Why will my primary monitor not work, while additional monitors will?

I’m running a Dell Dimension 8400 with XP Pro SP3, an nVidia GeForce 6800 graphics card for my primary monitor, and 4 additional monitors hooked up through a matrox g200 card. Whenever the computer starts up, i am able to watch the startup sequence on the monitor plugged in to the nvidia (monitor 1) , but as soon as i get to where i pick accounts, the display moves to one of the matrox monitors (monitor 2). once i log in, i go to edit display properties, then settings. the primary (monitor 1) is stuck at a resolution of 640×480, while i know the car supports 1280×768. Im also stuck at 4bit color. The monitors on the matrox card, however, have 32 bit color and will run at full resolution. I have updated my nvidia drivers from the nvidia website, and have updated my monitor drivers from dell. my only guess is that on the nvidia monitor, im unable to change screen refresh rate from “use hardware default settings”.

oh PS, all 5 monitors are Dell E193FP monitors, and i know this setup worked before because this is how i had the computer before i reinstalled windows. thanks!

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