Win95/98 Video Troubleshooting FAQ

 

This document is intended to help you with problems that can frequently occur in Windows '9x/ME.

The video display shows incorrect colors or textures, lines or black boxes on the screen, or other oddities.

My game is running in a small window. How can I make it play in the entire screen? When I try to run my game, all I see is a black/blank screen.
How can I change my Video Hardware Acceleration Settings?
    Windows video hardware acceleration may need to be turned down when using DirectX.

    To turn down hardware acceleration on Win95/98/ME:

    1. Right-click on the "My Computer" icon on your desktop
    2. Click on the "Performance" tab
    3. Click on "Graphics"
    4. Move the slider bar ONE NOTCH to the left (do NOT set to far left)
    5. Click on OK
    6. Click on OK once more to exit the system properties panel.
    If you have Windows-XP then try this sequence instead:

    1. Start
    2. Control Panel
    3. Appearance and Themes
    4. Display
    5. Settings
    6. Advanced
    7. Troubleshoot, then go to step 4 above about the Slider.

    Now try your game. If you still have problems, repeat this process until the game works, or you can't turn acceleration down any further. On some video cards setting this Windows Acceleration to "None" gives your games their best speed and stability.

    If you have video hardware acceleration turned all the way down, and the game still won't run, you may need to turn off DirectX acceleration instead. For details, see our DirectX Frequently Asked Questions.

How can I switch to the correct video mode? How do I update my video card drivers? The graphics seem to be drawing very slowly, or the display is choppy.
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