MAGO54 0 Newbie Poster

Hi, Perhaps someone out there could help me on this matter. This is a probelm that is driving me absoutely crazy. I would appreciate a
second or perhaps third opinion on the matter.

I have a HP 511 Tower, Windows XP Pro, HP monitor v50. For some reason, my monitor flicks on a black screen whenever I log off the
internet. I also can't seem to put it to medium 16 bits, when I do this and log on to the internet, It flips back to low 8 bit setting. As a result of this, The colors look garbled and weird on the screen. I have tried to go Medium setting when I am on the internet, but the computer flicks on and off like crazy so I have to log off the internet and start over again.I went and asked a person that is very knowledgable about computers about this probelm. I ended up updating the driver for intel graphics (82810E version). (I also noticed at the time that I had an another version of intel graphics on my properties (82810-DC-100) that was not running properly.) After installing this program, I refreshed the computer and set the settings twice (Safe mode and non safe mode). I still had the probelm afterwards. I asked him if there anything else I could do and he told me since I have a small monitor and it was considered a dinosaur by IT professionals, I should set the screen refresh rate at 75 or lower and that I should also think about upgrading to a new monitor (17" or higher). Since I had a old 17" monitor (HP M70) in my garage, I decided to try that and see how that went. Still the same probelm, but I did notice something: If I kept my settings at low 8 bits, then I did not see the black screen when it refreshed after I logged off the internet.

My question is this: Is it time for me to get a new monitor? If it's not a monitor issue, then please suggest any additional steps to
correct this PITA.

Thank you in advance for your suggestions.