Hi Westwood,
Updating video card drivers can solve most gaming issues. Here's some
simple abc's to always keep in mind. a. Shut off download accelerators,
firewalls and antivirus programs when downloading or installing updates;
b. Check for game patches:
www.avault.com/pcrl/patches_list.asp?letter=a
c. Make sure you meet the game's minimum video and system requirements;
d. Check for known issues with your video card at the game's web site.
1. Before you update your drivers, I recommend that you install DirectX 9.0b*:
http://download.microsoft.com/download/c/9/c/c9c8a1d4-7690-4c98-baf3-0c67e7f3751f/dx90b_redist.exe
Here are the steps I recommend you use to update your driver. If you've
never done this before I recommend you also look over the Installation hints
and Release Notes both of which are linked to from their download page.
2. Download the latest driver for your Nvidia Card
Win XP/2000:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_2k_56.64
Win98/Me:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/win9x_56.64
3. Save the .exe driver in My Documents\My Drivers\nVidia
4. Restart the computer in Safe Mode by pressing the F8 key
about once every second as it's rebooting to pick Safe Mode.
5. Click Start / (settings) Control Panel / System / Hardware
Device Manager / expand +Display Adapters / right click on
the adapter, pick "Uninstall", and click No if asked to reboot.
6. Use Control Panel / Add-Remove programs to uninstall the
previous driver (exe)software which may have been installed.
7. Restart the computer in Safe Mode by pressing the F8 key
about once every second as it's rebooting to pick Safe Mode.
8. If Windows prompts you to install the adapter, click "Cancel".
9. Double click the NVIDIA driver we saved to My Documents\My
Drivers\nVidia folder in step 3 to install.it. If it complains about
Windows Logo Certification just click "Continue". This is normal.
10. After you reboot, go to Control Panel / Display / Settings and
choose 32 bit Color Quality, and 800x600 or higher Resolution.
TROUBLESHOOTING:
Test your drivers using DXDiag: Click Start / Run / type: DXDIAG
Click the "Test" buttons in the Display, Sound, Music & Network Tabs;
If any of the Display options are Disabled and you cannot Enable them,
your most likely solution would be to update your Chipset Drivers as per
my website:
http://www3.sympatico.ca/nibblesnbits/Video.html#v11
Your program might not support dual monitors, or "dual head" video cards
You can disable the extra video output in your display properties control
panel. Click Start>Settings>Control Panel>Display>Settings>Advanced.
Along with your Video card, Sound Cards, Motherboard Chipsets,
and Video Monitors may also require updated drivers. Even your
motherboard's BIOS may need to be updated for compatibility with
your Video card. These steps are listed at:
http://NibblesNbitsVideo.tk
Perhaps the old Nvidia drivers did not completely uninstall. If that's the
case, use this utility to completely uninstall the drivers and go to step 7:
http://content.guru3d.com/index.php?page=detonatorrip&menu=0
The latest video drivers sometime don't work with a particular game.
(Check the Video suggestions in the readme.txt file in your game folder/CD)
If there's no suggestions, try an older (WHQL) driver, and/or if you still
experience problems try a Beta driver, or even an Omega driver instead:
BETA Drivers:
http://download.guru3d.com/
OMEGA Drivers:
http://www.omegacorner.com/
There you have it, if you have any questions feel free to post them!
--
Cheers,
Jimmy S.
Additional Support Resources: My Zone.com Helpsite:
http://nibblesnbits.tk
Microsoft Online Tech Support:
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=376
Game FAQ's:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=FH;[LN];gms
My advice is donated "AS IS" without warranty; nor do I confer any rights.
_________________________________________________________
| When I want to start a game (regardless what it is, GTAIII,
| Links2003, AofE)the program drops stright to the taskbar
| and won't open. If I click on it, I get "no signal" on the
| monitor and it drops back to taskbar again. Task Manager
| says it's running fine. Sometimes, after clicking on the
| minimized program 30+ times, it'll eventually open. But
| rarely. I've tried it with no other programs running and
| have reduced accelleration on my graphics card. Still
| nothing.
| Somebody please help me
(
| Am using WIN XP pro, with some sort of Geforce video card.
| (Forgive my ignorance).
