# [SOLVED] Installed Wrong Graphics Driver -Blank Screen



## ifmo114

I installed the wrong Intel graphics driver on my PC and now my screen is blank. I can see the BIOS startup and the F8 options but after that it goes black. I did a recent format and reinstall of XP so I don't care about losing files. I tried booting from the CD but it goes black also. Last Known Config, Safe Mode, etc don't work. 

Any tips are appreciated.

Thanks.


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## Old Rich

*Re: Installed Wrong Graphics Driver -Blank Screen*








and welcome to the Forum

Does it do the same thing if you boot into safe mode?


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## Kallion

*Re: Installed Wrong Graphics Driver -Blank Screen*

If you can't get into safe mode because of this, do you have a second monitor you could test? It's a long shot but maybe something is affecting the monitor after the post screen.


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## crucial09

*Re: Installed Wrong Graphics Driver -Blank Screen*

He said safe mode doesn't work there at the end of his post.
Might try putting a different video card in, or if your motherboard has onboard video pug your video cable into that and try booting.

Can we get a list of full system specs please?


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## ifmo114

*Re: Installed Wrong Graphics Driver -Blank Screen*

Thanks for the responses. To confirm, Safe Mode also results in a black screen. 

When I first reinstalled XP onto the PC, the graphics worked but it said no VGA driver was installed so the only resolution was something like 640x400 and was obviously awful.

I went through the Update Driver wizards and selected an Intel driver but apparently it was the wrong one b/c the screen went immediately black. All reboots have resulted in a black screen since then. So I'm quite sure it's not the monitor itself, just the graphics card.

Even if I changed the graphic card (which I can't do b/c I don't have an extra card, but I can try to track one down), I would think it still might not work b/c I can't install any new drivers with a black screen.

Wish there was a way to Format the entire drive and start with the fresh boot install of XP.


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## ifmo114

*Re: Installed Wrong Graphics Driver -Blank Screen*

Specs:

Generic box that I didn't build
Intel Pentium 4 Processor 2.4GHz
RAM 2MB
Windows XP SP3
Video Adapter: AGP

Any other details that could be helpful to solving this?

Thanks.


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## Old Rich

*Re: Installed Wrong Graphics Driver -Blank Screen*

Try booting from the installation disc, just to see if the video holds up then . . it does not need a driver


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## crucial09

*Re: Installed Wrong Graphics Driver -Blank Screen*

Who reformatted windows for you previously?


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## ifmo114

*Re: Installed Wrong Graphics Driver -Blank Screen*



simpswr said:


> Try booting from the installation disc, just to see if the video holds up then . . it does not need a driver


I tried that but didn't seem to work. When the computer starts up, I hit F12 which usually prompts me to "Click to Boot From CD". However, now when I try to do that, I don't see any prompt to click and even when I do click nothing happens (at least I don't see anything happening).


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## ifmo114

*Re: Installed Wrong Graphics Driver -Blank Screen*



crucial09 said:


> Who reformatted windows for you previously?


I might have misspoken. I originally wanted to try out Windows 7 so I loaded it onto the PC. I then decided to go back to XP so I put in the installation disc and put XP back on. It was then that I had the missing driver so I installed an Intel driver albeit the wrong one.


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## crucial09

*Re: Installed Wrong Graphics Driver -Blank Screen*

Can't you put the installation disc back in and re put xp back on, then we can link you to the correct driver for your video.
You won't be loosing any files because you went back to xp so there are no personal files.


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## Old Rich

*Re: Installed Wrong Graphics Driver -Blank Screen*



ifmo114 said:


> I tried that but didn't seem to work. When the computer starts up, I hit F12 which usually prompts me to "Click to Boot From CD". However, now when I try to do that, I don't see any prompt to click and even when I do click nothing happens (at least I don't see anything happening).


Go into BIOS and set the first boot device as CD Drive . . if you loose video when running the install disc ( or any boot disc ) the driver is not the problem


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## ifmo114

*Re: Installed Wrong Graphics Driver -Blank Screen*



simpswr said:


> Go into BIOS and set the first boot device as CD Drive . . if you loose video when running the install disc ( or any boot disc ) the driver is not the problem


Bingo!! Set priority to CD Drive and the install is running. Thanks a ton!

Next issue is how do I figure out what Graphics card I have to determine the right driver. When I go to the Intel driver discovery utility, it shows Unknown. I used a program to search the computer and it said Intel GMCH AGP Graphics Controller. This probably isn't the right forum though, is it?


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## Old Rich

*Re: Installed Wrong Graphics Driver -Blank Screen*

What Brand and Model is this PC? If a custom, what Brand/Model motherboard?

You can use the Unknown Device Identifier


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## ifmo114

*Re: Installed Wrong Graphics Driver -Blank Screen*



simpswr said:


> What Brand and Model is this PC? If a custom, what Brand/Model motherboard?
> 
> You can use the Unknown Device Identifier


Using the program you recommended, I found the specific Graphics model, went to Intel Support, and downloaded the right driver. The resolution is now perfect.

Thanks so much to all the quick and thorough responses. I will definitely have this site bookmarked and hope to maybe even help out others.


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## Old Rich

*Re: Installed Wrong Graphics Driver -Blank Screen*

Great!! Glad you worked thru it!


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