Windows 10: Black screen with VGA connection NVIDIA Geforce GTX745

Hi. I struggled through a Win10 installation black screen issue on an Alienware tower (I connected to another monitor using an HDMI connection and voila! There it was the login screen. Here's what I've done since:
1) Updated to the most recent NVIDIA Geforce GTX745 drivers (353.62, released 7/29)
2) Attempted to change the display selection through Display Properties, which ended up with black screen on HDMI too, and numerous attempts to enter Safe Mode (I cannot find a key combination that will work), until I took the advice to click Windows+P which I found elsewhere on this forum)
3) Disabled Fast Startup (someone said it might work!)

I returned to the original monitor with the VGA connection - and my hopes were high! - but here I sit with a black screen again. I'd love to hook it up via HDMI but there is no HDMI port - this is not my PC (and not my installation, actually) and I was shocked to find no HDMI at all but a DisplayPort for which the owner has no cable or adapter. I'm kind of surprised that he was sold an Alienware tower with a Dell monitor without any good cabling, but I digress.

I guess my question is two-fold:
1) why, if the VGA and HDMI are on the same card, will only the HDMI work, and is there an easy answer?
2) should I encourage the owner of this PC to buy a DisplayPort adapter ($40) to save some aggravation? And as a part b to this question, would the performance of HDMI over VGA be an added benefit or would it even be noticeable?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

:)

 

Mail app keeps closing on Windows 10

Yes. The card is a GeForce GTX745 and the driver version is 375.57

I can't see how to roll back to a previous version of the driver, but I have sent feedback to NVIDIA through the GEFORCE Experience screen that this driver is causing a problem, hopefully they will fix the problem and release an updated driver.

To confirm that the NVIDIA card is the problem I have moved the HDMI cable back and forth several times between the NVIDIA card and the Integrated Intel Graphics card and the problem always returns when the cable is in the NVIDIA card.

 

I have 2 monitors. One works the other flashes

Hi, I have 2 monitors, a Samsung sync master 206bw, and a Dell s2340m. My computer is a Dell XPS 8700 with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 745 4GB DDR3 graphics card running Windows 10 home.

My Samsung is connected with a VGA cable and my Dell is connected with a DVI cable. When I boot up my desktop and turn on both of my monitors, the Samsung's screen is black and once every 5-10 seconds
the screen flashes and shows my desktop image and the power light flashes, but my Dell monitor works just fine.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Dre