[INFO] Bill's Driver Recommendation Thread

[Bill]

That video was encoded with Divx, there is a divx link in the topic too. (next to the video link)

Just get the free player and your set, or get the codec and it will play in windows media player, ect.

Or just click this: http://www.divx.com/divx/play/download/

Latest free version and still has codec to work in players.

[Guest Joao]

Hi Bill,

I'm using a Dell Latitude C840 running under XP Professional SP2. On device manager it says my display adapter is a Dell C840 and the driver version I have installed is 42.58 from 10.02.2003. I think the graphic card installed is a NVIDIA GeForce4 440 Go 64 MB. I have the latest System BIOS A13 and I think the Video BIOS version is 4.17.00.55.43. A week ago, without apparently doing anything special, the GeForce tab that usually appears under Display Properties, Settings, Advanced, disappeared, and I haven't been abble to get it back. I have uninstalled the driver and installed it again but the problem wasn't solved. I guess I have quite old drivers installed but these are the ones recommended by Dell, and that's why I have them. Do you think I should update the drivers for the graphic card in order to solve the above described problem, and if so which ones should I use?

Thanks in advance,

Joao

[Guest Jon Biggar]

Hi Bill,

I'm using a Dell Latitude C840 running under XP Professional SP2. On device manager it says my display adapter is a Dell C840 and the driver version I have installed is 42.58 from 10.02.2003. I think the graphic card installed is a NVIDIA GeForce4 440 Go 64 MB. I have the latest System BIOS A13 and I think the Video BIOS version is 4.17.00.55.43. A week ago, without apparently doing anything special, the GeForce tab that usually appears under Display Properties, Settings, Advanced, disappeared, and I haven't been abble to get it back. I have uninstalled the driver and installed it again but the problem wasn't solved. I guess I have quite old drivers installed but these are the ones recommended by Dell, and that's why I have them. Do you think I should update the drivers for the graphic card in order to solve the above described problem, and if so which ones should I use?

Thanks in advance,

Joao

This happened to me too on my Inspiron 8200. I tracked down the culprit to the latest batch of M$ security updates. When I used system restore to roll back to a date before I accepted the updates, I got the GeForce tab back, but the Additional Properties and clone mode settings are still disabled. :)

I'm still looking for a solution to this.

[Fins2Ryt]

:) Hello all. This is a great site. Extremely helpful.

I'm running into a small problem & any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I've got a Dell Inspiron 8200 with the Nvidia GeForce4 440 Go video adapter. I downloaded Bill's recommended driver & inf file at the beginning of this post, and it's awesome.

Getting to be an older fart though, I lower the resolution to a setting my eyes can better handle, but everytime I reboot, it reverts back to the highest resolution. For what it's worth, I've downloaded and installed the most recent Bios & video bios from Dell's website.

Any suggestions, again, would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[asdvender]

My first post...

Hey Bill,

I read some of the "Forceware Updater's Quickstart Guide".

I have a Sony Vaio FS680/W. It has a NVIDIA GeForce Go 6200 card (TurboCache, I know...it sucks).

Another user said he was using 83.06 and it worked fine for him when running BF2 (which is my primary goal in upgrading the video drivers for this computer!). So I upgraded to 83.06 and it works perfect.

However, I also have a Sony Vaio V505AX. It has a ATI MOBILITY? RADEON? 16 MB (DDR SDRAM) card. I know this is the NVIDIA section, but I just wanted to check whether Omega's website was the place to go to see if I could upgrade the ATI drivers for that. I don't expect to run BF2 on it, but maybe the original Medal of Honor?

Thanks!

[Guest Guest]

Hi Bill

I have vaio fs315s and ı have problems with playing wow.When ı am playing 10 min later ı see black screen ord blue screen.What can ı do pls help me

Hi Bill

I have vaio fs315s and ı have problems with playing wow.When ı am playing 10 min later ı see black screen ord blue screen.What can ı do pls help me

Edit: sorry ı have geforce go 6400 with turbocache supporting 128 mb

[Guest dvxl1]

I have posted this on another thread but I think this might be the better place to post...Sorry for putting this in 2 sections but I really need this to work.

