No graphics card after system recovery?

Over the weekend we were given my mother-in-law's old desktop. She was having trouble with it (something small and silly that I could have fixed had she asked) and she did a Windows XP system recovery using the disk. I dont think she did it correctly though...

Since the system recovery, we are unable to play any games that were previously playable on this computer. A notice comes up saying "Failed to find any DirectX 9.0c compatible graphics adapters in this system!" There is a graphics card in this computer, like I said we were able to play these games/use the graphics card before the recovery.

How can I make the refreshed XP recognize the graphics card again?

 

you may need to reinstall Direct X http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...38-db71-4c1b-bc6a-9b6652cd92a3&displaylang=en
then re-update windows too if you already haven't,check the windows optional updates for your graphics driver or the systems mfg web site updates to reinstall or update drivers

 

Did the graphics card come with a disk? This might have the drivers for the card and they need to be installed.

 

I have no idea if it came with a disk. I will ask the mom-in-law to look for one. I did do what pistol said, and installed Direct X from the website, and updated windows, but it still says it wont work.

I downloaded Driver Checker and it found several drivers that need updating, though I didnt see any kind of graphics card on the list. But do you think Driver Checker would be able to fix the problem? It does list 'video controller' as needing an update...

 

this page may help you figure out the type of card your systems using,if you can describe the make & model of the computer,maybe someone here will know where you can install the drivers from,you can check windows update (the custom search button)and it may show up there,i think that you may have to purchase Driver Checker before it does any installs for you,but I'm not sure .

http://tribaltrouble.com/driversupport.php

 

Is the computer a major brand name ie... Dell, Compaq. If so you can go to their site and get drivers for the card. If you are comfortable in opening up the computer see if the card has any markings. Of course unplug the system and ground yourself to the case.

 

If you can download this prog it will tell you the make and model of the GPU.

http://majorgeeks.com/download4181.html

If that does not tell you this is a more comprehensive tool.

http://majorgeeks.com/SIW_System_Info_d4387.html

both are free and if need be you can put them on a thumb drive to run on the problem PC.

 

Its a Dell Dimension 8400. I tried the Dell website but they have downloads for Nvidea, which doesnt seem to work, so must not be what I have.

I can download those programs but I don't know what I'm looking at. The first one has Direct X on its list...

 

It will give you all the ifo about your PC.
start the prog and let it scan your PC it will then show a screen with loads of info.
On the left side click the word "computer" then on the mainscreen click "summary" there it will have all the info you need.

 

all you have to do is to right click on your desktop screen,the menu will show "properties on the bottom of the menu,click on properties,the display properties applet will appear,go to the settings tab on the end ,click on settings,and under "display"you'll see the card model type,either ATI,nVidia,or Emuzed,make sure you chose the correct model#
then you'll find the driver on this page http://support.dell.com/support/dow...IM_PNT_P4_8400&hidos=WW1&hidlang=en&TabIndex=

 

The Dell should have a tag on the side with a number.
Start here
http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/index.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen
enter the service tag number and you will be taken to a page with the drivers for your particular computer.

If I were you, I'd download all of them and burn to a CD for archiving. When you need to install a driver, point the wizard to the CD and it should be able to find the proper driver.

Here is the page for the 65 driver downloads for Dimension 8400, without a service tag
http://support.dell.com/support/dow...D=DIM_PNT_P4_8400&os=WW1&osl=en&catid=&impid=