Try this:

1. Change your display adapter to Standard VGA.

2. Uninstall Display Adapter software, if any. Not all adapters have
this, but it's much more common now than it used to be. Look in
Add/Remove Programs for any such thing.

3. Run MSCONFIG from the Start\Run menu, click on Advanced button at
lower right, and "Enable Startup Menu". You'll want to restart and go
into Safe Mode, and this makes sure the menu comes up, so that you don't
inadvertently restart in Normal Mode.

4. Restart and go into Safe Mode.

5. Go into Device Manager and remove the monitor (or all monitors if
more than one is listed.) Also look around for duplicated entries,
anywhere in the list. Write down all duplicates. They have to be *exact*
duplicates. Just write down what they are and how many of each. Lastly,
if you know your system well enough, look for entries that belong to
devices that were once installed but have since been removed. Remove any
such entries.

6. Restart.

7. Reinstall proper Display drivers and/or accompanying software. If the
problem seems to have started around the time you last updated the
drivers, consider using the older version. Just because the drivers are
the latest doesn't mean they're right for you, especially since you're
running an older OS. Any tweaks in drivers these days aren't probably
intended for Win9x issues.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP Shell/User
http://www.grystmill.com/articles/cleanboot.htm
http://www.grystmill.com/articles/security.htm

"David" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello, everyone.

For some reason I've been unable to specify a refresh rate value for a
monitor connected to a PC running Windows 98.

The setting I'm referring to is located under Start Settings
Display Properties Settings Advanced Adapter. In the Adapter
tab,
there is a drop-down list which consists of a series of available
refresh rate modes to choose from. Well -- it usually does. The
problem
here is that the list is empty. Apart from "Adapter default" and
"Optimal" (both of which essentially mean 60 Hz), there are no other
values.

The system is equipped with the latest display driver for its graphics
chip (S3 Graphics ProSavageDDR), and the monitor is installed as a
Plug
& Play device. It's a 17" CRT monitor capable of operating in high
resolution modes such as 1280x960.

I don't know how to convince Windows to populate the list of refresh
rate modes. Is there anything to try before purchasing new hardware?

Thanks