Hello, I was wondering if anyone was able to get any of the drivers to work on a sony SZ120P Duo with Avid Xpress Pro? I have tried the the inf hacks on this post and none of them are alowing the Avid to use the video overlay. However the overlay is working just fine in windows media player with vrm enabled or disabled.

Is there a certain thing that needs to be done to the inf to make it work with the sony laptops? I understand the hacked inf is working on the hp laptops with the same video card but for some reason no luck on my sony.

The sony has a ton of rediculous redundant software that came with it. I was thinking maybe one of those programs is causing a conflict with the avid software?

My current setup is

Sony SZ120P

T2400 Duo 1.86

Nvidia 7400 go 128

1 gig ram

Windows XP SP2

Avid Xpress 5.2.0

Current Nvidia Force Ware version 84.21 I have also tried 84.25, 84.12, 81.94, I also tut Iried the hacked 77.77 but I get nothing but a blue screen on start up and constent reboots until I choose safe mode etc..

Any help on this matter for this particular laptop would be most appriciated! I figure if anyone can help this is the place.

I am willing to try any driver or any solution that someone thinks will work.

Thanks!

Hey... I had the same problem & been fiddling around for days & trying different drivers & Finally got lucky! So here it is:

Download:

- 84.12_forceware_winxp from (http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=1336) or any other websites

- Pieter's INF version 31.68 from (http://www.laptopvideo2go.com) which must have "NVIDIA GeForce Go 7400" in its Localizable Strings.

Now here is how you have to install the driver:

Run the "84.12_forceware" and extract it (saved mine in a folder on the desktop) once extracted go into the folder replace the "nv4_disp.INF" file with the one from Pieter. Next YOU MUST uninstall the NVIDIA Drivers then reboot. Go in the "84.12_forceware" folder(with the replaced INF file) & install the new driver. Reboot and load NVIDIA Display (Right click on desktop, NVIDIA Display, laptop display) & click on Video Overlay Settings. Disable the VMR. Load Avid & you are ready to go!

I tried it on both Xpress Pro 4.3 & Pro HD 5.2 & it works

My Setup:

Sony Vaio VGNSZ110

Windows XP Pro,

Service Pack 2

T2400 @ 1.83GHz

1.00 GB of RAM

DirectX 9.0 +

ForceWare 84.12

[who13]

hello bill...

i just popped in to see if theres any newer drivers that have been tested and working well with the nvidia 6800 geforce go cards..

the last post you said to try this one "nVIDIA ForceWare 84.43" but looking around the forum i see some users didnt like it,etc,etc and reverted back to V84.25 (which im still using..) any updates mate??

thanx man..

Edited May 28, 2006 by who13

[zipper]

84.56, 87.25, 91.28 worth testing.

[Guest Amilo]

Hi,

I have FSC Amilo M3438G with the GeForce Go 6800.

I wanted to install the recommended 84.25 driver.

I did everything "by the book" (downloaded driver and INF, extracted driver and replaced INF, then ran setup and finally rebooted), but i get minimal resolution 640x480 with 6-bit color when I return to windows. And I can't change it to higher.

I also tried have disk method but the same result.

Help me please!! :)

[tawraste]

hi folks,

you guys have an awesome wealth of information between you - may i ask for your help?

here's my problem -

having installed tombraider legend (update1.2), the next gen content in the graphics config menu slows the whole thing down when activated. now, no-one seems to be wise on this subject - the general consensus is that it is a driver issue, and nvidia is working on it. i contacted nvidia and recieved no information or help whatsoever. i don't know if this is symptomatic of the way their company is set up, or if indeed it is down to the developers of the game (who claim with great splendour that nvidia and themselves were joined at the hip during the development of this game).

i have put a post here asking for help because i notice there are drivers with a higher version number than the latest one that nvidia provide via their site (currently 83.40) and maybe one of these drivers runs next gen content nicely. i would like to resolve this issue because there will be more games with ngc, and surely my go7800gtx will handle it? surely!

my system is a clevo m570a with a 2.13 mobile chip, a gig of 533 ram, a 100gb 7200rpm sata drive and of course the 256mb go 7800gtx.

i don't think the problem is down to the fact my card is 256mb instead of 512mb because i've tried it on lower resolutions if that's any help (i'm ready to stand corrected here).

what have the rest of you found with regards to this next generation content?

and what driver do you think would be best for my setup? (i am also curious for any techy details here)

hope someone can help?!

tawraste

Edited June 1, 2006 by tawraste

[Guest AK]

I tried that latest driver 84.21, and it worked fine, my World Of Warcraft works again. The problem is....

