Solved: Video/Graphics Card Errors

[purpldrgn1956b]

I have a Dell 4550 with XP Home Service Pack 2
Intel Pentium 4 CPU 2.66GHz
2.66GHZ, 512 MB of RAM
The video card is 128MB DDR ATI Radeon 9700


Just recently I have been getting error messages when I try to play games I have had for a long time and never had any problems before...

They seem to have to do with 3D or maybe Direct X...maybe its the drivers..whatever it is I don't know what, or how to fix...

Here are some of the error messages I get:


~Unable to initialize DirectX drivers. It is most probably caused by a video or DirectX drivers which are outdated or not installed properly or insufficient video card capabilities. Please note that the game requires #D-accelerated video card with 8MB or more video RAM and properly installed video drivers (most recent version) and DirectX 8.0 or higher to launch.~

~Default video card doesn't support stensil buffer.~

~No compatible display devices found.~

These error messages came from 3 different games...that I have played many times before.

 

[Triple6]

I would try downloading and installing the ATI Catalyst Suite from here: http://game.amd.com/us-en/drivers_catalyst.aspx?p=xp/radeonx-xp and see if that rectifies the situation.

 

[purpldrgn1956b]

TY... I tried your suggestion...but didn't work

I got this error message during install...

~~Setup did not find a driver compatible with your current hardware or operating system~~~

Any more suggestions please...this is driving me crazy!!!!

 

[purpldrgn1956b]

Do I need to replace my video card? Or reinstall the drivers? and if so how do I do that?

 

[Triple6]

It should just be a software/driver issue.

Go to Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel, uninstall any current ATI video drivers, and reboot as requested. Then download and run Driver Sweeper to clean out any ATI files: http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=1655 Also go to Device Manager and uninstall the video adapter there and reboot. When the Add New Hardware Wizard pops up just keep hitting Next and Finish until it completes even if it doesn't find a suitable driver. Then try reinstalling that same driver you downloaded from ATI again.

 

[purpldrgn1956b]

TY SO VERY MUCH TRIPLE6!!! This seems to have fixed the problem...
I appreciate your help so much and for having this website! It is a great service ~~~

 

[Triple6]

Awesome, glad to hear