All you can do if you want to keep using Windows 7 in more than the current resolution: find an AGP-video card that you can download Windows 7 drivers for. I don't exclude those exist.
Kees
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Dell Optiplex gx270 Win 7 pro
I removed xp pro, did a clean win 7 pro install and everything has worked fine except no video driver.
I have run into a stone wall using Google trying to find a video driver. anyone have a suggestion or solution to my problem?
Discussion is locked
Thanks Kees for your reply. Your probably correct. I suspect finding on that will fit in this unit will be a problem as this design only has about a 2 inch head room from the MB to the case.
I probably will just reinstall XP.
I have watched carefully all the forums and have not seen any outbreaks of problems since ms dropped support on XP. I think it is usable if done so with good judgement.
The link provided by Kees shows there could be a couple different cards installed.. Radeon, integrated Intel, nVidia, etc. Which driver for which card was installed for XP? It might be a clue should there actually be a Win7 driver for the card. Before removing the old operating system, I always write down the devices and their drivers from the "Device Manager" so I can look things up later, should I need to. Did you write it all down?
Hope this helps.
Grif
I wish I knew Grif. I just didn't think I would have a problem but being 81 years old my computer skills are starting to leave me.
I use this, well, folk that I know use this when I can't get over to peek inside.
SPECCY is over at https://www.piriform.com/speccy
Bob
Hi Digger.
Don't have any of the original dell disk. It was given to me as non working. I got it running and thought I would be smart and upgrade it.
If not on the original Manufacturer's Site (which it's not), or detected in "Windows Update" (which should be, but it's Microsoft, so there is room for error), then you could lookup the physical video card's serial number itself (there are serial numbers generally printed on some video cards), or you could try to find a free driver detector (I think there is a possible one @ http://www.drivers.com/ ).
Should that fail, I recommend using (as listed above): https://www.piriform.com/speccy .
Hope this helps, though I can not be certain.
There is no video card as such. The video is on the motherboard. This is a flat case model on 3 inches with no room for a standard height pci card as the lid would not close. I will as soon as I get time in the next day or so to get the program Bob proposed and post back. What was surprising, at first there was no sound and a red x over the speaker icon. When I logged on to the net and requested ms updates more than 100 downloaded. after they installed I had sound. was hoping the updates would solve the video but it didn't.
In that case you have an Intel IGP and the long and short of it is Intel abandoned those a long time ago and there are no Windows 7 drivers. Also, a word to the wise is to never, Ever, EVER accept driver updates from Windows Update. I'm not sure what it is MS does to drivers it pushes out that way, but they have been responsible for a disproportionately large number of issues over the years to the point where no one in the know, and their right mind, would even consider accepting those.
So this is one of those cases where I would point people in the general direction of Linux. An old P4 class system would be a great system for Linux because the hardware is generally all very old (relatively speaking) and people have had years to get it working. It would be a far safer option than continuing to use XP.
There was a case where I installed Windows 7 on an old IBM THINKPAD T40, which didn't have some of the drivers that I needed for the job, so I needed to resort to older drivers from their respective websites. Another thing I noticed was that for certain drivers, even though Windows installed them, they were generic drivers, which can never truly work with older hardware.
I thank you for your input as I neglected to mention that in my previous post and I also recommend R. Proffitt (Moderator)'s post below from SevenForums.
Thanks again Bob for the many time you have helped me. Your link pointed out the easiest solution, changing the bios setting on the buffer from 1 mb to 8 mb and the problem is fixed.
1MB would be very slim, even in XP days. Anyhow, at least you avoided a new video card for another day.
Bob