windows 98 - 16 color...

[katuuuz]

hey guys, i recently picked up a buddies "junk" dell dimension l___r when he upgraded.  it's only got 1.99 gb hd space, and i installed windows 98 on it.  i can only view things through 16 color, so you can imagine what this website looks like right now.  is this due to the graphics card?  it's a stock Dell E770s on Standard PCI Graphics Adaptor (VGA).  Would i need to upgrade graphics cards to view 256 color graphics?  I also have an extra dell monitor i tried plugging in, but it was to no avail...  the 2nd hand monitor is only 3 years old.

[ahofle]

Are you sure you have drivers for the graphics card?  Sounds like you are in 'safe mode'.

[Bloinkxp]

Pull the video card and look for the largest "chip".  Write down the serial or model number and google it.  That will get you to the right video driver.  I imagine it is either an ATI Rage II+ or an Nvidia Vanta...

[katuuuz]

i appreciate the feedback, but it's a dell dimension l__r.  the video card/usb/printer/keyboard/mouse seem to be all on 1 card.  i know it isn't possible, but i can't see the soundcard.  i know i'm not in safemode though.

[SirPeale]

On the card you mentioned look for chips by known video chipset makers.  ATI, Cirrus Logic, TSeng Labs, STI, etc.  Then you should be able to find an appropriate driver.

Failing that, get yourself a PCI video card.

[ahofle]

Have you tried looking for the appropriate drivers on Dell's website (although that might not work out given how old the machine is).  Usually you can enter a serial number or model number and it will find all the appropriate drivers for you.  Perhaps you can see if your friend has the original install disks.  "Standard PCI Graphics Adaptor (VGA)" is definitely not the correct driver though.

[katuuuz]

yeah my friend doesn't have the discs, and the pc seems to be too old, there's no video driver listed when i type in my model number.  i guess i'm gonna try and find that chip, hopefully it will be  to avail.

[katuuuz]

well i just ripped open my pc and to no avail, i'm unable to locate a big chip that says any kind of video card name on it.  the biggest chip says intell.  there's no other way to tell what driver i need?

[katuuuz]

  http://www.drivermagic.com  just saved my life.  download and install the driverwizard, and BOOM you have a list of all your drivers, even if they are not installed on your pc.  then it actually downloads the driver you need by itself!

[SirPeale]

Sounds like you have an Intel all-in-one chipset.

Glad you got things worked out.

[ahofle]

http://www.drivermagic.com  just saved my life.

Thx for the useful link.  (bookmarked)

[StephenH]

A couple of things can cause this:

1) The Video Driver is not installed and Windows is substituting the generic VGA driver.

2) The display control panel is set to 16 colors

3) Sometimes this can happen if booted in safe mode

4) The video drivers are corrupted and/or are incorrect.

[shorthair]

Sounds like you have an Intel all-in-one chipset.

This is what I was thinking right off.