If you're installing something new on your computer, like perhaps the beta of Windows 7, the very first thing you should do is make sure you have up-to-date drivers for your monitor and your graphics card (display adapter) - and you can't always depend on the latest available ones from the hardware manufacturer to be exactly right for whatever you're wanting to do.
For example, the driver that came with my Nvidia GeForce 8600 GS display adapter isn't very old - the computer was new last year - but it still needed updating. Similarly, the monitor, also new last year needed its driver updated. I never thought to check or do all that before trying to install Windows 7, and as a result, things did not go perfectly.
However, thanks to Microsoft, and Windows Updates, the problem was solved, and they found the correct driver updates for this hardware. In the case of the Nvidia display adapter, there is a newer driver available for it than the one chosen by Microsoft, but that newest one does not work as well as Microsoft's choice. So don't try to "second guess" the folks at Windows Updates. They obviously know their jobs, and Microsoft has a lot more clout with those other suppliers than you and I do, let's face it.
The proof of that is that by following Microsoft's driver choices for this rig, it is now running better than it has been while I was just winging it on my own... and sometimes, older people aren't smarter than younger ones - just older.
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