Something weird is going on with HL2

[The Bait]

I just reinstalled HL2 and when I try to play I get some error saying

Video Mode Warning
Failed to set video mode - resetting to defaults.
Game will now restart with the new video settings.

It has a OK button or a Cancel button. If you click on OK the game attempts to start back up but then a different error pops up saying.

Video - safe mode fallback
Failed to set video mode - falling back to safe mode settings.
Game will now restart with the new video settings.

That error has an OK button or a Cancel button as well. If you click on OK the game tries one more time to start up. Then another error pops up that says.

Video mode error
Failed to set video mode.
This game has a minimum requirement of DirectX 7.0 compatible hardware.

The error only has an OK button. If you click it the game stops trying to start up. I used to be able to play and I NEVER got this error until now. I have DirectX 9.0c or whatever it is. Can anyone help please?

 

[Lahire149]

what's your graphics card? and the rest of your system specs?

 

[The Bait]

I have an NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 (not great, I know)
P4 2.00ghz and 1 gig of ram. I'm not good at giving any system specs. Like I said, I used to be able to run the game fine. This happens with HL2, CSS, and GM. Just started happening.

 

[Lahire149]

update your geforce drivers

 

[The Bait]

I already updated my video drivers. It's version 77.72
I don't know how to get older versions.
This is getting really annoying. I am really wanting to play HL2. I even tried reinstalling HL2, it still does the same thing.

 

[|Ben|]

Well, this happend to me when I installed the new drivers. So, I just rolled back the driver. You can also get the older versions of drivers from here http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp-2k_archive.html if you have Windows XP/2000.

 

[Deemo]

its the new NVidia drivers. Its on the steam support site too

 

[The Bait]

I got the driver I had before the 77.72 driver and now the game is running fine. Thanks for the help guys.

 

[giant384]

same thing happened to me with the new nvidia drivers so i just went to older ones i guess it screws up on fx cards

 

[Mechagodzilla]

I've had that problem before, twice. Both times it was after updating through steam.

Oddly, it fixed itself after only a day or two. I came back and it just wasn't happening anymore.

So, don't get too frustrated. I'd only get worried if it isn't gone in four days' time.
As for how it fixes itself, I have no idea. Steam ghosts?

 

[giant384]

augh steam is haunted

 

[Salad22]

sry to say this but, your computer sucks. thats all

 

[xzeox]

Thanx!!

God ive been trying to figure out the same problem for like hours now !!!!
YEAH!! But im not sure which old one i should install....:hmph:

 

[Dirk Pitt]

FX card users, you should be using the 71.xx series of forcewares for best performance. I read a comparison chart on guru3d about it.