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Enable VGA Mode in Windows XP

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Looking for Windows Vista version of the article? Click here then.
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When your computer (not Windows XP!) starts, it probably displays some big logo or a black screen with white texts such as Testing memory, Hard drive, AMI or Intel, etc.
After this usually Windows XP starts.

If your Windows XP starts, but images on monitor are unreadable or scrambled or monitor displays "Out of range" message, then Enable VGA Mode comes in handy. This option is especially applicable after you connect a new monitor or replace graphics (video) card. In case you bought a new LCD monitor and it just does not display anything although cables are connected, try locating and pressing Source button on the monitor. This usually switches between Analog and Digital input sources.

To get access to restoring the Enable VGA Mode, you will have to press F8 key on your keyboard after the big logo or black screen with white texts appears.
On some computers you will see a boot selection after pressing F8, cancel that by pressing Esc key on your keyboard and then press F8 key again.

First you might see an operating system selection screen. Press F8 key again. If you already pressed F8 repeatedly, this screen might not appear, move on to next picture.
If you have several operating systems installed, select your Windows XP first with up and down arrow keys on your keyboard and then press F8.

If you pressed F8 key several times, you will see a screen like this:

Usually, the first item - Safe Mode - is selected, use down arrow key on your keyboard to move down to Enable VGA Mode. Press Enter key on your keyboard to start Windows XP with low resolution.

In VGA Mode the screen resolution will be 640x480 pixels, so Welcome Screen might look a little odd. Enter your password and log on as usual.

When Desktop appears, right-click on an empty area and click Properties.

In Display Properties open Settings tab. Move the Screen resolution slider to a resolution best suited for your monitor (consult the manual that came with the monitor) and select Highest (32-bit) for Color quality. Some older video cards do not support 32-bit color, in that case select the highest value possible - High or Medium.
Then click Apply for changes to take effect.

After screen resolution changes to normal, click Advanced button to change monitor refresh rate to normal.

Open Monitor tab, select best possible Screen refresh rate under Monitor settings. For LCD (thin) monitors, this is usually 60 Hertz, for CRT (large) monitors this can be anything from 75 to 200 Hertz. Again, consult your monitor manual to find the best refresh rate for previously selected Screen resolution.
Then click Apply to test new settings.

CRT monitors might go blank if you select a refresh rate that the monitor is not capable of and possibly display some "Out of range" error message. Do not worry, wait for 15 seconds without pressing a key on your keyboard or clicking somewhere with your mouse and Windows XP will revert to previous refresh rate settings.

Windows XP will then ask if you want to keep the new settings. Click Yes to confirm or No to revert to the previous settings. Click a button within 15 seconds, or Windows XP will automatically revert to previous refresh rate.

Click OK to close the window.

Click OK again to close Display Properties window. Then restart your computer and check if Windows XP works now correctly. If yes, then you solved the problem.
If not, try Enable VGA Mode again and select a lower Screen resolution and Screen refresh rate.

Forcing low-resolution video mode each time you start Windows XP

Sometimes you can use only low-resolution mode due to old graphics adapter or monitor.  It would be a pain to press F8 key every time you start or restart your computer. Luckily, you can make VGA mode permanent using System Configuration Utility in Windows XP.

Open Start menu by pressing Windows key on your keyboard and click Run... command. Or just use keyboard shortcut Windows Key+R.

In Run dialog, type msconfig and click OK.

In System Configuration Utility, open BOOT.INI tab. Make sure that Windows XP is selected if you have multiple operating systems installed. Then check /BASEVIDEO box and click OK. Do not change anything else - you might make your Windows inaccessible!

System Configuration tool now offers to restart your computer. Close all open programs and click Restart.

After the restart and logging in to VGA-mode Windows XP, you will see another warning dialog. Check the Don't show this message or launch the System Configuration Utility when Windows starts box. Then click OK. If System Configuration Utility opens after this, close it.

Now Windows XP always starts in VGA mode.

If you want to use full video mode again later, open System Configuration Utility, click BOOT.INI tab, clear the /BASEVIDEO check box and click OK and Restart. That's it!

Looking for Windows Vista version of the article? Click here then.
Looking for Windows 7 version of the article? Click here then.

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