I have the same problem and have looked at the video8.cfg and gamma was at .89 i changed it to 1.0 and it did reset in game but did not help the problem....
In researching this problem i have found that ANY time you change anything in the settings (advanced or not) and click OK it will go black just as Fox had said.
I have tryed changing one thing at a time and then hitting ok and it seems to not matter what i change it always goes black.
132353,VideoVersion
1280,Width
1024,Height
32,ColorDebth
1,DeviceCnt
DVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVD VDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDV DVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVD VDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDV DVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVD VDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDV DVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVD VDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDV DVDVNVIDIA GeForce 6800 S
0,MaxFPS
0,PixelShaders
0,VertexShaders
512,MaxTexSize
0,OptionFlags
0.98,Gamma
86,MaxFieldOfView
0,AntiAliasType
0,AntiAliasQuality
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 12/3/2009, 14:33:17
Machine name: JASON
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.090804-1435)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: alienware
System Model: alienware
BIOS: Phoenix - Award BIOS v6.00PG
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 FX-55 Processor, MMX, 3DNow, ~2.6GHz
Memory: 1024MB RAM
Page File: 211MB used, 2250MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.5512 32bit Unicode
------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
DirectX Files Tab: No problems found.
Display Tab 1: No problems found.
Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
Sound Tab 2: No problems found.
Music Tab: No problems found.
Input Tab: No problems found.
Network Tab: No problems found.