Hi All,
An idiot needs help. Please forgive the non technical terms as i'm no expert.
I have a 1gb 9800GT Nvidia card in my hp a6220 dual core 2ghz pc and as i don't have internet at home i took my pc into work to get total war napoleon internet validated. I had a problem in that my machine wouldn't communicate with the monitor so someone in work helped by taking out my card and using the on board graphics to load it. While it was here a lot of updates were also done.
When i originally installed the card a year ago my machine recognised it and have no problems until after i got it home after the above work was done. When i log in i get a message telling me the graphic card is not receiving sufficient power and has lowered its performance for safe operation and i need to attach the supplemental power connector. As far as i remember i've never attached any connector to the card. I had a search last night and couldn't even see a connector for anything to attach to.
I've spoke to someone else who say's it may be my BIOS is only recognising my on board graphics but i've never been into BIOS as i've been told you need to know what you're doing.
I know this may be something silly but can anyone help.
Thank you all so much,
Andrew.

Hi Rodders, Ricardo here. First of all, you and your question are not silly. Your computer is only recognizing the onboard graphics as the boot sequence / priority has been changed and the onboard graphics has been ENABLED. I think we can help with this problem, you have to go into the BIOS and enable one thing and turn the other thing off. WARNING!!!!!!!! >>>>> your BIOS is a critical part of your computer, be VERY careful what you do there and PLEASE don't make any other changes other than my instructions below.

Please note, that all computers don't have the same type of BIOS, but I think these instructions will help you or at least you will know what to look for. Here we go:

Re-start or boot up your computer. When it starts to boot, hit the DELETE key on your keyboard. This will take you to a screen which will say: BIOS SETUP UTILITY and the menu should say something like this: >>>>>> MAIN / ADVANCED / POWER / BOOT / EXIT. You want to go to ADVANCED you have to use your up / down / left / right arrows on the keyboard to find the desired topic. When you get to ADVANCED hit the enter key. Using the arrows look for CHIPSET then hit enter. Once you're inside this menu, look for something that says: BOOT GRAPHIC ADAPTER PRIORITY, hit enter and make sure it is set to: PCI Express / PCI. After you do that, look for something that says: INTERNAL GRAPHICS MODE SELECT and then hit enter and set it to: DISABLED.

Once you have done all this, hit your F10 key. This will save what you have done and your computer will automatically re-boot and you should be fine. Like I said above, BIOS differ between various computers. Mine happens to be ATI, but the instructions I laid down above should give you the general gist or what to look for if your BIOS menu differs from mine. You have to set the graphic card boot sequence and turn OFF the onboard graphics.

Good luck and please let us know how you made out. If it works, you owe me a few Newcastle Brown.

Cheers

Thanks for the help Ricardo. I'll do exactly as instructed no problem. I'll let you know what happens.
Regards,
Andrew.

PS: I just noticed in your profile, that you are from Northwich. I have 2 mates here, one is originally from Manchester and the other is from Rochdale. Both places are not far from you. My family originate from Ulverston, which is not far from Barrow-in-Furness, although I am a Canadian, I was born here.

Hi Ricardo,
Yes i'm Cheshire born and dragged up. Manchester is only about 29 miles away Barrow in Furness quite a bit further. Northwich is a small town of only about 30,000 much smaller than Manchester, but it's nice round here,
Regards.

Just a note to say thank you for your help Ricardo. I did as instructed and changed the BIOS to pcie. It was actually on pci.
I managed to find the connector on my card. It was underneath a load of wires so i got a wire and it's now fixed.
So thanks again for taking the time to help.
Regards,
Andrew.

Good job Andrew, I am glad it all worked out for you and thanks for posting back. Like I said, BIOS differ from computer to computer. I had to set mine to PCI Express / PCI and I am not sure what you mean by a connector. My card plugs right into the motherboard, but it is an older model than yours. Anyway, I am glad it's working for you now. I may be going to the UK, this summer, to visit some friends in Nottingham and relatives in the lakes district and in Scotland. Maybe we can hook up and hit a few pubs. I will probably purchase a few gallons of Newcastle Brown, whilst I am there.

Take care

Cheers

I have many fond memories of drinking scrumpy in the country pubs of Devon. At least I have vague recollections of it

I know what you mean Tech B. I have had it here, because where I come from, there are lots of orchards outside of my home town. Similar, in a sense, to your Okanagan valley in BC. We have lots of apple orchards and I have had hard cider, which is good. Maybe not so good for the head, the next day.

I love beer, especially our own beer, but I like lots of English beer, especially Newcastle Brown, I really enjoy it, have you ever tried it????


Cheers

I prefer a good bitter but Newcastle brown is almost as good.