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vittoria

39 Posts

4727

February 20th, 2006 21:00

Dimension 8200 / NVidia GeForce3 Ti 200 Driver ??

I was away from the computer for a while today with a game in pause mode.  When I came I saw a black screen with a white box which said :
 
"Microsoft Windows detected and recovered from a device failure.  Please save your work and reboot to restore full functionality."
 
After the reboot there was one of those Serious Error messages and the Error Reporting box linked to a page stating the error was caused by the NVidia Graphics Driver.  
 
The version I have installed seems to be the more recent version I can find through Dell Support when I enter my Service Tag but it seems that the NVidia site has a newer driver.  In the past I have only used the drivers in the Dell Support are but I read through the FAQ's stuck to the top of this forum posted by DELL-ChrisM which says to go to the NVidia site to get the latest drivers.  (Along with downloading Driver Cleaner and Microsoft .NET Framework.)  
 
Should I use the version downloaded from NVidia? 
 
This is the only time I've ever seen this error message. 
 
Thank you-
Vickie

Dale Nihiser

2 Intern

 • 

2K Posts

February 21st, 2006 03:00

Normally I would recommend using the nvidia drivers, but in this case, you have an older card and the newest drivers may not fully support your GF3.
 
I think I would uninstall the drivers you are currently using and reinstall the Dell drivers for your card and see if that fixes the error message.
 
I'm certain another poster will come along and recommend what legacy drivers from nvidia will work best with your GF3.
 
Good Luck
Dale

vittoria

39 Posts

February 21st, 2006 09:00

Thank you, Dale.  I had the same concern, but when I checked "Products Supported" section for the latest driver at the NVidia site the GeForce3 Ti 200 was on the supported list.  (They have another list for Not Supported, which includes the TNT2 I have in an older system.)
 
I've downloaded the NVidia one, just in case.  I also downloaded a fresh version of the one I already have installed from Dell.
 
Just awaiting word whether Dell is recommending users use drivers direct from the manufacturers or whether Dell needs to post them themselves.  Is there a certain period of time when Dell no longer releases new drivers for systems themselves?
 
BTW, so far the error was not repeated. 
 
Thank you-
 
Vickie

fredha

1.1K Posts

February 21st, 2006 23:00

If you are using XP, try this driver:

http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp-2k_43.45.html

Use this driver for 9x:

http://www.nvidia.com/object/win9x_43.45.html

I use these drivers on everything from the TNT cards to Geforce 4 cards. Starting with the 44.03 drivers, there were big changes which slow the performance of the older nvidia cards.

vittoria

39 Posts

February 22nd, 2006 09:00

Thanks, Fredha.  I downloaded the XP version from your link.   So you think the 81.98 one I downloaded yesterday might slow down the GeForce3 Ti 200 card in this system?  Things like that would be nice for NVidia to mention.
 
Can someone clarify something for me?  When I do a "Properties" on the Display Adapter in the Device Manager I get a version 2.1.9.3, which I'm assuming is 21.93.  (This is the last version Dell provided in the Support are that I could see.)  Am I reading the rev correctly? 
 
So far the error from the other day has not recurred.
 
Thanks-
Vickie

tigerwolf7

3.9K Posts

February 22nd, 2006 12:00

Personally I would just use the newest supported drivers. Nvidia's drivers supported all the way back to the TNT2 last time I checked (might have been dropped, but something like the Geforce 3 is of course still supported).

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