On my Dad's computer, here's the problem..... The monitor stays on fine after windows boots when i'm using a resolution of 640x480/16 color but.. after installing drivers for a creative Riva128 graphics card, right after the point that the monitor.inf is installed by windows, the monitor shuts off..i have tried manually picking different monitor.inf files, but i can't seem to find one where this doesn't occur... i suspect it might be a refresh rate bug, or more likely a power profile bug, but i cant access the graphics settings unless i'm in safe mode, and then the settings for the video can't be accessed because i've only got VGA (there *are* no options, in effect...)..so there's no refresh or power options, etc..so, unfortunately. in order to access the graphics card settings,i need to boot with the RIVA driver active, (i.e. 256 color 800x600 minimum..) but the monitor shuts down so i can't access the video options..! Anyone know what I'm talking about, and how to either keep the monitor on, or adjust the settings before the monitor switches off - (a dummy monitor.inf or so..i suspect it's either a power profile or some similar). The refresh rate is set to either 'adapter default' or 'optimal' by default, and it's a decent 17" TVM monitor that can handle a high refresh anyways.. so i'm stumped! Anyone ?...Thanx...

In Safe Mode, try setting the refresh rate to 85Hz (or 75Hz if necessary) and the 256 color 800x600 and click Apply. Then reboot. If that does not work, then there is something wrong with either the monitor (try it on a different system), the video adapter or the drivers you loaded. You could try downloading a new copy of the drivers and install them to see if it works better.

Unfortunately, in safe mode there *are* no refresh options available, nor any options other than 640x480/16 color. The monitor has worked perfectly in the past, with the same OS (winME), the drivers are either the OEM WinME Install CD Riva 128 drivers, or the ones off the install CD for the card, and the adapter has always worked perfectly previously.I did download the updated creative drivers from their website, but it turns out they didn't include either an installer or an install or setup.inf of any kind (Go Creative! yeeesh ....). Windows update won't find drivers for the card unless it's in a setting higher than VGA either...aaaaargh... My question, in fact, was in part *how* to access the refresh rates *in* safe mode, as i stated, the options don't exist... I still think it might be a power related (i.e. monitor.inf) issue.. Still need help!

I have a supplementary question..in Msconfig, which is the APM (what else is it called?) ..if i switch off any automatic power management that would probably help, but there's nothinbg listed as "APM".. Also i should have mentioned that the monitor isn't actually 'turning off'. but actually going into 'standby mode', (that is, the LED changes to yellow...) Thanks again....