FAQ - DISABLE ONBOARD VIDEO

Question

Dimension V, L, 2100, 2200, 2300, 2350, 2400, 3000 (PCI video cards) = These systems only have PCI slots. PCI, not PCIe. I would look for these PCI video cards in order of preference:
Geforce FX 5700
Geforce FX 5600
Geforce FX 5700LE
Geforce FX 5500

DISABLE THE ONBOARD VIDEO CARD IN THE DEVICE MANAGER -
* Right click the My Computer icon
* Click Properties
* Click the Hardware tab and/or the Device Manager button
* Open the Display Adaptors. You should see the Intel video card
* Double click the listing for Intel whatever
* At the bottom under "Device Usage", click the down arrow and change this to "Do not use this device, disable"
* Click OK- Apply- OK
* Close all boxes when done
* Click Start- Shutdown- Restart- OK or Click Start- Turn Off Computer- Restart

RESET THE BIOS TO DEFAULTS -
* At the blue Dell screen, press the F2 key
* The message, Entering Setup should appear
* When the System Setup screen appears, press the F9 key
* Press the Enter key to confirm that you would like to load the defaults
* Right arrow over to Advanced
* Down arrow to Peripheral Configuration [press Enter]
* Ensure that all USB listings are set to Enabled or On except for USB Emulation which should be set for No Boot
* Press the F10 key to Save your changes
* Right arrow to Exit
* Down arrow to Exit Saving Changes and [press Enter] and reboot the system
* Once the blue Dell screen appears, power the system OFF
-or-
* At the blue Dell screen, press the F2 key
* The message, Entering Setup should appear
* Press the [Caps Lock], [Scroll Lock] and the [Num Lock] keys to light up all three lights on the keyboard
* Press the [Alt] and keys at the same time. The system will emit a beep tone to indicate that nvram has been cleared
* Down arrow to Integrated Devices [press Enter]
* Set everything to On except for USB Emulation which should be set for No Boot
* Press the [Esc] key, and then [press Enter] to save the changes and reboot the system
* Once the blue Dell screen appears, power the system OFF

INSTALL THE PCI VIDEO CARD -
* Open the case cover and add the PCI video card
* Connect the monitor to the added PCI video card
* Power on your computer
* Let the computer boot up and load the drivers off of the CD provided with the card

4500S -
* Open the case cover and add a new full size PCI video card to the riser card or a low profile PCI video card directly to the motherboard PCI slot
* Don't attach the monitor to the added video card. Leave it attached to the onboard video card
* Turn on (or restart) your computer
* When the blue Dell logo appears, press F2
* When the System Setup screen appears, press and hold the [Alt] key down and then press the key
* A beep sounds to indicate the defaults have been loaded
* Down arrow to Integrated Devices (Legacy Select) [press the ENTER key]
* Down arrow to Primary Video Controller
* Change it from Onboard to Auto
* Press escape to Save and Exit
* Right click the My Computer icon
* Click Properties
* Click the Hardware tab and/or the Device Manager button
* Open the Display Adaptors. You should see both the the Intel and the added PCI video card. The added PCI video card might have an exclamation mark on it
* Double click the listing for Intel whatever
* At the bottom under "Device Usage", click the down arrow and change this to "Do not use this device, DISABLE"
* Click OK- Apply- OK
* Close all boxes when done
* Click Start- Shutdown- Shutdown- Ok or Click Start- Turn Off Computer- Turn Off
* Connect the monitor to the added PCI video card
* Power on the system
* Load the drivers for the new video card

4600 -
* Open the case cover and add either a PCI or AGP video card
* Connect the monitor to the added video card
* Turn on (or restart) your computer
* When the blue Dell logo appears, press F2
* Down arrow to Integrated Devices (Legacy Select) [press the ENTER key]
* Down arrow to Primary Video Controller
* Set it to Auto for a PCI video card
* Set to AGP for an AGP video card
* Press escape to Save and Exit
* Load the drivers for the newly found video card

