Can You Upgrade RADEON Cards Without Re-installing Drivers?

[Will]

In one computer I have a RADEON 9800 Pro 128 that I want to upgrade to
RADEON 9800 Pro 256. Can I simply swap the new card in place without
re-installing the drivers, or does the driver install look for specific
RADEON variations and record those in some form, thus potentially requiring
a new install when an upgraded RADEON is installed?

I realize that one driver installation program will service all RADEON
flavors, but this is not the same thing as saying that the *installed*
driver can adjust itself to all RADEON versions at run-time.

 

[Barry Watzman]

In my experience, no. In fact, I've had HUGE problems changing from one
ATI card to another (both "Built-by ATI" cards), the computer wouldn't
even boot to a desktop except in safe mode.

 

[SteveK]

In one computer I have a RADEON 9800 Pro 128 that I want to upgrade to
RADEON 9800 Pro 256. Can I simply swap the new card in place without
re-installing the drivers, or does the driver install look for specific
RADEON variations and record those in some form, thus potentially
requiring a new install when an upgraded RADEON is installed?

I realize that one driver installation program will service all RADEON
flavors, but this is not the same thing as saying that the *installed*
driver can adjust itself to all RADEON versions at run-time.

The installed driver is not adjusting dynamically - uninstall the old driver
first, then plug in the new card and boot. If u are lucky it will work but
usually Windows starts coughing after some time.




---
avast! Antivirus: Outbound message clean.
Virus Database (VPS): 0510-1, 11/03/2005
Tested on: 12/03/2005 1:44:32 PM
avast! - copyright (c) 1988-2004 ALWIL Software.
http://www.avast.com

 

[Kent_Diego]

In one computer I have a RADEON 9800 Pro 128 that I want to upgrade to

RADEON 9800 Pro 256. Can I simply swap the new card in place without
re-installing the drivers,

I have changed several different Radeon cards and it has always been plug
and play. New hardware found, new driver installed. Automatic.

-Kent

 

[ofn01]

In one computer I have a RADEON 9800 Pro 128 that I want to upgrade to
RADEON 9800 Pro 256. Can I simply swap the new card in place without
re-installing the drivers, or does the driver install look for specific
RADEON variations and record those in some form, thus potentially requiring
a new install when an upgraded RADEON is installed?

I realize that one driver installation program will service all RADEON
flavors, but this is not the same thing as saying that the *installed*
driver can adjust itself to all RADEON versions at run-time.

Its safe and easy just to uninstall and re-install in my opinion
I went from a Sapphire 9550SE to an Abit 9600XT and I just uninstalled
the 4.10 drivers I had, shut down, removed the card, put the new one in,
booted up, cancelled Window's attempt to install drivers and then
installed the Cat 5.1s - no pain at all.

Its best to make a bit of extra effort just to be safe as far as I can see.

 

[Will]

On this particular machine I have a corrupt driver state that cannot be
uninstalled. The ATI uninstaller insists that no card is installed.
Because of the amount of accumulated software on the machine I want to defer
re-installing Windows as long as possible.

I have tried third party uninstallers for ATI but some trace is clearly
still there because re-installing ATI drivers fresh after those de-installs
results in an unusable driver state. I have to go to a backup at that
point.

I wanted to know if there is a safe way to just swap the card in place and
have the known working drivers continue to work, albeit with a version of
the card that supports more memory.

--
Will

Its safe and easy just to uninstall and re-install in my opinion
I went from a Sapphire 9550SE to an Abit 9600XT and I just uninstalled
the 4.10 drivers I had, shut down, removed the card, put the new one in,
booted up, cancelled Window's attempt to install drivers and then
installed the Cat 5.1s - no pain at all.

Its best to make a bit of extra effort just to be safe as far as I can

see.

 

[Jimmy]

On this particular machine I have a corrupt driver state that cannot
be uninstalled. The ATI uninstaller insists that no card is
installed. Because of the amount of accumulated software on the
machine I want to defer re-installing Windows as long as possible.

I have tried third party uninstallers for ATI but some trace is
clearly still there because re-installing ATI drivers fresh after
those de-installs results in an unusable driver state. I have to go
to a backup at that point.

I wanted to know if there is a safe way to just swap the card in
place and have the known working drivers continue to work, albeit
with a version of the card that supports more memory.

Have you tried safe mode?

J.

 

[GMAN]

In my experience, no. In fact, I've had HUGE problems changing from one
ATI card to another (both "Built-by ATI" cards), the computer wouldn't
even boot to a desktop except in safe mode.

But in this instance, he can do it and will work just fine since it is njust
going from a 128MB card to a 256 mb card of the same core.