How to Check the Video Driver

MORE INFORMATION

To verify exactly which video drivers that your Windows operating system is expecting to load:

1. Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).
2. Go to the following location in the registry:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\hardware\DeviceMap\Video

3. The Device\Video0 value points to a registry key that has the location of the video driver that Windows is configured to load.
   
   For example the value may be:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\<videodriver>\Device0

4. Go to the following location in the registry:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\<video driver>\Device0

   To see what the value setting, double-click on the value InstalledDisplayDrivers. This is the driver that was loaded.

If it is set to another registry location, a third-party driver may be being loaded when Windows starts.

For example if PcAnywhere is installed, Device0 does not have the name of a file, but instead displays another registry location that gives the video driver name.

For example: Verify the following:

1. Verify that the file or files in step 4 is present in the WinNT\System32 folder. This file has a .DLL extension.
2. Verify that the file or files are also present in the \WinNT\System32\Drivers folder. This file will have the .SYS extension.

If the links and values are not correct, or if the files pointed to are not present, then resolve the problem so the system starts properly.

If the links and values are correct, and the files are present, then there may be a video driver conflict. Verify that you have the latest drivers for the video card.

Below is an example of what these registry settings would be like when using an S3 video card: