How to update Win98 drivers for more than 16 display colors?

[KelliM]

I'm try to fix an old computer for a friend...I just formatted the hard drive and installed Win98, but now the display settings are showing the option of 2 or 16 colors only. I searched this forum and found some other posts mentioning that drivers needed to be updated to fix this problem, so I tried looking for the drivers on the Win98 install CD and on the Internet with no luck. Does anyone know the specific driver(s) needed and/or where they can be found? Or is there another way to fix the problem?

If this info helps, it's a Relisys monitor and when I try to search for a better driver, it gives me the current driver: Standard PCI Graphics Adapter (VGA), with file location C:\windows\inf\msdisp.inf.

Thank you!
Kelli

 

[BTS '76]

you need to find out the make of the graphics card, or if it is integrated into the mainboard, find out what kind of board it is.

VGA is just the basic windows driver, you won't find the correct one for your graphics card on the windows 98 cd. If you have any other cd's that came with the computer, they might contain the drivers, otherwise get the info above posted here, and we can find the correct drivers for you.

 

[KelliM]

I think it is integrated, but I'm not sure. When we first boot the computer we enter a setup screen, where it says "On Chip VGA" with VGA Shared Memory Size=4M and VGA Frequency=70Mhz. During bootup there is a screen with computer information...under one area labeled "PCI Devices" is a statement, "PCI Onboard VGA". Does that help? This computer was custom built, so we don't have much information on it. We're calling it quits for now, but tomorrow we'll open the case and see if we can find any other information about the motherboard.

Thanks for your response!

Kelli

 

[flavallee]

Go to http://www.majorgeeks.com and download and install Belarc Advisor 6.1F or Everest Home Edition 1.10.106. Both of these free utilities will allow you to display a list of that computer's hardware and will tell you what type of display adapter it has. Without installing drivers for the display adapter, you are pretty much stuck in VGA mode.

 

[KelliM]

Thanks for the response. I tried Belarc but it only displayed what we already knew (Standard PCI adapter VGA). I found a driver "sis_5596.zip" on the Internet (the site claimed it worked for Win98SE) and installed it, which has corrected the original problem (I can now change the color and screen resolution), but now the mouse pointer looks like a UPC bar code and I can't click on anything. Any suggestions for this new problem, or is it still a matter of finding the appropriate driver?

Thank you!

Kelli

 

[flavallee]

The mouse pointer looks like a bar code? That's a new one on me.

Check the pointer options in the mouse properties and see if you can reset the mouse pointer.

If that doesn't work, try reinstalling the mouse drivers, preferably any updated ones.