case, added RAM a hard drive and a CD/DVD drive from another system. I formatted the hard drive and installed Windows XP SP2. I installed the graphics device drivers that came on a CD with the graphics cards. However, as soon as I tried to play a PC game, the system crashed. I then downloaded and installed the latest device drivers for the graphics cards. Having installed them, the system produced a message that said that I did not have SLI-compliant graphics cards installed.
I asked the online retail store's after-sales support staff by e-mail what I should do about the problem. I was asked to return the motherboard because they had experienced problems with them.
In hindsight, I'm pretty sure that they had not experienced difficulties with this make and model of motherboard. They were just faced with the prospect of having all of my purchases returned so that they could find out where the problem lay. They didn't want to do that, so they asked for the motherboard back because they knew that it would be working. I doubt if they even bothered to have it tested. They knew full well that they just had to say that the motherboard was working to make me the target for a restocking fee.
Anyhow, I was given an RMA reference number. A few days after I returned the motherboard, I received an e-mail saying that the motherboard had been tested with another brand of SLI-complaint graphics cards and was found to be working properly. I was asked if I wanted it back, because if I didn't I would have to pay a 20% restocking charge. I pointed out that I had told them in my original message that I thought that the problem was with the graphics cards and that they had requested the return of the motherboard. I also made it clear that they should have tested the motherboard with the same make and model of graphics cards that I have. I received a reply saying that I could either pay for retesting the board or accept the restocking charge. I replied that I had another option - legal action. The reply from them said that I had chosen to return the motherboard and, as far as the company was concerned, there was nothing wrong with it. When I provide a copy of the e-mail in which they had suggested that I return the motherboard not the graphics cards, they ignored the evidence. The best offer I could get out of them was to accept a 10% restocking fee. Do I have a case for legal action against this company?
Answer
That's the major disadvantage of buying the components for a PC from an online dealer that isn't a short drive away. If just one of them doesn't work, unless you have components that you can swap with the purchases, it can be very difficult to find out where the fault lies. Moreover, I expect that had you returned all of the components so that they could find the fault and then return a set of working components that were fully SLI-compliant, the company is unlikely to have wasted any time testing anything because the profit it makes on components is very slim and it is too costly to do so. They would just have told you that none of the components were found to be faulty; that you must not have installed them properly, or that there must have been something wrong with the other components in the computer, such as the RAM memory you added not having been fully compatible with the motherboard, or the power supply you used having been inadequate to run two PCI Express graphics cards. Then they would have charged you a restocking fee for all of those components unless you agreed to take them back. Obtaining proof from the company that it had actually tested the components together would be almost impossible, or could just be fabricated.
Had you told the company that you were sending all of the components back for a full refund under the terms of the Sale of Goods Act, because they were unsuitable for the purpose for which they were bought, it might have given you a refund, but it might also have refused to give you a refund, saying that it had tested all of the components and found them to be fully functional together. They know that suing the company via the Small Claims Court is your only realistic recourse, because suing in a civil court isn't a realistic option. They also know that most people only bluff about suing them via the Small Claims Court, because it is still an involved and costly process. As things stand, in order to win your case, you would have to prove that the components didn't work together. That would mean having to get the motherboard back and then having the assembled system tested by a qualified technician, because the court would require definite proof that the components you purchased did not work together and that none of the other components you added were faulty.
These companies have had plenty of experience dealing with difficult situations. Many are they who make purchases of computer components, who don't know what their power requirements are or how to install them properly. Their staff know what legal action to take so that the company doesn't lose out too heavily. Therefore, as soon as you couldn't get the system to work, to cut your losses, you should have had it tested by a qualified computer technician to find out what was causing the problem. If it turned out that any of the components you bought from the company was faulty, you could have return it under the returns policies of the company for a full refund or a replacement. The conditions of sale and the returns policies should be available on the company's website.
