Video drivers

[Mickey Grant]

I just wiped my computer, and brought it back to the way it was when I got
it. I bought it from a friend and he doesn't have any video driver cd or
disk for the graphics card. I loaded windows Me on it, and the display
sucks, it only will let me use 16 colors, with a 640x480 screen resolution.
I have tried installing new drivers for my video card, but I don't know what
exact kind of card it is, or where to find this info. I also don't know
where to find information about the mother board, or processor that I have.
All I know is this

Dell Dimension XPS M200's
Matrox MGA Millenium Powerdesk ( I don't know exact model)
Intel Pentium Processor( don't know what version)
Motherboard- no idea

This is all I know, I have been writing in Matrox forums for the past week,
but can't find help.

Thanks, Bewchacca

[Rick T]

Mickey Grant wrote:
> I just wiped my computer, and brought it back to the way it was when I got
> it. I bought it from a friend and he doesn't have any video driver cd or
> disk for the graphics card. I loaded windows Me on it, and the display
> sucks, it only will let me use 16 colors, with a 640x480 screen resolution.
> I have tried installing new drivers for my video card, but I don't know what
> exact kind of card it is, or where to find this info. I also don't know
> where to find information about the mother board, or processor that I have.
> All I know is this
>
> Dell Dimension XPS M200's
> Matrox MGA Millenium Powerdesk ( I don't know exact model)
> Intel Pentium Processor( don't know what version)
> Motherboard- no idea
>
> This is all I know, I have been writing in Matrox forums for the past week,
> but can't find help.

Dell's website is giving me grief currently, but you should be able to
find drivers for your system there, buried in their Support section,
somewhere.

Preferable in your case to use Dell drivers over Matrox (even though
they make work); the card is tweaked a little for Dell's systems.

Post back if you can't find them.


Rick


>
> Thanks, Bewchacca
>
>

[Jonathan]

Unfortunately, ME does not have many drivers with it. I had the EXACT same problem lol.. I formated my computer without backing up my drives :P that was a while ago I know now lol.. I had to open my computer, look at the video card and write down the model number, brand etc, then searched on a site for drivers... (www.video-drivers.com is a good site for drivers) You can check the same for motherboard and processor, however I think that ME should still have the drivers for those anyway... o.. also use Windows Update to see if theres any new drives, sometimes theres some there... hope this helps.. thx for reading...
-Jonathan

"Mickey Grant" wrote:

> I just wiped my computer, and brought it back to the way it was when I got
> it. I bought it from a friend and he doesn't have any video driver cd or
> disk for the graphics card. I loaded windows Me on it, and the display
> sucks, it only will let me use 16 colors, with a 640x480 screen resolution.
> I have tried installing new drivers for my video card, but I don't know what
> exact kind of card it is, or where to find this info. I also don't know
> where to find information about the mother board, or processor that I have.
> All I know is this
>
> Dell Dimension XPS M200's
> Matrox MGA Millenium Powerdesk ( I don't know exact model)
> Intel Pentium Processor( don't know what version)
> Motherboard- no idea
>
> This is all I know, I have been writing in Matrox forums for the past week,
> but can't find help.
>
> Thanks, Bewchacca
>
>
>

[Rick T]

Jonathan wrote:
> Unfortunately, ME does not have many drivers with it.

WindowsME has a TON of drivers with it... circa 2000AD when you bought it.

> I had the EXACT
> same problem lol.. I formated my computer without backing up my
> drives :P that was a while ago I know now lol.. I had to open my
> computer, look at the video card and write down the model number,
> brand etc, then searched on a site for drivers...
> (www.video-drivers.com is a good site for drivers)

For generic PCs the equipment mfr's (motherboard, vidcard, modem, etc)
site is the best resource... they're the ones who write the drivers.

For name brand computers, their site is often the best (the
cards/drivers are optimized to work with each other better).


> You can check the
> same for motherboard and processor, however I think that ME should
> still have the drivers for those anyway... o.. also use Windows
> Update to see if theres any new drives,

and WU is the *worst* place to get drivers by all accounts; The drivers
are there because they conform to Microsoft standards, not because they
work (they sometimes don't).


Rick

[Jeremy Stanford]

>-----Original Message-----
>Mickey Grant wrote:
>> I just wiped my computer, and brought it back to the
way it was when I got
>> it. I bought it from a friend and he doesn't have any
video driver cd or
>> disk for the graphics card. I loaded windows Me on it,
and the display
>> sucks, it only will let me use 16 colors, with a
640x480 screen resolution.
>> I have tried installing new drivers for my video card,
but I don't know what
>> exact kind of card it is, or where to find this info. I
also don't know
>> where to find information about the mother board, or
processor that I have.
>Rick
>> Thanks, Bewchacca

You should have Control Panel available - Start button >
Settings > Control Panel. Select System Properties, then
the Device Manager tab. Select whichever type of
devices/drivers you need to update, (eg Display Adapters,
System Devices). Expand by clicking the + . Double-click
whichever items or models are of interest (eg your display
driver under Display Drivers / or Motherboard under System
Devices). Click Properties, then select the Driver tab.
Click Driver Details - and you may, or may not, see a
manufacturer name. Finally, click Update Driver which will
initially search your drives for updates, then (with luck)
may connect to the Internet to search for appropriate
drivers for your system.

You have control over the above process. Alternatively,
and probably quicker, use Add New Hardware, also under
Start > Settings > Control Panel. This is an automated
process which I can't recollect or advise on.
-Jeremy Stanford