Had a similar problem and wasted a day fighting it. Hopefully this will help someone else in the same predicament. My configuration was
Windows 7 Ultimate, 32-bit
HP dc7700 with built-in Intel graphics adapter
Brand new Dell u2410 LCD monitor connected to the computer via a VGA cable
The problem was that I could select certain resolutions on the monitor (e.g. 1792x1344), but when I tried to set the monitor to its native resolution (1920x1200), I would get a black screen with a less then helpful message telling me to set the resolution to one of the supported resolutions such as "1920x1200 @ 60Hz", which is what I was doing in the first place.
I believe one of the following two things fixed the problem:
Turning the power off on both the computer and the monitor and then turning power on on the monitor first and then on the computer second. (simple, try that first)
Booting the system in the "safe" mode, uninstalling (but NOT deleting!) the driver for the Graphics adapter (in my case it was labeled as an Intel Chipset), shutting the computer and starting Windows in normal mode. When the computer booted it recognized the graphics adapter as "new" hardware and re-installed the driver. Then I was able to set the monitor resolution to 1920x1200. Note that during all this, the monitor was connected to the computer.
Earlier in the process, I did confirm the 1920x1200 resolution worked on the monitor by connecting it to another computer (Windows XP) using the same VGA cable.
Anyone else think this is a strange native resolution for this monitor? – Chris – 2010-09-06T14:45:08.840
@Chris Not according to Wikipedia: WSXGA+ stands for Widescreen Super eXtended Graphics Array Plus and is a computer display standard. A WSXGA+ display is commonly used on Widescreen 20", 21", and popular 22" LCD monitors from numerous manufacturers (and a very small number of 19" widescreen monitors), as well as widescreen 15.4" and 17" laptop LCD screens like the Thinkpad T61. The resolution is 1680×1050 pixels (1,764,000 pixels) and has a 16:10 aspect ratio. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WSXGA%2B#WSXGA.2B_.281050p.29
– Connor W – 2010-09-06T17:10:06.893