As things stand, you now have two graphics cards and a processor, but no motherboard in which to install them. I have no idea if you installed the two graphics cards as they should have been installed, or if the power supply you used was up to the job of running two cards in SLI mode. Do the two graphics cards each require to be connected to a PCI Express power cable from the power supply unit? High-end PCI Express cards usually require additional power from the power supply unit. If an installation manual wasn't provided with the cards, you should be able to find installation instructions on the card-manufacturer's site.
You say that you installed the latest device driver file. nVidia's Version 80 driver has made it no longer necessary to have exactly the same graphics cards and the same firmware versions installed on both cards. SLI mode can also now be used without having to make use of an SLI bridge connector that is connected between the two cards. If you didn't install the Version 80 driver, you would have had to install the bridge between the two cards that should have been supplied with them.
If I were you, I would ask the company if you can return the other components for a refund. If the support staff say that a refund will be issued minus a restocking charge, I would accept it as long as the charge isn't excessive. If you return goods to the company, it has the legal right under the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 to treat the returns as a cancellation. Under Regulation 14, it can make a charge not exceeding the direct costs of recovering any goods supplied under the contract of sale. In other words, the company can only recover its packaging and delivery costs.
You can then buy the components for an SLI system locally, which you can return in person if they don't work together.
How can I connect my laptop computer to a TV? - Hooking up a laptop to a TV
Problem
I have an HP ZV5000 laptop computer and I want to hook it up to my TV and home theatre equipment. What is the best way to do this using S-Video or Composite video? I am very confused about all of these connections.
Answer
Have a look at the available output ports on your computer's video/graphics card, or its motherboard's ports panel if it is an integrated motherboard that has an inbuilt graphics chip instead of a separate AGP or PCI Express graphics card. The available output ports are: a 15-pin D-sub VGA port, a DVI port, and an S-Video port. Your computer could have one, two, or all of those ports.
Next, you have to identify the type of television TV you have - an analog or digital TV. If it's an analog television, it should have an S-Video input port. If it's a digital television, it could have any of these input ports: S-Video, 15-pin VGA D-sub, component video, or a DVI input.
Now you have to match the output port from the computer with the input port on the TV. A VGA D-Sub or DVI match provides the best quality of image and picture production. If you have a component video connection on the TV and a VGA D-sub output on the computer, you can connect them by making use of an adapter. An S-Video connection provides the poorest quality of image and picture production, so you should only use it if you can't use either of the other alternatives.
Turn the TV channel to AV1, or whatever you plugged it into. Consult your laptop's user manual to find out how to make it display on an external monitor. In Windows XP, you will probably have to make the secondary monitor (the TV) the primary monitor under Control Panel => Display => Settings.
You must match the screen resolution that the TV uses with the screen resolution that the PC is using. You do that in Windows under Display => Settings.
Compatible screen resolutions and video standards might be provided on the back of the TV. If not, you should be able to find them listed in the TV's user manual.
If the VGA D-sub TV input is PC compatible, one or more of the following video standard and screen resolutions should be provided:
VGA = 640x480
SVGA = 800x600
XGA = 1024x768
SXGA = 1280x1024
The 15-pin VGA D-sub input might not be directly PC compatible. If this is the case, one or a few of the following television formats and their compatible screen resolutions should be provided on the back of the TV or in the TV's user manual:
480i - is not compatible with PC's
480p = 720x480
720p = 1280x720
1080i = 1920x1080 (interlaced)
1080p = 1920x1080
To provide sound with any of the above-mentioned connections, you connect a 1/8" to L/R RCA cable from the audio output on the computer (on the sound card or motherboard if it is an integrated motherboard) to the corresponding audio jack on the TV.
To provide sound on a laptop computer that doesn't have an RCA Composite port, buy an RCA-headphone jack adapter, which costs about £2/$3. You connect an RCA cable to the RCA Composite input on your TV, plug the other end in to the adapter, and the adapter into the headphone or line-out plug in your laptop computer.
If you require more information, the articles and pages linked to below describe in detail how to connect the different types of PC video/graphics ports to analog and digital TVs.
