How to determine if you should update your drivers

Video drivers are vitally important in ensuring that SongShow Plus will run optimally on your system.  Out of date drivers can cause all sorts of unique problems. 

Your first step should always be to check the recommended video card/driver chart found in article DI009.

To check the date of your video drivers simply press “Start” and then select Run.  In the command box that is opened type ‘dxdiag’ and press the Enter Key or click OK.  You may be asked a question about checking drivers… simply select Yes. 

When the DirectX Diagnostic Tool opens, click the third tab labeled either “Display” or “Display 1”.  On this tab you’ll notice the top half of the page is displayed in two columns. 

Read the first line of the left hand column titled “Name”  This will tell you what video card you have.  The next line down will tell you who made that card. 

Then, read the third line of the right hand column titled “Date”.  This will tell you the date of your drivers.  Normally, we recommend drivers that are no more than 6 months old. 

If you have a card made by nVidia go to www.nvidia.com and download the latest drivers.  For ATI cards go to www.ati.com and download their drivers.  (Because both pages are prone to changing, we can not provide step by step instructions regarding how to navigate each site.)

 

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