Monitor issue on a new computer

mujibypi · 06 Jan 2011

Thanks you guys for your support. Sorry for slow reply. I've been super busy this week, so haven't even had a chance to take any of the suggested steps. But I'm going to download the video card driver suggested by snakeyeskm, and I'll track down the monitor driver. I'm going to do one at a time, and see if it works. Any suggestions about which to try first - the video card driver or the monitor driver?

Also, I went to the website for Acer and the files available for my monitor under the drivers section seem strange. There are three files available and the file types are Security Catalog (with a .cat extension), ICC profile (.icm), and Setup Information (.inf). Is one one of these the driver? If so, what do you do once you download it to install it?

TonyTiger2004 · 06 Jan 2011

You will download the driver files and put them into a folder say on your desktop. Remember the name of the folder of which you moved the driver files to.

Then right click my computer and click manage, then in the left pane click Device Manager.

Then expand either display adapters or monitors right click on either your monitor or video card of whichever driver files you downloaded, Click update driver software then choose manually then navigate to your desktop folder of which you placed the drivers.

(see Attached Image)

- Tony

mujibypi · 07 Jan 2011

Thanks Tony. I mentioned the different types of files I found on the Acer support site in my last post. Is the driver the file listed as being an ICC profile with .icm as an extension? This is all Greek to me. Not sure which one is the driver. I would have thought it would have an .exe extension or something. Also, what is .cat extension for?

Sorry for all the questions. I'm kind of a novice, especially in this area. Thanks for all your help. I really appreciate it.

Peace, Christopher

profdlp · 07 Jan 2011

The .icm file is your color settings profile. The .inf file is the monitor driver. :)

TonyTiger2004 · 07 Jan 2011

profdlp said:

The .icm file is your color settings profile. The .inf file is the monitor driver. :)

Yes as said the .inf wile is typically your drivers. Just use that file as i described above.

- Tony

mujibypi · 09 Jan 2011

Thanks everyone, again, for all the support. Here's my latest update. Tony - I followed your advice: downloaded the .inf file from Acer support and then chose to manually update the driver software. When I did this and selected the .inf file, a dialog box popped up saying:

"The best driver software for your device is already installed. Windows has determined the driver software for your device is up to date. Generic PnP Monitor"

Any advice? It didn't seem to let me choose the new software, although perhaps I did already have it?

TonyTiger2004 · 09 Jan 2011

mujibypi said:

Thanks everyone, again, for all the support. Here's my latest update. Tony - I followed your advice: downloaded the .inf file from Acer support and then chose to manually update the driver software. When I did this and selected the .inf file, a dialog box popped up saying:

"The best driver software for your device is already installed. Windows has determined the driver software for your device is up to date. Generic PnP Monitor"

Any advice? It didn't seem to let me choose the new software, although perhaps I did already have it?

Apparently you had the latest driver, you can check the version in the settings in device manager right click on and go to properties driver info.

profdlp · 09 Jan 2011

I haven't had occasion to try this in Win 7, but you used to be able to right-click the .inf file and then click "Install". Then you would use the "Add New hardware" wizard and it would appear on the list of options.

Unfortunately, I think TonyTiger2004 identified the problem with his previous comment regarding 32-Bit vs 64-Bit.

mujibypi · 10 Jan 2011

Hi everyone. Well, knock on wood, I think one of the efforts I made has resolved the issue. I'm guessing that it was installation of the graphics card driver, following Snakeyeskm's advice. No blink-outs since that, so I'm hoping that fixes it.

Tony, thanks for all your advice and to everyone for walking me through so many different aspects of this issue. I did check the monitor driver version currently installed on my computer as you suggested, just out of interest. It lists the driver provider as being Microsoft, and lists it as version 6.1.7600.16385. I have no idea how that jibes with the driver found on Acer's website, which is listed as v1.0.0.0, which perhaps means that it's never been updated since production of the monitor?

Anyway, thanks again, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this was a complete fix.

Peace, Christopher

TonyTiger2004 · 10 Jan 2011

mujibypi said:

Hi everyone. Well, knock on wood, I think one of the efforts I made has resolved the issue. I'm guessing that it was installation of the graphics card driver, following Snakeyeskm's advice. No blink-outs since that, so I'm hoping that fixes it.

Tony, thanks for all your advice and to everyone for walking me through so many different aspects of this issue. I did check the monitor driver version currently installed on my computer as you suggested, just out of interest. It lists the driver provider as being Microsoft, and lists it as version 6.1.7600.16385. I have no idea how that jibes with the driver found on Acer's website, which is listed as v1.0.0.0, which perhaps means that it's never been updated since production of the monitor?

Anyway, thanks again, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this was a complete fix.

Peace, Christopher

Good deal man, glad you kept us up to date with it, We're here to help and offer as many suggestions and things as we possibly can to help you and try to save you some money :)

- Tony