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This is always the point where things can get a bit tricky. Not that there is much to opening the case, unscrewing the old video card and taking it out and replacing it with the new card but that's where the fun just starts. To make it easier, here are the most common problems and solutions:

• The new video card has been sitting in the store for more than 3 weeks: Even if this is not the case, there is a very good chance that the CD included with the card contains completely outdated drivers. I highly recommend to pay the manufacturer's website a visit and look for the latest version of drivers for the new card before taking out the old one. Very often, the manufacturer's sites are not updated as frequently as they should be but there is Guru of 3D who always have the latest drivers for any video card.

• Download the drivers and save them within an extra folder.
• Unzip the download file within the same folder (and make sure that you know the name of the new folder.
• Check the content of the new folder. If there is a setup file, it means that an automated installation utility has been included, if not, the install has to be done manually but that is no big deal either.
• After changing the video card, the system does not boot:

AGP cards have their contacts in two double rows (one on each side) which requires much ore careful positioning of the card than in the case of a PCI device.

• Use the handle of the screwdriver to tap the AGP card a few times along the entire length of its top edge.
• (Abit BH6 users only)
• Another possibility is that the previous video card was a Matrox G200 or G400 and that the FSB:AGP ratio was set to 1:1 at 100 MHz bus speed. Most video cards don't initialize at 100 MHz AGP speed because it is speck'd at 66 MHz.

Your new card is not a PCI card, so what the heck is going on? Nothing special, this is perfectly normal, Windows needs to install the standard graphics adapter first before you can install the correct drivers.

In most instances, the installation will continue just by clicking on the "next" button and then tell you that Windows needs to restart your computer.

When your computer has restarted and is back in Windows, click on the setup file of your new video drivers or, in case, there is no such file, click the Start button, go to settings => control panel => display and click on the settings button on the top right. Click on the "advanced" tab and then on adapter => change. A new pop-up window will ask you for the location of the driver and you can use the Browse button to specify the directory that you put your new drivers in.

The rest usually works automatically and after your card has been installed, you can change the resolution and color depth of your display in the control panel. Now comes the important part. After rebooting, and seeing that everything comes up again, restart the computer one more time but hold down the F8 key and select "boot into safe mode" Go to the Control Panel / System / Device Manager and delete all Graphics Adapters except for the new one (you should have 3 listings at least). Check the + sign on the monitor icon and delete all monitors listed.

Reboot and you are ready to go.

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