How To Connect a Computer To Your TV - http://www.techlore.com/article/10061/?page=1
PC to TV and TV to PC Converters - Provides USB converters - http://www.keyzone.com/converters/index.htm
Connect your Media Center PC to a TV -
"The S-Video cable works well with most standard TVs. The procedure below explains how to connect a TV to your computer using an S-Video connection." - http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/mediacenter/using/setup/connecttv.mspx
TV Connection cables - http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/mediacenter/using/setup/cables.mspx
How to use the S-Video out of your computer - http://www.svideo.com/compaq1700.html
PC to TV cables - http://www.svideo.com/pc2tv.html
Small boxes and strange colours appear on the screen and the computer freezes when I play fast games
Problem
Two months ago I upgraded to an Inno3D 128MB GeForce 6600 GT AGP graphics card. All of my games played wonderfully, including Battlefield 2, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and Need For Speed Underground 2. But when I ran the 2005 3D Benchmark software supplied with the card, the computer froze and small multicoloured boxes appeared on the screen. The parts of the video that were visible through the boxes had peculiar colours. The same problem occurred when I run Age of Empires 3 and F.E.A.R. The games freeze, small boxes appear on the screen, and the colours sometimes darken and become peculiar. This happens after a few seconds in F.E.A.R. and within a few minutes in Age of Empires 3. I was told by a experienced PC gamer that it could be an overheating problem, so I monitored the temperature settings using a utility that came with the graphics card. After playing for a few seconds, I saw that the core temperature was 73°. I allowed it to cool down and then went back to playing the game. If I keep doing this with Age of Empires 3, I can play the game for two about hours. However, this doesn't work with F.E.A.R. I opened the case and turned on my ceiling fan when the room temperature was 25°. Doing that works, but I still have to pause the game regularly, but after a longer interval. If I don't do so, small boxes appear and the computer freezes.
Answer
Graphics cards such as yours are designed to run hot and 73° is not exceptionally hot. The default slowdown temperature on these cards is 120°. However, the temperature sensors are often inaccurate. If problems occur only after you have been playing a game for a few minutes, then the temperature could be the problem, but the PC's power supply could also be the cause. If the graphics card draws a heavy current when playing games, an inadequate power supply could be overheating and causing instability problems of the kind that you report. Upgrading to a more powerful unit would fix the problem if an inadequate power supply is the cause.
See this page on this site on power supplies: http://www.pcbuyerbeware.co.uk/MBoard2.htm.
If you are using device drivers that came with the card, or that a game installed, you should download the latest drivers for the card from its manufacturer's site. New drivers often fix video glitches and may also affect the temperatures being reported in the temperature-monitoring window. Also download and install the latest motherboard drivers from the motherboard manufacturer's site, one of which would be the AGP driver for the motherboard's AGP bus. Make sure that the fan on the card is running properly and have a look at the airflow inside the PC's case, because the fan on the card can only cool the graphics processor if the air inside the case is cool. Fitting an additional fan to the case may improve the airflow. The fans should not be negating each other. Air should be drawn into the case by one fan and expelled by another fan.
I need a monitor that can be connected to my PC and to my Xbox 360 games console
Question
I intend to buy an Xbox 360 games console, so I want to find an LCD monitor that can be connected to both the Xbox and my PC. I need advice on whether to look for a 19" LCD with analog VGA and digital DVI inputs, or a 17" widescreen HD-ready TV. I know that the 19" monitor would be the best choice when playing PC games such as Doom 3 and Half-Life 2, but I have no idea if I can connect an Xbox 360 to my PC's Audigy 2 IS sound card.
Answer
The Xbox 360 is designed to be connected to a TV or PC screen, but the latter requires a special cable. You should choose a monitor carefully. Microsoft sells a special cable that allows an Xbox 360 games console to be connected to any PC monitor that has an analog D-sub VGA input. If you choose a PC monitor with both VGA and DVI inputs, you can connect the Xbox to the VGA input and the PC to the DVI input.
However, make sure that your graphics card has a DVI-D or DVI-I output port. DVI-D is digital only, and can only be connected to a DVI port, while DVI-I can be conencted to both VGA and DVI ports.
