Need a Geek...

[skypigeon]

I'm typing this on my stepson's Boy Scout troop computer. I keep records of campouts and badge advancements on it, using a nifty program called Troopmaster. It's an old Dell Latitude CP laptop. No idea how old, except it has a Pentium (no number) with MMX, and it proudly displays a sticker "Designed for Microsoft Windows NT/Windows 95." So I know it's a dinosaur, I'm just not sure what era.

Over the weekend, for no reason whatsoever, it decided it had registry errors it couldn't fix and chose not to boot up. A fellow dad in the troop had Windows 98 on disc, so we installed it. Aside from Win 98's usual quirks, the installation went without a hitch. Tonight, I hooked up the machine to our home wireless network, came to Windows Update, and loaded and installed everything it needed. Healthy and happy; only one blue screen of death when it choked on something I didn't need anyway. So far, so good.

One minor annoyance, however: Before the crash, I had a 256-color screen on this laptop. Now, all it'll let me have is a sixteen color screen or a black and white screen. It's really annoying.

So, someone who knows more about this than I do, what do I do to get my 256-color screen back? Please? Thanks...

[Cant_hit_apex]

It sounds like it's only seeing the default Windows 98 video drivers. The computer should have a CD or diskettes for the video card inside. Of course, these have probably been lost. If you can identify the video card (by looking at printing on the card or some screen message during boot up), you could probably find the drivers on the internet. Install these drivers and presto, you should be back in bizness.

[skypigeon]

It sounds like it's only seeing the default Windows 98 video drivers. The computer should have a CD or diskettes for the video card inside. Of course, these have probably been lost. If you can identify the video card (by looking at printing on the card or some screen message during boot up), you could probably find the drivers on the internet. Install these drivers and presto, you should be back in bizness.

You, sir, are a manly computer stud. THANK YOU!

I couldn't identify the video card upon bootup, so I went to dell.com and entered "Latitude CP video driver" into their search engine. Got a link to the needed drivers instantly, downloaded them, installed them. I now have my full screen back in glorious True 24-bit Color.

Now, all I need to do is find someone to beg, borrow or steal a copy of Office 2000 from, and we are completely back in business.

[Frank Capua]

oh... I see you don't just need a geek but you're looking for a geek with skills.

I could draw you a liger.

It's pretty much my favorite animal. It's like a lion and a tiger mixed... bred for its skills in magic.