4700 -
* Open the case cover and add the PCIe video card to the PCIe slot
* Attach the monitor to the added PCIe video card
* Power the system on
* When the blue Dell logo appears, press F2
* Down arrow to Video [press the ENTER key]
* Change to Auto
* Press Escape to save the changes and Exit
* Load the drivers for the newly found PCIe video card
------
* Power the system off
* Open the case cover and remove the added PCIe video card (X700)
* Reconnect the monitor to the onboard video card
* Leave the case open. Power the monitor and then the computer on
* When/If the blue Dell logo appears, press F2
* Down arrow to Video [press the ENTER key]
* Change it to Auto
* Press Escape to save the changes and Exit
* Power the system off
* Add the PCIe video card to the PCIe slot
* Leave the monitor attached to the onboard video card
* Power the computer on
* Windows should detect new hardware found. Load the drivers for the X700
* Click Start- Turn Off Computer- Turn Off
* Attach the monitor to the added PCIe video card
* Power the system on

8400 -
* Open the case cover and add the PCIe video card to the PCIe slot
* Attach the monitor to the added PCIe video card
* Power the system on
* When the blue Dell logo appears, press F2
* Down arrow to Video [press the ENTER key]
* Change to PEG for a PCIe video card
* Change it PCI for a PCI video card
* Press Escape to save the changes and Exit
* Load the drivers for the newly found video card

G1, GXa, GX1 -
There isn't an option to enable/disable the onboard video on these systems. Simply adding a PCI card should automatically disable the onboard video card. If it doesn't, use the instructions below to DISABLE the onboard video card in the device manager
* Before you put the PCI video card in, set the display adapter to "standard VGA" mode; also put the settings on the monitor into standard VGA
* Right-click anywhere on the desktop
* Select Properties from the drop-down menu
* Select Settings- Advanced- Adapter- Change
* Here you'll be presented with a couple of options. Choose to display a list of drivers
* In the left pane, scroll all the way to the top and choose (Standard Display Types)
* In the right pane, choose Standard PCI Graphics Adapter (VGA)
* Follow any prompts, when finished, click Start- Shutdown- Shutdown- Ok or Click Start- Turn Off Computer- Turn Off
* Install the PCI card in and plug the monitor into it
* When the PCI video is installed, it disables the onboard video in the GX1 automatically. Power on the system. When you boot up, if you see the Dell logo, the PC recognizes the added video card

GX100, GX110, GX150, GX200 -
* Power on the system
* Press F2 or Ctrl-Alt-Enter at the blue Dell screen to enter setup
* Look for Integrated Devices- Primary Video Controller
- AUTO will look for an added card
- ONBOARD uses the Intel
* Set yours to AUTO, hit esc to exit and save the changes
* Exit the bios
* Power the system off
* Open the case cover and add the new video card
* Attach the monitor to the added video card

* Click System - Hardware- Device Manager
* Delete any Intel display adapter and any other display adapters
* Close all boxes and restart the system. The new video card will be found, load the drivers

GX260, GX270, GX280 -
Just adding an AGP video card will automatically disable the onboard video card

Message Edited by DELL-ChrisM on 03-29-2005 07:47 PM

Stessy77 · Answer

I have a Dell Inspiron 570 computer for my business. We have only had it a year and all of a sudden it quit running the monitor. I have hooked it up to 3 monitors and it doesn't run any of them.

Upon much research, it seemed the problem was the video card. The monitor will either say, "Going into Powersave Mode" or "No VGA detected". I have purchased new cables & adapters, received my brand new Dell P2212H/P2312H Monitor today, and was helped by a Dell Tech who sold me a ATI Radeon VisionTek 512MB 4350 video card (that I also received today). None of this items have fixed the issue. When I turn on the computer, it still lights up and sounds normal.

I cannot disable the onboard video because I cannot get a picture at all. How in the world am I suppose to be able to disable anything if the problem is that I don't have a picture at all.

This is terrible timing, as we are trying to complete end of year tasks for our business and our Quickbooks files and other documents are inaccessible. I do have a backup, however, I'm not absolutely sure that I have the most recent backup.

Please help as I am on a deadline!

rdunnill · Answer

Does the monitor work if it's connected to the onboard video?

I've seen a problem where Windows considers the onboard video to be the primary display, even if no monitor is connected. The solution is to connect a second cable to the monitor leading to the onboard video, and after Windows bootup, changing the primary display to the video card.

Stessy77 · Answer

Yes, I've tried connecting to the onboard video. Actually, that is what prompted this whole thing. The monitor simply quit working. So I simply thought we needed a new monitor, but when I hooked the monitor to another computer to verify, it worked. So I ruled out the monitor as being the problem.

So what do you do, if you lose monitor capabilities, then purchase the new video card? Because I will never be able to go in and disable the onboard video because there is nothing to view.

rdunnill · Answer

You might try removing the coin-shaped battery on the mainboard for a minute or so.

