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#1
Antique video card runs like a champ, but....
I have Win7 Ultimate running inside a HP Pavillion a1030n. I also have an old Nvidia GeForce FX 5500 as a graphics card.
During install, Windows detected and installed drivers for the card, but they weren't quite right. I see in these forums that everybody recommends the 96.85 forceware driver for 32-bit Vista, and I've tried that as well, but the results are the same as the ones downloaded automatically by Windows: I can run Aero just fine, but my monitor resolution won't go higher than 1600x1200, and my video and audio playback is atrocious.
I still have the old install CD that came with the card, and I can install those old drivers just fine. When that's done, I can get the full resolution supported by my monitor (1920x1200) but I can't run Aero at all and I run into problems with compatibility with various games and such.
I realize the card is old - heck, the whole computer is old. But, it's a 3.1GHz processor (single core, but hyperthreading...) and this graphics card is capable of doing quite a bit, given its age.
Is there a way to mix & match the best bits of both drivers, or do I have to just pick one and use it? Why won't the NVidia downloaded or the Windows downloaded drivers let me use my full resolution? What can I do to get the best out of what I have?