not able to install latest drivers for HD3850 on Win2k

slogol · Mar 19, 2008, 11:45 AM

Dear All,

I have just discovered this amazing forum while searching on Google a solution for my issue.

I have just bought a new HD3850 256 MB (PciExpress version) from Asus and none of the existing official drivers seem to support it on Windows 2000.

When I found Driverheaven website and their Win2k Radeon display drivers I was so happy ... finally an ATI driver for the HD3850 that can be installed on Windows 2000.

However, I have been trying for hours to install the latest Radeon version (4.8.442) with no success.
Installation completes successfully but the card is never recognized by Windows.

I own a legal copy of Windows 2000 and dont want to buy XP license.

I would use the HD3850 only in 2D (so no games) so I would be very grateful if someone could help me with my issue.

Many thanks in advance for your help !!!

Cheers,

Slogol

***temeteus82*** · Mar 19, 2008, 12:19 PM

Hi there!

There isn't really any easy way to get your card working on w2k. Since AMD has dropped support for it on their newest cards....

btw. why you get high end 3d card for 2d use?

Judas · Mar 19, 2008, 02:01 PM

simply put.... windows 2000 is no longer a supported product.... your basically in the same boat as windows 98/ME cases..

maybe omega drivers may have a solution but i doubt it...

**Spyre** · Mar 19, 2008, 02:56 PM

You can modify the display drivers to install but its a pain to do, and not for the none technically minded.

slogol · Mar 19, 2008, 05:21 PM

@Temeteus82:
... well, basically the plan would be to mainly use Win2k for work, and (if I can find in the next few months a not expensive legal win XP cd) to play some of the new games on a WinXP dedicated partition. However, I have to admit I did not check whether Win2k was supported with this card before buying it ... my fault

@Spyre:
it would be terrific if you could give me some info on how to modify the display drivers (or at least to point me in the right direction) ... I need to use Win 2k for work and cannot return the graphic card to the vendor

Anyway, if you go to this page

OmegaDrivers.net - Home of the ATI & NVIDIA Omega Drivers. ATI Windows XP/2000

it is written that the drivers are for Windows XP/2000.
So I guess it is reasonable to assume that the Radeon Omega drivers should also work on Windows 2000.

Or am I wrong?

Judas · Mar 19, 2008, 05:30 PM

Not completely true...... it should work.. but there is a chance that the specific ati model may not be listed for the windows 2000 driver

***temeteus82*** · Mar 19, 2008, 05:34 PM

if you get the XP then you really should move to use it since all you apps on w2k will work on it

slogol · Mar 19, 2008, 05:46 PM

@Judas:
do you know if there is a generic video driver for Windows like the "vesa" on Linux that allows resolutions like 1024 x 768 even for graphics cards without the proper driver?

@Temeteus82:
problem is ... I need to have the pc working now ... cannot wait until I find a less expensive original WinXP ... no more money to invest in pc stuff anymore

... also, Win2k is less Ram-hungry than XP ...

***temeteus82*** · Mar 19, 2008, 05:51 PM

well that's not true anymore since the xp code is more optimized now. And how much you got ram now installed???

Judas · Mar 20, 2008, 09:56 AM

2k is nowhere near as efficient as windows xp.... "ram" hungry is mis interpretted... similare to that of how people think Vista is ram hungry when it's just rearranging and cache the hell outa the ram while still making it more available then the previous windows xp.....

they are generational steps.... i would highly recommend getting xp to solve a considerable number of your problems.. but you may be better of investing in a machine to load vista on to simply solve 90% of all your problems in respect to supported hardware (as xp... isn't going to be long.. before it bites the dust as well)

as for forceing a vesa driver in w2k..... i don't think your going to manage to get anywhere there.. i haven't ran w2k for ages. But it's a very very picky OS sometimes.

kn00tcn · Mar 25, 2008, 11:34 PM

if you ever get around to modding omega's to list your card for 2k or if such a method exists, during the install, you'll end up manually importing .reg keys since there are spaces in the path & 2k tries to look in 'c:\program'

slogol · Mar 31, 2008, 04:19 PM

hi ... latest update ... since I found no way to make the HD3850 working under Win2k, I have brought the card back tp the shop and traded it with Nvidia GeForce 9600 GT ... it is not 100% perfect but at least there are working Win2k drivers for this card.

Thanks everyone who has answered my post.

I am very sorry I could not use my HD3850 ... I was so enthusiastic about it ...

((

Daw · Apr 25, 2008, 02:18 AM

Latest Omega works fine for me in W2K and R3850. 3D and 2D works perfectly