My graphics suddenly went 'THHHHHT'

[zipperskin69]

:redeyes: I was in the process of downloading Flash templates... all of a sudden all my graphics degraded to very poor quality. My tool bars look fine, but all other graphics (including the icons on my desktop and task bar) are dotted and nasty. I'm running win.98 on a dinosaur cpu, but havn't had this problem b-4. :sad:
I feel stupid... could it be the graphics card gone to :devil:?
or could it be that something got disabled in the process that I can't find? I removed the files that I downloaded, checked memory etc. but it didnt help... I even ran scanreg/restore... and it still looked the same.
Help!!!

[Cobra X]

Is it just in Windows that everything looks distorted? Or does it look funky on boot-up when it's going through the POST on the BIOS screen?

It sounds almost like it's switched into a very low color video mode - right click on your desktop, go to properties, and then hit the settings tab and take a look at your resolution and color depth. If it's 256 colors or below, that could be your problem. You want 16, 24, or 32 bit for a good picture.

But we'll need a bit more info before we can say what to do next.

[TripleRLtd]

Yes, it sounds as if your video card is dying, but before giving up on it, try changing the driver in device manager to standard vga. Reboot and reinstall the correct driver for you video card. Hopefully it is just a corrupt driver. What kind of card is it?

BTW, welcome to WD, zipperskin.

[zipperskin69]

Is it just in Windows that everything looks distorted? Or does it look funky on boot-up when it's going through the POST on the BIOS screen?

It sounds almost like it's switched into a very low color video mode - right click on your desktop, go to properties, and then hit the settings tab and take a look at your resolution and color depth. If it's 256 colors or below, that could be your problem. You want 16, 24, or 32 bit for a good picture.

But we'll need a bit more info before we can say what to do next.

Its just on windows... Ive tried changing resolution to no avail. All of the win. borders task bars etc look fine. All graphics (including web graphics, even on this page) have a high dot ratio.

[TripleRLtd]

Ummm...did you even try what I said yet?

[zipperskin69]

Ummm...did you even try what I said yet?
Thats where I was just at... sorry for the late reply, I wanted to try everything before I got back to ya.
I dont even know what card is in here... the only info i can get is s3 ViRGE pci (325), Rev G, DAC internal. I cant even find where to change it in device mgr. I had to go thru cont. pnl./monitor/etc... and try different mon. settings... (I did try generic vga though).
this an old cpu and not mine, and the owner knows nothing about it either. I'm more familiar with xp myself, and dont know much about '98. (And thanx for the warm welcome... I appreciate all the help you guys are giving!!! I'm glad I found this site) Thanx.

[Cobra X]

Here are the final s3 virge 325 drivers (http://ranger.s3graphics.com/swlib/325drv/W9531201.zip). Unzip this and try installing the same way you installed the generic VGA driver, and see what happens.

[zipperskin69]

Here are the final s3 virge 325 drivers (http://ranger.s3graphics.com/swlib/325drv/W9531201.zip). Unzip this and try installing the same way you installed the generic VGA driver, and see what happens.
Thanx Cobra... I'll give it a try and let ya know what happens
Zipper

[zipperskin69]

Thanx Cobra... I'll give it a try and let ya know what happens
Zipper
No good... Thanx for all the effort I really appreciate it. I'm just gonna get a new card and hold my breath.. I'll let ya know what happens.

And again, I thank you guys....

Zipper..