weird screen res problem

[UechiJ]

Hello everyone!

I was wondering if anyone could help me with a weird screen resolution problem.

My grandfathers computer keeps resetting the screen res back to 640 x 480 everytime it reboots. It will boot up into any other higher res until the task tray finishes loading then quickly blinks and defaults back to 640 x 480.

He has current and functioning NAV program and to his knowledge has never gotten a virus.

I tried removing all items from the start up process through ms config. I also removed his video drivers and it still behaves the same way. It only changes the screen res. The color remains 32 bit and refresh stays the same.

He has:

1.1 ghz amd athlon xp
ltd 600pg mother board w/nvidia nforce chipset (100MGHz)
win XP
eg force 2 mx400 (64MB)

Is it possible it could be a virus which has slipped by Norton...or maybe spyware? Spyware is the only thing I haven't scanned for and am in the process of getting taken care of, but Iv'e never heard of spyware doing this. Also could't find anything in Google on this problem. Very weird,

any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[edDV]

1.1 ghz, hmm ~4yrs old

Does everything reset or just the screen resolution?
Maybe a dead CMOS battery?

[UechiJ]

edDV,

Just the sreen res. everthing else styas unchged. Even things like the 32 bit color and refresh rate. I don't understand how the cmos battery couuld intrfere with the screen resolution?

Thanks,

[edDV]

Just a thought.
here are others FWIW
- Maybe something to do with task tray items? Those are last to load.
- Run msconfig.exe and temporarily shut dowwn startup items and see if problem goes away. You can also shut down sys.ini, win.ini, and services.
- Maybe there are new video drivers for the moterboard?

[AlecWest]

It sounds to me like you've exhausted the software possibilities. If his video card isn't new (especially if it's "original" equipment), it might be time to get a new one. They're pretty cheap ... and if it isn't the video card, you've at least cheaply eliminated that from the list of possible glitches. I've had a video card go bad on me with an older system. It's not pretty.

In fact, as a freebie, it might be interesting to see what his system does with your video card installed. If the problem goes away, then let him keep your card and buy a new one for yourself. If it doesn't go away, you've eliminated the possibility of a video card problem without it costing you a dime.

[Rivers]

I had this problem too recently when I installed a new 'free' anti virus prog. I could not get out of 640x480. I changed my anti-virus prog to Avast and all has been well. Try uninstalling your virus killer to see what happens.

[UechiJ]

Thanks everyone!!!!

I will try the suggestions and get back with you to let you know. I did disable all the start up items and it still behaves the same way. I didn't try shutting down the sys.ini, win.ini, and services. So I'll give that a try.

Thanks again.

[UechiJ]

All right,

I tried shutting down the sys.ini, win.ini, and services. but still get the same rsponse. Any other Ideas?

[reboot]

Reinstall updated video drivers.
Reinstall updated chipset drivers.
Adjust settings in Display properties to "Detect PnP monitors" on the Monitor tab. Set screen refresh to 75hz. Set hardware accelleration down ONE notch on the Troubleshoot tab.
These are all found by right clicking the desktop select Properties, Settings, Advanced.