if i right click on the desktop and goto settings then advanced then click on the make of my graphics card the computer displays a small window saying i have a catastrophic failure what has happened? on the same window, on the top of the window it has written "nvcpi" any help would be appreciated

Had a similar prob last week, clicked on display settings and got a black screen. You need to download the latest nvidia drivers here http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_2k_61.77
Completely uninstall the old driver and install the new driver.

thanks tassie
it now works fine any idea what the best setting is or is it a personal thing

Its a personal thing. I have it set to 1024x768 and all the settings in nvidia left at their default settings. You can play round with them and try it all out, won't hurt anything.

thanks tassie i have it set the same and it looks ok