Troubleshooting Video Problems in Windows

ID: Q127139

The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Windows 95
  • Microsoft Windows 98
  • Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition

SUMMARY

This article describes how to troubleshoot video display problems or error messages relating to the video display driver when you are starting or using Windows 95/98.


MORE INFORMATION

Video problems that occur when Windows is started normally, but do not occur when Windows is started in Safe mode are usually related to the display driver that Windows is attempting to use. To determine whether you are using a Windows 3.1, or Windows 95/98 video driver, follow these steps:

  1. Use any text editor (such as Notepad) to open the System.ini file in the Windows folder.


  2. In the [Boot] section, search for the "Display=" line. If this line reads anything other than the following line, the driver you are using is designed for Windows 3.1 (or an earlier version of Windows): 


    3. 
      Display.drv=Pnpdrvr.drv
If you are using a video driver designed for Windows 95/98, go to the "Advanced Graphics Settings" section in this article. Otherwise, continue with the following section.

Windows 3.1 Display Drivers

If no Windows 95/98 display driver is available for your video adapter, try using the Windows 3.1 drivers available from the adapter's manufacturer. Consult the documentation included with that driver for information about how to install the driver.

NOTE: If you use a Windows 3.1 display driver in Windows 95/98, you cannot use new Graphics Device Interface (GDI) features such as:
  • Animated cursors. For information about using animated cursors, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
    ARTICLE-ID: Q123334
    TITLE : Requirements for Animated Cursors


  • Dynamic resolution changes. In many circumstances, you can change the video resolution in Windows 95/98 without restarting Windows. If you change the color depth or the video driver you are using, you must restart Windows.


  • VGA fallback mode. If Windows detects a problem with the video card or video driver, it restarts with the VGA driver.


  • The Windows 95/98 virtual flat frame buffer device (Vflatd.vxd). Vflatd.vxd provides a frame buffer that can be up to 1 MB in size. Windows 3.1 video drivers are limited to a 64K frame buffer that affects your available system resources.


If the Windows 3.1 display driver does not work properly in Windows 95/98, use the standard VGA driver included with Windows 95/98. To do so, use the appropriate method:

Windows 95:
  1. Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double- click Display.


  2. Click the Settings tab, and then click Change Display Type.


  3. Click the Change button in the Adapter Type section, and then click Show All Devices.


  4. In the Manufacturers box, click (Standard Display Types).


  5. In the Models box, click Standard Display Adapter (VGA), click OK, and then click Close.


  6. Click Close.


Windows 98:
  1. Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double- click Display.


  2. Click the Settings tab, and then click Advanced.


  3. Click the Adapter tab, and then click Change.


  4. Click Next, click "Display a list of all the drivers in a specific location, so you can select the driver you want," and then click Next.


  5. Click Show All Devices.


  6. In the Manufacturers box, click (Standard Display Types).


  7. In the Models box, click Standard Display Adapter (VGA), click OK, and then click Next.


  8. Click Next, click Next, and then click Finish.


  9. Click Close, click Close again, and then click Yes to restart your computer.


If you continue to experience problems, continue with the following section.

Advanced Graphics Settings

Windows 95/98 has a built-in method for troubleshooting video problems. There is a slider you can adjust to change the way Windows uses the video card. It is a good idea to start with the setting on the right (the Full setting) and move the slider one setting to the left until you find the setting that works best. To use the slider to change the way Windows uses the video card, follow these steps:
  1. In Control Panel, double-click System.


  2. Click the Performance tab, and then click the Graphics.


  3. Note that the Hardware Acceleration slider has four settings (Full, Most, Basic, and None). Each of these settings is described below.


    • Full

      This is the default setting and allows for full hardware acceleration.


    • Most:

      This setting adds the following items:

      • SWCursor=1 to the [Display] section of the System.ini file.

        Setting SWCursor to 1 disables the hardware cursor.

        NOTE: This setting is similar to using the /Y switch with some versions of the MS-DOS-level Microsoft Mouse driver.



      The Most setting applies to Western Digital (WD) or S3-compatible drivers. If you have problems with the way the mouse pointer appears on the screen, try this setting.


