Installing a video card. Need feedback.

[daphatty]

I just bought a new video card for my HTPC and I'm really not looking forward to installing it. I've had nothing but issues when I install a new video card into a PC that was originally running a different chipset (ATI -> nVidia). I'm REALLY reluctant to do a fresh install of Windows simply because I am friggin LAZY at the moment. Does anyone know of a way that I can achieve the same quality installation results without reinstalling windows?

[supadupacheap]

What I would do is set a restore point then give it a try. Some mobos are picky as hell with chipsets, others couldnt care less. If you REALLY want to be lazy, dont even google your mobo for peoples thoughts, just cram that bad boy in there and see what happens. ;-)

[CaseyRyback]

if you are switching manufactuers the only hang up I could see is you need to make sure to uninstall the ATi drivers before installing your new card.

If you bought your card at retail I would just follow the instructions as thats what I did when I switched manufactuers and I had no problem (though this was two years ago)

[daphatty]

My biggest concern is leaving behind ATI "crap." The last ATI card I used never really uninstalled itself fully which irritated me more than anything else. For some reason the ATI drivers still showed in Add/Remove Programs even though I had uninstalled them. Attempting to remove the listing would crash windows every time. :bomb:

I just found a "utility" that supposedly removes all this ATI stuff from a system so lets see how well it works...