Better M$ Windows

Junk plus delta is still junk, but anyway...

I see this computer connected to a 15" eMachines monitor that coexisted along with malicosaurus-ex. It's an AMD 64 running Win XP. It got a DVD+/-RW and a built 9-type smart card reader. The first thing I notice (I intend to look at some alert Gateway throws up about relevant issue being found) is that the screen is flickering. Sure enough, I right-click on the desktop and Properties->Settings->Advanced-Monitor and there I see that only 60 Hz is available. What a shame for such a modern PC. (I fail to realize that this is the monitor and not the PC). So I try from exactly which screen I forget, a lower pixel dimension window size and a higher refresh rate and the flicker is gone, but of course, the viewport is smaller. Then, I get the brainwave to uncheck "hide modes that this monitor cannot display" and see that the card can do all the way upto 200 Hz. Like a fool, without thinking of the consequences, I change to 75 Hz and click Apply and then the screen goes blank. Rebooting is no help - you get to the Windows loading screen, and after that, it applies the settings and you're screwed forever. Luckily, I realize later that it's the monitor that's the problem and not the machine. So, I hook in the 19" CRT that I've got and all is well.

Moral of the story - never trust M$.

Advice for M$ - fix Windows so that, when the user comes to a such a dialog, he also gets a warning telling him to ensure that his audio is working so that Windows can provide help through audio in the event the changes the user makes cause the display to stop functioning. In this case, if that were possible, after I hit apply, Windows could have announced "Changes applied, press CTRL-ALT-F3 to cancel changes" over the speakers. Shame on them and me.