    • Basic:

      This setting adds the following items:

      • SafeMode=1 to the [Windows] section of the Win.ini file.

        Setting SafeMode to 1 allows for basic acceleration only (for example, pattern bit block transfer [bitblt] and screen-to-screen bitblt).


      • MMIO=0 to the [Display] section of the System.ini file.

        Setting MMIO to 0 disables memory-mapped I/O for S3-compatible drivers.


      • SWCursor=1 to the [Display] section of the System.ini file.

        Setting SWCursor to 1 disables the hardware cursor.



      Try the Basic setting if your computer seems to stop responding (hang) randomly and you have an S3-compatible video driver.


    • None:

      This setting adds the following items:

      • SafeMode=2 to the [Windows] section of the Win.ini file.

        Setting SafeMode to 2 disables all video card acceleration (for example, the GDI calls the device-independent bitmap [DIB] engine directly for screen drawing, rather than using the display driver).


      • MMIO=0 to the [Display] section of the System.ini file.

        Setting MMIO to 0 disables memory-mapped I/O for S3-compatible drivers.


      • SWCursor=1 to the [Display] section of the System.ini file.

        Setting SWCursor to 1 disables the hardware cursor.

        Try the None setting if your computer seems to hang randomly, you have an S3-compatible video driver, and the Basic setting does not resolve the problem.




If you continue to experience problems, continue with the following section.

Monitors

Use the following steps to verify that your monitor is selected correctly in Windows.

WARNING: It is possible to cause damage to your monitor if you select a monitor type that exceeds the capabilities of your monitor. Consult the monitor's documentation or manufacturer for specific information about its capabilities.

Windows 95:
  1. Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double- click Display.


  2. Click the Settings tab, and then click Change Display Type.


  3. Click the Change button in the Monitor Type section, and then click Show All Devices.


  4. In the Manufacturers box, click the manufacturer of your monitor.

    NOTE: If your monitor's manufacturer is not listed, click (Standard Monitor Types).


  5. In the Models box, click the monitor you are using, click OK, and then click Close.


  6. Click OK.


Windows 98:
  1. Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double- click Display.


  2. Click the Settings tab, and then click Advanced.


  3. Click the Monitor tab, and then click Change.


  4. In the Manufacturers box, click the manufacturer of your monitor.

    NOTE: If your monitor's manufacturer is not listed, click (Standard Monitor Types).


  5. In the Models box, click the monitor you are using, click OK, and then click OK again.


  6. Click OK.


If you continue to experience problems, continue with the following section.

Eliminate Memory Conflicts

Determine whether the problem is a result of a conflicting driver in memory. For information about how to do so, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Article-ID: Q136337
Title : Troubleshooting Windows 95 Startup Problems and Error Messages

If you continue to experience problems, continue with the following section.

Verify Valid Driver Files

To verify that the display adapter driver files are valid, use the appropriate method:

Windows 95:

Run Windows 95 Setup again and choose the Verify option when you are prompted. The Verify option causes Windows 95 to check all files and replace any that are missing or damaged.

Windows 98:

Run the Windows 98 System File Checker tool. To start the System File Checker tool, click Start, click Run, type "sfc.exe" (without quotation marks) in the Open box, and then click OK.

For information about how to use the System File Checker tool to extract a file, click Start, click Help, click the Index tab, type "system file" without quotation marks), double-click the "System File Checker" topic, click Using System File Checker and then click Display.

If you continue to experience problems, continue with the following section.

Contact the Manufacturer of the Display Adapter

If none of these troubleshooting steps correct the problem, contact the display adapter's manufacturer for information about obtaining an updated Windows 95/98 driver.


REFERENCES

For additional information about display adapters and switches that correct some display problems, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

ARTICLE-ID: Q124267
TITLE : Display Adapter Information and Useful Switches

Additional query words: 98 tshoot splash screen

Keywords : kbdisplay kbhw kbtshoot win95 win98 win98se
Version : WINDOWS:95
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbinfo


Last Reviewed: July 23, 1999
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