Disabling Graphics Card

My son has a buddy that has a Dell Dimension 2350 and he attempted to add a GeForce 4 MX440se graphics card without disabling his "On Board" Graphics card and now neither one will work...We disabled the "On Board" in the Bios and the new one wouldn't work, so we enabled the "On Board" and pulled the new card out and that did nothing....So now regardless what graphics card, he attempts to use, he has no video.... Any suggestions on what might be going on and how this fix this problem....
Thanks
Rick A.

 

Either remove the battery from the motherboard for a bit to reset the bios settings to default, or short the jumper pin on the motherboard (disconnect the power supply to the board first).

 

Not really trying to cross-examine you here, but the sequence of events would make it easier for us to understand what happened. So, if the new card didn't work and the onboard video was disabled, then how did you have video to re-enable the onboard? You seem to be getting some video somewhere, or I just don't quite understand what the sequence was.

 

put new video card back into computer and turn computer on as normal. wait until it completely loads even if the video screen is blank. when you are sure that it is done loading, attach monitor to each card to see which one is currently showing video. do not turn off computer to switch, just shut off the monitor and then switch cable. one or the other should have video and then you can correct the problem.

 

I don't think it is a good idea to attach and detach the monitor after the computer is up and running.........

 

AcaCandy --
You're right. It's not a good idea to hot-swap anything when the computer is running. After the original hoopla about hot-swappable USB devices, even MS introduced that "Safe to remove" icon in the tray.

But switching monitors is something many people have done. Trying to disable one video and enable another while having a screen available to do it can seem like one of those ancient Chinese puzzles!

It is a very good idea, if you do this sort of thing, to at least turn the monitor off for the process and to push the connector in as straight and quickly as possible.

 

I'm not saying I've never done it......I usually don't practice what I preach.....but with many years of experience and my share of blown up items

For beginners, better safe than sorry

 

And the next lesson will be about flashing a bad BIOS by putting a good chip in just tightly enough to boot into DOS, then removing it and putting in the bad chip so you can flash it.

You need a good chip-removal tool, a powerful flashlight, extra joints in your arms, and a Valium .