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Video Card Not Being Recognized

C

Carbo

Diamond Member
Just did a clean install of Windows 7 Pro on a Dell XPS 15 laptop. Installed the latest driver for the Nvidia GeForce GT 420M video card.
In Device Manager it is showing as installed and working properly. But when I go to the Desktop to adjust the screen resolution, the card doesn't appear.
All I'm shown is the "Generic PnP Monitor on Standard VGA Graphics Adapter".
I'm assuming there should be an option for the Nvidia card and its associated settings. Where am I going wrong?
Thank you.
 
where did you get the driver from? you usually have to get the dell provided display drivers. i have a studio xps that will only take the drivers from dell's site.
 
Got it from the Dell download page. But I'm being told that the problem could be that I didn't install the Dell System Software driver first.
 
i don't see how that will cause the issue. it will search for updated drivers, but won't cause something to not work. do you have the chipset drivers installed? i used to exclusively get dell laptops for work, and i would completely reinstall the bare OS and office suite before handing them out to get rid of all the Dell junk on them.
 
That's just what I did. As you know the laptop comes loaded with crap and bloat. So I wiped the drive and did a clean install with Windows 7 Pro. Simple enough, except the way Dell method of providing drivers isn't logical.
When you go to their Drivers and Downloads webpage and type in your System Tag, there is a laundry list of drivers. Deciphering which ones are needed is a crapshoot.
I even went to far as to use their Chat service, but the agent wasn't too sure of which specific drivers I needed, either.
Anyway, where I'm at right now is I'm going to reinstall the OS and start fresh again. In addition to the video driver issue, I have three exclamation points in Device Manager:
Ethernet Controller, USB Controller, and Unknown Device.
Perhaps a fresh start and a cold beer will get me to the Promised Land. :hmm:
 
I'm obviously doing something wrong. I reinistalled the OS, followed by installing the Dell Systems Utility and the chipset driver. Then I installed the nVidia driver, taken off the Dell Drivers and Downloads page. It installed without any errors.

But now, when I right click on the desktop>screen resolution, the only display option offered is the Generic PnP Monitor on Standard VGA Graphics Adapter. No indication that the nVidia card exists.
However, under Device Manager>Display adapters, it lists the NVIDIA GeForce GT 420M. Device status says the device is working properly.

So, how do I access this card and its capabilities to take advantage of the 1080p screen?
 
Update:
Uninstalled the video driver that Dell provides on their website. Then I went to nVidia and downloaded and installed their latest driver for my specific card. Received this message: "This graphics drive could not find compatible graphics hardware".
Now I'm thinking this isn't a driver issue but a hardware issue. 😕
Bad card? Card never installed at the factory?
 
I was looking at this laptop for a mate recently and if I remember rightly there was a few options with the Graphics card the 420M being the cheaper option. Are you sure you haven't got the 435M.

If its working its very unlikely to be a bad chips - almost defo a driver problem imo
 
The 420 is the less expensive option. It's what I ordered and it's what is listed on the invoice. I haven't physically checked the card.
Post screen isn't showing anything. The laptop boots right into Windows.
 
James, that's the specific Dell driver I have installed, uninstalled, and reinstalled.
Likewise, have installed and uninstalled the nVidia driver.
I fear my next step is a chat will a Dell agent from some far off corner of the planet, where he will remotely access my laptop and do who knows what??
 
yeah just thought you may have only installed the nvidia driver off the dell site and not bothered with the intel one. Sorry I can't think of anything else other than to right click and select uninstall on all listed Display Adapters in Device Manager but you probably already did that too. If you get an answer let me know I would be interested to find out.
 
Got it! Turns out that the Dell laptop requires the installation of the Intel HD Graphics Driver that's on their Drivers and Download page, before the video card driver.
Wish I had known that two days ago. 😵
Thank you for the help.
 
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