Recovering from an Unsuitable Video Display Choice

You can use the Windows NT Setup Display option in Control Panel to change the type of video driver, the color depth, or the resolution for a display adapter. If you make an unsuitable setting, one of the following two events occurs:

• The driver fails to recognize the card and, therefore, fails to load at system startup. By default, the system tries to load VGA in base mode as a kind of reserve. So, if your video setting fails, the computer starts in VGA and screen resolution is poor. However, you can use the Display option in Control Panel to try another setting. (This happens only on an Intel-based computer.)

• The driver recognizes the card and proceeds as though the parameters selected are acceptable. Because they are not acceptable (for example, you tried to use 1280x1024 resolution on a monitor that is only capable of 1024x768), you cannot see anything on your screen, although the system starts with no apparent trouble. (This always happens on a RISC-based computer when an inappropriate option is selected, but it can also occur on an Intel-based computer.)

If you cannot see anything on the screen after changing the display settings, do not attempt to log on. Instead, wait for the disk activity to stop, then use the power switch to restart the computer. When you restart, choose the VGA Mode version of Windows NT. If this does not work, follow the instructions in "Starting a System with Configuration Problems," earlier in this chapter. Then you can use the Display option in Control Panel to try another selection.