Re-enabling on-board graphics card

[Kirsle]

I'm trying to set up dual monitors for my PC. The two monitors are the same brand (COMPAQ 7500).

I have two video cards, one was on-board and the other is an NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700LE. I don't know the name of the on-board one since it doesn't display in Device Manager.

I've been searching around this forum and read in a few places that an add-on video card will disable the on-board card, which also causes the on-board card to not be listed in Device Manager.

I don't have the original CD that came with the NVIDIA card, so I downloaded the driver from the website:

Graphics Driver -> GeForce and TNT2 -> Windows XP/2000

I'm running Windows XP Home Edition, if that helps.

Before installing the drivers for the NVIDIA card, Display Properties' "Settings" tab looked how it normally does for having just one monitor. When I installed the drivers to add dual-monitor support, Display Properties now showed the icons for the two monitors, and I could adjust their properties (screen resolutions and color depths).

The problem is that both of these monitors seem to use the NVIDIA card, when one of them should use the on-board one.

The Display: listbox has these options:

1. COMPAQ 7500 Color Monitor on NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700LE
2. Default Monitor on NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700LE

When I plug the second monitor into the monitor port for the on-board card, it doesn't get a signal. I know both monitors work because they both work on the NVIDIA card using the normal monitor slot.

The NVIDIA card has three ports: an S-Video port, a port that a monitor normally plugs into, and another port which I don't know the name of... but I have an adapter that the monitor plugs into and then it can plug into this port.

A while back I had a different NVIDIA card with the same setup of ports, and using this adapter I would plug the monitor into the weird port and it would work fine. But on this card, the monitor doesn't get a signal when plugged into this port--only when plugged into the normal monitor port.

Sorry for the rambling, but I'm just providing the list of things I've tried.

Now, the main question:

How can you re-enable the on-board video card? I've seen in other posts that people would say the on-board card sometimes gets disabled by add-on cards, but nobody specified how to re-enable it.

Is it even possible?

Thanks in advance.

 

[kestrel1]

Not sure that re-enabling the on-board graphics will work, but to do this you will need to go into the BIOS & change the setting in there.
However, I think what you may need to do is get a converter cable for your graphics card, so that you can utilise the DVI socket. I have never tried this, but I have seen articals about it. I think that is why you are getting the two display options in Display properties.