I have the Intel 845G/GL chipset, but I think I've installed the drivers wrong. Intel tells me to: a) Install Intel Chipset Installation Utility b) Install DirectX 8.1+ (I have 9) c) Install gfx driver (845G/GL) d) Install Intel Application Accelerator e) Install audio drivers When I first got the drivers I installed the Intel 845G/GL drivers, and thought "that was that". It seems not. How do I safely replace my drivers without performing a full install? Do I just follow the steps above, and let it overwrite everything? Should I uninstall everything first (How would I safely do that?)? Do it all in safemode? A step by step of what you would do would be amazing, if possible! I'm becoming less of a noob, but I'm still a total novice in some respects. PLEASE HELP! BL

BL, If you have downloaded all the items, just ignore the Chipset Installation Utility as it's used by developers and doesn't pretain to the home or business user. You stated that you had already installed the gfx driver and already have Direct X 9.0 installed so all that is required are the installation of the last 2 items. Just proceed like you've installed the first 3 items already. Main thing is to install the audio drivers. The application accellerator won't make much difference to the operation. Good Luck.

Go into safemode uninstall the ones you can from add/remove programs and then remove sound and video components from dev mgr. Once you do this and reboot you can then reinstall everything properly.

Thanks Sabertooth and Clark. I can install feeling easy and relaxed now! If anyone else has anything to add I'm all ears, but the above sounds good enough to me! :D BL

***PC now only boots in safe mode*** (My system stats are available in the first message of this thread) I suddenly don't feel relaxed anymore. I went to safe mode and started uninstalling the drivers from Add/Remove Progs. When it came to my audio progs (SoundMAX) the system hung. After a LONG time, I forced a reboot. I got a C++ runtime error (I think) regarding Ikernel (in MS Installer I think) when I tried again. I think I should have been more patient, but the damage seems to have been done...... Now I can boot into safemode, but when I leave it to boot into normal mode I get a new hardware found - Intel Graphics Chipset (KCH) Driver. Then I get Microsoft's wonderful bluescreen. I notice that if I remove the drivers from Dev Mgr and reboot in safe it installs the drivers - in Driver Details all the drivers are digitally signed. After I boot normally and it bluescreens, and I check Driver Details again, I see one of the drivers is no longer digitally signed, and has a different version number.... (The problem seems to be with my Intel845G/GL display adapter drivers) After install: c:\Windows\System32\DRIVERS\ialmkchw.sys = signed, ver:6.13.01.3055. After bluescreen: ialmkchw.sys = unsigned, ver:6.14.10.3619. Most of the files are in the directory "drivers", but the problem file and 2 others (ialmnt5.sys and ialmsbw.sys) are listed as being in "DRIVERS" (capitalised) - is that normal? So can anyone shed any light on what's gone wrong, how to fix it (HP System Recovery is my LAST RESORT ONLY!) or just how to boot up without getting the bluescreen? All help to this point much appreciated, and any after even more so :D BL

BL, When you removed the drivers in the safe mode you effectively killed the normal mode. Drivers are not used in the safe mode but are required in the normal mode. The intel web site has procedures for installing the 845GL drivers but without full access to the operating system they are long and confusing. Unless you can acquire a Windows XP Home installation CD and attempt a repair I'm afraid that the HP Recovery is your only option. Check with your friends about abtaining a CD, then start a new post (reference this one) and ask for guidance on performing the repair function. I'm not sure if the repair will work but it's worth a shot. I'm not sure why you were upgrading the drivers but there is a motto "If it ain't broke,leave it alone". Updating to just have the latest drivers isn't always the best thing to do. One last thought, you say you can gett into the safe mode, have you tried system restore to get back to before this all happened? Lots a luck to you. Clark

Thanks Clark - saw my other post first and misunderstood the "end of last post"! :D I changed the drivers because I'd been having very low fps in 3D games - I was advised to, and it's done now. (I do normally leave drivers well alone - hence all the questions!) I followed your first piece of advice first (response 1) and it didn't work. So I moved onto the advice given in the next post - do stuff in safe mode. Although that went wrong, I think it was my fault. The IKernel error seems to be part of MSInstaller (C:\Program Files\Common Files\InstallShield\Engine\6\Intel32 is where the problem file is located). It's not just MSInstaller being unable to install a specific file, is it? If you think of anything let me know.... I'll be in the back backing up. Thank-you, come again. BL :D