Re: New monitor/bad resolution

["Patricia M. Godfrey" priscamg@xxxxxxxx]

Leslie Savan wrote:
> text is difficult to read in Windows
> My computer is the horrid Windows ME (Dell Dimension 1400), which I keep
> solely for Xywrite.
> The new monitor is a Dell 1908WFP, 16" wide, 10" high, 19" diagonal.
> The screen slumps in the middle, most at the top, where the straight
> lines and bars make the sagging more apparent. This occurs on websites,
> email, and Xywrite.
> On "Display Properties," I have the color set at Tru Color (32 bit) and
> the Screen Area at 1280 by 800 pixels. The online instructions advise
> 1400 x 900 pixels, but my computer doesn't get there.
The fact that you're having display problems in Windows no less
than Xy, and that you cannot get the correct resolution,
indicates that this is a hardware and opsys problem. The monitor
is, I take it, an LCD? LCDs need to be run at their native
resolution. If your VGA subsystem doesn't support it, the normal
cure would be to upgrade the VGA. Unfortunately, that's probably
not possible. The simplest thing would be to return the monitor
and find a second-hand CRT. But sooner or later you're going to
have to upgrade, and now you can at least get XP. Jumping from ME
to Vista would make my blood run cold.
Hardware 101: To add a component (in this case, a new VGA card)
to a system, you must have 1) a connector it can connect to. In
this case, your VGA card must fit into whatever slot your system
has for it (which on an ME-vintage system is probably PCI, if not
ISA; I don't think they make them anymore). 2) The component must
have drivers (software files supplied by the manufacturer) that
enable it to interface with the version of Windows you're
running. ME was a widely detested opsys (that's not just moi, the
professional M$-basher talking; it was resisted as much as Vista,
and with better reason), and I cannot imagine finding a card that
could support your monitor's resolution that would have an ME
driver.
Xy runs fine on W2K, XP, and even Vista (well, I haven't run Xy3
in decades, but I'm sure others here are doing so). The idea that
you have to keep an archaic PC around to run Xy is a myth. (XyWin
is another matter.) The only reason might be if you need to print
to a parallel printer, but thanks to TYP and Xy2pdf, you can
print from Xy4 to any printer.
By the bye, you probably cannot upgrade your Dell to XP: apart
from the difficulty of getting a copy other than preinstalled or
as a downgrade, Dell made some ME PCs that couldn't run any other
opsys: critical components had drivers only for ME. (My
professional association got stuck with one--my bad
penning-pinching habits. We got in a REAL tech, and HE couldn't
install W2K, and the system died shortly thereafter.)
--
Patricia M. Godfrey
priscamg@xxxxxxxx