Updating Video Card Drivers in WinXP and Vista - READ BEFORE POSTING

[Charles P. Jefferies]

Updating Mobile Video Card Drivers
By: Chaz
This guide is designed to help you update your laptop's Nvidia or ATI video card drivers.

Why update your drivers? Newer drivers can improve 3D performance, fix bugs and other graphical glitches in certain games, support new features, and use your hardware more efficiently.

Disclaimer: ***I take zero responsibility for any possible damage caused by following this guide. Proceed at your own risk***

This guide applies to:
-ATI Mobility Radeon
-NVidia GeForce

This guide DOES NOT apply to:
-ATI FireGL
-Nvidia Quadro

If there are any specific questions you have regarding driver updates, please post them in this thread and do not create a new one.

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This is the general process for updating video drivers:

1. Download the new drivers, but do not install yet.

2. Uninstall the old display drivers via Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel.

3. Restart.

4. Install the new drivers.

5. Restart.

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ATI DRIVERS

Choices:

-Stock drivers from your Manufacturer
-Stock ATI Catalyst Mobility Driver Suite*
-Modified Omega Drivers
-Stock ATI Drivers (need to be installed manually)

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WINDOWS XP DRIVERS

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-Link to Omega Drivers Downloads
-Direct Link to download ATI Catalyst Mobility drivers for Windows XP
The install is fairly straightforward for these drivers; download the package and refer to the general instructions at the top of the page.

WINDOWS VISTA DRIVERS/INTEGRATED ATI VIDEO CARD DRIVERS

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1. Download the display driver from ATI here.
2. Double-click the installer and let the installation fail - all we needed to do was extract the files.
3. Go into the Device Manager and expand the Display Adapters by clicking the "+" sign. Right-click on your adapter (there should only be one) and click "Update Driver Software." Install the driver of your choice and do not let Windows search for it. Click "Have Disk" and go into the folder where the drivers were extracted - the default location is C:\ATI\Support\[driver name - something like "7-1_xp_dd_40211"]2KXP_INF.
4. Choose the "_CX" .INF file and click OK.
5. Scroll down and find your graphics card.
6. Finish the installation by following the wizard.

If when installing drivers you get any messages regarding testing or similar, always hit "Continue Anyway".

Having trouble? See this post first by Fade to Black.

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NVIDIA DRIVERS

Choices:

-Direct from Nvidia
-Stock Drivers from your Manufacturer
-XtremeG
-LaptopVideo2Go

For owners of notebooks with SLI (2 video cards installed), this guide by Stone825 is a must read.

-NVIDIA drivers
Nvidia has now released notebook drivers directly, so instead of relying on OEMs to release new drivers, you can get them from Nvidia as well.

The XtremeG drivers and Laptop2Go drivers are both very good. Installing the XtremeG drivers is easier.

-TweaksRUs (XtremeG) Drivers
These are fairly simple as well. Read the release notes.

-LaptopVideo2Go Drivers
These have a slightly lengthier process due to Modded .inf for notebook compatibility. Follow the directions below:

1. Select the driver version you would like to install. Click on the "Driver" link to download the driver.

2. Once downloaded extract the driver files to a folder.

3. Go back to the Laptopvideo2go driver page and download the Modded Inf. (Download link is next to the driver link)

4. Take that .INF file, and drag it into the extracted drivers folder in step 2. Overwrite the old .inf when prompted.

5. Now Double-click Setup.exe to run the driver installation, follow the instructions.

If you receive any messages asking whether to Stop or Continue installation, always hit "Continue Anyway".

As always, restart when you're done.

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Troubleshooting: If your driver installation is corrupted:

There is a slim chance this can happen. If you cannot boot up properly, your screen is unreadable, or otherwise, then follow the steps below and it should solve the problem:

1. Restart the computer

2. When the computer starts, Press F8 until you get to a selection screen.

3. Select "Safe Mode without Networking" by using the Arrow keys and hit Enter.

4. Once you are in Safe Mode (a primitive form of Windows, only essential services are running), go to Add/Remove programs in the Control Panel.

5. Uninstall your display drivers.

6. Restart.

7. Upon restart, you can either try reinstalling the same drivers or simply try another suite (preferable).

If that also fails, you can try using Driver Sweeper in safe mode.

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Notes:
For the Nvidia Quadro and ATI FireGL users, staying with the stock drivers from your manufacturer is the best advice I can give right now.

There is no 'best' driver suite - read around, see what people are using.

Remember, it is not always necessary to have the newest drivers. I normally stick to the second- or third-newest driver suite unless the newest ones bring huge improvements (unlikely); the newest one can have glitches or issues with certain games. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

*Please post all questions regarding video card drivers in this thread.*

Thanks for reading.

[doc_who]

Thanks Chaz. I am about to recieve my laptop tomorrow and I was searching for how to upgrade my ATI X1600 drivers. You must be psychic!

[Amber]

Very Nice

[Notebook Solutions]

Thats a great thread mate!

Charlie

[usapatriot]

Wow thanks, It wouldnt let me download the latest mobility. So now I can, nice!!!

[INEEDMONEY]

Nice. Danke...

[JMiles]

Nice! Just installed the LaptopVideo2Go.com drivers. Thanks for the guide Chaz.

[jujube]

Nice ~ thanks Chaz

[jetstar]

Nice guide Chaz! Very useful.

[Warder45]

I guess I'll post this here. I'm trying to update my nVidia drivers for my E1705 7900GS to the new Forceware Version: 84.63. They claim this version now "supports" the dell E1705 so I figure why not.

However as I ran the setup I get an error message saying it can't find drivers for my hardware. So I went full out and uninstalled the old drivers, used driver cleaner pro, and a regcleaner. I tried again in safe mode and still the same problem.

The thing a little odd is that no matter what link on nVidia's site I use I get the "84.63_forceware_mobile_winxp2k_international_whql" set. I'm not sure if there are a seperate us_english set that I need but I'm thinking not.

Any ideas?

Thanks