thanx for the response..
I have the intel chipset (i810) with built in sound card & VGA.. I have the SAMTEL monitor.. I had even run knoppix live cd on my friend's machine with LG monitor & 128 MB RAM 900MHz prcossor but the problem persists.

I have tried other combinations of the cheat codes but it doesnt seem to
work. The monitor blinks for 3 times (when a screen = ...x... option is specified) msg'ing that
Code:
"Using Modes 1024x1000 600x800 .."
etc..
But the system doesnt seem to hang. thanx in advance