I have a ViewSonic Graphics Series G773 Monitor that is about 18 months old.  I am using Windows xp

About two months ago I turned on the computer and the resolution on switched to 800x600 and a 4 color screen.  I could not change it in any way.  I found not problems that I could fix.  The drivers all said every thing was fine.  So I just restarted it and everything was fine.  My resolution was back to normal and I had all my colors back.

On Friday night it happaned again only now I now matter how many times I restart it it doesn't go back except when I go into safe mode.  When safe mode comes on it gives me perfect color and resolution.  Nothing I do however seems to help when I start it normally.  I assume the monitor itself is ok becuase it works so well in safe mode.

I have an updated Norton 2004 that has not picked up any virus so I guess that is not the cause.  Now what happens when I am on the computer for very long particularly if I am trying to change settings is that I get several vertical lines on my screen which makes it very hard to read or see anything.  Also When I close boxes that have been open on the screen there is still a faint or sometimes strong imprint of the box on the screen.  

Even now as I type my ability to read what I am typing is failing due to the lack of clarity and detail of the type.  As I mentioned my beliefe is that the monitor is working fine since it does so well in safe mode.

In closing I want to aplogive if I have placed this post in the wrong place.  If someone can help me I would be very greatful.  I am now begining to wish the computers had never been invented.

Please Help!Joe Tuttle.....Well I would probably check the monitor on another system and in normal mode just to be 100% sure it is ok . Then I would uninstall your vid card and all its drivers .....In FACT I would remove the vid card and reseat it ......just to be sure .....the reboot and let XP detect new hardware and install the drivers.
The other thing that comes to mind is .....going back several months , do you recall UPDATING any vid drivers?
One other thing you could try is ......given you are certain your are virus and trojan free .....USE the system restore feature in XP and restore back to a date that you know your system was working ok.
I am a little curious as to why you have to change your display settings when you have been on for a long time .
let us know how you make out.

dl65  Thanks for the reply I will remove the video card and put it back in to see what that will do.

I have not done anything to the video card to change it.  I am not really sure which one is the video card.  I have two cards in I guess one is the sound card.  Is there anything I should look for or will one of them have something on it to let me know it is the video card?

I will check back tomorrow and give it a try sometime during the day.

I am not sure what you mean by this

"I am a little curious as to why you have to change your display settings when you have been on for a long time ."

Do you mean after I have used the computer for several months or after I have been on for several minutes/hours.  Maybe I explained it incorrectly.  

I can not change the display settings at all.  They automatically change and won't go back to the ORIGINAL settings.

Let me know if you can point me to which card to pull out and put back.Joe Tuttle.....The vid card is the card which your monitor is plugged into.  Re changing your settings......do you mean that you go into the control panel .....select display
then click on the settings tab .....and then for example change the screen size.....then click "apply" and then "ok " that it doesnt change ?
What settings does the monitor default to ?

let us know

dl65  That is exactly what I mean.  When I go into my display settings I can not alter or change either the colors.  4 or the resolution 800x600.

I will switch it out sometime in the afternoon today.

ThanksIf you cannot select different video modes, I suggest you install drivers if you have not yet done so.http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;Q307960&ID=KB;EN-US;Q307960Thank you very much.  It appears to be all better now.  I uninstalled the drivers and then restarted the computer per its directions.  It noticed the card and reinstalled it.  At least that is as good as I can gather.  My screen is now clear and all is well except for two other things.

One I no longer show that my monitor is a Viewsonic G773.  It says I have a default monitor.  In my attempt to reinstall the Viewsonic monitor I have failed.  I go to my control panel and click on add new hardware but I can not find an option to install a new monitor.  When it searches it comes up empty.  I guess maybe I can uninstall the default monitor.  But I will wait to hear back from someone on that.

Secondly it appears that 3 notepad files were placed on my desktop while this has been occuring.  I will post the beginning of the first message.

An unexpected exception has been detected in NATIVE code outside the VM.
Unexpected Signal : EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION (0xc0000005) occurred at PC=0x71FD2C3
Function=Java_sun_java2d_loops_MaskFill_MaskFill+0x8B93
Library=C:\Program Files\Java\j2re1.4.2_04\bin\awt.dll

I assume that this is related to my problem but do not know.  Should I be concerned or simply delete these three messages from my desktop?

Thanks again.
Joethese messages do not relate to your monitor...but browsers..have you got two of them ... read more here>http://www.virtualmachine.tk/