It's great to hear that you were able to resolve the issue with your graphics card on your Dell computer running Windows 7. Dealing with driver compatibility and updates can often be a challenging task, especially with legacy hardware.
Here's a summary of the steps you took:
1. Purchased a 9600xt graphics card as a potential solution for your system.
2. Encountered issues with the card only displaying with a generic VGA driver and limited resolution options.
3. Attempted to install Catalyst 10.2 for legacy cards without success.
4. Discovered a potential issue with the driver (8.56.1.16) bundled with Windows 7 SP1, which caused problems for some users.
5. Reinstalled Windows 7 without SP1, which provided a working driver (8.56.1.15).
6. Successfully installed Catalyst 10.2 after the Windows reinstallation, leading to full support for Aero and other features.
It's a good practice that you backed up the drivers in case you encounter similar issues in the future. Sharing your solution here can indeed help others who might face a similar situation with their hardware and operating system.
If you have any more questions or need further assistance, feel free to ask!