Windows 8 Do I need a new video driver?

Medico

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 20, 2011
Location
USA
I use forums for posting photographs, and it's important to me that the image as displayed on a forum looks the way it's supposed to.

My Windows 8 test machine is a 2008 Toshiba Satellite laptop. I did a "clean install" on it, meaning Windows 8 set everything up. I've been noticing that objects that should be circular look squished, sort of like what a TV image on a HDTV set looks like, when you take an old 4x3 format picture and expand it to fill the screen. My fake "start" circle for example looks like someone sat on it.


It's not the resolution, as that's set properly, 1024 x 768.

I wanted to see if the driver is up to date, and the Device Manager tells me its a basic Windows driver from 2006. My gut feeling is that this is the problem - without the driver from Toshiba, maybe there's nothing I can do...... but I'm just guessing here.

I can post all the specific details if needed, but I'd rather keep my question more generic than specific. First, what is the best way to fix this? If I try to update the driver, Windows tells me it's the best driver. Can something like this be downloaded from the Toshiba website, and if so, will it create problems in Windows 8?


(Or, since this is only the "Release Preview", do I just ignore this, and wait for Windows 8 to be officially released?

(Perhaps there are a lot more Toshiba drivers that I need to bring back - but if I go to the Toshiba website, I doubt I'll find anything created for Windows 8 yet.....)
 
A bit more information. My specific laptop is an "Satellite A215-S7433"

I'm guessing that I need to find the driver on the Toshiba website, and when I follow through, I get to this page:
Model Content Page

There are three drivers, and one "utility". Not sure what to do next, other than to ask for help......
 
I called Toshiba for support, and even though the laptop is well beyond warranty, the technician told me that the driver I want is the one for ATI, meaning this one:

10-03-2007
Driver
Display
ATI Display Driver for Windows Vista(v8.401; 09-28-2007; 110.76M)

Here's the link to the specific information for this driver:

Model Content Page

Bottom line, this is the right driver for the laptop, back when I bought it with Vista, but I have no idea if this makes it suitable for use with Windows 8?????

I can download the .exe file, click on it, and the driver might install - I'm not sure about this - and if it works, great, but what if it doesn't? Do I end up with a completely unusable laptop, and need to fully rebuild the computer, or can I "un-do" what I've done somehow?

(I'm not really even sure how to get into "safe mode" yet...... one more thing I need to learn about Windows 8.)
 
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