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Video card conflict in Win98

I recently upgraded to Windows 98 (1st Edition)and have had a problem with my video card. I have a Diamond Viper 550 AGP card based on the nVidia chipset. After upgrading to Win98, windows will not properly configure or reconize the card. It will not display in no more than what looks like 4 bit color scheme. Now here is the kicker. At one time I was using this same card under Win98 with no problems, but due to cd rom conflicts, I had to format drive C. After installing Win95 and the video card, it worked fine. Then I istalled Win98 again and thats when the problem starts. I can use this video card fine under Win95 with no problems at all which is why I am back to using Win95 version 2.1 with USB support.I have a basic no name computer with the following items:
AT Motherboard w/ 128 megs ram,
Diamond Viper 550 video card AGP
Soundblaster Live Value sound card PCI
Diamond 56K v90 ISA modem ISA
Pentium II 266 CPU
WD 6.4 hard drive, and floppy
Thanks for any help.

Big0range

Install Win98 from scratch (on a formatted drive). Even if you're using an upgrade cd, you can install it fresh. Also, use the nVidia reference drivers at the nVidia website (http://www.nvidia.com/Products.nsf/htmlmedia/software_drivers.html). They are very stable, and allow for excellent card performance.

Stuart_Johnson

Anothing thing to try. Click on Start, Settings, Control Panel, System. Click on Display Driver and remove your video card from the list. Restart and see if Windows detects the card correctly. It may require the drivers which you should have. If not, download them as BigOrange suggested.

Cheers.

Stu.

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MRVW

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dew_associates

Mongo, do a clean install of Windows 98 and use the Win98 drivers for the video card. Don't use the Diamond in control drivers or tools.
Dennis

netmage

If this Video card is one of the first release Viper 550's then Diamond did release a video bios upgrade that along with the newest drivers did fix problems as you have described with win98.

You can check the bios version with the diamond control tools.
Its useless for anything else.

I agree with "bigorange"
I've found that using NVIDIA'S latest Generic TNT drivers behave better on the V550.

DaveMon

Also, check how things are being seen by the bios, do all of your devices have their own IRQ/DMA? sometimes simply resetting bios defaults can correct the strangest of things.....also sometimes the latest drivers are worse than the originals, dont assume that they will fix your issue or improve your particular situiation..usually yes, but sometimes drivers get overdone I think....Also when you remove the card as suggested previously, try to notice exactly what the card is called by Windows as it finds it...I have overlooked version numbers and letters before and spent hours installing "Lucent 56k LN" drivers when it was identified by windows as a "Lucent Tech 56 ASN" or some other slight deviation..... I belive this type of problem is due to 8-10 products are all shipped in the same box design, except for a small sticker to designate a difference these can sometimes be misinterpreted.......and finally is your bios version current? It may offer some answers due to AGP version etc.......

DaveMon

mongo6872

ASKER

I want to thank everyone that responded to my question. There were many answers given that I cannot use just one. So I am going to use a little of everyones advice and suggestions.