Installing a video card is pretty simple. You can do it yourself easily. All you need is a screwdriver and your video card installation instructions. You may want to also create a system disk to rescue your system in case of trouble, although it is unlikely you will get into trouble.

Removal Instructions (for upgrades):

1. If you are upgrading, it is usually a good idea to uninstall the video drivers for your system before you shut it down for upgrade. To do this, simply go to your Device Manager in your Windows control panel, choose your video card, and press Un-install. Hit OK on an messages it gives you.
2. Shut the PC down.
3. Unplug the monitor and any other connectors from the back of the video card.
4. Take the case off and find the video card. If you don\’t know which one is the video card, find the one the monitor plugs into. That\’s it.
5. Unscrew the screw that fastens it to the computer. Save the screw.
6. Gently pull the card from its slot. It may be easier to rock the card back and forth a little to pry it loose, but don\’t break the slot (if I really need to say that).

Installation:

1. If you have a separate video card, you can skip this step. This applies to you guys with integrated video circuitry on your motherboard. Some computers don\’t have a video card, but instead the monitor plugs into the motherboard. In this case, you must disable this circuitry before installing a separate card. You may need your motherboard\’s manual for this one, but most of them nowadays disable onboard video automatically. If not, you may have to disable it in the BIOS or change a small switch or jumper to flip that disables this.
2. Next, pick the slot you are going to use for the card, and remove the corresponding slot insert from the back of the computer. If you are installing an AGP video card, then you have only one choice since there is only one AGP slot in a system.
3. Now you can insert the new card. Move any cables out of the way. Position the card over the slot, with the monitor connection facing the back of the computer. Line up the pins on the card with the slot. Then push down. It may help to insert one side of the card first, then the other. Don\’t be afraid to push. It sometimes takes some force to get the card in. Just use your own judgment. Don\’t break anything.
4. Screw that screw you saved down into place to secure the card. The screw just needs to be snug. You don\’t want to strip it.
5. Put the case back on, plug everything back in. If your card comes with any external parts, special wires, or needs to have a power supply molex power plug connected, install and connect this stuff now.
6. Turn the system on. Hopefully you see the boot screen. That means it works. When you go into Windows, it should automatically detect the new hardware and ask for drivers. Don\’t let Windows install stock drivers. Click \”Cancel\” for everthing to stop Windows from installing its default video drivers. Instead, install the drivers included on the video card\’s CD or download them from the manufacturer\’s webiste according to your Operating System and video card model.
7. Go through the installation routine and install all the drivers according to the software prompts.
8. Optional: After everything is done and working, you probably won\’t want to mess with it. But, you may want to eventually go to the manufacturer web site and download the latest video drivers for your card. Since video drivers are so key to the system, buggy ones can cause your system to do many strange things from wavy lines to random reboots to display strange things in games. Newer drivers also usually offer some performance increase over older drivers.