Hello


About 4 times yesterday my screen resolution reverted back to 800 x 600. At the time I was unable to change it except for either restarting or sometimes changing user names. Running Vista on a Gateway FX530
6600 processor 2.40
GeForce 7600 video card I believe and a
24" HD Gateway monitor

Anything I can check?

Thanks

The first thing to try would be to update your video drivers from here: http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us

Thanks for replying John
I updated the driver back in October so I didn't think there would be any updates. I checked anyway and found an update dated Oct. 15th. I have an update from Oct. 10th. I downloaded and installed the new driver, restarted. It still shows the older driver. I did it a second time just to make sure but no change.
My driver is

10/7/2008
7.15.11.7824
NVIDIA 7600GT

Website shows

GeForce Release 178 WHQL
Version: 178.24
Release Date: October 15, 2008
Operating System: Windows Vista 32-bit


Now what?? I went to device manager and searched for a better driver. It stated I had the latest available

Thanks

Going to Nvidia control panel it shows I have the new driver. but not what it shows in Device Manager

NVIDIA System Information report created on: 01/04/2009 10:30:52
System name: DEN-COMPUTER

[Display]
Processor: Intel® Core™2 CPU 6600 @ 2.40GHz (2400 MHz)
Operating System: Windows Vista ™ Home Premium, 32-bit (Service Pack 1)
DirectX version: 10.0
GPU processor: GeForce 7600 GT
Driver version: 178.24
Core clock: 562 MHz
Shader clock: 562 MHz
Memory clock: 702 MHz (1404 MHz data rate)
Memory interface: 128-bit
Total available graphics memory: 1662 MB
Dedicated video memory: 256 MB
System video memory: 0 MB
Shared system memory: 1406 MB
Video BIOS version: 5.73.22.61.00
IRQ: 16
Bus: PCI Express x16

[Components]

nvCplUIR.dll 2.1.270.00 NVIDIA Control Panel
nvCpl.cpl 2.1.270.00 NVIDIA Control Panel Applet
nvExpBar.dll 1.5.600.00 NVIDIA Control Panel
nvCplUI.exe 2.1.270.00 NVIDIA Control Panel
nvViTvSR.dll 7.15.11.7813 NVIDIA Video and TV Server
nvViTvS.dll 7.15.11.7824 NVIDIA Video and TV Server
nvDispSR.dll 7.15.11.7813 NVIDIA Display Server
NVMCTRAY.DLL 7.15.11.7824 NVIDIA Media Center Library
nvDispS.dll 7.15.11.7824 NVIDIA Display Server
NVCPL.DLL 7.15.11.7824 NVIDIA Compatible Windows Vista Display driver, Version 178.24
nvGameSR.dll 7.15.11.7813 NVIDIA 3D Settings Server
nvGameS.dll 7.15.11.7824 NVIDIA 3D Settings Server

I'd suspect that there's a minor corruption in your video driver that's causing the problem. Minor corruptions are fairly common - and they don't change the version number - so even having the latest driver is no assurance that it's working properly.

As background, in the old days (a year or two ago) it was necessary to use a tool to remove all components of an nVidia driver in order to get it fully updated. Back then there were 3 steps to troubleshooting this problem:
- just plain updating the driver
- uninstalling the driver, then updating it
- using a removal tool, then updating the driver.

So, the next step would be to remove the nVidia driver using the Control Panel...Programs applet.
Then reboot the system - if it tries to reinstall your video card, cancel out of the installation.
Then double click on the latest version that you downloaded and install that.

If this still doesn't fix it, then try the procedure here (under the Old Driver Removal section): http://www.tweakguides.com/NVFORCE_3.html

Just FYI - this is assuming that the video drivers are the issue. Should there be another problem (such as malware, Windows corruption, bad hardware, etc) then the fix probably won't work. But you'll have ruled out the drivers as an issue, so you can move on to further troubleshooting.

Ok john

I un-installed and reinstalled the driver. I will see how it operates now and then take it from there. So far today the resolution isn't acting up. Still concerned about the driver date being 10-07-08 when the latest driver says 10-15-08. When I did the uninstall the driver reverted back to 09-17-08, version 7813

Thanks again and I'll keep you posted

There are actually a number of drivers installed - so if it reads an older one that wasn't updated, then you'll get the wrong date.

And this will take us into a discussion of the WDDM (Windows Display Driver Model) and the WDM (Windows Driver Model) and how there's no way to force the manufacturer/writer to comply with it!

So there is nothing more to do then??

Not unless it starts acting up again. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

OK then. It has been good all day so hopefully it will stay that way
Have a wonderful 2009 John and thank you for your help once again

Good luck and happy computing!