[released81101]

I had to erase windows ex and then reinstall it because I had a major virus problem. I didn't have the reinstall disk so I borrowed one and have not been able to get my computer to work right. Here is my problem. Windows xp loads right but the color resolution won't change to the setting I need. It has one option and that is 640 by 480 pixels and low 8 bit setting. I cannot figure out why it won't get to the right setting. I can not install my printer or other things because the settings has to be something else. I have tried going through the setting box and all of those steps but It won't let me update drivers or install . What do I do?

[Scleros]

Once you load a clean copy of Windows from the original disc you have a basic installation, but you are not finished. There are usually drivers that need to be installed for the following components in this recommended order:

1. Motherboard chipset <- Absolutely required first for other devices to even show up
2. Storage devices
3a. Graphics adapter <- Your problem
3b. Monitor <- Your problem
4. Network adapter
5. Audio adapter
6. Peripherals
.
.
.
List goes on and on...

You can find the necessary drivers on the device vendor's website, however determining the correct driver for your device isn't always clear-cut. The devices that are missing drivers will have a yellow exclamation point in Windows device manager (Right-click My Computer > Properties > Hardware > Device Manager).

If this is your first time rebuilding Windows XP from scratch I recommend finding a knowledgeable computer person to assist you. Even after the drivers are loaded, there are years of Windows security patches to install. If you don't rebuild securely, you'll be infected with another virus or worse in no time if you spend anytime at all on the Internet.

[Clough]

(In addition to the fine answer above and just as a note here, I have moved this question from Introductions to a more appropriate topic area in order to get the most exposure to those best able to address the issues in the original post, such as Scleros has done.

Introductions is for introducing yourself and we try not to ask questions in that topic area. Thank you!)