Screen Resolution Help

[needhelp999]

My current screen resolution is 800 by 600 pixels. Whenever I move it to 1024 by 768 pixels and hit apply my screen goes black and it takes a few seconds for the green light on my monitor to turn to an orange light. All I have to do is hit the escape button on my keyboard and it will go back to the normal screen. So its not a serious issue at all but I would rather have my screen resolution at 1024 by 768 pixels to view certain sites that require it and play certain computer games that require it. I have a Dell Dimension 3000 and I have an eMachines monitor. Could that be the problem? Any help would be good. Thanks!!!

[Quantos]

It definitely sounds like either the monitor or the video card are not capable of that resolution.

What video card and monitor are you running?

[computeruler]

Im sure the computer is capable of running at that resolution, but I am going to say its either the monitor or you need grpahics card drivers installed.  What size monitor? lcd or crt?

[needhelp999]

Sorry. I'm a little rusty with computers. I can find my video card and monitor information where?

[Quantos]

The video card information can be found in 'Device Manager' and the monitor should have the information right on it.

[needhelp999]

I don't know if this is it at all. All I'm finding is Intel(R) 82865G Graphics Controller and a plug and play monitor. I hope I'm not looking too dumb.

[computeruler]

It seems that the display drivers are installed, so try measuring your monitor with a ruler, going diagonally.  If the screen is like glass then its a crt, and if its not its an lcd

[needhelp999]

I'm getting about 14 inches diagonally and 8 inches side and 11 inches top and bottom. It kind of seems like glass but kind of hard to tell.

[Quantos]

You can try to use some updated drivers for that board here.

Most 14" monitors are simply not capable of anything higher that 800x600.

[needhelp999]

Okay I'm guessing you can buy monitors by themselves. If you can what size should I get? And should it be a newer monitor?

[Quantos]

Yes, monitors can be purchased seperately.  Depending on how much you can afford to spend you can get quite a variety.

I always recommend buying new, that way you get a warranty.  A CRT monitor is bigger and bulkier, the LCD monitors are slimmer and take up a lot less desktop space.

[needhelp999]

Okay very helpful. I think I'll go out and buy a new one. So before I do that, you don't think their is any problem with my video card or whatever in my hard drive at all?

[Quantos]

If the only issue that you are having is with the display resolution setting, then no.

If you are having any other issues we can try to take care of them now.

[computeruler]

I did some googling and the max you can set it to is 1600x1200x32 @ 85Hz, so you really wont be able to get anything bigger then a 20" unless you upgrade your gpu

[needhelp999]

No I have no other problems with my computer. I noticed this problem awhile ago when I tried to play a game I stored on the computer and the screen went black. I didn't think much of it and said oh well about the game. Then a few weeks later I realized I needed to change my resolution to view certain websites and when I did this the same problem occured so I figured that game automatically set the resolution higher and that's why it went black.