If that doesn't help, I'm thinking a mainboard replacement is in order. I have seen this problem before: my 4550, while running, was kicked over and the video card was dislodged from its slot. Afterwards, it would boot up normally but would not display any video. (The video card worked fine in another PC.)

Various eBay sellers are offering replacements, including this one: www.ebay.com/.../380369518308

An aftermarket micro-ATX Socket AM3 board would fit, as well, but it might require reinstallation of Windows.)

jackshack · Answer

During your attempts to boot the computer, did you ever see the Dell start-up logo on the screen? If not, remove any add-on graphics card, plug the monitor into the VGA port for the on-board video, and try again. If you see the Dell logo, press F2 for system setup, navigate through the menus to find any video related settings, and tell us what you have. The on-line manual we have doesn't cover it; some Dells have video menu settings of On-board or Auto, and others have a setting for the add-on graphics adapter to make it the primary video adapter.

If you still see no video on the monitor, did you change the video cable with each monitor you tried, or did you use the same cable? It's rare, but the cables have also been known to break.

Stessy77 · Answer

Ok, so I took out the coin-shaped battery on the mainboard for a few minutes. It didn't work.  I had another ATI Radeon Graphics Accelerator that I had installed on another computer.  I took it out of the other computer and tried it (it fits in a different slot than the new card) and it didn't work either.  I seriously need to get this computer going because it is for our business.  I've already spent $400 just trying to fix it which is sickening because I could of bought a new one for that.  This is the first time I have ever been disappointed with Dell.  It literally just turned a year old and wouldn't you know it, it breaks down right after the warrantly expired.

Stessy77 · Answer

Yes, we have purchased all brand new cables.  DVI cables, VGA cables, adapters...etc.  I never get a screen at all.  Just the 'Monitor Status' screen that tells me there is no VGA detected.  The reason for getting the new video card was because there was already no picture with the monitor connected through the VGA On Board video. We bought all new cables, then bought a brand new Dell monitor, then bought the ATI Radeion Video card from Dell and still nothing. The computer is on and running fine, no wierd noises or anything of the sort.  Just simply has no picture at all, not even the Dell screen.

Stessy77 · Answer

It literally will not pick up the connection to any monitor (I've tried three monitors).  I have tried two different video cards.  I have tried VGA connections, DVI connections, and even HDMI connections and nothing works.  I'm ready to pull my hair out. I'm praying I don't have to replace a one year old machine.  That's ridiculous. It was working fine, then I unplugged it and moved it, plugged it back it and nothing.  What could possibly have happened from moving the computer?

jackshack · Answer

Moving a computer can loosen cables inside the machine, and occasionally produces a static discharge that can disable the electronics.

By now you must think you are going in circles, but I would like you to try one more thing. Install your video card and then remove the battery as rdunnell suggested. Check to be sure that the internal cables are all firmly seated in the connectors. Put the battery back in its holder, reassemble the computer and turn your monitor on first. Be sure that you run the cable from the output of the video card to an appropriate input on the monitor. Use the button on the front of the monitor to set it to automatically select the input. Start the computer and see if you get the Dell screen. If you do, tap F2 two or three times to bring up System Setup so you can check out the video settings.

Davet50 · Answer

If neither the onboard video nor a dedicated card work and you have tried different cables and monitors like you state then the motherboard is gone.

What is the color and condition of the power button light when you power on the system?

You next option would be to get an external enclosure for your harddrive and then connect that to another computer where it will function as a regular drive and you will be able to access your files and data.

Stessy77 · Answer

Ok, I did all of that and still nothing. :(

Stessy77 · Answer

The color of the power button is blue. It comes on and remains on as always. Still no luck. :( Extremely disappointed.

Stessy77 · Answer

Just got off the phone with Dell Tech Support.  Motherboard is fried. :( Thanks for everyone's input.  I appreciate your help.

jackshack · Answer

Really sorry to learn that.  Best of luck to you.

BilalIqbal · Answer

Hello Sir,

I have Dell Optiplex GX270.

And I have a AVI Radeon 9250 (256MB) VGA card.

I want to install it in my system and I install it using your settings but my PC still running the standard VGA settings as I already disabled it. So please tell me that what can I do???

Locked Topics – Desktops General

FAQ - DISABLE ONBOARD VIDEO

Was this post helpful?