Are there any FSX tips when installing a new graphics c...

[RobertRent 17]

Are there any FSX tips when installing a new graphics card?I would appreciate any advice that will lead to FSX properly recognizing and configuring a new graphics card.We will soon upgrade one of our AGP FSX systems from an nVidia 5900XT to an nVidia 7600GT, and the system is already at the driver level that we intend to use (93.71).Our thoughts are to remove the 5900XT from the XP Device Manager, to shutdown the system, to replace the card, and to then power up. Make sense? And, our main question is: do we need to do anything to ensure that FSX recognizes the new card and takes advantage of its new features? Do we need to either force display.cfg to be regenerated or to add to it a new entry for the 7600GT? Is there anything else that we should do?Thanks,Robert

[Guest allcott]

No, unlike FS9 there should be no need to go messing with the .cfg. However I strongly recommend when putting the new card in, even if it does boot ok, you reinstall the card drivers. There may be selective files that are installed as a result of checking what card is actually installed.Allcott

[Mace 1,926]

I would1) switch display to 800x600x162) Control Panel|Add/Remove Programs remove nVidia display driver3) reboot, verify good boot in 800x600x16 w/default VGA4) power off system5) take out old vid card; put new vid card in6) power on, verify POST7) install driver of your choice (93.71, good choice, btw)8) verify new driver install; adjust screen res as you see fitI wouldn't mess with FSX (display.cfg or any of that) at all unless FSX started giving me trouble.RhettAMD 3700+ (@2310 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2 GB Corsair XMS 2.5-3-3-8 (1T), WD 250 gig 7200 rpm SATA2, CoolerMaster Praetorian case

[FTD1949 0]

>Are there any FSX tips when installing a new graphics card?>>I would appreciate any advice that will lead to FSX properly>recognizing and configuring a new graphics card.>>We will soon upgrade one of our AGP FSX systems from an nVidia>5900XT to an nVidia 7600GT, and the system is already at the>driver level that we intend to use (93.71).>>Our thoughts are to remove the 5900XT from the XP Device>Manager, to shutdown the system, to replace the card, and to>then power up. Make sense? And, our main question is: do we>need to do anything to ensure that FSX recognizes the new card>and takes advantage of its new features? Do we need to either>force display.cfg to be regenerated or to add to it a new>entry for the 7600GT? Is there anything else that we should>do?>>Thanks,>Robert Robert,The following is a copy of installations procedures I have found.I have used it since finding it and it works just fine for me. #24735, "VIDEO DRIVER INSTALLATION GUIDE (Revised 25-OCT-2006)" There seems to be a continuing interest in video drivers on this forum. Enough of an interest, I thought, for me to post my updated video driver installation procedure for NVIDIA video cards. I suspect a lot of you out there know very well how to install video drivers. But I also I suspect there are readers out there who may have never done a video driver installation or, perhaps, don't do it the right way and then wonder why the new video driver is not behaving the way it is supposed to. Hence this guide.I'm sure many of you may think this is the long way round with many un-necessary steps. So be it. If you have a method that works for you and you have confidence in that method, then by all means, stick with it. I use this method because, in my opinion, a new video driver will only perform as it should when all (and I mean ALL), remnants of the old video driver have been removed. I believe this procedure ensures that. It looks long but, when you get accustomed to it, you can do it in ten minutes or less. So, without further ado, here's my method:VIDEO DRIVER INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONSIMPORTANT!Before you start the installation process, read these instructions completely including the notes at the end.Two programs are required for this installation procedure. If you don't already have them, get:Driver Cleaner Pro at http://www.drivercleaner.net/andCCleaner at http://www.ccleaner.com/Download and install them BEFORE starting the driver installation process.1 - Download your driver of choice from NVIDIA(http://www.nvidia.com), guru3d (http://www.guru3d.com/)Tweaks R Us (http://www.tweaksrus.com/) your video card manufacturers website, etc. Make sure you note where it is being saved so you can find it easily later.2 - Set a restore point (Start>All Programs>Accessories>System Tools>System Restore and click Create a restore point).3 - Remove your current NVIDIA drivers by opening the Control Panel and double-clicking Add/Remove programs. Wait for the list to populate and scroll down to "NVIDIA Drivers". Click on it and then click Change/Remove. A window will open called "Remove NVIDIA Components". Select "Remove only the following" and then select "NVIDIA Display Driver". Click "Remove". Next an nView Uninstall window will open asking if you would like to erase your saved nView profiles (nView is NVIDIA's multi-display software). Click Yes or No as applicable. Follow the prompts and re-boot.Note: If you are removing a very old nVidia driver, you may not get the "Remove NVIDIA Components" window nor the nView Uninstall window.In that case, you simply select "NVIDIA Drivers" in the Add/Remove programs list, click "Change/Remove" then follow the prompts and re-boot.4 - Reboot again but this time into Safe mode. I find getting into Safe Mode by hitting F8 during bootup to be rather hit or miss. So I do it this way instead:Click Start. Click Run and type "msconfig" (without the quotes) and hit Enter. Click the BOOT.INI Tab. Check /SAFEBOOT in the Boot Options section. Click Apply. Click Close. Click Restart.If you've never seen your system in Safe Mode before, don't worry about how it looks at this point. Things will get back to normal. Honest they will!5 - Run Driver Cleaner Pro. In the Cleaning Selection drop-down menu, click NVIDIA. Click Start. When that finishes, click Tools and click CAB Cleaner. Click Start. When that finishes, (be patient - it will take a few minutes) exit the Driver Cleaner program.6 - Reboot into normal Windows mode (msconfig-bootup-uncheck safe mode, etc. as in step 4) When the system reboots you will see a message window called "System Configuration Utility". Check "Don't show this message

[RobertRent 17]

Allcott, Thanks for the suggestion to reinstall the nVidia drivers after installing the card - good idea. We will do that and we will also reinstall DirectX.Thanks again,Robert

[Guest allcott]

Remember if you are reinstalling DX to get the latest version (February release) and install it BEFORE installing the video drivers.In fact this is made easy for you as you are only changing the card from one Nvidia model to another so really don't have to remove the old drivers or boot in safe mode so you can install DX at any stage - the only recommendation is to reinstall card drivers afterwards. So you can do it the easy way! Shut the computer down, change out the card, making sure to plug in the extra power connector cards need these days (your current card may not have needed this), restart the computer (still with the existing drivers installed), install DX, restart, install card drivers, restart. 15 minutes start to finish, and you should be done.The `thorough` method described above I would only use if going from one set of driver models to another (i.e. from the 8x.xx series to the 9x.xx series) or actually changing brands from Nvida to ATi or another manufacturer. To give an example of why the order is necessary, after installing the latest DX9 update my monitor suddenly took to going into standby mode, all by itself. Reinstalling the drivers fixed it, with no other changes. Think of these things as layers, which have to be put on top of one another in the right order to avoid a tangle, and you will be set! Allcott

[RobertRent 17]

Craig,Thanks for posting the Video Driver Installation Instructions. We have successfully used these instructions in the past, and we appreciate the amount of effort that it took to create them.Cheers,Robert

[FTD1949 0]

>Craig,>>Thanks for posting the Video Driver Installation Instructions.> We have successfully used these instructions in the past, and>we appreciate the amount of effort that it took to create>them.>>Cheers,>Robert Robert, I didn't author the instructions....simply passing them along for all to use. They have made my life easier. Craig

[RobertRent 17]

All,Thanks for your help and advice. Our graphics card upgrade went smoothly, and our old 3ghz P4 AGP system has been transformed from a usable FSX platform into a into a good performing platform