How do I remove my video card?

[Sorgoth]

Just want some tips so I do it right.

[Abbadon]

Well, after turning off the system, disconnecting all the cables and opening the case, here's what should happen:

- Make sure you're grounded! Wear a wriststrap or, if you don't have one, ground yourself against a metal table or something. Basicly you want to get rid of possible static electricity you have in your body.

- Locate the card, unscrew the little screw that keeps it in place a the back of the case

- Look at the other end of the card, where it sits in the slot. There will be some kind of mechanism there that keeps the card in place (could be a lever, could be a pinball-machine like thingy, look here (http://www.pcguide.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=25502&highlight=component+identification) for a picture (a bit down: agp retainer clip)

- Disengage said mechanism, gently retract the card from the slot (no bumping into other cards, no dropping the card,... ;) )

- In case you want to hold on to the card, maybe for later use: get yourself an antistatic bagg to keep it safe in.

Good luck! :)

[Rick]

Before you open the case
But after you remove the power cable.

PRESS The POWER BUTTON

This will discharge any and all stored power in the system.

[Beta Geek]

It's also a good idea to remove the card from the device manager and uninstall any drivers that came with it.

[Sorgoth]

Should I do that even if I'm going to put it right back in?

[Abbadon]

I'd say no, but if I might inquire: why remove the vidcard just to put it right back in?

[saphalline]

To clean it. Don't you do that, Abbadon? Mine is overdue, but I keep forgetting to buy more compressed air and isopropyl alcohol. And I've heard that foam-rubber Q-tips are also a nice electronics cleaning companion.

I also must digress on the grounding issue. It's usually nothing more than a technicality, but being grounded relative to your PC's case is what you want. Being grounded to a metal table in another room does jack squat! That's why wrist straps are often designed to be connected to the case, not the grounding pin of outlets.

[Sorgoth]

Actually, I'm taking it out to reinstall it.

Hopefully, it'll get tribes 2 working.

[Jason1971]

Hello Sorgoth,

I don't think you need to physically remove the video card to reinstall it. Try what Beta Geek said " remove the card from the device manager and uninstall any drivers that came with it." If unsure on how to do that please let us know.

Also what type of system do you have? And what problems are you having with Tribes 2?




Jason

[Sorgoth]

I'm unsure how to do it (Although I think I have a pretty good idea.)

I am running Windows XP.
1.73 gigahertz AMD Athlon XP
20.41 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
6.13 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space
NVIDIA GeForce2 MX/MX 400 [Display adapter]
MPU-401 Compatible MIDI Device
Realtek AC'97 Audio for VIA (R) Audio Controller
Standard Game Port


The problem I have with tribes 2 is the opening screen comes up, then it says

Unhandled exception: c0000005
At adress: 00000000


That's EXACTLY what it says.

I figure it's a video card error.

[mjc]

Well, it can be a driver issue it can also be caused by a software conflict.

The first thing to check is that there is nothing else running when you try to play the game.

A good idea would probably be to run a HJT log, since it will show the running programs and the startups, in an easily readable format.

You can get it here (http://mjc1.com/mirror/hjt/)

The next is to probably grab a couple of different sets of drivers for your card, because the one thing I found about this type of error, if driver related, is that you will need to experiment with driver versions to find one that works properly.