video card waver

[SilverBullit]

Hi,

I recently upgrade from Vista to W7 ultimate. The upgrade, itself, went fine. Once I got to moving around and learning the nuances of the OS, the screen would shake or waver, then, freeze into a reduced resolution or "fuzzy" state. The Vid card is a NVidia 8400 GS. The OS does not report it as not being compatible. I have to reboot when this happens. It can do this an any given time while moving in and out of programs.
Can this be a refresh rate issue, or.....?
Thanks for any replies.

Ken

 

[Veedaz]

Hi SilverBullit

Your drivers for your NVidia 8400 GS did you download from the nVidia site or let W7 install them ?

 

[SilverBullit]

Hi SilverBullit

Your drivers for your NVidia 8400 GS did you download from the nVidia site or let W7 install them ?

Hi,

Originally, the drivers were loaded in Vista using the nVidia install CD. After the upgrade, and experiencing this problem, I used the "update drivers" using the internet through the "device manager" module. Perhaps, I should go directly to the nVidia site for drivers??
Huh?
Thanks for your query question.

 

[Veedaz]

I think it would be best you can get your drivers here > http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us You will need to uninstall your old drivers first.

 

[SilverBullit]

I think it would be best you can get your drivers here > http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us You will need to uninstall your old drivers first.

Thanks I'll give it a try.

 

[SilverBullit]

Hi SilverBullit

Your drivers for your NVidia 8400 GS did you download from the nVidia site or let W7 install them ?

At first, I let W7 use what I had, as it was stated, this card was compatible. Later, when this problem started occurring, I went to NVidia's site for their latest drivers. Could it be there's not enough on-board card memory with it only having 256?
Thanks for any help!

Ken

 

[Nibiru2012]

The video card memory has no effect on the use of the proper drivers.

The memory is used as part of the GPU's processing of video, that's all.

If you're using 64 bit Windows 7 then go here for your nVidia drivers: http://www.nvidia.com/object/win7_winvista_64bit_196.21_whql.html

If you're using 32 bit Windows 7 go here: http://www.nvidia.com/object/win7_winvista_32bit_196.21_whql.html

 

[SilverBullit]

Hi SilverBullit

Your drivers for your NVidia 8400 GS did you download from the nVidia site or let W7 install them ?

I down loaded from NV site.

 

[Nibiru2012]

This also sounds like that you did an "Upgrade" install instead of a clean or custom install of Windows 7.

It has been found that doing an upgrade install will cause nothing but problems, maybe not right away, but a few days or so down the road.

If you really want to realize the full potential of Windows 7 I would recommend doing a clean install

 

[SilverBullit]

This also sounds like that you did an "Upgrade" install instead of a clean or custom install of Windows 7.

It has been found that doing an upgrade install will cause nothing but problems, maybe not right away, but a few days or so down the road.

If you really want to realize the full potential of Windows 7 I would recommend doing a clean install

Thanks for your reply!
You are correct, I did an upgrade from Vista Ultimate, which in itself, is supposed to be satisfactory. I agree too, that a clean install is much preferred over an upgrade.
However, how do you then, answer the question for those who purchased a pre-installed W7 and is reportedly, enjoying(?) having the same issue?

 

[Nibiru2012]

Good question! I am not sure about this, but I believe it has to do with the nVidia drivers.

Did you download and install the latest Windows 7 drivers for the chipset and motherboard?

If you have an nVidia chipset, it will tie directly to the video driver also.

What are your computer specs such a motherboard, audio chipset, etc? This will help.

Windows 7 native drivers are sometimes adequate, but not always.

I may be a little off-base here, but the customary install order of drivers goes as follows:

1. Northbridge/Southbridge chipset

2. Video driver

3. Ethernet LAN and Wireless drivers

4. Audio Driver

If you have your hard drive set to the AHCI mode in the BIOS, then the "SATA_IDE AHCI" driver is installed first during OS install or after the chipset driver is installed. It can also be done through the Device Manager - Update Driver tab.

 

[SilverBullit]

Hi SilverBullit

Your drivers for your NVidia 8400 GS did you download from the nVidia site or let W7 install them ?

Hi
Downloaded from nVidia.