Taskbar thumbnails ... how do I get them?

pebbly · 10 Sep 2010

beau159 said:

DeaconFrost said:

alphanumeric said:

If you know what the make and model of the video card is you can go to Nvidia or ATI and get the latest driver package.

Not for a laptop. You want to stick to the OEM drivers for those

beau159 said:

Where can I look up what video card/make/model I currently have?

If it is your computer, this is something you should know off the top of your head, considering it factored into the purchase of the computer. However, Dell makes it very easy. Go to Welcome to Dell Support and put in your service tage number. It will bring you to the latest drivers for your laptop.

Well I purchased it over 3 years ago, so I can't say it was something I committed to memory. The currrent computer I am talking about though, is the replacement Dell sent for my original "lemon" I ordered (that's an entirely different issue).

I have already gone to the Dell page with my service tag number and I did look at the video drivers. However, I always feel hesitant to download things I may not need or things that might not be correct.

It lists this under the Video tab:

dia GeForce 8400M
Release Date:10/23/2008Version:7.15.11.7644, A03Download Type:DriverFile Format:Hard DriveFile Size:52 MB

Does that sound about right?

I tried looking up what video card I had like in Computer or Control Panal, but I couldn't find it.

Again yes and again install in compat mode

DeaconFrost · 10 Sep 2010

beau159 said:

I tried looking up what video card I had like in Computer or Control Panal, but I couldn't find it.

There are several areas that will give you this info, but Device Manager is probably your best bet.

As for the drivers, yes, that's the right file, assuming you have the 8400. My brother in law has that same model laptop, and that's the video chip he has installed. You don't need to bother with compatibility mode, either. They should just install normally.

Another option you have to is to remove the current drivers, and then run Windows Update to see if there's anything newer than what you posted. This way, you'll also be assured of getting the compatible version.

pebbly · 10 Sep 2010

beau159, It may also be worthwhile to update the chipset Drivers & Downloads Have a look in device manager and if there are any devices with a yellow triangle with an exclamation mark against them, right click on the device and select "update driver"

beau159 · 10 Sep 2010

pebbly said:

beau159, It may also be worthwhile to update the chipset Drivers & Downloads Have a look in device manager and if there are any devices with a yellow triangle with an exclamation mark against them, right click on the device and select "update driver"

Thanks again. The video card driver did the trick. I can get the glass colors now and the thumbnails work too.

I have been in the device manager before (when I was looking for the touchpad issue) but I guess I didn't pay attention to the yellow triangles, or rather, didn't really know what they meant.

I looked again and the only things with yellow flags (and I am pretty sure that is how it was before when I was looking, before I even downloaded these two drivers) are under the heading "Other Devices" and there are two of them both labeled "base system device". I clicked on them to update them automatically but neither of them worked.

I am not sure what those are for??? Or what driver to install?

DeaconFrost · 10 Sep 2010

If you follow the simple steps at www.pcidatabase.com, you can find out what those devices really are. I believe one would be part of the chipset drivers or the SMBus drivers for your laptop's motherboard.

You'll find out what they are exactly on the website, and then you'll be able to scroll through Dell's drivers to find them. You can also try running Windows Update as well.