trouble installing new graphics card

[terryZ]

how could the monitor affect the driver problems? besides the driver problems were happening on my syncmaster monitor which this one just replaced.

[Train]

Do both monitors work ok on a different computer?

[Midknyte]

didn't download that 169.02 driver because it said vga.

Huh? What does VGA have to do with it? If that's the original driver set from Gateway, it should work. We suggested that driver set to you in the old thread too.

If the problem followed the monitor, then it's possible that the monitor is the culprit

[terryZ]

when i attached the "broken" monitor to my new pc, it does not return to normal.

i thought vga refered to the connection port .. like dvi & hdmi. i thought ... nvm. i'm not as savvy as you all. im not sure what the differences are .. especially now that there are three different monitor connectors.

so i guess i'll be buying another monitor this week. i just bought one last monday.

[Train]

VGA - Abbreviation of video graphics array, a graphics display system for PCs developed by IBM.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_Graphics_Array

[Midknyte]

Yes, VGA is a type of connector, but there aren't different sets of drivers for each type. I.E. there isn't a DVI driver.

[druggas]

Don't know if this will help, but if you remove your graphics card, wont your computer revert back to on-board graphics? Then if your computer doesn't freeze, the card would be your problem.

Make sense or am I way off?

[dneilson]

Sometimes the BIOS will automatically switch to an added Video card and disable the onboard, other times you have to select the Video so you have to check that--and of course--you have to move the Video cable from the card to the onboard location.

[Train]

The native video drivers in windows, will install after uninstalling the video drivers and rebooting.

on board or add on card it makes no difference. As noted, check the BIOS to see if you need to disable the on board when using a add on. And a bad shot down has been known to reset the BIOS bad to factory defaults.

[terryZ]

Yes, VGA is a type of connector, but there aren't different sets of drivers for each type. I.E. there isn't a DVI driver.

thanks, midknyte. i was equating the two. hence my confusion on gateway's driver site.

and thanks all for your input.

i'm going to microcenter tonight or tomorrow night to return the 210 card and pickup a new monito. i'll get back to you all as soon as i get it and can look at the graphic card issue again.

[terryZ]

monitor bought and connected. with 169.02 driver installed system is stable.

installed the newest driver (327.23) and the oldest (320.18) on nvidia's site and screen freezes when i try to launch second life.

i did find this site (http://driverscollection.com/?H=GeFo...indows%20Vista) which has 8800 gt drivers back to 169.25. i'm off to work atm but will try these later.

[terryZ]

i'm also googling second life crashes on log in. see suggestions to reinstall sl itself. i'll try that too and get back to you all.

[Train]

Yes, the latest drivers may NOT be the greatest. I find what works and never update the video drivers. Learned the hard way too.
remember the 8800 gt is now a antique and the new drivers are NOT written with it in mind.

[Midknyte]

Definitely go back to the 169.02 set for now. If there are problems, then you can try something else.

BTW, I already gave you a link to older driver sets.

Hmm. That set is actually from 2007.
You can try other sets from the following. Even Nvidia doesn't keep sets that old.
http://www.guru3d.com/files_category...vista_|_7.html

[terryZ]

yes, i'm already there using 169.02. it'll be my "baseline" for further experimentation.

i'll be heeding train's comment "new drivers are NOT written with it in mind" about the 8800. i'm thinking there is a driver somewhere about a year or two ago that was working - about the time i stopped using this particular pc.

thanks again, midknyte, train, et al for all your help.