GF4 MX440 problems in Win XP

Just got a new graphics card: "MSI GeForce4 MX440 AGP 8x".

When I install the supplied drivers (same version as latest downloadable
from nvidia.com) in Win XP Pro, the screen seems to go into power saving
mode shortly after logging in every time. All I (and my google searches)
can think of is that the card is trying to drive my monitor at too high
a refresh rate or resolution. In safe mode I can reinstall the driver
and choose a different monitor such as SVGA instead of "Plug and play
monitor" but I cannot change any settings like maximum refresh rate. Out
of safe mode I can't see what I'm doing so I can't change anything.

In Linux, Mandrake 9.1's free XFree drivers work nicely for 2D but when
I try to use the ones from nvidia.com the system freezes after some
graphical use (even if I set AGP to 1x as some web site suggested for my
horrible PC Chips M810 motherboard).

I'm most interested in getting it to work in Windows (to play some
games). I've tried installing 44.03 drivers and various older ones that
came on the CD while I'm in safe mode, but I can't see what I'm doing
out of safe mode! I'm really out of ideas - any suggestions?

Cheers
David