Missing VGA driver

[Guest]

I have Vista Home Basic and until recently have used the VGA monitor driver
which comes with Vista, instead of using the Intel 945 driver which is the
default monitor driver on my laptop. This is because I have some software
which needs to use “full screen†mode, and which won’t work if you attempt to
open the software in a window. (The VGA driver will work in full screen mode,
but the Intel 945 driver won't.) I accessed the VGA adapter via start /
control panel / appearance / personalisation / display settings / advanced
settings / adapter / properties / driver / update driver / browse my computer
for driver software / let me pick from a list. Following this path gave me a
list of available monitor drivers, including a standard VGA driver. I
installed this and it worked well, though I had to reinstall it every few
days as each time I had a Windows update I found that the Intel 945 driver
was reinstalled. However, I now find that the standard VGA driver has
disappeared from the list of available drivers, so I can’t install it any
more. Where has it gone and how can I get it back again? I imagine that the
driver itself hasn’t disappeared, but that some link is no longer accessed.
Can anyone help me?

 

[Guest]

rh0000,

It's unlikely that the Standard VGA driver is the correct driver for your
laptop. Standard VGA produces 640 x 480 resolution by default. Your laptop
should be set to its native resolution, which you likely know what that
setting is. I don't know what graphics adapter driver Vista installed when
you installed Vista. Your need to determine what driver is correct for your
laptop and install that.

A good way to begin determining the proper driver, is to visit the website
of the manufacturer of your laptop. At the site, search for the correct
Vista graphics adapter driver and download and install that.

After making sure you have the correct driver installed, set your monitor
resolution to its native resolution, which you can determine by looking in
the documentation that came with your laptop, or by finding it at the
manufacturers website, if you don't already know what it is. You already
know where in Windows you set that resolution setting, from you prior
comments.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for replying promptly, but your reply doesn't really answer my
question. I don't want to install the "proper" driver for my laptop. I
already have the proper driver, one for the Intel 945 chipset on my laptop,
but because it won't operate in full screen mode it won't let me do what I
want. So I want to swap this driver for a VGA driver. I have done this
successfully until a few days ago but am no longer able to do so. A number of
sources say that Vista includes (somewhere) a VGA driver, and as I say I have
previously managed to install this and it worked fine, allowing me to run
programs in full screen mode. But now I find that this VGA driver is no
longer available to me, though it once was, and I want to know how I can
access it again. My manufacturer's website (Toshiba) will only provide
drivers for the Intel 945 chipset, not the VGA driver which I am told exists
in Vista, so my problem remains.

 

[Guest]

rh0000,

OK, in Device Manager under Properties for the VGA adapter and under the
Drivers tab, click on Roll Back Driver.

 

[Guest]

Dear Freddy, Many thanks for your continued interest in my problem. In the
past few minutes, I had the bright (?) idea of uninstalling my video driver
in an attempt to get my laptop to revert to the VGA driver. This has sort of
worked, in that I now have a video driver VgaSave, a non plug and play driver
according to Device Manager. This enables me to run programs in full screen
mode, and the rest of the programs are fine as well. However, it has also
meant that I no longer have a separate listing (apart from under
non-plug-and-play) for the video driver. In particular, there is nothing I
can roll back. However, I do recall that previously, when I was trying to
locate the disappeared VGA driver, I found the menu to which you refer, but
the "roll back" box was unavailable. So the situation is: I'm happy for the
moment in that I can run programs full screen; I'm a little concerned that I
may have stored up problems for the future; and for the moment I can't follow
your suggestions in any case. Things will probably have to stay that way for
the time being, though I expect they may change after my next Windows update,
when I may approach you once more! Anyway, thanks again.

 

[Guest]

rh0000,

I'm beginning to get some insight as to the problem from all your comments.
I'll wager some funds that your motherboard chipset drivers didn't install or
didn't install fully. That's why the drivers that should work properly do
not do so. You should install the motherboard chipset drivers. You should
be able to find them at the website of the manufacturer of your laptop. Be
sure to get the right ones. If they are already correctly installed, and I
doubt that, it does no harm to reinstall them. After installing them, the
proper Intel video adapter drivers should do the job as you want them to.

 

[Guest]

Thanks again. Since your previous reply I have rebooted, and new Intel
drivers were installed more or less automatically. But I have now lost, once
again, the VGA adapter which I had managed to install. I found that "roll
back" driver was not available. I may try to reinstall motherboard chipset
drivers from the Toshiba website, though I don't find the Toshiba website
helpful, not least because it doesn't list my precise laptop model (even
though it is brand new). But thanks again.

 

[JW]

I have an HP laptop with the 945 chipset and have no problems I am using
Intel Vista drivers dated 3/20/2007 (version 7.14.10.1244) which I got from
the HP Website when I installed Vista so if your 945 drivers are older then
mine I suggest you check again with the Toshiba Website for an updated set.

 

[Guest]

Dear JW, Thanks for giving me a reply. You say you have "no problems" with
your Vista drivers and your 945 chipset. Do you mean you can run programs in
"full screen" mode? If so, I will certainly download new drivers. But if you
can't run programs in "full screen" mode, then my problem remains. I, too,
have no problems with the 945 chipset Vista drivers, apart from the fact
(which is important to me) that they won't let me run some of my older
DOS-based software which requires "full screen" mode.

 

[JW]

Full screen mode and everything else works just fine using the driver
release I have.
I think the problem is the lack of full support of DOS programs in Vista.

 

[Guest]

rh0000,

I didn't make the connection between "full screen mode" and using DOS. So,
you're using DOS programs in Vista. That fact throws a whole new light on
the subject. I didn't know we could use DOS in Vista. How are you managing
to do that? I always like to learn something.

 

[Guest]

You ask how I manage to use DOS in Vista, and I'm not sure how I manage it,
because I find getting to grips with Vista pretty baffling, and quite often
when I do something I'm not really sure how I did it. But I understand that
while Vista doesn't have DOS "underneath" it, there is a DOS emulator
somewhere in Vista, so it should be possible. All I know is that I copied
some DOS programs into a folder on my hard drive and then clicked on the exe
file, and the DOS program opened and ran in a window. Another way is to go to
start, then run, then type in "c:\folder\program.exe" or whatever. It seems
to work for me, so try it and see! The DOS program opens and runs in a
window, but some of the programs I want to use require "full screen" mode,
which is where my problems started. The program I particularly want to use is
called LocoscriptPC, which has a full word processing package plus dictionary
taking up only about 1MB of space, and which has all the features I want and
none of the irritating junk you find in Word. But I may have to abandon my
search for using Locoscript in Vista.

 

[Guest]

rh0000,

I now can understand why you're having the problems you have. I have no DOS
programs to try. Even so, I understand that there are millions of people
around the world still using DOS, or so I'm told by those whom I trust to
know.

 

[JW]

AFAIK Vista could card less if you are just running an application that has
nothing to do with any hardware I/O.
However if you are trying to run a DOS application that is trying to run in
full screen then it is trying to something with hardware I/O it will not
work.

 

[Guest]

Well, my DOS application did in fact run in full screen mode when I used the
standard VGA drivers which are supposed to be part of Vista. It was only when
I "lost" the VGA drivers and had to use the drivers for my Intel 945 chipset,
and which don't allow full screen mode, that I had problems. There are lots
of good programs in DOS, and when a better version comes along for Windows,
that doesn't make the old DOS programs any worse. And sometimes, of course,
the new programs are better in ways you don't care about, but worse in other
ways which you do care about. So I try to hang on to the old DOS programs
which have served me well, but it gets increasingly difficult.