[rgreen4]

OK, a standard monitor is 4:3 (same as a standard TV), wide screem monitor is 16:10, widescreen TV is 16:9. That means the two numbers should have that ratio in order for everything to be properly proportioned. Pay attention to circles for they will tell you if your ration is out of balance.The default may be 800x600, but I think it is better than that, for you didn't describe it as "crappy" unlike when you used the default driver the other night. Since it is a 21" I will assume that it is a 21" LCD, for a 21" CRT in a BIG HONKER, and probably would weigh around 50#. When you right click the nVidia icon in the tray a menu pops up as you said, and for the most part, I would ignore everything except the screen resolution.You will have many options such as 1024x768, 1280x900, 1440x1080 and 1600x1200.The first question to ask, is do you like the current resolution. When you load a program or game are the items too large or too small? If you like the current resolution, I would click on the icon just to find out what it is at, and then leave it alone.You actually might find things are a little small, as most cards try to default to the maximum the monitor will display (if LCD) which is the native resolution. If you try to go over that, the results may be quite strange - my 22" wide is native 1680x1050, but my display card says I can go up to 1920x1200, but my monitor then displays a scrunched picture on half of the screen. I went too far, and went back to 1680x1050 and everything is fine.Defrag refers to defragment the hard drive, and you have been adding and deleting files so its best to clean up the hard drive. Disk Defragmenter is a windows program that should be in the systems tools folder. I can go to it, but since I'm on a Win2k machine at present, I cannot give you the path (it different in almost every version).

[mphenterprises]

[quote name='rgreen4']Disk Defragmenter is a windows program that should be in the systems tools folder.The quickest way I have found to get to Defrag is to:- Right Click on "My Computer" and click "Open- Right Click on any drive and click "Properties"- Click on the "Tools" tab and then click on "Defragment Now..."More than likely, you will have to do an error check on each drive/partition you have. If you get that message, just follow the instructions

[rgreen4]

Thanks for stepping in, as you know it is far easier to just click you way through than tell someone. I like to step slowing through and document it, but since I'm a prisoner in the Win2K world at work, I can't do that. Now at home I have 98, XP and Vista, but my old memory doesn't remember each. It's good to have a Pro fill in the gap.It's almost 4:30, so time to head for the house. Catch you on the flip side.

[Tbird24]

haha:NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoi tried to watch a video. :(. i want to cry. fuck computers.p.s., if you dont know whats going on, my computer just spiked. its dying down now cause i Xed out of the video tab in firefox. but god fucking damnet.

[spike]

hOW LONG DID IT RUN BEFORE the problem STARTED

[mphenterprises]

Tbird, we were all pulling for you, my friend. Looks like Spike's opinion may be right on point. The ONLY other viable option left besides getting another motherboard is to get another video card/graphics card.

[Tbird24]

now, let me first say that its been about a day and no spike not caused from watching a video. which i dont think has ever happened. so thats good. its just that when i went to watch this video, it spiked, and quickly shot down once i Xed out. do you think its still the graphics card?

[spike]

No, did you defrag

[Tbird24]

oh. no not yet. ill do it now. do you want to see the results?

[mphenterprises]

I watch dvd movies, play graphic intensive games, and do several different tasks at once and my computer never spikes or freezes....sorry to say, your options are running slim.Sure. Copy and paste the log. You may have to run ScanDisk first; just be prepared for that and follow the instructions given by the computer.

[spike]

Yes, however I have to leave, hopefully MPH, or rgreen can take over. I still believe this is a chipset and/or motherboard gone bad.

[Tbird24]

ok ill post the results when its done. its at 10% right now.

[mphenterprises]

Tbird....whatever you do, do not do anything at all on your computer while the defrag is in process...just let it work.

[Tbird24]

http://i129.photobuc...itledDFG.jpgnow what, haha.

[mphenterprises]

Go through the same process but instead of clicking "Defragment Now..." click "Check Now..."This process will check to make sure your hard drive does not have any errors. The computer may tell you to schedule a scan when you restart the computer. If it does that, schedule the scan and then restart the computer.Allow the scan to run completely and then the computer will restart. After that, do some more "tests." Navigate like you normally would and see if the system freezes or spikes.

[spike]

If it is no longer under warranty, it's time to take it to a local repair shop, or a best buy geek squad, to test it with proper equipment and determin what part is bad, the motherboard or GPU, and then see if it is worth repairing or REPLACEMENT.

[Tbird24]

by check now, do you mean Analyze?and if i dont repsond for a while its cause i had to shut off my computer. it seems that the video i tried to watch sent my DPC's into a frenzy. its like i never installed the new driver.

[mphenterprises]

No, you are not doing another Defrag....follow these steps:- Right Click on "My Computer" and click "Open- Right Click on any drive and click "Properties" - Click on the "Tools" tab and then click "Scan Now..."

[Tbird24]

sorry again, but by scan now, do you mean check now, defragment now, or backup now?i think you mean check now right?

[Tbird24]

Windows was unable to complete the disk check. i believe that error message occured midway through phase 2.