graphics have become 16 colors

[tchiphead2]

I have Windows Me and suddenly graphics have become 16 colors. How to change it back to true color? also my system has become so slow, I don't even like getting online anymore. I have an HP pavillion 5 years old. Thanx

I've defragged several times and it doesn't help the speed

 

[edfair]

If you have lost the choice in the display properties you reload the graphic drivers.
Have you tried spybot and/or adaware?

Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.

 

[kjv1611]

It's definitely a driver problem with Windows ME. I used to have the same problem until I moved on to Windows XP. If you can afford to go ahead and buy Windows XP, I'd just do that - it's well worth it.

But to fix your problem now, go to

[URL unfurl="true"]http://support.hp.com[/url]

and put in your desktop model number, and look for updated display adapters there.

Also, make sure you have all of Windows ME updates from [URL unfurl="true"]http://update.microsoft.com[/url]

If you have a separate video card, then go to
www.nvidia.com for nvidia cards
or
www.ati.com for ati cards

and get the most recent display adapter/video card drivers for your card/OS.

If you are not sure about what graphics chip you have, you can do a couple of different things:

1.) Start Menu -> Run -> type "dx diag" and press Enter.
go to the "Display" tab, and see what info is there, and that may be enough to get the job done.

2.) Download the Belarc advisor from www.download.com and run it, and it will tell you more information than you'll need. There are other options for programs that will tell you what you have, but this one works best, most likely.

If none of that works, which hopefully it will, AND you still want to stick with ME, then I know of one other trick. When I first got ME, I had no clue as to how to get it to boot up properly. I had a relative come over and look at it, b/c he knew a good deal more than I at the particular time with troubleshooting computers. He booted from the Windows ME boot disk, and there was a particular option in there he had to select, maybe type a command or two, and then reboot the system. It worked great at that time.

But, frankly, tchiphead2, I'd just bite the bullet, go buy XP and be done with it. If you like extra pretty stuff, and extra multimedia options, go with XP Media Edition, otherwise, go with whatever fits your needs and budget. Or, you can just continue to run into various problems with ME.

One last note: if they haven't already, I do recall that Microsoft is very soon going to discontinue support for ME, anyway.