Widescreen resolution problem

My new Viewsonic VA1912w 19'' monitor requires the resolution to be set at VESA 1440 x 900 @ 60Hz but the only options available so it seems are:

640 by 480 pixels
800 by 600 pixels
848 by 480 pixels
1024 by 768 pixels
1152 by 864 pixels
1280 by 1024 pixels

I set the 60Hz but the best i could do picture wise was 1152 by 864 pixels. Why can't I get 1440 x 900 pixels, is it that my graphics/video card is not up to the job? If so what replacement do I need? My OS is WinME.
Is there a piece of software to check the info of my existing graphics card, if not how do I check the card info?

 

I would guess that your Video Card is not up to par. As for being the best option, ME may not be the best to stay with, and you may end up having to go with XP. Reason being, is also that most newer cards do not work well with ME, and also with your machine being dated, you will have to go with a PCI card, unless you have a AGP slot on the computer if a desktop.

 

Please see image brownizs, the purple is the AGP slot, but what are the white ones?
Can i simply remove the PCI card and insert an AGP card?

 

Further to my reply above I have visually checked the video card, it's a Rage 128 which appears to be plugged in an AGP slot, same position as the photo above, further, http://www.hwupgrade.com/skvideo/comparison_may99/index3.html indicates that "cards with Rage 128 are nowadays in AGP 2X format", this was written in 1999.
A number of sites advertise updated ATI Rage 128 Display Drivers; I checked my ATI drivers and none of them are those advertised, could it be that installing new drivers may help?

 

The white slots are PCI slots, and moving the AGP card will either cause the card to not work, or due to the fact that these are two different form factors, they are not made to be interchangable.

As for the drivers, you can try updating them, but I doubt it will work with ME.

 

This might a bit 'cheap' way to look at it, but you can run a program called powerstrip, and see if it can force your monitor into 1440x900 mode.

 

thnx guys, I'll try the powerstrip first but it looks like a new tower plus the bits if it doesn't work

 

Just to check the obvious, but did you use the VIEWSONIC CD and install the monitor's drivers? It is necessary...

 

Indeed I did, the ViewSonic Wizard User Guide and Installation Software. It was all supposed to be WinMe compatible but in my case appears not to be, however the screen view is not too bad if you don't mind thin people looking fat and Mini's looking like stretch limo's!! I can rectify this with the view adjustment buttons but each time I reboot I lose those settings.