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View Full Version : Chronicles of a $10 laptop...


winslow33
April 29th, 2009, 13:30
Well, I have a friend who recently bought an Acer Aspire 5315 laptop complete with Windows Vista Home Basic. He dropped it down a flight of stairs a few days ago though and smashed the screen in:isadizzy:. Then the next day he said i could have it for $10 if I wanted it because he didn't have the money for a new screen. So I bring it home and hook it up to my desktop monitor and got it working.

Now, I cant complain after paying $10 for an almost- new laptop, but there's one thing thats bothering me. The graphics card apparently need the driver installed for it. And it won't install automaticaly, nor can I get it from Intel's website. Does anyone know where I can get it?
BTW, the card in question is apparently called "Mobile Intel(R) 965 Express Chipset Family Graphics Device"
Togo
April 30th, 2009, 10:55
Just a guess but is there a driver lurking in Vista?
Does the Microsoft site have one?
Does the Acer site have one?

If in doubt, try, try, try again. It's worth it for $10.
winslow33
April 30th, 2009, 17:16
Well, I managed to find a driver thanks to automatic updates. But every time Vista begins to load the screen turns itself off just before the startup noise. I have to boot into safe mode and either use a restore point, or go into Device manager and disable the hardware that way, either works. Do you think it's a problem with the driver, or a hardware issue?
winslow33
May 2nd, 2009, 07:17
Well, now I've got it working fairly seamlessly. I added on Windows XP on a seperate partion, so I can choose between Vista and XP when I start the machine. Although XP works much better...:icon_lol:
aeronca1
May 7th, 2009, 13:41
Gotta love those cheap acquisitions!! I still have a laptop I "dumpster dived" from the bin in front of my apartment building several years ago. I saw the box and moved it with my hand only to discover it was heavier than expected. I retrieved it, opened it up to see everything that should have been in the box was actually there!! Apparently, the HD failed and the owner tossed it out, box, restore CD's et al! To this day, I still peruse garbage cans and bins when I pass 'em!