Hi!

Hello, hope someone here can help, though I've put the post elsewhere
too. I wanted a computer separate from my Vista laptop for specific
tasks and have bought a refurbished Compaq Deskpro En, 886 mhz, 320 mb
RAM, 20 gig hard drive.

Nice systems. But you've got know what you have. There are three major
configurations:

1. Desktop case. This has two drive bays side-by-side with the floppy drive
opening underneath the rightmost one with the machine facing you.

2. Convertible desktop/tower case. Drive bays are all vertically aligned,
one on top of the other.

3. SFF -- looks like a "shrunken" desktop model. One 5.25" drive bay, one
floppy bay. Internally, the hard drive sits to the left of the CD-ROM.

If you're not sure, can you get a picture and post a *link* to it here?

Of all three, it is *only* the SFF models that have nVidia video. All others
use Intel 815 video and have an AGP slot where a video card or AIMM (video
RAM) will be.

And you're quite right, the latest nVidia 71.89 drivers won't install, with
the installer complaining that you don't have any compatible hardware in
your system. This is untrue, and the drivers will work. After setup fails,
it leaves behind a folder full of drivers. Go to the Device Manager, find
the display adapter and upgrade the drivers using the facilities provided
there. Pick a GeForce MX100/200, and ignore the warning about compatible
hardware. The nVidia drivers *are* smart enoug h to really know what you
have, and will identify it correctly in the nVidia control panel.

Of course, if you're using Windows 2000 or XP, both have a suitable nVidia
driver built in. (Again, if that's really the video system you have!) Check
your resolution and color depth settings--they need to match what the LCD
panel is capable of or things will look bad, possibly in the way you
describe.

The graphics hardware in these machines is pretty good. Even the Intel 815
has dedicated video memory, something you don't see done very often. The
nVidia chipset has at least 16MB video memory available to it, and can drive
a 1280x1024 panel at 32-bit color perfectly.

William