Which free upgraded video driver should I download?

Question

I have a Dell Dimension 8400 PC and Windows XP.
When using Microsoft Updates, I was installed all of the updates - custom and express - and restarted my computer as instructed. But when my screen came back on, the resolution was very low. I went to Properties and Settings and it said that "the currently selected graphics display card cannot be used. It was written for a previous version of Windows and is not compatible with this version. The system has started using the default VGA driver."

Now my computer is using 4 bits color and its terrible. I know I need to download an upgraded driver from the Dell website but I don't know which one I need. Please help. 10 points to someone who can provide me with the name of an appropriate download and url for its location.

Answer 1

go to www.dell.com there you will see support click on that. find downloads and drivers, input you service tag number. and express service code... these can be found on your computer.... it will tell you what software driver upgrades you need download them and install each driver

I think on the dell site there is an auto update... not sure

Answer 2

You have a video driver corrupted.
1st try this. This may sound trite but call Dell support and give them your support tag. It's on the front right side of the case. They can at least tell you what card you have. You should have a CD with the drivers and can re-install the card drivers from it. Or try this:

Go to Start-->Control Panel-->System Click on 'Device Manager'. In the Device Manager box double click on 'Display Adapters'. The vid card should be listed. If it lists a card like FX5200 for example then you know the card. You need to know who manufactured the card then you can go to the manufacturers website to download the drivers NOT Dell. If it lists 'unknown device' go to 2.
Double click on the listed device. In the Properties box select the Driver tab and hit the 'Roll Back Driver' button.
You can also reinstall the card from here by right-clicking the card and choosing 'remove'. Reboot and reinstall the drivers.

As an extra note, most of the Dells I've worked on (but not all) come with an Nvidea card. Try to download the NForce drivers from nvidea. The NForce drivers cover all nvidea cards still supported and the odds of you having an unsupported card in a Dell is fairly slim.