AGP upgrade woes

[papa225]

Just tried to replace the tnt2 AGP in my Compaq 5000 5wv294 with an Evga brand geforce 6200. It's running ME. When the new card failed to install repeatedly - boots up in 16 color only - I tried to put the tnt back in but had same problem. The OS refuses to recognize the new hardware. I got the latest drives from Evga and they are installed in the system folder along with standard VGA and super VGA. I renamed the SVGA so it wouldn't interfere but ME won't let me rename the VGA driver saying, "file in use." Is my AGP shot?

[Midknyte]

why are you trying to rename files? download the latest drivers from the nvidia website.

Best of Video Cards & Monitors (http://www.sysopt.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=162277)

you can also try uninstalling the old driver, then running driver cleaner before installing the new set.

[papa225]

I TRIED TO TEST MY PNP BY UNINSTALLING AND THEN REINSTALLING 2 OTHER PNP DEVICES, NIC CARD AND SOUND CARD. THE NIC WONT COME BACK BUT THE SOUND CARD DID SO WINDOWS SEEMS TO RECGONIZE PNP DEVICES SELECTIVELY. MY SYS DID NOT COME WITH AN ME DISK BUT ONLY WITH COMPAQ RESORE CD'S THAT SAY THEY WILL ERASE ALL MY DATA. I DON'T HAVE A WORKING CDR DRIVE OR SECOND HARD DRIVE. I ALSO DON'T HAVE USB 2.0 TO USE AN EXTERANAL DEVICE. ANY THOUGHTS?

[The Lodge]

Take a deep breath, relax, and turn off your caps lock.

If you re-type that maybe someone will read it.

You might want to try driver cleaner like MK suggested.

[papa225]

Even EVGA tech support suggested this, but it didn't help. Does anyone know if a ROM flash update is the same as a chipset update or bios upgrade? Compaq/HP offers the ROM Flash but I'm afraid to use it without knowing what it does.

[lptech]

papa225-

I would not recommend doing the Compaq/HP ROM Flash (BIOS upgrade/update)because you might render the motherboard non-operational. Unless you know what you're doing, I highly recommend that you don't! The only thing that you'll end up doing if doing the ROM Flash does not work is replacing the motherboard.

LPTECH

[The Lodge]

I'm gonna take a stab here but..... Is this even a compatable agp slot? Is it like a 1x-2x agp? I know a friend of mine tried to bring an old card over to a nf7-s and had problems with it so he was forced to buy a new vc too.

Maybe your motherboard only excepts 3.3v agp cards or whatever.

What kind of hardware is in the computer. Only got a vague description on the hp site.

[papa225]

I'll skip to ROM upgrade for now because I can't afford a new MoBo. the slot is keyed for 2x, 1.5v, and the specs for this model all say 2x. The original Tnt2, however, was Compaq specific in some unknown way. I recently asked EVGA tech support about this and they knew less than me.

Does anyone know if I can 'downgrade' to 98? I really hate ME for many reasons including its lack of backup software. Most of my s/w is incompatible with XP.

[missiveusa]

Sure you can use Windows 98 SE, a better OS than ME anyway. You'll have to reformat and start over though, because ME won't let you install an older OS, so backup any critical data to disk before you start.

[dab420]

If you're going to reformat, try windows XP should run on that machine, in fact sometimes better than 98se or ME. Automatic updates, windows defender and sp2, you might like it better. I have 2 very old machines (one is a HP Pavillion s/ a Celeron 400) both running Win XP Pro very nicely.

[The Lodge]

If you're going to reformat, try windows XP should run on that machine, in fact sometimes better than 98se or ME. Automatic updates, windows defender and sp2, you might like it better. I have 2 very old machines (one is a HP Pavillion s/ a Celeron 400) both running Win XP Pro very nicely.Most people won't spend more money on an operating system than their computer is worth. Plus I think you're missing the point,. He has already stated that most of his software is old, and doesn't seem to want to buy all new. Believe it or not dab420, not everybody pirates software. I'm sure you're puttin' right along with xp on that old celey. :p

[Newbie2]

Windows 98 Second Edition was a good old operating system, but it was a pain for me to install the drivers since it always asked me "please insert the driver disc" or something like that. But the good things about it is it doesn't have the Microsoft Product Activation c**p that Windows XP has and you can use a Windows 98 product key over and over again without any problems.