Video Card Upgrade Install Guide
Windows XP Steps To Add The New Video Card Driver
The computer boots up to the wallpaper and then Windows announces it has found new hardware - the new video card. I've circled the "new hardware" in blue found by Windows XP. Cancel out of the hardware wizard without doing anything by clicking on the Cancel button.
Click on the Cancel button on this occurrence as well.
Wait for GoBack to finish with the hard drive restoral log. Disable any Anti-Virus program which is running and shutdown any other background tasks that are not needed.
Now we're ready to install the reference drivers. This process is shorter for NVIDIA based video cards. Locate the NVIDIA reference drivers where you downloaded them and double-click on them. The NVIDIA reference drivers install automatically with just a few self-explanatory clicks. After they have installed, select the option to restart the computer. The computer should reboot back to the desktop with no errors and with no new hardware detected and with no new hardware installed. The new drivers are installed!
There are more steps for the ATI video card. If you have an All-In-Wonder type ATI video card like me then locate the WDM Capture driver where it was downloaded. Install the driver following the Windows XP WDM Capture driver installation steps from ATI. Notice that the computer is not restarted after the capture driver is installed. Next, or first if you're not installing an All-In-Wonder type video card, locate the display driver where it was downloaded. Install the driver following the Windows XP Radeon Driver installation steps from ATI, except that you don't need to restart the computer at the end of the steps. Because the next and last thing to install is the Control Panel. Locate the display driver where it was downloaded. Install the Control Panel by double-clicking on it and clicking through any windows it presents. At the end, restart the computer. On restarting, the computer may detect new hardware and ATI recommends not overwriting any files if asked. When the restart is complete, the new ATI video card drivers are installed.
As a reference for all Windows operating systems, here's a link to the ATI Driver and Software Installation Instructions and a link for NVIDIA reference drivers to How do I install the NVIDIA Detonator drivers for Windows 95/98/ME/NT4/2000/XP.
Now do a little basic configuration to get the display looking the way you like. Click on "Start", then "Settings", then "Control Panel" and then double-click on the "Display" icon. Go to the "Settings" tab.
Move the slider underneath "Screen Area" to the screen area you desire. Select the color-depth you desire using the picklist options underneath "Colors". Click on the "Apply" button to put the changes into effect. Installation of both the new video card hardware and the video card drivers is complete! Now let's take a look around and see if all looks well.
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