How to troubleshoot video problems in Publisher (323786)

MORE INFORMATION

How to Determine Whether a Video Adapter Driver Is Causing a Problem

Microsoft Windows 98 or Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition

To determine if the video adapter driver is causing the unexpected behavior in Windows 98 or Windows Millennium Edition, follow these steps:

1. Restart your computer in Safe mode, and then try to reproduce the problem. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. Click Start, and then click Shut Down.
   2. In the Shut Down Windows dialog box, click Restart The Computer.
   3. When you see the "Starting Windows" message, press F8.
      
      NOTE: If the Windows splash screen appears, repeat steps a through c.
   4. Select Safe Mode.

      -or-

      If you are running a shared copy of Publisher, select Safe mode with network support.
      
      Windows starts in Safe mode without network support. The words "Safe Mode" appear in all four corners of the screen.
   5. Test the problem.
      
      If the problem is resolved, your video adapter driver may be the cause. When you run Windows in Safe mode, Windows uses default settings (VGA monitor, no network, Microsoft mouse driver, and the minimum device drivers that you must have to start Windows). Therefore, the problem might be related to any software that extends the functionality of these default settings.
      
      If the problem is not resolved, the problem is probably not related to the video adapter driver or video subsystem.
   6. Restart your computer in normal mode.
2. Change the video adapter driver to VGA. To do this, follow these steps.
   
   NOTE: Some video adapters are not compatible with the Windows standard video adapter driver. If you are not sure whether your video adapter is compatible with the VGA video adapter driver, contact your video adapter manufacturer.
   1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
   2. Double-click Display.
   3. Click the Settings tab.
   4. Click Change Display Type. Write down all the information about your current video adapter. You will need this information when you restore your original settings.
   5. Under Adapter Type, click Change. Click Show All Devices.
   6. In the Manufacturers list, click Standard Display Types. Typically, this option is at the top of the Manufacturers list.
   7. In the Models list, click Standard Display Adapter (VGA), and then click OK.
   8. Click Close two times.
      
      If you are prompted to restart Windows, click Yes.
   9. Test the problem. If the problem is resolved, the problem is related to your video adapter driver or subsystem.
3. Look for any conflicts in Device Manager. In some cases, a hardware conflict may appear as a video adapter problem. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
   2. Double-click System.
   3. Click the Device Manager tab.
   4. Look for a problem with any installed device. If there is a problem with a device, one of the following symbols appears on the device icon:
      
      
      • Black exclamation point (!)
      • Red "X"
      • Blue "i"
      
      
      NOTE: Some sound cards and video adapters do not report to Windows all the resources that they are using and, therefore, cause Device Manager to show only one device in conflict or no conflicts at all. To verify whether this is the case, disable the sound card or use the standard VGA video adapter driver to see if the conflict is resolved. (This is a known problem with S3 video cards and 16-bit Sound Blaster sound cards or sound cards that use Sound Blaster emulation for Sound Blaster compatibility.)

For additional information about troubleshooting, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Microsoft Windows XP

To test the problem in Windows XP VGA mode, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, and then click Shut Down.
2. Click Restart, and then click OK.
3. When the Please select the operating system to start message appears, press F8.
4. In the Windows Advanced Options Menu, select Enable VGA Mode, and then press ENTER.
5. Test the problem.
   
   If the problem is resolved, the installed video adapter driver may be causing the display problems. Contact your video adapter manufacturer to obtain an updated driver.

For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Windows 2000

To determine if the video adapter driver is causing the unexpected behavior in Windows 2000, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, and then click Shut Down.
2. Click Restart, and then click OK.
3. When the Starting Windows banner appears at the bottom of the black screen, press F8.
4. In the Windows Advanced Options Menu, select Enable VGA Mode, and then press ENTER.
5. Test the problem.
   
   If the problem is resolved, the installed video adapter driver may be causing the display problems. Contact your video adapter manufacturer to obtain an updated video driver.

For more information about troubleshooting video drivers, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

If Your Video Adapter Driver Is Problematic

Windows 98 or Windows Millennium Edition

1. To determine if you are running a 32-bit video adapter driver, follow these steps:
   1. Click Start, and then click Run.
   2. In the Open box, type system.ini, and then click OK.
   3. Locate the Display.drv= line in the [boot] section of the System.ini file. If you use a 32-bit video adapter driver, the Display.drv line looks similar to this:

      Display.drv=Pnpdrvr.drv

      If the Display.drv line does not look similar to this, you use a 16-bit video adapter driver. If you use a 16-bit video adapter driver, contact the manufacturer of the video adapter driver to obtain a 32-bit driver that is designed for Windows 98 or Windows Millennium Edition (if one is available).
      
      NOTE: Replacing the video adapter driver does not solve the problem if something else is conflicting with the correct operation of the video adapter driver.
2. Modify the advanced graphics settings. To do so, follow these steps:
   1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
   2. Double-click System.
   3. Click the Performance tab.
   4. Under Advanced Settings, click Graphics.
   5. Note the position of the Hardware Acceleration slider. Drag the slider one notch to the left to reduce hardware acceleration.
   6. Restart your computer and test the problem again.
   7. If the problem is not resolved, repeat steps a through f, and drag the Hardware Acceleration slider one notch to the left. Repeat these steps until the slider is set to None.
3. Obtain a different video adapter driver.
   
   Contact your video adapter manufacturer, and obtain an updated Windows 98 or Windows Millennium Edition video adapter driver.
4. Reinstall your video adapter driver. To do this, reinstall Windows, and then click the Verify option.

Microsoft Windows 2000

1. Make sure that your video adapter is on the Hardware Compatibility List.
2. Contact your video adapter manufacturer to obtain an updated Windows NT video adapter driver.

Windows XP

1. Make sure that your video adapter is on the Hardware Compatibility List.
2. Contact your video adapter manufacturer to obtain an updated Windows XP video adapter driver.

For more information about video adapter troubleshooting, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Microsoft provides third-party contact information to help you find technical support. This contact information may change without notice. Microsoft does not guarantee the accuracy of this third-party contact information.
The third-party products that this article discusses are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these products.
For information about how to contact video adapter manufacturers, click the appropriate article number in the following list to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: