Delete nVidia video drivers

Already checked that problem out and original card is disabled in bios. I tried to delete anything that came up in file search that referenced nVidea, but still feel there may be something causing my problems. In display properties, I cannot reset or change any of the appearance items without the screen going gray then some color coming back but totally locking up forever. It has improved since I deleted all I could find regarding nVidea, but still locks up.

Bob,
Assuming that you've removed the forceware drivers from add remove programs, try running detonator R.I.P. After the restart, uninstall the current video drivers restart, and install them again.
http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=603
Free for download and use from Guru 3D. Being a gamer, computer business owner and A+ tech, let me tell you that this little program has saved me lots of headaches in the past, BUT, isn't there always a but? In my experience, switching video manufacturers is never a cut and dry process, as a matter of fact, for any of my clients that want to switch, I always recommend a format and reinstall. I know this sounds extreme, but trust me when I tell you it's sometimes simpler than the alternatives. Try the R.I.P. program, if that doesn't work, well, in all 10 years using Nvidia, format was the by far the easiest solution. I know, easy for me to say, a guy that does this sort of thing in his sleep. Sorry.

Well, my nVidea drivers/software never did show up in add/remove, so I removed them from the display properties/drivers tab. I tried the RIP program and it found nothing, so guess you may be right it's time to reformat. Although time consuming, may be good thing as haven't done that since 2002 when I changed from win98 to winXP pro. Hate backing up everything, but guess this may be for the best unless you can think of anything yet to try. It's frustrating because except for locking up my display properties when I try to change appearance items the card is working great for colors, etc.

The fact that the drivers never showed up in add/remove programs tells me one of two things had occured, one, the Nvidia driver you were using was way old, or, the card was of the sort that windows had a driver for and installed such driver right after you plugged in the card. Having said that, if the latter of those scenario's was the case, R.I.P. wouldn't pick it up anyway since it's a winxp "built in" driver. Given that you haven't formatted and fresh installed winxp pro since 2002, I'd say you'd be killing two birds with one stone anyway. Solve you're card problem, as well as a fresh install and registry. In my experience a fresh install will drmatically improve performance anyway given the buildup on most xp machines. After the install may I recommend Spybot search and destroy, Adaware se, and spywareblaster coupled with your choice of antivirus, and diskeeper boot time MFT and pagefile defrags to keep it running smoothly. If you're still hesitant about a format just yet, you may want to try Regseeker, free for download and personal use from the net http://www.hoverdesk.net/freeware.htm It's a non install reg utility that will allow you to run a search for anything Nvidia in your registry using keywords. Not to mention it has a fantastic reg scanning and cleaning tool. Cheers. James.

Well, I bit the bullet and just reformatted. Card works perfectly now. Like you said, was time anyway and yes system is much faster. Just a pain loading everything back on. Thanks for the info as it worked!

I'm glad everything worked out for you.