Visit the PC Monitors pages on this site for more information on VGA and DVI inputs and outputs.
I would recommend choosing a widescreen PC monitor. A standard PC monitor with a 4:3 aspect ratio limits you to using a screen resolution of 640x480 pixels, because all of the higher Xbox display modes use widescreen mode. Alternatively, you could choose an HD TV, but you must make sure that it has enough inputs for your PC and the Xbox 360 to be connected at the same time. Most 17" HD TVs have a resolution of 1280x768 pixels, which is acceptable for PC use. Whatever you final choice is, you don't have to worry about the PC's sound card. Although it is possible to connect the sound of an Xbox 360 through a PC, it is much easier to connect it directly to a set of speakers. However, you might need to use a splitter cable or phono-to-jack plug adapter, which costs less than £5.
My video/graphics card doesn't support my PC monitor's native resolution of 1440x900 pixels
Question
My PC's graphics card doesn't support the native resolution of 1440x900 pixels of my Acer AL1916W widescreen LCD monitor, consequently everything looks blurred and indistinct. Can you recommend a graphics card that produces that native resolution?
Answer
Many graphics cards released over the past few years are capable of supporting a resolution of 1440x900 pixels.
Unfortunately, you didn't say which graphics card you are currently using, but you should try updating your card's drivers before you buy a new one. Installing the latest drivers for a graphics card can often enable new resolutions, especially if the existing drivers are old.
Note that it is also important to install the correct driver for the monitor, because the standard Windows Plug and Play driver will only allow you to choose resolutions that it thinks are supported by the monitor. Acer should provide the driver for that model from its website.
If new drivers don't provide you with the required resolution, you could try setting a custom display resolution. A easy way to do that is to use a utility called PowerStrip, which can be used to force a graphics card to display additional resolutions. This software, which is shareware, can be downloaded from http://www.entechtaiwan.com/util/ps.shtm. lf you continue using the program, you have to pay around $30/£17 for it, which is much cheaper than buying a new graphics card.
If PowerStrip doesn't provide the solution, you'll probably have to buy a new graphics card. The budget graphics processor, the ATI Radeon X1300, supports a resolution of 1440x900 pixels. A graphics card using the X1300 chipset can cost less than £65. However, if you want to play the latest PC games, you'll need a faster card. If the motherboard in your PC uses an older AGP graphics card slot, (PCI Express is the latest standard for graphics cards), finding a card could be difficult. You can start off by making use of the Google search box at the top of this page with its Web radio button enabled to look for AGP GeForce 6600GT cards. Try a search such as: agp + "geforce 6600GT" (as is). Locating a suitable PCI Express graphics card shouldn't be too difficult.
Will two nVidia GeForce 6600 GT video/graphics cards play the latest games at high resolutions?
Question
I am thinking about buying a PC with two Nvidia GeForce 6600 GT graphics cards. The price is good, but will I be able to play all of the latest PC games at high resolutions and at detailed settings? If not, which card(s) should I opt for?
Answer
Brilliant as it is, SLI technology doesn't guarantee high performance. The nVidia GeForce 6600 GT is quite an old card by current standards. Using two of them together in SLI mode increases the performance to around the level of a single nVidia 6800 GT card. In short, that setup is good enough to play games such as Doom 3 and Half Life 2 at a resolution of 1024x768. Moreover, you should be able to play newer games at that resolution as well. However, as more demanding games are released, you'll have to turn down the screen resolution and detail settings.
A better choice would be a PC with a single nVidia 7800 GT graphics card. These currently retail for around £230 (April 2006), which is around the same price as two 6600 GT cards. The 7800 GT is very fast and can run all of the current PC games at a resolution of 1280x1024. If you buy a PC that has an SLI motherboard, you'll be able to add a second 7800 GT card later on. The combination of those two cards would mean that you'll be able to play the games released next year, and probably even the year after that, at high resolutions and at detailed settings.
How can I tell which video codecs are required to play a video file with a particular extension?
Question
For some reason, video files with the same extension require different video codecs in order to run. How can I tell which codecs are needed to play a particular type of file?
