Some video card problem

[Sahed]

My brother gave me his laptop to use until I get my own. I'm just getting into computers andmy cousin told me this computer is decent. It has 1.6GHz and 256MB of ram. He told me I can run Counter-Strike with this so I tried. It told me "unable to init shader system", and a good friend of mine told me that means I have a crappy video card.

I also realized that when I scroll through some sites, it scrolls very laggy and doesn't slide smooth like my family computer. Now I'm starting to think that it is the video card. I'm not to good with computers, but I'd like to know, is it my video card, also, if it is, can I somehow change it with this brand computer? My mom won't let me buy a new one, so I'm stuck with this.

 

[Sahed]

I just want to know if getting a new video card will fix the problems.

 

[Kage]

Sorry, i didn't notice sooner that this thread was in the wrong section.
Its been moved

You usually can't replace the video card in a laptop. I'm most positive you won't be able to with that one, and will more likely be an onboard chip not capable of much to do with 3D.

On the plus side though, its not the chip thats most likely at fault.

You know what video chip it has?

You'll need to install the video drivers I think. The reason its lagging is because its using default Windows drivers to initate the card, and so can't perform in 3D games or any game for that matter very well, or not at all.

After you've installed the latest drivers with Direct X 9, you should be good to go.

 

[kchi55]

i've played counterstrike 1.6 with integrated video. if you're talking about cs:s that's a different story. no way are you going to run the source engine on that computer.

 

[X1337]

try your drivers.. CS should run fine

 

[Sahed]

Sorry about not putting it in the right forum.

Ok, so I need to install a video driver. I'm just getting into computers, so I have no idea what you're talking about. A little help on that anyone?

 

[Sahed]

Can anyone fill me in on some of the basics that I should know about a computer, and please don't think I'm new to computers by saying something like the Start menu is the little thing at the bottom right. I just don't knwo much about the hardware of a computer. I'd like to know.

 

[kchi55]

wikipedia is your best friend.

 

[Jamxx]

Click Start > Run and type in "Dxdiag" without the quotes. If it pops up, then click the "Display" tab, and see what kind of video card you have.

 

[Sahed]

It says not available. Lol, it's probably that bad.