bad card or compatibility issue

i have just obtained a nvidia geforce 5600 agp video card from a friend of mine. when i went to install it with my msi motherboard it doesnt function properly. it is fact made by msi. the symptoms are that it will be recognized by the motherboard, fire up the monitor and load windows. but all you can see right from the beginning is a white screen with occasional interruptions of color as one screen loads from another. it reminds me of when i was a kid and the nintendo would mess up. you either had to blow on the cartridge or push up and down on the cartridge to unscramble it. i tried uninstalling my ati drivers to see if they were interfering then shut it down. same results when i booted my machine up. i've checked in the setup to see if my agp settings needed tweeked, but theres nothing i could find that would help.i know my agp slot works cause my ati 9250 is running in it right now. the only reason i would like to swap it out is for game requirement issues and features i need that the 9250 lack. if i could get it to work so i could see in windows i could download updated drivers and all would be good in the world. as it is all i can see is white. sorry if something like this has been posted and i havent come across it. just redirect me and i'll check it out.if not then any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

First of all, try putting the card in another computer to verify it is working properly.
If the problem starts the moment you turn on the computer, the drivers are not the cause. Drivers are loaded at the end of windows startup.

 

thats what i thought about it to. i wish i had another computer to use i would have tried that too. but my girlfriends comp is a dell with no agp slot rolleyes . if i can round up a computer for it i'll get back with the results to go from there. thanks for taking the time to post.