DirectX 9.0b and Geforce 5200 FX Fu!

Hello all. I am looking for some help with the deep controversy of Nvidia vs. DirectX 9. I installed a NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 pci card, (had it in an AGP but it only worked intermittently) I have some 3d savers and games I want to use. I used DxDiag.exe to rout out the problem and this is what I got (I have included the system info so read on to the notes part):
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System Information
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Time of this report: 3/25/2004, 17:41:38
Machine name: ELIZABETH
O S: Win2k Pro(5.0, Build 2195) Service Pack 4
System Manufacturer: ECS System Model: K7VMM+
BIOS: Default System BIOS Processor: AMD Duron(tm) , MMX, 3DNow, ~1.1GHz Memory: 96MB RAM
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0b (4.09.0000.0902)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.0001.0902 32bit Unicode
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DxDiag Notes
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DirectX Files Tab: No problems found.
Display Tab 1: Hardware-accelerated Direct3D 9 is not available because the display driver does not support it. You may be able to get a newer driver from the hardware manufacturer. DirectDraw test results: All tests were successful. Direct3D 7 test results: All tests were successful. Direct3D 8 test results: Failure at step 1 (Loading Direct3D DLL): HRESULT = 0x80004005 (Generic failure) Direct3D 9 test results: Display driver does not support API (DDI version too low)
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DirectX Debug Levels
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Direct3D: 0/4 (n/a)
DirectDraw: 0/4 (retail)
DirectInput: 0/5 (n/a)
DirectMusic: 0/5 (n/a)
DirectPlay: 0/9 (retail)
DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
DirectShow: 0/6 (retail)
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Display Devices
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Card name: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200
Display Memory: 128.0 MB
Current Mode: 800 x 600 (16 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: LOGISYS LGX750
Monitor Max Res: 1280,1024
Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.5664 (English)
DDI Version: 7 (or higher)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 3/3/2004 10:29:00, 4256896 bytes
Registry: OK
DDraw Status: Enabled
D3D Status: Enabled
AGP Status: Not Available
DDraw Test Result: All tests were successful.
D3D7 Test Result: All tests were successful.
D3D8 Test Result: Failure at step 1 (Loading Direct3D DLL): HRESULT = 0x80004005 (Generic failure)
D3D9 Test Result: Display driver does not support API (DDI version too low)
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When I attempt to launch a 3d ware or to launch DxDiag.exe and at the point that the D3D8 test fails I get this exact error message:
"The procedure entry point DdEntry I could not be located in the Dynamic link library GDI32.dll. "

I updated the Nvidia drivers to the latest versions in safe mode.
I still cannot use my 3D wares.
GDI32.DLL is a fairly recent version and not corrupted. I don't know where to go from here. I certainly don't want to do something stupid. So please help- I find more controversy than answers on other boards....

Elizabeth

 

Elizabeth,
What I suggest is fairly generic as I can't offer any specifics to solve your particular problem.

NVIDIA have just released new drivers v56.72. Have you downloaded these? Although I don't think yours is a driver issue perse.
I would uninstall the current drivers and load the new version (v56.72) from windows (not in safe mode). I would also download directx again and reinstall it.
You may have a corrupted system file(s) so suggest from Start|Run do a scan/replace of system files. sfc /scannow. You will need your W2K disk.
After the scan/replace of system files you may need to reinstall the graphics driver, so suggest running it before installing the drivers.

I see that you have only 96MB or RAM. This is inadequate for W2K to run at its fastest. I strongly suggest installing extra RAM to bring it up to 256MB which will be adequate for your processor speed. You WILL see a marked increase in overall system performance.

 

Do have version 56.72

Thanks, Paul. I actually had 128mb of ram at the time of my posting, not sure what the ram drain is since my card has ram of it's own. I have since upgraded to 256 and have noticed improvement, but not in the problem noted. Repeated scans of sfc have shown no corrupted files. However, there is a problem with the onboard display drivers. I may have to reinstall the display drivers for the onboard vga, then use that and reinstall the drivers for the nvidia card, then put in the nvidia card (not sure the order matters although I prefer to install drivers prior to card usually) and then reinstall or at this point upgrade directx. At this time I have disabled the onboard card. I will post again when the project is completed... Thanks for replying to my post- you are the first. I was starting to wonder. Maybe there are some gamers out there who have some ideas. (By the way there is still a ram drain on this pc, it has 256 and only shows 224.

 

I didn't realise you also had onboard VGA as well.
So Make sure you have disabled this in BIOS, and also check the Motherboard documentation to make sure that this is only necessary in the BIOS setup. Then install the Geforce card and load latest drivers. Might be worth using the registry cleaners (EasyCleaner and RegSeeker) via the hyperlinks below my post to clean out the registry. Use the Unnecessary files cleaner in EasyCleaner as well to clear out a lot of old temp files etc. Use the windows defragmenter after all this as well.