How do I install a video card properly?

[thelastword]

Just purchased a new video card to replace my onboard one. What is the best way to install the video card without causing any problems.

Do I uninstall the onboard drivers first? Or do I just install the new drivers on top of it. Hardware first or software first?

 

[Idontcare]

I don't know what the "best" way is for installing a new video card as there is a gradient between work/effort involved versus confidence in the results.

The range can be as extreme as a complete system reinstall, plug in all hardware and do a fresh install of the OS plus all drivers - absolutely no question then as to the integrity of the installation of the new video card.

But that may be overly aggressive for some folks, including myself.

On the end of the spectrum you could attempt to get away with doing as little as plugging in the new v-card and rebooting the computer followed by updating the video driver with the auto-installer package provided by the GPU manufacturer.

That's probably the riskiest and most likely to cause driver conflict issues.

In between those two extremes you have options that include first uninstalling the video driver of your current card, then shutdown and swap v-cards, then reboot and install new v-card driver.

Another option, the one I personally choose to implement, is to just shut down the computer, swap hardware, then install new drivers while making sure I select the clean install option (in Nvidia drivers at least, no idea about AMD drivers, I have AMD cards just have never updated the drivers (the horrors, I know )).

 

[trollolo]

i recently switched from a 8800 to a 440, all i did was unplug the old card, slap in the new one, boot into VGA, and let windows update do the rest, 1 update later i was done

 

[Costas Athan]

1. Uninstall the old drivers.
2. Run a tool like Driver Sweeper afterwards to ensure nothing is left behind, especially if you are switching from nVidia to ATI or vice versa.
3. Switch off the PC, disconnect it from power, remove the old card and install the new one.
4. Grab the latest drivers for your card from ATI's or nVidia's site and install them.

 

[Ben90]

Has anyone ever really had problems running two video card drivers at the same time on Windows 7?

I have a 8800 GT and 4890 in my system at the same time and haven't had a single issue. I'm not ruling out that weird things might happen, I just feel like operating systems newer than a decade old don't really run into these kinds of problems. EG, has anyone ever had problems NOT on XP?

 

[houe]

Number 1 rule is to ground yourself before you handle the card - preferably with a wrist strap to stay continually grounded. I suspect most people who claim they got a DOA card zapped it. Worse yet is if you zap it and it becomes a semi-flaky card. That is nearly impossible to track down. You can zap a card without even feeling the spark! It really doesn't take much. I see all these videos on youtube with people handling cards in the worst ways. I cringe... Don't risk it... its not worth it!

 

[BrokenVisage]

accidente

 

[cmdrdredd]

Has anyone ever really had problems running two video card drivers at the same time on Windows 7?

I have a 8800 GT and 4890 in my system at the same time and haven't had a single issue. I'm not ruling out that weird things might happen, I just feel like operating systems newer than a decade old don't really run into these kinds of problems. EG, has anyone ever had problems NOT on XP?

I'm running a HD6950 unlocked and overclocked to 875/1350 with a 9600GT for physx no problem.

 

[OVerLoRDI]

Has anyone ever really had problems running two video card drivers at the same time on Windows 7?

I have a 8800 GT and 4890 in my system at the same time and haven't had a single issue. I'm not ruling out that weird things might happen, I just feel like operating systems newer than a decade old don't really run into these kinds of problems. EG, has anyone ever had problems NOT on XP?

I'll chime in on this since I am familiar with this sort of setup.

Windows XP 32bit and Windows 7 (all flavors) can do this. Windows XP 64bit and all flavors of vista it is impossible to run this type of configuration. This owes to the difference in driver architecture of the OS. WDDM 1.0, as seen in vista cannot run multiple display adapters using different drivers. Windows XP 32bit, which did not WDDM, does not suffer from this problem. Windows 7 uses WDDM 1.1, where this problem is fixed.

 

[bbhaag]

I usually install a new card using the following steps. I actually just replaced my integraded HD4250 a couple weekas ago and this worked great.

1.Uninstall all old drivers for current vid card. When asked if you want to restart compueter click no.
2.Go into control panel>system>device manger and disable your integrated video card.
3.Power off the computer unplug it and install the new video card.
4.Power the computer up and let windows detect your new hardware. From there you can install the drivers.