D
dean-dean
Hi Dan. I'm glad things are back to normal, display-wise.
To answer the above, when you re-installed Windows Vista, not all your
hardware drivers may have been available to Windows; they were probably
installed by the computer manufacturer, originally. If Windows doesn't have
a driver in its database, it will attempt to substitute its generic driver,
so that you have at least have a minimum of functionality. (Vista has some
3rd Party drivers on it's Install DVD, but, by no means, all). As you have
seen, the generic driver is not ideal, for certain types of hardware. If
you can, it's best to get the latest driver directly from the manufacturer
of the hardware device, especially if it's a display driver.
By sheer coincidence, it looks like VIA released a new version of your
display driver today. That may have been the one you installed, I'm not
sure. In Device Manager, could you Copy and Paste the Driver Version and
Driver Date, as you did before, and post that info? It's best to have the
latest driver.
Also, in Device Manager, could you expand "Sound, Video and Game
Controllers, and tell me the name of your Sound device? Could you Copy and
Paste the Driver Version and Driver Date for that driver?
Your Windows.old folder will probably have all your original drivers, but
since your computer malfunctioned to the point of you having to re-install
Vista, I'm trying to avoid using those drivers, since I don't know what
corrupted drivers may exist in that folder, or even if that's the case.
Like I said, if you can get the latest drivers from the hardware device's
manufacturer, that's the best way to go. Your display driver is probably
more up to date now than it was when you originally bought your computer.
In Device Manager, do you see any entries that have an Exclamation Point
icon, or something that indicates that one of your devices has a problem?
(The category will automatically be expanded, if it does).
As an organizational tip, you can delete the folder created when you
unzipped the driver's files, now that it's installed. Windows has copied
the files it needs and put them somewhere in it's system folders. I would
move the latest .zip file somewhere in a folder you can create, naming it
Display Driver Backup, say, and put it under C:\Users\(Your Name)\Downloads.
To answer the above, when you re-installed Windows Vista, not all your
hardware drivers may have been available to Windows; they were probably
installed by the computer manufacturer, originally. If Windows doesn't have
a driver in its database, it will attempt to substitute its generic driver,
so that you have at least have a minimum of functionality. (Vista has some
3rd Party drivers on it's Install DVD, but, by no means, all). As you have
seen, the generic driver is not ideal, for certain types of hardware. If
you can, it's best to get the latest driver directly from the manufacturer
of the hardware device, especially if it's a display driver.
By sheer coincidence, it looks like VIA released a new version of your
display driver today. That may have been the one you installed, I'm not
sure. In Device Manager, could you Copy and Paste the Driver Version and
Driver Date, as you did before, and post that info? It's best to have the
latest driver.
Also, in Device Manager, could you expand "Sound, Video and Game
Controllers, and tell me the name of your Sound device? Could you Copy and
Paste the Driver Version and Driver Date for that driver?
Your Windows.old folder will probably have all your original drivers, but
since your computer malfunctioned to the point of you having to re-install
Vista, I'm trying to avoid using those drivers, since I don't know what
corrupted drivers may exist in that folder, or even if that's the case.
Like I said, if you can get the latest drivers from the hardware device's
manufacturer, that's the best way to go. Your display driver is probably
more up to date now than it was when you originally bought your computer.
In Device Manager, do you see any entries that have an Exclamation Point
icon, or something that indicates that one of your devices has a problem?
(The category will automatically be expanded, if it does).
As an organizational tip, you can delete the folder created when you
unzipped the driver's files, now that it's installed. Windows has copied
the files it needs and put them somewhere in it's system folders. I would
move the latest .zip file somewhere in a folder you can create, naming it
Display Driver Backup, say, and put it under C:\Users\(Your Name)\Downloads.