I reloaded windows 98 onto my computer and formatted the hard disk but the picture is all fuzzy. I checked the graphics thingy and my computer only recognises 16 colours. I think I need to load some drivers on but how do I know which drivers to download?
I also don’t have any sound???
Can anyone help???
Download and run the Belarc Advisor to deterrmine what sound and video cards you have. If you know already, you can skip this. Post the information here, and we can find the drivers for you to download and install.
I downloaded the advisor but it doesn’t seem to tell me what sound or video cards I have. It says:
Fix for fuzzy graphics: Windex and paper towels.
Look on the back of the monitor for the date of manf & let me know what it is. usually its the contrast & brightness adjustments but if the monitor is over 3 years old time for a new one.
Here is one:
Envision EN-755E 17" crt monitor + Vtech Phone
For $55 Shipped After Rebates
spoofee.com has the rebate details & such.
If the sound and video adapters are built into the motherboard, then the drivers are likely included on a diskette or CD that has drivers for the motherboard. If you have a diskette or CD that says anything like “Main Board Drivers” or words to that effect, put it in and see what drivers may be on it. If you see any sound or video drivers, install them. Even if you don’t, you can install whatever drivers are there, and you may get lucky.
If you have no disk for the motherboard, try watching carefully during the first seconds that the computer is booting up (often times the “Pause” key will stop the boot sequence until you hit another key and allow you to read information that may scroll by quickly). During this time you may see an identifier for the motherboard, and possibly for the video card. Sometimes you can then find the manufacturer website and find utilities there to identify and download the drivers.
If the sound and video drivers are not built on the motherboard, you may have to pull the skins off the box (disconnect the power first) and CAREFULLY inspect the sound and video cards for markings, both on the boards and on the chips. Googling on these markings may get you a hit to a manufactures page or third party site then can provide drivers or utilities to further identify the cards and find the drivers. Also, as mentioned above, you may be able to see information about the video card during the first few seconds of the boot sequence. Google these and see what turns up.
Failing all that, what kind of system do you have? Many of the major manufactures allow you to find your system configuration on their website. If your system was built by a local PC shop, maybe they can tell you what they put in it, and either supply drivers or tell you where to get them.
If any of that works, and you find the drivers, your sound will usually just start working. You may or may not have to manually change the video settings to something better then the 640 x 480 x 16 color setting to get rid of the “fuzzy” look. Many drivers change the settings automatically during install, but some don’t.
Good luck. This can be a pain, especially on older hardware.