Answer
Files with the same extension can contain different types of data that require the use of particular audio and video codecs in order to play. For example, video files can have video data, audio data, and extra data such as chapters and subtitles. All of the data is contained within a file container format that gives the file its extension. The most common container-format extensions are .avi, .mov, and .mp4, all of which support a number of video formats. For example, the MP4 format can contain MPEG1, MPEG2, H.264, and ASP video formats, and it can also contain audio streams in the MP3, Vorbis, or ACC formats. That is why you can't tell which codecs are required to play a file just from its file extension.
Software tools are available that can identify the types of data within a particular container. Try using Video Inspector or Media Player Classic. Then you just have to find out which audio and video codecs are required to run the data contained within a particular file. You can use the Google search box provided at the top of this page, with its Web radio button enabled.
In Windows XP, the video codecs and audio codecs are listed in System Information, which can be opened by entering msinfo32 in the Start => Run box. In System Information, open Components and then open Multimedia to find Audio Codecs and Video Codecs.
The audio and video codecs also appear in the Device Manager under Sound, video and game controllers. Double-click on Audio Codecs or Video Codecs and look under the Properties tab. You can use the Remove button to remove individual codecs.
10. - Permanent white lines have appeared on the screen of my laptop/notebook PC
Problem
Two permanent vertical white lines have appeared on the screen of my HP Pavilion zd8000 notebook PC one after the other. They are there no matter which software is running. I have tried using System Restore, the drivers for the graphics card are the latest ones downloaded from its manufacturer's website, and I have also formatted the C: drive and restored a backup of the whole system. The computer is running Windows XP SP2, which is fully updated. Is this a permanent fault that the screen has developed, or is there some way of getting rid of the lines?
Answer
This is most probably a hardware issue. The notebook can be connected to an external monitor, so, if you have access to one that has the correct type of connection (standard D-sub VGA, DVI), connect it to the notebook. If the lines are no longer there, then the problem is probably caused by fault with the screen or with its ribbon cable the connects the screen to the notebook's motherboard. However, it could also be a problem with the computer's graphics processor.
If the lines show on both the screen and the monitor, the problem is definitely being caused by a fault with the graphics processor (chip).
If you don't have access to an external monitor, take the notebook in to a reputable repair shop that specialises in the repair of notebook computers.
The computer's ATI X600 graphics processor is not on a seperate graphics card, it is built into the computer's motherboard, so it would be very expensive to replace it.
According to information on the web, the HP Pavilion zd8000 and zd7000 series have problems with overheating. This is because they use an Intel Pentium 4 desktop processor that is not designed for use in a notebook. Special mobile notebook processors are designed to use less power (to save batery life), and run much cooler than desktop processors. Both the Pentium 4 processor and the graphics chips produce heat that the internal case fan probabably cannot remove quickly enough to prevent the computer from overheating.
According to information on the web, some owners of the Pavilion zd7000 series have had the motherboards of their computers replaced many times during the 12-month warranty period. In fact, because of the high number of failures with this series of notebooks, HP has agreed to replace motherboards with failed graphics processors free of charge - even if the computer is out of warranty. This policy doesn't appear to apply to the zd8000 series, but, if the graphics processor has failed, you will probably be able to have it applied in your case, because the design of that series isn't markedly differen from the zd7000 series.
To prevent a netebook computer from getting hotter than it should, always use it on a hard surface, never on a bed or couch, because it needs air to circulate under it. Stands are also available that raise a notebook above the surface so that the more air can circulate under it, and you can purchase a cooling pad that has fans inside it that the notebook is placed on. Such a cooling pad reduces a notebook's temperature by a few degrees, which might be enough to cure the problem.
What to do when video files in the AVI format won't play
If when trying to play video files in the AVI format a message displays referring to Windows codecs as being the cause, you should visit a page such as GSpot. It provides free software that establishes which codecs (audio and video) are required to play an AVI file. The software can troubleshoot problems.
See what it has to offer here. - http://www.headbands.com/gspot/.
The free version of the DivX player installs missing codecs that may be required to play video files in the .avi format.
