Signal Out of Range: Free Solution Inside!

dmauro

I was playing a game on my windows xp pc last night, and when I quit the game, it didn't switch my resolution back to normal. It was stuck at 640 x 480 whereas I normally keep it at 1024 x 768. Okay, no problem, I'll do it manually. However, when I tried to push the resolution back to 1024x768 and then apply the changes, it said windows needs to reboot to make that happen. Well that's strange, but okay. But when windows finishes loading and gets to the login screen, the signal is out of range.

I tried using Safe Mode to set the resolution and refresh rate back to default level at 1024x768, and also for other resolutions, but nothing seems to have an effect. When I boot back up without safe mode, it still goes back to the weird settings that are out of range.

Any suggestions?

PirateJon

Install the latest drivers.

dmauro

I'm not sure that's the problem since it was working just fine prior to the game getting weird and causing problems.

blincoln

Try changing the refresh rate for the monitor. 60Hz will look like crap, but it should work, and you can try others from there.

dmauro

I think the problem is that when I change the settings in Safe Mode, they are not changing the settings when I boot normally. From safe mode I set it to a refresh rate and resolution I know to work with this monitor.

dmauro

Problem: My ATI All-in-Wonder 9800 Pro Series drivers went on the fritz and must have been set to the wrong settings. They didn't load when I was in Safe Mode, and this is why Safe Mode was displaying with no problems. But I could not uninstall ATI Catalyst while in Safe Mode because the drivers weren't loaded...

Solution: I went into the Device Manager while in Safe Mode and uninstalled both primary and secondary ATI display drivers. I was then able to boot up normally, but without ATI display support. I uninstalled ATI Catalyst and re-installed it. I had to manually delete my ATI folders after the uninstall because the first time I did this it, the bad settings were remembered and the signal was still out of range. After uninstalling, deleting all ATI folders, and re-installing, I was able to get my ATI settings back to normal.

Ruckus

Solution: Buy nVidia.

embrik

This may have saved you some trouble: instead of Safe Mode, choose VGA mode. It resets your display settings to the basics, then lets you choose what resolution you want when you get to the desktop. Works every time for me when this sort of thing comes up.