It was working ok for World of Warcraft before i started messing with it, but when i got Hero's Of Might And Magic 5, it made an error right after the load sequence was done. The Intro Movie and everything worked fine, but when i tried to start a game it made an error and shut down.....

I got an "Nvidia GeForce4 440 64M", don't know what to do about this little problem, becourse Nvidia (as you said in your thread) doesn't support my HP pavilion zv5000.

So when i saw your thread and experienced your great work first hand, i thought you might be able to help me......

- AK

[riot]

I have an Inspiron 8200 with a 64MB Geforce 4 440Go card, and was wondering what the best drivers to use are? Is there any advantage to using newer drivers on an older card? Thanks!

[Bill]

For all you Dell I8200 and C840 users with the 440 go, you should try the 77.77 driver with Pieter's mod INF, some newer drivers like 82 or 84 or maybe even the 91.31 series should work too, the advantage would be in newer games, but then a lot of newer games do not run on DX7 cards anymore.

I think they should all work decently, its just that some have working TV out, and some don't, you'll have to test yourself. (I got every driver from 27 up that I actually tested to run and boot into windows on my 440 go)

The last driver I tried on my 440 go before I replaced it with my quadro (440 go was broke) is the 77.72 driver, and it appeared to run fine, the 77.77 driver has been reported to run fine aswell (try that instead), and TV out probably works.

I am still using the old 82.10 driver with a custom Dell INF on my newer card, 84.25 is probably a good driver too.

About heroes of might and magic 5, I don't think it will run on a 440 go, seems to be DX8 cards and up only. (440 go is NV17, DX7)

You can either complain to the game devs or try using this program to run it, but you probably will not get anywhere or the graphics will be messed up.

http://www.tommti-systems.com/main-Dateien/files.html

I am downloading the demo now to see what happens, I'l get back to you later, but you might as well get ready to sell the game or return it, or buy a new laptop/computer to play it on.

If it works on my quadro and you have $200+ to spare you could start looking for the Quadro4 700 GoGL 64 MB for the I8200/C840/M50 on ebay if you want an upgrade, it is like a desktop GF4 Ti card, but a laptop quadro version. (DX8 card)

To tawraste and who13, try the 91.31 driver with Pieter's mod INF for starters.

It seems to be a good driver from what I hear, so the rest of you I didn't answer but want a newer driver it looks like a nice one to try out.

Think I'll go test the driver now, been busy lately, and if you didn't tell I haven't been here the past week to answer all these posts.

If I didn't answer your question or something you can also PM or AIM me sometime.

[tawraste]

cheers mate, i will try that driver and let you all know how i get on

tawraste

[tawraste]

awesome!

cheers guys, that driver is, quite frankly, the dog's. ngc content fully functional, graphics utterly jaw dropping. i can't believe it! there is a little stutter every now and then, but it's far from being problematic. i can handle it in exchange for graphics like that! and i'm sure there will be better drivers again at some point. obviously i had to test all my games, and they all have a marked and noticable improvement. do nvidia switch off things for mobile gpu drivers? the difference is so obvious. and my machine heats up a little more! (hope it doesn't melt or anything!) there is that dos window for nwiz.exe, but it doesn't cause any problems that i can see.

guys, thank you, thank you and thank you again. nvidia should give you highly paid jobs and no question about it. thanks again! keep up the good work!

tawraste :) :) :P :( :(

[Guest demiologist]

Hi all,

I have a Vaio S3, Geforce Go 6200, and, somehow, out of the blue a few days ago, clonemode disappeared as an option, and the second (default) monitor just wont enable. [i'm no gamer, I use the 2nd output (in clone mode) so as to have the laptop (and its noisy fan) outside the room when recording live audio to hard disk...]. Has anyone ever heard of this happening? Might something have been corrupted, and therefore a driver update be a worthwhile step to take?

