how do i add 24 bit color or true color to my windows 98 computer?

Question

i am new to computer so talk to me like i am 5. all i have is 2 and 16 colors.

Answer 1

you need to install the drivers for your video card. Once you do this, you'll be able to get the color depth you're looking for.

Answer 2

Since you apparently found the color bit depth settings, you're ahead of the game already.

But just in case, here goes.
Right click anywhere on the desktop, outside of any window.
Select Properties.
Select the Settings tab.
There are settings for screen resolution and display color depth.
Play with these. You may have to reduce resolution to get more colors.

Another possibility if that you only have very basic display drivers loaded rather than those specific to your graphics card.

Hold down the Windows key (the flaging windows emblem) and the Break key simultaneously. A display will pop up. Select Hardware and then Device Manager. Look for the entry for the Display Adapter and select the Driver tab. There should be an option to let Windows select a better driver for your hardware. Allow Windows to connect to the Internet if it asks.

If all this fails, you probably need a new graphics card, although I've never seen any machine in the last 10 years that couldn't do at least 256 colors.

Answer 3

Chances are your computer has either a video chipset integrated into the motherboard, or a cheap video card with very little memory that only supports 16-bit color. The solution is to purchase an actual video card which supports 32-bit color. I doubt it's just a case of old driver software if you're able to get 16-bit color already- I think that's just the maximum your current hardware can display. But certainly try downloading newer drivers first, just to be sure. Depending upon what your type of video slot exists in your computer, you'd purchase either an AGP or PCI video card (those are two different types of interfaces). If you're just using your computer for non-gaming tasks like web surfing, e-mail & word processing & viewing photos, then old cards like the Nvidia TNT2 or Radeon 7000 with 32mb of memory are just fine. They won't play any recent games, but are cheap; you can buy cards like that on Ebay for around $20. The next step up would be cards in the $50-75 range like the GeForce 5200 or 5500, and the ATI Radeon 9200 or 9550. These are still old/outdated cards, but more capable for displaying video in addition to photos. Here's a good article on color depth:

Answer 4

There is a piece of software that tells the computer how to talk to a piece of hardware (Video Adapter) in the computer. This Video Adapter produces the display on your monitor.

The piece of software is called a software driver. Think of it as a translator.

In order for the computer to produce 24 bit color two things must be present.

1. A Video Adapter capable of producing the 24 bit color
2. The software driver that tells the computer how to talk to the Video Adpater.

If either of these are missing or damaged you will have problems.

If your computer was never capable of displaying 24 bit color than you would have to change the Video Adapter and the software driver for that Video Adapter.