(I could have posted this in the Video section, but this seems to be something peculiar about my old XPS, so here it is.) 

My Dell Dimension XPS T700r runs Windows XP Pro SP3 with 512 mb RAM. It has the latest version of the BIOS, A11, from October 2000. I installed an nVidia FX5600 AGP video card by MSI. (Up to now it has been running a TNT2 video card with no complaints, but I need TV output, which the FX 5600 supports.) I followed the "Installation Instructions" to the letter, including installing .Net Framework 2.0 and running Driver Sweeper. Then I installed the latest driver from the MSI web site, and the problems began. (I also tried every version of the drivers from MSI and nVidia, and have the same results.)

Once the drivers are installed, the nVidia tabs appear on the Display pop-up. But when the PC is rebooted, or any changes are made to the settings (color depth to 16 bits from 8, etc.), the computer hangs. When it is rebooted, it will not go past the Welcome screen in XP. The screen goes black and that's that. It will boot into Safe Mode, and it will boot into VGA mode. After I uninstall the drivers, the computer works fine, and the display settings can be changed, but it prompts me to finish installing the drivers for the card whenever I reboot.

Since the purpose of installing the FX 5600 card is to have TV output, I *think* I need the driver to work.  

This card works fine in an IBM NetVista running Windows 2000, for whatever that's worth.

Hope someone can shed some light on this. I've been at it for 12 hours, which is long enough before calling in the big guns.

Thanks in advance!

Shaun