Praying for advice!

Thanks,

D

[Bill]

Have you installed any windows updates since then?

Somebody said that could cause it. (strange I know)

I would say just re-install the driver you are using.

What driver are you currently using?

We could try tweaking the INF to force display recognition if needed...

If none of those work try 91.31.

[Guest Guest]

Have you installed any windows updates since then?

Somebody said that could cause it. (strange I know)

I would say just re-install the driver you are using.

What driver are you currently using?

We could try tweaking the INF to force display recognition if needed...

If none of those work try 91.31.

Doh! of course... yes i did (install security updates). Well that's good news at least. Thanks!

The driver is 70.78 I havent updated in the whole year that I've had it. After clone mode disappeared I downloaded the current release from nvidia, which of course wouldnt install. This forum has been the first clue all week as to how to proceed from there. I'd quite happily reinstall 70.78, but I'd gratefully receive some pointers here (or a link to a previous post with just such pointers). The vaio didnt ship with a driver disk, as such, and the forceware download from the nvidia site as you know doesnt install...

[Guest Demiologist]

Doh! of course... yes i did (install security updates). Well that's good news at least. Thanks!

The driver is 70.78 I havent updated in the whole year that I've had it. After clone mode disappeared I downloaded the current release from nvidia, which of course wouldnt install. This forum has been the first clue all week as to how to proceed from there. I'd quite happily reinstall 70.78, but I'd gratefully receive some pointers here (or a link to a previous post with just such pointers). The vaio didnt ship with a driver disk, as such, and the forceware download from the nvidia site as you know doesnt install...

Sorry, just reading "how to install" now...

[Guest demiologist]

Sorry, just reading "how to install" now...

I downloaded 70.78 (my original driver) and the inf, from the drivers thread on this forum, and successfully updated, which brought back to life the enabling of 2nd (default) monitor (so it seems the windows update was practically certainly the culprit)... but not clone (or any other) mode (than single laptop display).

any thoughts, or suggestions as to how go the next step and get clone mode working?

thanks!

d

[Bill]

Try 91.31 with the mod INF.

[who13]

Try 91.31 with the mod INF.

"To tawraste and who13, try the 91.31 driver with Pieter's mod INF for starters.

It seems to be a good driver from what I hear"

im a tad concerned with what tawraste mentioned about "my machine heats up a little more! (hope it doesn't melt or anything!)"...

i had a issues a few months back-a bad one..burned my MB and cpu into ASH litteraly-i think it was a power issue on MB...these notebooks (area51)as some know get real hot so adding heat is a tad scary...also dont know what he meant by " there is that dos window for nwiz.exe".....

im not sure `bout this one...i might wait this out and see if something more stable with better user comments comes around..in the d/l section there wasnt any ranting and raving going on.....lol

thanx for your time mate and keep us updated if something really great comes around.. :)

peace

p.s..still using V84.25

Edited June 10, 2006 by who13

[Guest demiologist]

Try 91.31 with the mod INF.

Hi Bill,

I tried 91.31 (inf from here, exe from Nzone, the one on this forum wouldnt extract). It installs happily but something's not right. The 2nd (default) monitor no longer is enable-able (as previously). and single laptop display is still the only display available. From " Nvidia Control Panel > Display Configuration (where 'only use one display' is the only checkbutton provided/listed) > My Display is not shown... > Rigorous Display Detection " causes the app to have 'encountered a problem, and needs to close' ...

Lovely, huh?!

Any bells ringing? any further thoughts? Might old files somehow not be being replaced?

I should go back to 70 for now which at least last time made 2nd monitor enable-able.

Thanks!

D

[who13]

sorry guys for this post..i answered my own question here

http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/index.php?showtopic=9507

over at nbforums they have this listed as stable i guess

NVIDIA Driver (v 84.26) [16/6/2006]

These are the Official Alienware Drivers

i grabbed the modded inf here and gonna try it out..

will post back..

note i still have v84.25 with modded inf installed with no issues..

well i tried it and it seems good..used the modded inf here and no issues..

Edited June 19, 2006 by who13