http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814161208
(on Professional XP)

Ordering this card, but there seems a split in terms of people complaining about driver installation.

I searched around, and basically I would like to know which website is the best source of drivers for this card?

-HIS, since I am ordering an HIS card?
-ATI? I would just get those, but it says PCIe next to the 2600. Does that mean I can't use it for the AGP?
-or Omega drivers?

Also, what is the best and most reliable way to remove old video drivers (nvidia)? Uninstall from Device Manager, and then use a device removing program(which one would you recommend)

One of the feedback postings on newegg says the following:
 
FOUND DRIVERS! WORKS!
 Reviewed By: Spirithdmc on 3/13/2008   Tech Level: average - Ownership: 1 month to 1 year  
This user purchased this item from Newegg.com  
Pros: Download the drivers from VisionTek website! Their drivers work with Media Center - XP & Vista! Vista Experience Rating of 5.9!!  
Cons: None - now! Terrible support from H.I.S.  
 
 
So, I would say download from H.I.S. website first.  If that doesnt work then try ATI website.  
 
I would uninstall the drivers just before you shut down your system to remove the old video card.  Use the control panel/add/remove program menu. That should do it.  Install the new one and turn your system back on and install the new ATI drivers.  If you think of it, download the new drivers before you remove your old card so you can see better.

Already downloaded the HIS. and the ATI ones, but what confused me is the tremendous size difference between them.

The HIS one was almost 200 megabytes in size, the ATI one was around 40 mb. Errr... What?

*For the HIS one I went to their Driver Download page and got the one titled:
 Official Radeon HD2600 AGP Series

*For the ATI one I went to their list, and used the following branching progression:
Windows Professional - Radeon - Radeon HD2600 Series (PCIe)

Those are the right ones, right?

Does it have an AGP version of this driver?  That seems strange to me as I have never seen that before but if they do then I would get the AGP version.
 
It should be based on the OS and video card type.

That's the thing, it's as if they have no AGP version of that driver for 2600 and 2400 series.  
 
Yet in the other version of that card, by Sapphire, a couple people said they just got the drivers off the ATI site and they worked?

Have yout tried the AGP Hotfix drivers?  Here is a link to ATI's Cat 8.3 hotfix downloads.  Download them(grab your correct OS version), uninstall previous ATI catalyst drivers, reboot and then install these.   http://support.ati.com/ics/support [...] onID=31542

That one seems to be an update specifically for 7.9 catalysts that have problems running certain games.

I'll download that one as well just in case, though. TY.

No, it's got nothing to do with Cat 7.9.  It only mentions it as a solution to AGP problems with Cat 7.9 and newer drivers.  It's a standalone driver so remove your previous drivers before installing these.  I know the Cat 8.1 hotfix drivers worked well.  Not sure on these newer 8.3's.  But I'd forget HIS drivers or regular Catalyst drivers and only use the hotfix drivers.  You will have to dowload CCC seperately as this hotfix is just the display drivers. Get the correct CCC.  here is 8.3 - http://game.amd.com/us-en/drivers_ [...] deonxip-xp
 
If you have problems with the 8.3 hotfix then use these 8.1 hotfix drivers:
http://support.ati.com/ics/support [...] onID=31625

Awesome, thanks.
 
To recap, uninstall NVidia drivers through device manager and use driver cleaner in safe mode; then replace the card and install the 8.3 followed by CCC.

Hi, sorry for the bump, but I finally got the card and put it in. The drivers installed without a hitch (8.3 failed for some reason, but 8.1 had no trouble); the only question is, how do I install Microsoft .NET framework 2.0?

The Catalyst Control Center requires it, and the one installation file for the .NET thing I found failed to initialize installation.

*NM the no hitch part, I don't know if ther are any problems. For some reason, device manager is displaying that PCI 7 slot is getting used twice. One is by the Radeon card, other is listed as unknown pci device.

**** O.K.; I am feeling silly now. I found the right .Net Framework installation file, installed it, and Catalyst is working fine now. Nevermind about the temperature question, found the monitor.

Second question is still about that PCI device in device manager. Did I install it wrong? What is causing that that card to show up twice in the same slot, one named, other unknown? Should I reinstall the Catalyst driver or should I just disable the unknown device in the manager?