Old Dell Dimension B110 computer. Friend upgraded OS to Win7Pro and added 2GB of RAM. Bought new monitor and changed resolut

ironduke36

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Mar 7, 2014
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I have an old Dell Dimension B110 tower computer. It is now running Win7Pro, and the monitor driver installed was a generic PnP. Tried to install a new monitor w/ driver, increased to highest resolution and now image is badly distorted. Cannot reduce resolution to potentially solve the problem - it's stuck. Cannot see anything to click on since the image is so distorted. Think the old video card in the tower doesn't support the higher resolution monitor. Need to know if I can either a) replace the existing video card or b) reduce the resolution so I can at least see an image and use the computer. Assistance in how to get either option accomplished is needed. Tried switching back to the old monitor, but no help. Do not have install disks, so can't just replace the driver. If I can, I don't know how.
 

Xycofox

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Dec 14, 2015
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Hey Ironduke36, I myself have a older Dell B110, and after installing Windows 7 ran into the all inclusive problem of it only installing the generic VGA driver. I've been dealing with this problem for sometime off and on not really putting any effort into it due to the fact I have access to another more up to date PC, but today I decided to tackle the problem head on. After searching many forums and message boards, as I'm sure you and countless others have done, I came across a pseudo solution which was to download the R104515.exe driver from Dell and run it in compatibility mode for XP w/SP3. It worked giving me access to all my resolutions and also allowed Windows 7 to properly use Direct X, but after 5 min Windows encountered a fatal error and shutdown. This happened during the whole process of trying to get it to work. It turns out that particular driver does have compatibility issues with a fully up to date version of Windows 7. Getting back to finding a solution I found that if I used the older version of that driver, win2k_xp1417.exe , and install it in compatibility mode (XP w/SP3) and Admin rights, that it worked, and it's been working for about 5 hours now with no problems. At first I did have the resolution of 640x480 with that driver, but after going to advanced properties and changing the mode it started in, from 640x480 at 60hz to a higher resolution from the Monitor tab I gained all the available resolutions back, thus now enabling also Direct X to work.

Here's the link to that driver https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/9498/Intel-Graphics-Media-Accelerator-Driver-exe- or https://downloadcenter.intel.com/downloads/eula/9498/Intel-Graphics-Media-Accelerator-Driver-exe-?httpDown=https%3A%2F%2Fdownloadmirror.intel.com%2F9498%2Fa08%2Fwin2k_xp1417.exe

Hope this works :)


SCRATCH THAT

It started crashing. I did find something else, supposedly if you extract the R104515.exe to the dell folder, then go to Device Manager and update the driver that way by selecting "let me choose the driver to install" it's supposed to work. Testing now.
 

vb7200

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May 22, 2015
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What's the resolution if the new monitor? It should be able to display what ever the card is putting out, even on the lowest it should look distorted, but you should still be able to tell what you're doing. I would try unplugging the card and using the integrated graphics and see if that works, since it should revert the resolution to something you can read. If not, I suggest trying to get your hands on a new card, or at least one that's better than the one you got in there. You could also try getting newer drivers for the one you already have. The drivers for the old one may not support Win7, so you may be out of luck there if it's original to the system.