Nvidia Driver

[alphanumeric]

This probably going to be a rehash of what has already been said. First thing I would do is go over the BIOS settings and make sure the 5500 is set to be default. Thats an AGP card right, so AGP should be selected for video device. The actual settings vary from BIOS to BIOS, so I can't tell you the exact setting to change. I think you have that all figured out anyway but it doesn't hurt to go over it again. Normally once its set correctly you will get a no signal when connected to the onboard and video when connected to the dedicated card. Turning off the automatic driver update though windows update may also be a good idea. It's part of my clean install procedure, and one of the first things I turn off. The link to the tutorial is posted a couple of posts up in this thread. Once you do that go into device manager and uninstall whatever graphics card is listed, and reboot. Then have another go at installing the nforce drivers. I don't know about screen resolution but you won't get Aero until you run you WEI, Windows Experience Index, so run it and see what happens. I got Aero on my old beater with the 5500 in it. I don't have that PC anymore and the 5500 is packed away as a spare so I can't check any settings or try anything. The motherboard died and I just saved what i could for spares.

EDIT: If you haven't already, re-download the drivers incase the first set got corupted.

 

[spyknee]

I think he said he was using the PCI version of card. But its good to clarify this.

Updating W7 first should not matter. When you installed the nVidia software, the drivers installed. What you are missing is the control panel. During install did you tell it not to install to start menu or make a desktop icon? There were no errors thrown?
Click start>run> type in "dxdiag" no quotes.>enter
This is the Direct X diagnostic utility. See what it says in display tab. Windows 7 comes with DX11 included. Pebbly pointed out that the card is before DX9.
You might consider installing the DX version your card can handle. Find out thru Google and then install either DX8 or 9c. DX suppose to be backwards compatible but maybe cp is not.?????

You could get more specific with your system details.
mobo make and revision?
are your mobo bios up to date?

 

[alphanumeric]

Yes, its PCI, I see that now. Mine is AGP so I guess I just assumed his was too. My old rig didn't have onboard video either so I didn't have to contend with that, my only options were AGP or PCI.

 

[spyknee]

Nvidia Control Panel does not install?.Driver install takes a long time? - Read This! - Guru3D.com Forums
http://www.computing.net/answers/windows-2000/nvidia-ctr-panel-can-not-install/61383.html

Take a read here. Later version of GeForce drivers but same issue.

 

[RMZ06]

So after playing around with different drivers and settings and pulling my hair out I have fixed my problem. I decided to reinstall windows seven again and start fresh due to me trying so many different things and changing so many different settings.
Previously when I would switch my bios settings to the PCI video card nothing would happen the monitor would still not work on my NVidia graphics card. So I decided to update my bios. After updating my bios I installed the origional forceware driver and I switched the bios settings to pci and it instantly shut off my integrated card. As soon as I plugged it in the Nvidia card bam it came on!!! The only problem I had was when the computer would load up it would get stuck on the intel screen but if I unplug my external hard drive it loads up fine. I dissabled the legacy support in the bios which fixed that problem. Thanks everyone for their help your time is greatly appreciated.

 

[alphanumeric]

Problem solved is what we what to hear.

 

[spyknee]

are your mobo bios up to date?
Nice, you gotta like it, when its easy. Bios updates can be important. Lesson here, always start with the latest hardware updates first.