I am having extreme difficulty getting my new video card to work, because windows does not seem to want to cooperate with me the way it's supposed to.
I understand that the first step when attempting to install a new video card is to uninstall the drivers from the previous card. I have tried to do this multiple times, but have thus far not been able to get it to work.
My first attempt appeared to be successful. When I clicked the 'uninstall' button in the Device Manager, the appearance of my desktop changed in that all the icons got very large and low-res, and there were no longer any display adapters listed in the Device Manager.
Figuring I was successful, I then attempted to install the drivers for the new video card that I want to use. However, ATI's Catalyst software did not make that happen. The reason for this is that the first step it takes is to determine what video hardware is currently in your computer, then to install the corresponding driver. However, at this point I still had the old video card in the computer, so obviously it did not install any display drivers, and there is no way to pick out a specific one for the program to install.
The next step I took was to place the new video card (an ATI Radeon HD 5770) into the computer (an HP m7480n). I should mention that I installed a new 450-watt power supply unit this morning to accommodate the demands of the new video card.
I am sure that I have physically installed the card correctly. It is seated properly in the correct slot and plugged into the power supply. I have set the BIOS so that the primary video adapter is the PCI-E slot, and there is no secondary video adapter.
When I attempt to turn on the computer with the new card, I just get a black screen. The computer seems to turn on fine, all the lights and fans turn on, the video card even gets warm to the touch, but I get nothing on my monitor (an HP f1905e). I went so far as to get a new DVI cable, but still no luck.
The next step I took was to put the old video card back in and see if maybe there was something I had forgotten to do the first time. Lo and behold, when I tried to turn on the computer, it would not go past the initial load screens for Vista. (there is a mostly black screen with a little bar in the center, under which it says "microsoft corporation". It animates for a few seconds, then the screen goes black.)
I said to myself "DAMN, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" and tried to turn the computer off and back on again. This time, it loaded all the way up to the desktop (still with gigantic, low-res icons). I checked the Device Manager for display drivers, and guess what? The driver from the old video card was still there. I guess windows automatically reinstalled it? But now, when I try again to uninstall it, the screen immediately goes black as soon as I hit the "uninstall" button. It does not appear to actually uninstall the driver, but it sure does make it impossible to operate the computer. I can turn it off via the power button, but I end up in the same cycle. First the computer won't go past the initial load screens, then I turn it off and on and it will load up to the desktop and the old video driver will be there.
Repeated attempts to boot up with the new video card result in nothing but a black screen.
What else can I do? It seems to me that this is a software problem, but I can't say I know enough about to computers to be sure. Please help! I just want to be able to use this card that I paid so much money for!
I understand that the first step when attempting to install a new video card is to uninstall the drivers from the previous card. I have tried to do this multiple times, but have thus far not been able to get it to work.
My first attempt appeared to be successful. When I clicked the 'uninstall' button in the Device Manager, the appearance of my desktop changed in that all the icons got very large and low-res, and there were no longer any display adapters listed in the Device Manager.
Figuring I was successful, I then attempted to install the drivers for the new video card that I want to use. However, ATI's Catalyst software did not make that happen. The reason for this is that the first step it takes is to determine what video hardware is currently in your computer, then to install the corresponding driver. However, at this point I still had the old video card in the computer, so obviously it did not install any display drivers, and there is no way to pick out a specific one for the program to install.
The next step I took was to place the new video card (an ATI Radeon HD 5770) into the computer (an HP m7480n). I should mention that I installed a new 450-watt power supply unit this morning to accommodate the demands of the new video card.
I am sure that I have physically installed the card correctly. It is seated properly in the correct slot and plugged into the power supply. I have set the BIOS so that the primary video adapter is the PCI-E slot, and there is no secondary video adapter.
When I attempt to turn on the computer with the new card, I just get a black screen. The computer seems to turn on fine, all the lights and fans turn on, the video card even gets warm to the touch, but I get nothing on my monitor (an HP f1905e). I went so far as to get a new DVI cable, but still no luck.
The next step I took was to put the old video card back in and see if maybe there was something I had forgotten to do the first time. Lo and behold, when I tried to turn on the computer, it would not go past the initial load screens for Vista. (there is a mostly black screen with a little bar in the center, under which it says "microsoft corporation". It animates for a few seconds, then the screen goes black.)
I said to myself "DAMN, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" and tried to turn the computer off and back on again. This time, it loaded all the way up to the desktop (still with gigantic, low-res icons). I checked the Device Manager for display drivers, and guess what? The driver from the old video card was still there. I guess windows automatically reinstalled it? But now, when I try again to uninstall it, the screen immediately goes black as soon as I hit the "uninstall" button. It does not appear to actually uninstall the driver, but it sure does make it impossible to operate the computer. I can turn it off via the power button, but I end up in the same cycle. First the computer won't go past the initial load screens, then I turn it off and on and it will load up to the desktop and the old video driver will be there.
Repeated attempts to boot up with the new video card result in nothing but a black screen.
What else can I do? It seems to me that this is a software problem, but I can't say I know enough about to computers to be sure. Please help! I just want to be able to use this card that I paid so much money for!
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram