cannot load the right driver for monitor or video card

whoshotjr57whoshotjr57
edited November 2011 in Hardware
I have a dell dimention 8400 with media player. It crashed and I couldnt get the thing to recognise the h/d. Got that all taken care of. Used my disc that came with it to reload m/p and it came up with a generic drive for both the video and the monitor. I got both the dell drivers downloaded and cannot change the monitor. Under adapter/driver there is no way to change it. It has a vgasave file??????? and to get the video to go I have a generic there too. When I try to load the right driver the screen goes black. I really need some help. Anyone??

Comments

  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    edited November 2011
    whoshotjr57 wrote:
    I have a dell dimention 8400 with media player. It crashed and I couldnt get the thing to recognise the h/d. Got that all taken care of. Used my disc that came with it to reload m/p and it came up with a generic drive for both the video and the monitor. I got both the dell drivers downloaded and cannot change the monitor. Under adapter/driver there is no way to change it. It has a vgasave file??????? and to get the video to go I have a generic there too. When I try to load the right driver the screen goes black. I really need some help. Anyone??

    OK, several things:

    Dell's support site is being revised some, the best easy starting point for what you want to do(that is working) is below:

    http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/kcs/document?&docid=DSN_324722&isLegacy=true#Issue4

    also see here, under number 2:

    http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/kcs/document?c=us&docid=274555&doclang=en&l=en&s=gen

    Hope that helps you some. If you are confused after these two pages I gave links to, I need the version of Windows you have on your computer to begin to do this the hard way (MANUALLY). If you got a black screen, something is wrong with the driver set you tried to install-- probably wrong monitor driver and wrong display adapter driver.

    John.
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited November 2011
    If you want help, you need to be able to communicate a bit more clearly; I'm going to try and chew my way through this...

    First:
    whoshotjr57 wrote:
    Used my disc that came with it to reload m/p and it came up with a generic drive for both the video and the monitor.

    What operating system are you talking about? Media Player is included with all versions of windows so you don't need to "install" it and Media Player certainly doesn't have any drivers.

    We need to know WHAT version of Windows you have: XP, Vista, or Windows 7.

    Second:
    whoshotjr57 wrote:
    I got both the dell drivers downloaded and cannot change the monitor. Under adapter/driver there is no way to change it. It has a vgasave file??????? and to get the video to go I have a generic there too. When I try to load the right driver the screen goes black. I really need some help. Anyone??

    What do you mean "Change the monitor"? What are you trying to do?

    What does "Under adapter/driver there is no way to change it." mean?

    It sounds like you are missing the driver for your video card. Do you know what video card you have? I know you have a Dell Dimension 8400, but can you be more specific? There were many Dimension 8400s made... Please give us the FULL model number; it should be on a sticker on the back.
  • TushonTushon I'm scared, Coach Alexandria, VA Icrontian
    edited November 2011
    The service tag code would be particularly helpful.
  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    edited November 2011
    Tushon wrote:
    The service tag code would be particularly helpful.
    Amen, Tushon
    The Service Tag is in the BIOS as well as on a tag with the model number on the back of the 8400's and more recent. The BIOS also will tell what video card/video adapter you have if it is like the Dells I have dealt with.

    So, go to Dell's support site. The most simple way to proceed is to tell the Dell support web site to detect your service tag-- it will read your service tag from your machine's BIOS remotely if it is in there. Most recent Dells now do this kind of encoding-- my Laptop also has its Express Service Code in BIOS, but tech support will use the shorter Service Tag if you ask them to.

    If you cannot get your problem machine on the web:

    As the machine starts up, there should be a screen saying Dell and in the upper right hand corner of that screen it should say either F12 Setup or F2 Setup or F10 Setup. Press the F key that has Setup next to it in the upper right hand corner (press F2 key on keyboard repeatedly if the upper right hand corner of the screen says F2 Setup for instance). Do this starting when the info about setup shows up and press and release repeatedly until the top that screen says
    : Preparing to enter Setup.... Then let it open setup.

    Once setup is open, look for a line that says Service Tag on the left side of the screen and press the down arrow key until the Service Tag entry is highlighted. When that happens, the main part of the screen will have the title line saying Service Tag and the next line with text will be your service tag code to write down and type in on Dell's website for custom automatic help for your exact machine.

    After you have entered a service tag, all sorts of automatic help becomes available, often including a driver installer that will at least check for and download the right drivers for your machine if you have put in the service tag and then looked under utilities or drikver downloads (They seem to be reorganizing some things, can't tell you exactly how it will look yet.).
Sign In or Register to comment.