Installing a new Video Card

So you finally realized that the 1MB video card in your system just ain't 
gonna cut it anymore because you want to be able to run your desktop at 
more than 640X480 and only 16 colors, or maybe because you realize that 
with 5 frames per second your chances of survival in Quake are lower than a 
frog's on a 10 lane freeway. You got yourself the latest and greatest video 
card and now comes the question: How do I install this sucker? 

Note: This guide assumes that you bought the correct card and have the 
correct open slot on your motherboard to install it. 

Get the latest driver

Before you even take the new card out of the box, there are a few things 
you need to do first. The most important thing is to download the latest 
drivers for the card first. Rest assured, the drivers that come in the box 
with the new card will be older than Elizabeth Taylor the moment you open 
the box. Go to the manufacturers web site and get the newest driver first. 
The file you'll be downloading will be either a Zip file or a self-
extracting Zip file. Save it on your hard drive in a easy to find spot and 
unzip the file into that folder to have them ready when you need them. The 
very next step is to print out the instructions for driver installation. 
This is important because there are two ways of installing the driver. 
Usually you simply point Windows to the folder containing the driver files 
when Windows detects the new card and let Windows do the rest. But 
sometimes the drivers have their own setup program and require you to 
cancel Windows' automatic hardware detection and installation and run the 
setup program instead. 

Uninstall the old video driver first

To avoid any possible conflicts and to make the installation as smooth as 
possible, you need to first uninstall the current video driver. There are 
two possible methods of uninstalling the old driver and it depends on the 
manufacturer which one you need to follow. Check out the web site for the 
manufacturer of your current video card and look for driver uninstallation 
instructions. If they have special instructions or a special program to do 
so, follow their instructions. 

If they do not require a special uninstall procedure or advise you to use 
the standard Windows 98 method, follow these steps: 

Go to Start/Settings/Control Panel, double-click Display and select the 
Settings tab. 

Click the Advanced button, select the Adapter tab (another word for video 
card is video adapter or display adapter) and push the Change button. 
You'll see the Update Device Driver Wizard informing you that it will 
search for a better driver. Click Next. 

In the next screen, you'll get two options, either Search for a better 
driver, or Display a list of all devices in a specific location. Choose the 
second option to display the list of all devices, then click Next. You now 
might get a window informing you that Window is building its driver 
database. This will only take a few seconds. 

When you're at the next screen, look at the bottom left corner where the 
two following options are listed - Show compatible hardware, or Show all 
hardware. Click on the second option to Show all hardware. Now the window 
will change into a two-column view for Manufacturers and Models. 

In the Manufacturers column, scroll all the way to the top and select the 
first option, (Standard display types). In the Models column, select the 
very first option, Standard Display Adapter (VGA). Click Next. 

You'll see a warning about this driver possibly not working with the video 
card. That's ok, it's a generic warning message. The driver we chose will 
work just fine because it's the universal Windows video driver. Confirm to 
continue by clicking Yes. 

The next window will announce that Windows is ready to install this driver. 
Insert your Windows CD because it probably needs it to copy some files from 
there. Then click Next to continue. 

Windows will copy the necessary files and make the required changes. You'll 
see a message when this process is finished. You need to click Finish in 
that last window and then agree to reboot your PC to complete the process 
when prompted. After the reboot when you get back into Windows, check to 
make sure that it worked by going to Start/Settings/Control Panel, double-
clicking Display and selecting the Settings tab. Click the Advanced button, 
select the Adapter tab and check to make sure that it reads Standard 
Display Adapter (VGA). 

After completing these steps, you're now ready to remove the old video card 
and install the new one. 

Now it's time to turn off your computer and do some brain surgery. Don't 
worry, you don't need a doctor to do this. You'll be pleasantly surprised 
to see how easy this is. 

Removing the old card

Shut down your PC, then take the cover off the case. Since you'll be 
working with electronic circuit boards, please exercise caution by 
grounding yourself properly. Either leave the power cable plugged into the 
back of your PC, plug the power cord into a grounded power strip, turn the 
power strip off, and touch an unpainted part of the metal frame of the 
computer case, or use a wrist-strap connected to a ground. 

Now you need to locate and identify your video card because you don't want 
to get sued for malpractice for removing the wrong card. An easy way to 
identify it is by following the cable that comes from the monitor and see 
which card it plugs into. That's your video card. Or, if you already 
unplugged the monitor, compare the plug from the monitor cable to the 
connectors on the back. There is only one possible fit which is in the 
video card. 

Another way to identify it is by process of elimination. Check what cables 
are plugged into the back of your PC. You should be able to quickly rule 
out the sound card (it has several 3.5mm - or 1/8" for all you non-metric 
heathens - round jacks), and the modem (it has two phone jacks in the 
back). That leaves usually only the video card. 

