Video Resolution Beyond Monitor Range

Problem

You have a Windows XP computer which was set up with a monitor which has capabilies beyond what your current monitor can do.

Solution

In safe mode, you won't be able to change the resolution (or set refresh rates). Safe mode boots XP using a generic VGA driver, not the graphics driver you have loaded; this allows you to recover from video-drivers-gone-wrong type problems.

Instead of booting into safe mode, you'll need to boot into VGA mode. This isn't very well documented as far as I can tell; as best as I can recall, you'll need to do the following:

Hit F8 twice right after the computer boots. You'll see more options than you'll typically find in the normal F8 boot menu.

One of the options is VGA mode; select that option. XP will boot like normal, except it'll force the video card to boot at 640x480 with 4 colors @ 60hz. From there you can change the display settings however you want. You won't even need to reboot to get out of it.

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