Video Adapter/Card

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Guest

I'm having problems with some device driver on my computer. Microsoft told
me I need to replace my video card...how do I find out what kind to buy from
my computer...and where can I buy one? I'm kind of clueless about hardware
for my computer.
 
That is difficult to answer briefly. It's harder when you say nothing about
your PC. I suppose that it's a Windows PC, as you got advice from Microsoft,
but is it Windows 3.1, 95, 98, 98se, 2000, or XP? (That isn't intended to be
sarcastic. I haven't seen anyone running Windows 3.1 lately, but many people
are still using 98.)

I suggest that you download Everest Home Edition from
http://www.lavalys.com/. (It's free.) It ought to tell you everything you'd
need to know about your hardware.

Why does MS think the card needs to be replaced? Graphics cards fail, but
I'd try updated drivers before replacing the hardware.

There are several types of graphics cards:

PCI: the oldest sort that is still readily available for sale. Some
appliance PCs (HP, Dell) with on-board graphics can only take PCI graphics
cards as upgrades (or replacements for a failed onboard graphics
controller).

AGP: common since 1997. AGP can be complicated, though: there are several
AGP standards. AGP 1.0 supported 1X and 2X cards. AGP 2.0 supported 4X, and
AGP 3.0, through 8X AGP. (The 1X,..., 8X are data rates.) I don't recall all
the standard voltages. An AGP 1.0 card won't work in an AGP 3.0 system, but
some AGP 2.0 cards are back-compatible with AGP 1.0 mainboards.

The newest graphics cards use the PCI Express 16 interface, but your PC
would have to be much less than a year old to have a PCI-E slot.

Once you've identified the type of graphics card, you can go to
www.newegg.com. They have a search tool that is easy to use. They list PCI
video cards for less than $20 (US), up through workstation graphics cards
for over $1000.

Or, post more information here, like the make and model of your PC. You may
also privately email me, taking care to unscramble the email address I
posted under.

Hope this helps.

Address scrambled. Replace nkbob with bobkn.
 
Who would trust what Microsoft told them. Their support staff are clueless
(so I'm told).

P.S. Come to think of it you may actually be able to get a job at Microsoft,
maybe not as a software engineer, but you never know.
 
Hi Bob, thanks for the reply. My pc is a hp pavilion ze1210 notebook. It
runs with Windows XP Home edition. And after doing some research, it looks
like there is something wrong with the "graphics device driver" and I will
need a new graphics card. But which graphics card I need, I'm clueless to,
so I guess I will run the Everest program and see what it will tell me...any
other information if you can would be helpful. Thanks.
 
Forget about buying a graphics card for a notebook: they are integrated into
the motherboard. In any event, it is not a user serviceable item. As an
example, I have been given a NEW Toshiba Satellite Pro - deemed uneconomic to
repair - because the sound card is faulty! Everything works fine, except one
needs to run it with audio output 'muted' or else lots of scratching and
popping noises come from the speakers. Such is the price on having a compact
and portable computing device.

Call HP and avise them of your problem, you may get an updated driver from
their website or else you may need to send the notebook into HP or a service
centre for repair / replacement.
 
As others have remarked, with a notebook PC, the graphics controller is
usually integrated into the motherboard. There's no way to replace it, other
than replacing the motherboard. That may not be cost-effective.

You could try downloading the video drivers:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...228&product=86586&dlc=en&softwareitem=ob901en

(link may wrap). The file is 4.36 MB. If you can uninstall the original
drivers first (add/remove software control panel) it might be a good idea.

I hope that your problem is corrupted drivers, rather than broken hardware.
You might do better in getting support from HP rather than Microsoft,
although if the machine is off warranty, it might not be worth the expense.

Shan. said:
Hi Bob, thanks for the reply. My pc is a hp pavilion ze1210 notebook. It
runs with Windows XP Home edition. And after doing some research, it
looks
like there is something wrong with the "graphics device driver" and I will
need a new graphics card. But which graphics card I need, I'm clueless
to,
so I guess I will run the Everest program and see what it will tell
me...any
other information if you can would be helpful. Thanks.

:
Click to expand...
(snip)
 
AFAIK only the $5,000 Alienware laptop has a user
replaceable graphics card.


| Most laptops can not have the video card replaced.
|
|
| | > I'm having problems with some device driver on my
computer. Microsoft
| > told
| > me I need to replace my video card...how do I find out
what kind to buy
| > from
| > my computer...and where can I buy one? I'm kind of
clueless about
| > hardware
| > for my computer.
|
|
 
Are you sure they didn't say "You need a new video card driver"? Which all
you need to do is go the HP's site and download the latest and greatest for
you model Notebook.
 
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