Message Edited by cam247 on 11-04-2003 05:08 PM

If you have not already done so, you should check out the FAQ-Video Driver Download/Install at the top of the Dimension Video board, posted by Chris-Dell, and print out and then exactly follow the detailed directions for downloading and installing the NVidia driver, including the use of the Driver Cleaner to get rid of all the old driver files before installing the new ones. If you have already done this, the only other thing I can think of would be to try installing the driver in Safe Mode. Good luck

Bob N.

one possibility is that your nvidia video card is shot. they are known to run extremely hot, and so they have a high failure rate.. when you reinstalled win me, did everything seem to work right, up until you installed the video card drivers? if your computer is still under warranty, dell can replace the video card, if it is shot..

I downloaded the Driver Cleaner and it removed one file, but when I install the driver and reboot, the taskbar and icons show up for a split-second, then disappear, leaving just the Windows background. I pressed Ctrl+Alt+Del, but not even explorer.exe was running. I did try to install the driver in safe mode, but it said that it didn't detect an NVidia chip on the computer.

I had problems with icons disappearing, folders opening or the wrong folders opening, access denied errors in the control panel, and the start menu freezing the first few times I reinstalled Windows, but for some reason, it seems to have installed ok so far, and I don't get any errors until I try to install the driver.

I have a question. If the video card is really shot, wouldn't the Dell Diagnostics test detect that. I ran an extended test on all of the hardware, and everything tested ok.

You probably won't like this advice, but if your computer supports it, and you can afford the expense, I would install Windows XP and also consider a better graphics card. Windows Me has a history of being trouble-prone, and your video card is a bit feeble compared to what's out there.

Bob N.

Lol Windows Me is definitely trouble prone. Just read the posts at the Windows Millenium board. I do have a full version of Windows XP Professional, but it's installed on another computer right now. I know the whole Windows activation feature to prevent software piracy will only let me install it on one computer. If I take Win XP Pro off of the computer it's on right now, will Microsoft recognize that I have uninstalled it and let me install it on the Dell? I should probably post that question on the Win XP board. As for the video card, what evidence does Dell have to have before they will replace it?

After I posted the last message, I rebooted the computer, and I got a "System Halted" error. So I shut off the computer, turned it back on, and got the boot up error "Invalid System Disk". The problem was, I didn't even have a floppy disk in the drive, or even a CD in the drive. It continued to give me this error, so finally set the computer to boot from the Windows Millenium Reinstallation Disk and put the startup disk in the disk drive, which got me to the C prompt so that I could run scandisk. Everything was messed up. Scan Disk said that there was two copies of the File Allocation Table, that several directories were corrupted, etc... About 100 messages asking me if it could fix this or that. I chose to run a surface scan on it, which it what it is doing right now. If scandisk can't fix it, it looks like it's going to be fdisk time again.....

See, I could post the problems I'm having on so many different boards it's not funny.

Does anyone know whether this is a hardware or a software problem?