I run Mint Linux 5 on a DELL Optiplex GX400, P4, 1.7,
512 MB RAM, and a nVidia 32 video card. I only have one
choice for video, 800 x 600. I prefer a higher screen
resolution, but can't seem to change this.

I ran: sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg
and was still unable to change the screen resolution.
Are there any other options to set?

Thanks for the assistance,

-s

Try, running system-config-display

you will need to logout and then login, to apply the changes.

Nvidia has excellent Linux support for most of it's graphics cards. I'd try the following:

1. Open a console window and enter 'lspci'. Find the line that details your graphics card specs and make a note of exacly what card you have, i.e., GeForce MX400 32mb or something like that.

2. Go to http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us. Make your choices and hit 'Search'. Download the driver- /opt is a good place to put it.

3. Close your desktop and get back to the console. Make sure you 'su' to root then change to the /opt directory. Use 'ls' to make sure the nVidia driver is present, then enter 'sh <name of driver>'. This will start the install process. Just choose 'Accept' or 'OK' to everything that comes up and it should install the driver. After the driver is installed you'll have the option of having your xorg.conf file rewritten- be sure to do this.

4. Crank up your desktop- you should see a quick 'splash screen' with the nVidia logo on it. You desktop should now have the optimum resolution for your video card.

If you don't like what you see, there are a ton of nVidia cards on eBay with a lot more memory that 32mb that are available for a very reasonable amount of money. Before you purchase one, visit the nVidia site and make sure a driver is available for the card. You'll probably be much happier with the performance of your machine- my guess is that your current graphics card is pretty much a bottleneck.

you could install the driver with .

Nvidia drivers can be a pain in both Linux and Windows.

This is what I have to do to get a resolution higher than 800x600:
Find the "Monitor" section and add something like
Those numbers are for my monitor, you can find the correct numbers in your monitor's user manual.

Next under the "Screen" section, I have to add:

This is the result when I run gksu gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Configured Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Monitor "Configured Monitor"
Device "Configured Video Device"

So, the lines I'll add "HorizSync 30-80
VertRefresh 50-75" do not need the quotes? And are they written directly below
configured monitor? I do not have a display line in the subsection,
only screen - Identifier, Monitor, and Device. Do I write the desired resolution next to monitor or Device? With or without quotes.
I feel this is closer to what I had before. Thanks :-)

Do not use 30-80 and 50-75, those are the numbers for my monitor.
Check in your monitor's user manual for the correct numbers. You might also be able to google your monitors specs for the right numbers. If you can't find the numbers, you may be able to skip that step.

But after you make the changes, it should look something like:

I'll try this in the AM, and thanks so much for your help.

All I had to do was edit the gksu gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf file
with my monitor settings as was mentioned earlier.

All is so Cool