trouble installing drivers

I recently bought an Nvidia 7200 GS graphics card for my computer, but it is causing problems. I plugged in the card and booted up, and it somehow found a driver for it (maybe on the driver cd I had inserted). I then enjoyed 20 minutes of dual monitors, but then I had to restart the computer. Ever since, Windows 7 will not load. It displayed the startup animation, then promptly froze. I unplugged the card, and it booted up fine, and I downloaded the latest drivers from the manufacturer's site. However, I cannot install them, because the it could not find any hardware for the drivers! How can I install the drivers in Windows 7, if I cannot start Windows with the card installed?

I am currently using Vista that I have installed on another hard drive. However, I don't know if even this will boot up again if the card is plugged in.

Have you tried the latest drivers from nVidia's driver download site?

Kari

Yes, those are what I downloaded. I just can't install the drivers without the card plugged in. Are PCIe cards hot-pluggable?

Have you tried to boot in safe mode, uninstalling the GPU drivers, then booting normally and reinstalling latest nVidia?

Kari

I will try. I will let you know how it works out when I get back from work tonight.

Okay, I did a little playing around, and I have a few more details.

First thing I noticed is that I am trying to use dual monitors, one on my onboard ATI Radeon 3200, the other on a nVidia GeForce 7200 GS. They are completely different manufacturers, and they probably don't like that.

Another thing I noticed is that as long as the second monitor (on the nVidia) is unplugged when I boot Windows, things go smoothly. After I am in Windows, I can connect it.

Another thing: when I changed the setting in th BIOS for the primary graphics adapter to my nVidia card, I could load Windows, but it would not detect my onboard adapter.

Does anyone have any thoughts on how to get the nVidia and ATI to coexist?

Okay, I have another update. I uninstalled all nVidia drivers, then rebooted and let Windows automatically find drivers. I have had no problems since. My primary video adapter is currently set to onboard.
Thanks for the help, Kari.