HELP!!

i restarted after it failed to load up steam and it loaded up to the loading and right as it would normally go into the desktop it went black. i waited 5 mins for anything to show up and then restarted it again. it loaded up fine but right as it went to the desktop the monitor went off. i turned it back on and my desktop resolution had been screwed up. i went to change it but it is saying that the max it can do is 1024 by 768. i have a 22 inch viewsonic VX2245wm monitor and a gtx 260 graphics card. so far neither has shown signs that it is having a problem besides that one of them is making the resolution low. every time i turn my computer on now the monitor turns off right before it would show the desktop and i have to turn it back on. i reinstalled the nvidia drives 3 times twice normally and once in safe mode. i tried to reinstall the disc that came with the monitor it but wont run. any suggestions would be very appreciated.

i installed windows and it didn't fix the problem so i tried my gf's moniter which is a 20" acer and it automatically recoginzed it at 1680 by 1050 but when i replugged in my moniter it was back to 1024 by 768 so im positive my moniter is shot. its also very dark now so i think its time to order a new one.