Windows 7: Graphics card not seen by Windows 7

After a few unfruitful days of searching various forums attempting to solve my problem, I've decided to make an account and post the problem to see if I can get some answers!

Let me introduce you to my system and current configuration:

I have a Dell XPS M1530 that I bought about 2 years ago. At that time, it came with Vista Home Premium (32bit) and a 250GB hard drive. I dropped it while it was on about 6 months ago and the hard drive got messed up so I bought a new 500GB hard drive. I reloaded Vista with my old CD that came with the computer and then decided to buy (through my university) Windows 7 Ultimate x64. I did a clean sweep upgrade. I really haven't used my laptop for anything other than word processing and internet since then. A few days ago, however, I was attempting to play a game that would actually require some graphics power. I got an error about pixel shading or some nonsense. Anyways, I realized that my computer never recognized my graphics card after the clean sweep install of 7. My graphics card is an nVidia GeForce 8600M GT. So I went to the nVidia website to download the driver and I eventually had to use a third party site to download the correct driver (due to corrupted files from nVidia). The driver will go through the initial install sequence and then once the nVidia program pops up to actually install the driver, it gives me an error that says "This graphics driver could not find compatible graphics hardware". I am suspicious that there is some issue with Windows 7 not being able to see my hardware or something.



Any help?? Thanks in advance. I'll be checking back periodically to answer any questions.

Hi johnlhooker, Welcome to the forums, Have you checked in the bios to make sure the onboard graphics is disabled, is the nvidia card shown in device manager? there is a possibility the graphic card has come loose from its socket when you dropped the lappy

Your graphic card driver is on nvidea and is

NVIDIA DRIVERS 260.99 WHQL

"So I went to the nVidia website to download the driver and I eventually had to use a third party site to download the correct driver (due to corrupted files from nVidia). "

Seems to be what your looking for. If you downloaded your graphics driver from another
site. You could have gotten one that is not for your version of windows and graphics card.

nvidea recommends.
As part of the NVIDIA Verde Notebook Driver Program, this is a reference driver that can be installed on supported NVIDIA notebook GPUs. However, please note that your notebook original equipment manufacturer (OEM) provides certified drivers for your specific notebook on their website. NVIDIA recommends that you check with your notebook OEM about recommended software updates for your notebook. OEMs may not provide technical support for issues that arise from the use of this driver.

There is the distinct possibility that dell has made some mods to your graphics board as they don't show a windows 7 compatible driver for your machine.
but, I assume you have been to dell and put in your service tag and searched for video drivers for your computer??? Also, you might want to try the vista drivers..

Rich

Ain't google wonderful..

Dell's website only has a 64-bit driver for Vista for that laptop:

Drivers & Downloads

Try installing that.