Problems with a GeForce 4 in WinXP

[DevilFace]

I am building a pc for my brother in law, everything went ok until I tried installing the gpu drivers.

here are the system specs:

ECS K7S5A mobo (yeah, I know...)
AMD AthlonXP 1700+
Gainward GeForce 4 ti 4200 64mb
SB Live 5.1
60gb Maxtor HDD
256mb RAM
CD-RW

the problem i am having is after i install the Nvidia drivers. When i reboot the system it posts then the WinXP startup screen appears, then after a couple seconds it goes black. this is really pissing me off. I have tried flashing the mobo, it already has the latest bios. I have tried 4 different versions of the NVidia drivers, Flash the GPU bios, installed the latest SiS AGP drivers, and even tried re-installing windows. Is there something I am missing??? I've never had this much trouble with a pc before...

Any help would be GREATLY apreciated

[catch23]

What resolution is it trying to push when it goes black? maybe the monitor doesn't support it.

[DevilFace]

yeah, only 1024x768. it's a 19 in HP, i've been using it at that resolution for the last 6 months on my other pc...

[catch23]

if you have another monitor anywhere...try it there.

[DevilFace]

nope, it's the only one i have. It works in Safe Mode (That's what I am in right now)

[mike breck]

If it works in Safe Mode, then it is probably the NVidia drivers that are causing the problem.

Are you sure you downloaded the XP drivers and not the Win9x drivers?

[DevilFace]

yes, I've used the drivers on the cd-rom that came with the card, the drivers from windows update and the drivers from the gainward website.

[catch23]

BAD

http://www.nvidia.com/

I have a Gainward GF3...and their drivers are nothing but problems...same as Windows Update.

[DevilFace]

yeah, i just realized that i hadn't dl'd them directly from nvidia yet.
but still no change...

[catch23]

Might need to be formatted

Windows XP doesn't let go of drivers.

I still think it might be trying to push a refresh rate your monitor doesn't support...

[DevilFace]

ok... maybe i'm not as smart is i think i am :) How do i change the refresh rate if safe mode doesn't use the nvidia driver? It uses a driver called VgaSave which has basically no options whatsoever!
I have never had this much trouble trying to set up hardware before!

[catch23]

I would personally just go ahead and re-install Windows again...but you could try putting another card in...

[oosik]

Devilface, i just read in a magazine about something similar to this. What was done was to UNINSTALL the drivers from the add/remove programs area before installing new drivers. XP doesn't like multiple drivers for the same harware or can't figure them out or something. Try that route in Safemode and just go with the Windows XP default vga drivers and see if you can get that far.!

oosik

[DevilFace]

I have uninstalled\installed the drivers and I believe catch23 is right that something isn't right with the monitor, maybe this card is too new for it, i dunno. i called my brother in law and told him to go buy his monitor, i will just do as much as i can in vga mode (I hate 640x480!) thanks for your help guys.

[mike breck]

You may need a specific driver (.inf file) for your monitor. Try downloading one from the HP site.

Alternatively, in Safe Mode, change the monitor type to Plug-n-Play monitor. That should allow most video cards to work with most monitors.

When you get the new monitor you can install the .inf file and change it again.

Also in the BIOS, make sure "Assign IRQ to VGA = ENABLED".


HTH

[systempat]

I would reinstall win XP. Boot it from the CD. (Set the CD-rom to be the first boot device in your BIOS). Fresh install all of Windows. Go with the default drivers that XP installs until it's finished. And see if the display properties can be set to the resolution you need.
I suspect your drivers from the retail box are Not XP version.
If it's doing what you need from the XP install just leave it alone. Otherwise, go to their site and look for driver updates.