If you have a newer system, you can also identify the card by the slot on 
the motherboard it's inserted into. All newer systems have a special slot 
for the video card called AGP, or Accelerated Graphics Port. It 
distinguishes itself by being farther back from the edge of the motherboard 
than any other expansion slot and by being the only slot with that 
particular color, often a shade of brown. 

Get a Philips head screwdriver and remove the screw holding the card in 
place. Unplug the monitor cable in case you haven't done it yet. Now pull 
the old video card out of its slot by gently pulling up while rocking the 
card back and froth lengthwise a few times. It should come out pretty 
easily. 

Insert the new card

Now you can finally remove the new card from the shiny big box. Take it out 
of its anti-static sleeve and try to be careful. If at all possible, avoid 
touching any chips on the board and hold it by the silver metal strip 
and/or the edge of the circuit board where you don't touch any conductors. 
The sweat on your hands can cause corrosion over time which you want to 
avoid. 

Position the new card over the appropriate slot. The orientation should be 
self-explanatory since you saw how the old card was inserted before you 
removed it and since there is only one way to insert the card properly. 
When you insert the card, don't push down too hard because you don't want 
to make another trip to the computer store to replace a cracked motherboard 
- unless of course you have an older motherboard and need an excuse to 
upgrade. Rather push down gently and rock the card back and forth 
lengthwise, not sideways, until one ends starts to slide in. The rest will 
follow easily. (Does this make you horny?) 

Replace the screw to fasten the card in place, put the cover back on the 
case, plug it all back in and fire it up. Now all that's left is installing 
the driver and configuring the settings. 

Installing the driver

After turning on the PC, Windows will detect the new card during the 
process and announce this with a dialog box informing you that it found new 
hardware and launching the new hardware wizard. As mentioned earlier, there 
are two common ways to install the driver for the card. Check with the 
manufacturers installation instructions to see which way to go. 

If it requires you to run the setup program instead of using the Windows 
hardware wizard, cancel the hardware wizard, let Windows finish booting, 
then open Windows Explorer, go to the folder where you saved the driver to 
earlier and run the setup program. 

Otherwise, use the hardware wizard to install the driver. As described 
earlier, select the option to Display a list of all devices in a specific 
location. But this time push the button Have Disk. You'll get a Browse 
dialog window that you use to maneuver to the folder on your hard drive 
that contains the downloaded driver, and select it. 

Hint: When you use the hardware wizard to install the card, Windows needs a 
certain file with the extension .inf, e.g. setup.inf, which contains the 
installation instructions. When you use the Browse button to point Windows 
to the driver files, you need to point it to the folder that contains the 
.inf file for the video driver. 

Now you'll get a list of one or more video cards. Select the one that you 
just installed and follow the instructions of the wizard to complete the 
installation. At the end you'll be prompted to reboot the system again to 
finish the installation. 

Configure the settings

Once Windows has rebooted, make sure that it worked by going to 
Start/Settings/Control Panel, double-clicking Display and selecting the 
Settings tab. Click the Advanced button, select the Adapter tab and check 
to make sure that now shows the name of your new video card listed here. At 
the bottom of the Adapter screen will be a dropdown menu for the refresh 
rate. Make sure it is set to optimal. 
Still in the Adapter Properties window, go to the General tab and and 
select to Apply the new settings without restarting. It will save you a 
reboot if you change the resolution or colors later. 

Then cancel out of the Adapter Properties dialog and go back to the 
Settings screen. Here you can now choose the desktop resolution you want. 
If you have a 15" monitor, 800x600 would be a good setting. If you have a 
17" screen, 800x600 or 1024x768 are good. If you have a 19" monitor, 
1024x768 or 1280x1024 are good settings. Experiment a bit to find the one 
that's best for you. Select a resolution and click the Apply button. You'll 
get a warning that Windows will resize the desktop. Just click OK to 
continue. The screen will flicker for a second and then reappear with the 
new setting. You'll see a message asking you whether you want to keep this 
new setting. You have 15 seconds to decide. If you click Yes, it will stay 
that way and you're all set. If you don't like it, or if the monitor 
doesn't support that size, just wait 15 seconds and it will return to the 
previous setting. 

Then choose the color setting you want. 16 colors or 256 colors is pretty 
basic and ugly. Try 16-bit/High Color or maybe even 32-bit/True Color for 
great picture quality. Use the Apply button as described in the previous 
paragraph to apply the new color setting. 

The last thing you might have to adjust is the monitor itself. After 
installing a new video card, you will usually find the picture sized 
incorrectly and/or positioned incorrectly. Simply use the monitors menu to 
adjust picture size and location. 

That's it! You have successfully installed and configured your new video 
card. Now fire up your favorite graphics app to see the difference. Or fire 
up Quake or Half-life and kiss your life good-bye because you'll be 
ecstatic how good it looks with the new card and be hooked for good. 


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