Display adapter missing in device manager

I am unable to load my graphics driver ,ATI radeon 7500, as an error message states I need to load a standard VGA driver first.
I had the same problem several months ago and stumbled onto the solution but now I have forgotten what to do

I have tried reinstalling from the ATI cd, pressed F8 to get into VGA mode, I HAVE downloaded the latest drivers and previous drivers but the same error mesage keeps reoccuring.
Hardware wizard doesnt help either

I run xp on 2 different drives one in Japanese and the other in english. I did this for 1 year with no problems. One version loads ATI perfectly but not on the other systemnow , as I brilliantly deleted a few things and got attacked by a virus simultaneosly..........I dont know which virus........... I have managed to stuff things up. I also went to the widows CD and did a repair to try to fix things but this didnt help.

This problem isnt as simple as it should be.
Any suggestions no matter how obvious would be appreciated as I am lost as to where to go next

 

You asked for the obvious .

Pull the card and clean the connections. I used to use isopropyl alcohol for this, but have since switched to WD-40 since the alcohol/water combination tended to leave the metal unprotected while the WD-40 left a slight if not very long-lasting protective film behind.

If the machine seems not to detect the card as it should, it may be as simple as that.

Try another card if you have one available. Any card. That may tell us more.

If your machine detects the card (check the Display Properties, Settings, Advanced, Adapter to see what it says), delete the ATI folder in your root directory, and try the new Catalyst driver.