Installing X1600PRO after HP System repair.

[marshahu]

One of my mum's friends had one of those HP Pavilion Media Center PCs where the graphics card started acting up to the point where would couldn't boot into Windows whatever option we tried. We were certain it was the dodgy X600 graphics card as there were odd patterns appearing on the screen at startup and the memory was fine when tested in another computer.

I used the F10 automated system recovery option on the computer which reinstalled Media Center from scratch, including HP's graffitti and applications, but because of the dodgy graphics card I was unable to complete the final part of the installation - I even got a blue screen explicitly saying it was the video card at fault.

Following advice from a retailer, we purchased a new graphics card, X1600PRO, installed it, and the last part of the recovery completed. I was able to boot into Windows without any problems, and then Windows decided to label the new graphics card as "Video Adapter" and "Video Adapter (VGA Compatible)" with question marks in the device manager. Despite this I tried to go ahead and install the supplied graphics card CD but the installation application wouldn't install, claiming that it could not find the device, and if the device is present I should try installing it as a Standard Video Adapter and then running the application.

So I took its advice and tried to install these devices as "standard adapters" but the option wasn't even there, even when I chose to search for all hardware and search on Windows Update!!! Only option I have is to chose a list of Graphics adapters that HP use or to get Windows to read in drivers for this particular card from the driver CD supplied.

Where do I go from here!?! Damn HP and their customized installs!!

PC Spec

P4 3ghz
1GB RAM
PCI-e graphics card
Audigy 2 Soundcard (OEM version)
DVD & DVD-RW Drives
TV Tuner Card
Wifi
200GB Hard Disk

 

[madmurph]

A couple of things come to mind: are you (or do you need to be) logged on as "Administrator"? And, have you tried updating directly from the CD?: right-clicking on the VGA device with the exclamation, and choosing "update driver"? Then point to the driver file on the CD.

 

[Santino]

well that HP recover system is total crap, it installs its "special" hp drivers and software. the ati drivers that come with the hp might be causing the problem with the software from the disc, did you try to install the drivers from ati's website?

 

[marshahu]

The only account availible is the HP Administrator so I sincerely hope that it has administrator rights.

Tried that - had much more luck. After trial and error I managed to get it to recognised the card as an ATi Radeon X1600 PRO card. I tried that but now in the settings tab of Display Properties it says my VGA monitor is plugged into an ATi Radeon X1600 (Secondary) and that the vacant DVI port is an ATi Radeon X1600. The installation software still doesn't work but at least the exclamation marks have vanished from device manager.

My suspicion is that I probably selected the Secondary option for the VGA compatible Video Adapter option when I should have selected the Secondary option for the non VGA Adapter (presumably the DVI port). How can I undo this operation so I can choose the right options.

Santino, I agree, their recover system was their way of putting their brand name on your desktop like over zealous graffiti! Makes life harder for those who have to recover and replace components.

Heres an even funnier part which I failed to mention in the original post - the PC had a TV Tuner right next to the graphics card - not leaving 1 slot space for ventilation - no wonder the previous card failed. I can't see this one lasting too long either especially if this summer is set to be as hot as last summer!! At least this time I have used a Sapphire rather than an Asus card.

Concerning the matter at hand, have I done what I suspected, and how can I fix it?

 

[marshahu]

Any suggestions?!?!