How to Install an ATI Radeon Video Card

How to Install an ATI Radeon Video Card

ATI Radeon video cards are high end dedicated graphics cards produced by AMD (Advanced Micro Devices). ATI Radeon cards are used primarily for computer gaming and playing HD video, as many cards have HDMI and DVI ports to connect to HDTVs. To install an ATI Radeon card, a computer must have a PCI express slot, and the appropriate power connector for the card.

 

To install the ATI Radeon Video Card, follow the below steps:

1. Turn off the computer and unplug all the cords.

2. Open the case by unscrewing the screws on the right hand side of the case. This will release the side panel covering the motherboard.

3. Locate a PCI express slot. This slot is longer than the other expansion slots (PCI and AGP slots), Some motherboards have two PCI express slots.

4. Take off the slot cover. Each unused expansion bay on your computer will likely be covered by a metal cover which is mounted in place by a screw just inside the computer from the back of the case. Take out this screw to remove the cover.

5. Install the card. Align the card in the PCI express slot, making sure it is square with the slot, then push it in applying pressure to either side of the card, so it pushes in with uniform force. The card should pop into position and line up flush with the back of the case. You can screw the slot cover screw back in to secure the card.

6. Attach the card's power cord, if necessary. Some of most powerful video cards require a special PCI express power cord to be connected to it from the power supply.

7. Close the case, plug the cords back in and power on the computer.

8. Insert the driver CD into your CD drive and install the drivers appropriate for your operating system. ATI Radeon cards should come with a driver installation CD. You can also download drivers from AMD's website.

9. Restart your computer.

How to Check Network or Wireless Adapter Driver Status in Windows 7

Its is advised to check network or wireless adapter driver status in Windows 7 after installing the driver in order to make sure it works well before trying to connect to wired or wireless network. This avoids facing network connectivity problem due to incorrect or problematic driver.

To check Network or Wireless Adapter Driver Status

1)    Go to Start and click on Control Panel.

2)    Click on Hardware and Sound.

Note: If you view Control Panel by Large Icons or Small Icons, you can just double click the Device Manager.

3)    Click on Device Manager in Hardware and Sound window.

4)    The Device Manager will appear, then locate and expand Network adapters and right click the network or wireless adapter and then click on Properties.

5) The network or wireless adapter properties window will appear, your driver works well if it shows “This device is working properly” under General tab. You can also manually configure network adapter’s driver parameters under “Advanced” tab.

Note: If your device does not work well, click on Driver tab to check driver details, update driver, rollback driver, disable driver or uninstall driver.

How to install and Setup a SATA Hard Drive

This article will show you how to install and setup a SATA Hard Drive without any hassle

This article is applicable for Windows 7, Vista and Windows XP.

Warning

Always remember to discharge yourself before touching the HDD. This is done by touching the metal inside the case with you hands, as showed in the picture below

Note

These are the things you will need:

• Screwdriver to screw the side of your case off/on
• SATA Cable
• Molex to SATA Converter [Only needed if no SATA Power Cable is available]
• A SATA Hard Drive

Step 1. Installing the Hard Drive into the case.

1. Take out all wires and cables from the PC. Also hit the power button located on the back of the PC where the PSU is. Unplug the mains lead from the supply.

2. Screw the side panel of the pc

3. Connect your SATA Cable to the Motherboard

4. If needed connect your Molex to SATA converter

5. Put the harddrive into one of the free slots and connect the SATA power cable and the SATA Cable (Red)

6. Put the side panel on again, and screw in the screws

7. Connect all your cables to your PC again

 

Step 2. Checking if it's working

1. Turn on your PC

2. Go into your BIOS, and look if it shows the newly installed Hard Drive along with the rest of the system info

Step 3. Formatting and Using the Hard Drive

1. Click start menu  Right click Computer in the right panel  Click "Manage"

2. Enter the "Disk Management" (Look in the left pane)

3. You should now be able to see the Hard Drive in there as Unallocated space

4. Right Click the Bar in the bottom and click "New Simple Volume"

5. Follow the wizard, choose a name, amount of space the partition should have and the Drive letter.

6. Now you can see your new Hard drive in "Computer"

This article is applicable for Windows 7, Vista and Windows XP.

Unable to detect SATA hard disk during XP installation

In order to install XP (of either flavour) you need to follow a particular method to install the SATA drivers.

1).You'll need to have the SATA drivers available on a floppy disk ready for the install process - if your mainboard manufacturer has not supplied a floppy disk with the drivers you'll find them on your mainboard CD or manufacturers website.

2).Make sure that, if you need to copy onto a floppy disk, you transfer all the files from the SATA driver folder - special attention needed to ensure you include all relevant files.

3).Check your mainboard manual for the appropriate BIOS settings for booting from SATA.

4).As the XP set-up begins you will be prompted to 'Press F6 to specify third-party RAID or SCSI drivers' - at this point you should press F6 and,

when asked, insert the floppy disk with the relevant drivers. Select the appropriate driver when asked and continue with the setup. There may be some delays during this process and the set-up may appear to be continuing without recognizing the key-press - so don't panic.

5).When successful you'll be able to select the HD to install on. If you are not given the HD you have not completed the procedure correctly. Check you are using the correct drivers, have any relevant BIOS updates for your mainboard, and try again.