Help Please...problem With Driver

[n00b]

Could some please help me? i went to windows update recently and found that there was an driver update and after i downloaded it, there were problems. Programs like AOL Instant Messenger didn't work. So i uninstalled it and then the monitor does something wierd and the monitor looks dark even when i put it at max. brightness. There are also added black bars which almost act like a frame. Please tell me how to fix it so I can use programs like AOL Instant Messenger while making the monitor look like its back to normal. Thanks!

 

[Win2kpatcher]

sounds like the driver update may have been for the video card and changed the display settings after installing it. I would go to the CONTROL PANEL>DISPLAY>SETTINGS and change it to 1024x768 32-bit and see what that does...the driver may have added some kind of lighting adjustments that may need to be tweaked as well.

 

[n00b]

thanks for your help win2kpatcher, but programs like the AOL Instant Messenger still doesn't work. Should i try downloading the newest version of AOL Instant Messenger? I have done so in the past and whenever i signed on, the computer would freeeze. Any suggestions? Thanks!!

 

[Lone Wolf]

Changing the resolution settings that W2K patcher gave you would most likely apply to a 17" monitor. As such if you have a different size monitor, you need to select the correct resolution accordingly.

It would help to know what your OS is what type of an update you downloaded from MS's website to help you further.

For starters, you might consider reinstalling the video driver or the monitor driver. For the latter, I would use the Device Manager to uninstall the monitor and reboot the system. Upon reboot, your PC will install a generic VGA driver... go through the Device Manager again to update the driver for it and install the correct driver for your specific model.

Go to the monitor manufacturer's website or your PC manufacturer's website to download the driver for your monitor.

As for your AIM problem, again, i dont' know what exactly you downloaded from MS's website. I would uninstall AIM and re-install it to the same directory.

 

[n00b]

OS is Windows XP Professional
I downloaded ATI Technologies display software update released on September 26, 2001.

 

[Lone Wolf]

Generally I disregard any sort of hardware update that MS's updater deems as "important or crucial"... To me it's total BS. If i wanna update my driver, I will get it directly from the manufacturer's website, i.e. ATI or Nvidia, etc...

Be that as it may, since you've already D/L ed it... I suppose you could try XP's system restore feature provided that you already have a restore point that you can revert back to. If not, then consider the suggestions I gave you earlier. Good luck.

 

[n00b]

hey Lone Wolf, thanks for your help but what does that mean:
For starters, you might consider reinstalling the video driver or the monitor driver. For the latter, I would use the Device Manager to uninstall the monitor and reboot the system. Upon reboot, your PC will install a generic VGA driver... go through the Device Manager again to update the driver for it and install the correct driver for your specific model.

Well, when i went to the ATI driver update website, it seemed it was the same update. I went to try and uninstall AOL Instant Messenger thru Control Panel Add or Remove Programs and it wasn't there! So then, i tried to download AIM from their site and when it was beggining to install, it sed i had the application already running. How can it run? When i click on it, it loads for a little while but nothing happens. I dont know what is going on. Please help me!

 

[heavywx]

The driver you downloaded might be causing some hardware comflicts. Go to Control panel/System/Device manager. Check and see if you have a question mark beside your display adapter. If you do, right click go to properties and see whats it's conflicting with. It might be something simple to fix. Or then again you may have to roll back the driver to fix the error. I'm just guessing here but it sounds like the wrong driver. I don't use the driver updates from MS eather.

 

[n00b]

Thanks for your help heavywx but when i click on Device manager, a window pops up, and then it disappears! I think my computer have some serious problems...any suggestions on what to do now?

 

[heavywx]

Hum. You might have to do a reformat. Because you have to get into device manager to dump the driver. The older video cards don't show up in add/remove because they are just the drivers with no associated software. Are you running the correct version of directx for the card.