i've gone wrong installing my new graphics card...

[Mike182]

hey all, i thought i would be clever and install my new graphics card i don't know what possessed me to think i could do it, these things never work for me :thud:

ok, so i unplug my computer, take the case off, and while being very careful not to touch anything important, i insert my graphics card, screw it in, and put the case back on. there was not graphics card already in, so it said on the piece of paper in the box that i just plug it in and leave it alone. sounds easy? yeah, tell me about it...

so i plug my computer back in, i plug my monitor into the same port i had previously because i've not installed the new card yet, turn it on, it loads up, and it gives me a message saying "new hardware found!". good news! i insert the hardware disk and go to install it. the computer keeps restarting half way through installation without any warning. i check the trouble shoot and it advises me that if there was no graphics card already in, the computer has an onboard video, and that needs to be deactivated.

i go into my control panel and i find a program called something graphics center (i can't remember it's exact name). i looked in there and it had no deactivate option, so i for some reason decided it would be a good idea to remove it. so i go to my add/remove programs and i remove it from my PC. my PC restarts and the graphics on it are absolute tosh... my desktop icons are blurry and everything, so i assume that it is now deactivated.

i go to disk and start to install the drivers for the new graphics card, and half way through my computer restarts. i can't install my new graphics card and i have stupidly deleted the control panel for my onboard video.

anyone got any ideas? is it possible to restore that system i removed?

 

[MaddLlama]

Are you using XP, or something? I'm pretty sure that XP has an option to revert to an earlier state.

I just don't know where off the top of my head. I'll find out though

 

[Mike182]

Are you using XP, or something? I'm pretty sure that XP has an option to revert to an earlier state.

I just don't know where off the top of my head. I'll find out though

yeah, i'm using XP.

if you resent your computer, in the initial start up, you can press delete or tab to bring up various start-up menus. from there you can revert back to a previous setting where everything worked, i tried that, problem is my computer still works fine, just has naff graphics - so it doesn't revert back to before i deleted stuff lol.

 

[lizskid]

Ok, do you have any info on your motherboard? There may actually be a switch or cable on it that provided either power or enabling to you onboard video.

Other wise, reinstall the driver (you need the name and model of you mobo) through a google search. OR do the google search asking for "disable onboard video."

What Windows are you running, I would have thought a card would have overridden the onboard, but, obviously not.

 

[Mike182]

Ok, do you have any info on your motherboard? There may actually be a switch or cable on it that provided either power or enabling to you onboard video.

no cable or switch that i saw...

Other wise, reinstall the driver (you need the name and model of you mobo) through a google search. OR do the google search asking for "disable onboard video."

mobe? is that short for motherbord? i don't know what it's name is, though i did give it the pet name of Rose i'll do a google, see what comes up.

What Windows are you running, I would have thought a card would have overridden the onboard, but, obviously not.

yeah, i was hoping it would all be so simple.

 

[Booko]

if you resent your computer, ...

Is that a Freudian slip or have you actually grown to resent your computer? :run:

 

[Mike182]

Is that a Freudian slip or have you actually grown to resent your computer? :run:

i'm struggling to read the words on my screen :149:

 

[Mike182]

ok, i've google searched, the only help i can find is in nerd-speak, and i can't follow it lol. i've checked my system spec though, my computer has been tracking and can restore harmful changes to my PC, i just don't know how to do that

 

[MaddLlama]

Have you done anything important to the computer in the past week ot two? Can you revert back that far to fix the problem?

 

[Mike182]

Have you done anything important to the computer in the past week ot two? Can you revert back that far to fix the problem?

nope, not done anything major on it for the past year. how do i revert back a week?

actually, i might have to re-install a game that i installed about a week ago, but that's easily done, and it's an online game so i won't loose any of the levels i've worked for lol.

 

[Mike182]

nope, not done anything major on it for the past year. how do i revert back a week?

anyone? i'm getting annoyed at only seeing blurs lol.

 

[MaddLlama]

I can't seem to remember where the option is to do it in XP, and it's something totally different in Vista (damn you Microsoft!!). You said you had tried to revert before, right? I think it should default to the last saved state, but there should also be an option to go back earlier

 

[Mike182]

I can't seem to remember where the option is to do it in XP, and it's something totally different in Vista (damn you Microsoft!!). You said you had tried to revert before, right? I think it should default to the last saved state, but there should also be an option to go back earlier

i only found the check box that says "do you want to track changes to make?" - it has been checked to "yes i do" for the last year, so i should be able to revert. i just don't have a clue how lol.

