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Troubleshooting Video Cards

This section lists some typical problems related to video cards. Most of the problems below relate to specific setup issues with the video subsystem. For problems with viewed image quality, such as brightness, color levels etc. you should also check the troubleshooting section on monitors as it contains much more info on image-related issues.

I would mention one specific caveat regarding video cards that you should consider seriously before looking elsewhere for the possible causes of any problems related to video. You should always make sure that you are using the correct drivers for your video card. If you have any problems related to the video subsystem, or even general instability with the system that shows up when you are running Windows, this can be caused by using faulty or incorrect drivers.

Many companies ship video cards with drivers on a floppy disk or CD-ROM, but in most cases more up-to-date drivers can be found on the company's web site. These will often fix many of the strange problems sometimes seen when installing a new video card. Be sure to look for them.

Please choose the category best describing the problem you are having.

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