Uninstalled graphics accelerator

[janelle]

Recently, I've had problems with some games crashing. I searched for a solution on the web and one recommendation was to uninstall the graphics accelerator which I did. Now those same games are playing fine without crashing. I had previously uninstalled the graphics drivers and reinstalled them. That didn't help.

Why would some games play fine without the accelerator? What do I sacrifice by not having the accelerator?

Specs: Win xp, Mobile Intel 915GM/GMS, 910 GML Express, graphics accelerator 900.

Thanks in advance for any responses!

 

[mailpup]

If I understood you correctly, when you restart the computer Windows automatically reinstalls the graphics accelerator and the graphics driver which must have cleared up your problem. The graphics accelerator is another name for graphics card or in your case onboard graphics. The graphics accelerator is hardware so cannot be removed physically by software uninstalling. If your graphics "card" was truly gone, you would have no video output at all.

 

[janelle]

Hi Mailpup - thanks for the response!

Here's what I did:
First, through Device Mgr, I uninstalled the graphics drivers and reinstalled them. There were 2 listed. The games still crashed.

Then I went into the Add/Remove section of Control Panel and uninstalled the graphics accelerator. (That's why I thought the graphic drivers and accelerator were 2 different items.) I can't remember if I did a restart afterwards or not, but the games worked. This made me think that it was the accelerator part of the graphics software that was causing the problem, so that is why I thought I could do without an accelerator.

I guess that's what I get for thinking!!

 

[captaincranky]

Consider yourself lucky that you can actually play some games you like with that rig. Intel 915 is pushing 6 years old. I have the desktop version of it, and the other children make fun of me.

 

[janelle]

You got that right, captaincranky!! I don't play those hi-tech games the youngin's play. I'm an ol' fogey and play games that make me think, but nothing fast-action. I'm battling many years of brain cells dying...lol.

 

[mailpup]

In the Add or Remove Programs you uninstalled the graphics driver. If successfully done, the driver is removed, deleted, gone. When done through the Device Manager, it is only disconnected but not actually deleted or gone. Now it appears you are running on the Windows generic graphics driver unless you downloaded and reinstalled the graphics driver from Intel or the laptop manufacturer's website. If you you haven't yet done so, you should.

 

[janelle]

Hi mailpup - Thanks for the explanation - that makes sense! The thing that is strange is after I removed the graphics accelerator, the next morning when I rebooted, the Intel graphics driver was back under the Device Mgr. without me downloading them. So, maybe the computer, on its own, decided I should have them??

When the games were crashing, I got the BSoD, stating that the problem was in the igxpdx32.dll file. I have to assume that the orginal file was corrupted and when I removed the drivers and they magically reappeared, an uncorrupted file was installed? Is that a possible assumption?

Thanks for all your help!

 

[mailpup]

It's not so strange. When you uninstall through the Device Manager since the driver is not deleted, Windows automatically reinstalls it when you restart the PC. When you uninstall through Add or Remove, it really removes the driver files so the problem file actually goes away. Right now your graphics are running on the Windows supplied, basic generic driver which is insufficient for most applications, especially games. BTW, the onboard, integrated graphics in your PC is itself barely adequate for many games and inadequate for most high end games so at best you can't expect too much from it. For best graphics performance you should install the latest graphics driver from your laptop maker's website.