 

[Ringer]

I'll throw a few things out there. Don't think I'm insulting your intelligence by listing simple things as they are easily overlooked sometimes...

- Make sure that you are plugging your cord that goes from your monitor to the actually video card. Beforehand, you were plugging it into the onboard video which is on your motherboard but now you should be plugging it in to your actually video card adapter in the back of your PC.

- Go into the system BIOS and make sure that your onboard video is disabled. Usually you have to hit F10, F12, or Delete when your first starts booting. Which key you have to hit depends on the PC you have. There should be a message that tells you which button to hit to enter system setup.

- I am assuming the your video card is plug-and-play which means you can basically just put it in there and everything should take care of itself with the exception of installing a driver. Since your PC keeps restarting when you are installing your driver, it is a possibility that your video card isn't compatible with your system. Not sure how much research you did on making sure it would work with your system or if you had somebody do that for you.

- You could also try installing your video drivers in safe mode. This prevents unneccesary drivers from being utilized when your system is on and can many times prevent restarts such as you were having. To get to safe mode you also have to hit a key when you first start your PC. Which one it is, again, is something you need to figure out. If you find out how to get to system setup, there may a way to boot into safe mode from there. Once you get to boot in safe mode, try to install the drivers that way.

There are a few more tricks but they take time but typing out tech support sucks. I'd rather you just pay me a few hundred dollars, ship it to my place, I'll hack your RF account, give myself all your frubals, and then ship it back to you . Hopefully one of these tips help.

 

[Mike182]

I'll throw a few things out there. Don't think I'm insulting your intelligence by listing simple things as they are easily overlooked sometimes...

that's fine, my computer skills are worse than my grandads!

- Make sure that you are plugging your cord that goes from your monitor to the actually video card. Beforehand, you were plugging it into the onboard video which is on your motherboard but now you should be plugging it in to your actually video card adapter in the back of your PC.

because it is not installed yet, i just get a blank screen. the onboard video is the only one my monitor works on at the moment.

[/quote]- Go into the system BIOS and make sure that your onboard video is disabled. Usually you have to hit F10, F12, or Delete when your first starts booting. Which key you have to hit depends on the PC you have. There should be a message that tells you which button to hit to enter system setup. [/quote] i'll try that now.

- I am assuming the your video card is plug-and-play which means you can basically just put it in there and everything should take care of itself with the exception of installing a driver. Since your PC keeps restarting when you are installing your driver, it is a possibility that your video card isn't compatible with your system. Not sure how much research you did on making sure it would work with your system or if you had somebody do that for you.

i've checked the minimum system requirements and i think they are ok.

- You could also try installing your video drivers in safe mode. This prevents unneccesary drivers from being utilized when your system is on and can many times prevent restarts such as you were having. To get to safe mode you also have to hit a key when you first start your PC. Which one it is, again, is something you need to figure out. If you find out how to get to system setup, there may a way to boot into safe mode from there. Once you get to boot in safe mode, try to install the drivers that way.

yes, i know how to boot it up in safe mode.

There are a few more tricks but they take time but typing out tech support sucks. I'd rather you just pay me a few hundred dollars, ship it to my place, I'll hack your RF account, give myself all your frubals, and then ship it back to you . Hopefully one of these tips help.

hope so, thanks for replying! i'll be back soon after restarting and meddling.

 

[Jeremiah]

MaddLlama was referring to a system restore. Here Microsoft's walkthrough. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306084

Here is how to enter safe mode.
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/boot_failsafe.mspx?mfr=true.

Sounds to me like you uninstalled your video drivers and you’re using VGA now. You most likely just need to reinstall the video for drives for your motherboard. Of course a system restore to before you uninstalled the drives might resolve this and should be your first step. If you could tell me your pc make and model. I could find you a download link to your motherboard video drivers. Or if it is not of factory make I could use the motherboard make and model to do the same. And also find instructions how to shutoff the onboard video with respects to your BIOS version.


“because it is not installed yet, i just get a blank screen. the onboard video is the only one my monitor works on at the moment.”

You should still get VGA regardless of if the drives are installed or not. Either you have not appropriately switched the setting in the BIOS or there is a hardware problem with the computer or video card.

 

[Mike182]

ok, after various phone calls to Michel, i just restored my computer back to before i played around with anything, and am sending the graphics card back for my money. better luck next time lol.