Windows 10: NVidia Geforce 7100 GS works fine despite MS saying No

Several of the PCs I manage suffer the Windows 10 pre-upgrade report that the installed graphics card is not supported in Windows 10. One of these was for the nVidia Geforce 7100 GS. I removed this card and did the upgrade using the Motherboard graphics. This was successful. I put the card back afterwards but the PC didn't find it and it was absent in Device Manager. I downloaded the latest 7100 GS driver for Win 7 from the nVidia site. It installed without problems. The card was found and the PC now works prefectly with the card. So I would advise anyone who has come across this problem to try doing the Win 10 upgrade without the card and then putting it back.

:)

 

Non compatible graphics

I have changed my Geforce 7100 nvidia 630i to geforce 210 with compatible win 10 driver but win 10 upgrader still sees geforce 7100

 

Video TDR Failure Windows 10

I had no problems with WINDOWS 7 and using NVidia 7100, but that card is not compatible with Windows 10, so I upgraded to NVidia 8400 Gs, then Windows 10 . I can't say whether my BSOD is attributable to the one or the other or Intel. I just want a resolution.

 

Well, if the PC didn't find it, usually has to do with some system device driver missing or not installed correctly. In that case, I would first update the chipset drivers. Probably the nVidia drivers detected the card anyway, but you could potentially have issues if the chipset drivers are not updated. Maybe it's enough to just make all the available updates from Windows Update, but I always prefer to download OEM drivers directly from Intel/AMD just in case and to improve performance where applicable.

For anyone wondering, the earliest possible nVidia graphics card series with WDDM drivers, is the FX 5 series. There is at least a Vista or Windows 7 driver for nVidia FX 5100/5200 and higher, so you should have no problem installing Windows 10 with accelerated graphics (WDDM) instead of the Microsoft Basic Display Adapter. I discovered a glitch in that driver however that I cannot identify. I have the Serenescreen Marine Aquarium 3 screensaver which doesn't work properly with this specific driver and the fishes leave a trail when moving. Eventually there are too many trails left that the screen becomes a mess. The older version Aquarium Screensaver works without a problem. So starting from GeForce FX 5 and anything newer should work OK in Windows 10 since there are WDDM graphics drivers. There is no need to be Windows 10, Windows 8, 7 or Vista work as well. So start from 10 and then go to earlier Windows version. In worst case it should work with the Vista drivers. I'm not sure for ATI/AMD but I think the earliest version that works is Radeon 9xxx series.

Also, don't forget to install latest DirectX 9.0c. Yes, Windows Vista and newer include DirectX 10 or higher, but some games look for specific files not present in these systems and won't work properly if you don't install DirectX 9.0c runtime.

 

Well, I've now found another PC with a Geforce 7900 GS card that Win 10 said couldn't be upgraded but I ignored that and used an ISO disc to do the upgrade having downloaded the latest Win 8.1 driver from nVidia and saved it. The upgarde went fine but the new Win 10 just used the MS basic driver. I ran the saved nVidia exec file and it installed perfectly. So, it looks like it's well worth ignoring the MS Windows advice NOT to upgrade due to an old graphics card and to run the latest Win 8.1 or whatever driver afterwards. Also worth ignoring the nVidia site Win 10 advice as it's about what they have tested not what they have found not to work

 

If there is at least a WDDM 1.0 driver (Vista), then it CAN work in Windows 10. This is practice means all nVidia models from GeForce FX 5 series or newer, all ATI/AMD models from Radeon 9200 or newer and all Intel models from 945G (GMA 950) or newer. So don't sweat, go for the upgrade!

 

Yup, you can use legacy cards with legacy drivers most times, varies with hardware.......