You can obtain the DivX MPEG 4 player for Windows here -http://www.divx.com/.
Why do some PC games look stretched on my widescreen LCD monitor?
Problem
I have a new widescreen LCD monitor. When I play some of my PC games, they appear to be stretched on it. Is there a fix for this?
Answer
The standard aspect ratios (the relationship between the height and width of the screen are 4:3 or 5:4 for traditional square displays. Widescreen monitors have an aspect ratio of 16:9 or 16:10. HD (high definition) TV sets also have one of those aspect ratios. A resolution standard for a widescreen LCD monitor that starts with W is going to be a wider screen than a traditional screen, displaying up to 30% more information.
Most of the current PC games, such as Call of Duty 2, allow the user to set the aspect ratio of the game in the graphics properties screen to match that of the monitor. That is not usually the case with older games, so the images appear to be stretched on a widescreen display when displayed across the whole screen. Alternatively, the monitor may display the game in the correct aspect ratio by placing black black bars on each side of the screen.
The solution to this problem varies from game to game. It could be implemented by a patch or hack downloaded from the game-maker's site, or you may have to enter a special command. Visit the game-maker's site and read the available information provided for that game. For example the site for Call of Duty 2 is http://www.callofduty.com/.
Alternatively, visit a site that provides fixes for games, such as http://www.megagames.com/gcracks.html, which I found by entering the search term pc + games + fixes (as is) in the Google search box at the top of this page (with its Web radio button enabled). The introduction reads: "Welcome to the PC Game Fixes section! Here, we present you with the largest PC Game Fixes library on the Internet. By the use of these fixes, you will be able to modify/customize the game in the way you want them to run.
An AGP video/graphics card only works in PCI mode
Problem
I fitted a GeForce 2 MX video card in my computer motherboard's AGP slot. The operating system is Windows 98 SE. When Display Properties => Settings => Advanced tab is accessed a message there says: Bus Type AGP (PCI mode). Therefore, as an inexperienced user, I need to know how to make the card work in AGP mode instead of PCI mode..
A possible solution
The message Bus Type AGP (PCI mode) seems to be unique to GeForce video cards that use Detonator drivers. For other GeForce cards, there will probably be no indication of a problem unless the card is tested with benchmark performance software.
Unfortunately, it is not specifically known what the programmers of the Detonator drivers meant by the message. The official AGP 2.0 specifications do not use the term PCI mode, only 1X, 2X, and 4X modes. 1X mode is 33MHz - the same for PCI and AGP cards.
It could be that the motherboard supports AGP up to 2X mode, but doesn't support the card's 4X mode, or it does support it but the BIOS is set to 2X mode.
But the most likely cause of the situation is that the system does not have the correct chipset AGP support driver loaded. The problem is more commonly encountered with VIA AGP chipsets. There is a good chance that the video performance is not being seriously affected, because the card is already running in an AGP mode. However, if 4X mode is available, but the card is using 1X or 2X mode, then the performance loss will be significant.
First check the AGP specifications in the motherboard's manual (downloadable from the manufacturer's website). Check that the BIOS is set to use the highest supported mode, and that fast writes are enabled.
This is a good site to visit for information on BIOS settings. -
Adrian's Rojakpot - The Definitive BIOS Guide -
http://www.rojakpot.com/Speed_Demonz/BIOS_Guide/BIOS_Guide_Index.htm
If the motherboard uses a VIA chipset visit the drivers' section of http://www.viaarena.com/ and download the latest 4-in-1 driver file (version 4.4 or higher). Note that version 4.42 contains a new 8X AGP mode driver, which might prove to be less stable than version 4.4. The drivers are self-executing files that when clicked on should determine and then install the correct drivers for the system. Reboot after installing the drivers. If the problem has not been solved, try reinstalling the VIA AGP driver first, and then reinstall the GeForce drivers.
Users with an Intel chipset on the motherboard should visit http://www.intel.com/ and download the latest Chipset Software Installation Utility, which will install the necessary drivers. Visit http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/inf for information on this subject.
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