It's much simpler to remove the video card driver under Windows XP than under Windows 98. Click on
Start, then click on
Control Panel. Double-click on the
Add/Remove Programs
icon. Scroll through the list of programs installed on the computer and
click on the current video card drivers. Highlighting an entry on this
window brings up a
Change/Remove button for the entry like the
example shown below. If an NVIDIA video card is being removed then the
entry would be named something like "NVIDIA Display Driver".
Remove the video card driver and restart the computer.When the computer
boots back to the desktop, the colors and the display probably look
very different than they did before. That's because the computer is now
using the standard VGA adapter, which is very basic. Let GoBack settle
down.
For replacing an NVIDIA based video card like I did, read the
Driver Cleaner ReadMe file and follow the steps. There are not many
steps and the step are not difficult, but there's no point in repeating
them here. On the other hand, I found the text shown below from the
Driver Cleaner help file quite helpful, so I've mentioned it here to
make sure you see it. Execute Driver Cleaner to remove any remaining
remnants of the NVIDIA video card drivers. The steps for Driver Cleaner
require that the computer be restarted in "Safe Mode". See my
How to Start a Windows XP-Based Computer in Safe Mode page if you're not sure how to do that.
For replacing an ATI based video card, execute CATALYST Uninstaller
(cat-uninstaller.exe). Follow the prompts and restart the computer when
prompted.
With the appropriate driver cleaner utitlity complete, now is
a fine to use the System Configuration Utility (msconfig) to change
startup such that the computer no longer restarts in Safe Mode.
If you're upgrading from an integrated graphics chipset, meaning a
chipset built-into the motherboard, so that there is currently no video
card in your computer then it's worth noting that some motherboards
require a simple BIOS change in order for the installed video card to
be recognized. Consult the documentation that came with your
motherboard or computer for more information.
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