Ack! I believe it was the same issue, as the first error message I encountered was the same as the OP, ie
"unable to get proper pixel format in OpenGL Win32".
What I posted was from the report log afterwards.
Running from Debug exe;
Error: Current GL Version of 1.1 is less than the required version of 1.2.
Switch video modes or update your drivers.
File: gropengl.cpp
Line: 2980
Call stack:
------------------------------------------------------------------
fred2_open_3_6_10d.exe 0051dc32()
fred2_open_3_6_10d.exe 0051d757()
fred2_open_3_6_10d.exe 004576ed()
fred2_open_3_6_10d.exe 0044d651()
fred2_open_3_6_10d.exe 009c5da2()
fred2_open_3_6_10d.exe 009c5704()
fred2_open_3_6_10d.exe 009c32a9()
fred2_open_3_6_10d.exe 009c3745()
USER32.dll 761a1a10()
USER32.dll 761a3123()
USER32.dll 761a1c03()
USER32.dll 76198562()
ntdll.dll 770e0e6e()
USER32.dll 7619848b()
USER32.dll 7618d7f9()
------------------------------------------------------------------
I am running FSO v3.6.10 on Vista with Dual amd turion 1.8ghz, 2G ram, ATI Mobility x1300 etc
Here is my fs2_open.log
Passed cmdline options:
<none>
Building file index...
Found root pack 'D:\Program Files\Freespace 2\FS2OGGcutscenepack.vp' with a checksum of 0x84396e99
Found root pack 'D:\Program Files\Freespace 2\multi-mission-pack.vp' with a checksum of 0x377695e0
Found root pack 'D:\Program Files\Freespace 2\multi-voice-pack.vp' with a checksum of 0xd50e7442
Found root pack 'D:\Program Files\Freespace 2\Root_fs2.vp' with a checksum of 0xce10d76c
Found root pack 'D:\Program Files\Freespace 2\smarty_fs2.vp' with a checksum of 0xddeb3b1e
Found root pack 'D:\Program Files\Freespace 2\sparky_fs2.vp' with a checksum of 0x164fe65a
Found root pack 'D:\Program Files\Freespace 2\sparky_hi_fs2.vp' with a checksum of 0xa11d56f1
Found root pack 'D:\Program Files\Freespace 2\stu_fs2.vp' with a checksum of 0xd77da83a
Found root pack 'D:\Program Files\Freespace 2\tango1_fs2.vp' with a checksum of 0x4c25221e
Found root pack 'D:\Program Files\Freespace 2\tango2_fs2.vp' with a checksum of 0x86920b82
Found root pack 'D:\Program Files\Freespace 2\tango3_fs2.vp' with a checksum of 0x705e8d71
Found root pack 'D:\Program Files\Freespace 2\warble_fs2.vp' with a checksum of 0xd85c305d
Searching root 'D:\Program Files\Freespace 2\' ... 7 files
Searching root pack 'D:\Program Files\Freespace 2\FS2OGGcutscenepack.vp' ... 10 files
Searching root pack 'D:\Program Files\Freespace 2\multi-mission-pack.vp' ... 110 files
Searching root pack 'D:\Program Files\Freespace 2\multi-voice-pack.vp' ... 307 files
Searching root pack 'D:\Program Files\Freespace 2\Root_fs2.vp' ... 157 files
Searching root pack 'D:\Program Files\Freespace 2\smarty_fs2.vp' ... 10 files
Searching root pack 'D:\Program Files\Freespace 2\sparky_fs2.vp' ... 3027 files
Searching root pack 'D:\Program Files\Freespace 2\sparky_hi_fs2.vp' ... 1337 files
Searching root pack 'D:\Program Files\Freespace 2\stu_fs2.vp' ... 2355 files
Searching root pack 'D:\Program Files\Freespace 2\tango1_fs2.vp' ... 32 files
Searching root pack 'D:\Program Files\Freespace 2\tango2_fs2.vp' ... 15 files
Searching root pack 'D:\Program Files\Freespace 2\tango3_fs2.vp' ... 10 files
Searching root pack 'D:\Program Files\Freespace 2\warble_fs2.vp' ... 52 files
Found 13 roots and 7429 files.
Setting language to English
==========================================================================
DEBUG SPEW: No debug_filter.cfg found, so only general, error, and warning
categories can be shown and no debug_filter.cfg info will be saved.
==========================================================================
Initializing OpenAL...
Using 'Generic Software' as OpenAL sound device...
OpenAL Vendor : Creative Labs Inc.
OpenAL Renderer : Software
OpenAL Version : 1.1
... OpenAL successfully initialized!
Initializing OpenGL graphics device at 640x480 with 32-bit color...
Initializing WGL...
Requested WGL Video values = R: 8, G: 8, B: 8, depth: 32, double-buffer: 1
Actual WGL Video values = R: 8, G: 8, B: 8, depth: 32, double-buffer: 1
ERROR: Current GL Version of 1.1 is less than the required version of 1.2.
Switch video modes or update your drivers.
File: gropengl.cpp
Line: 2980
fred2_open_3_6_10d.exe 0051dc32()
fred2_open_3_6_10d.exe 0051d757()
fred2_open_3_6_10d.exe 004576ed()
fred2_open_3_6_10d.exe 0044d651()
fred2_open_3_6_10d.exe 009c5da2()
fred2_open_3_6_10d.exe 009c5704()
fred2_open_3_6_10d.exe 009c32a9()
fred2_open_3_6_10d.exe 009c3745()
USER32.dll 761a1a10()
USER32.dll 761a3123()
USER32.dll 761a1c03()
USER32.dll 76198562()
ntdll.dll 770e0e6e()
USER32.dll 7619848b()
USER32.dll 7618d7f9()
Int3(): From e:\storage\fso\fs2_open_3_6_10\code\globalincs\windebug.cpp at line 1235
So basically, I need to update OpenGL but there is no availablity of new graphics card drivers. I will search for ways to do this now, but can anyone give me any pointers?