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Which BIOS do I have?

You may know you need a new video driver, but you are not sure which video card you have in your computer. If you still have a copy of the Purchase Receipt that was shipped with your computer, the receipt has the information you need. On that document, you find the name and part number of every component installed in your computer. After you have that information, you can find the correct driver. For sound, video, and network cards, you need to know the manufacturer of the card. For example, many of Gateway's newest video cards and all of the newer sound cards are manufactured by Creative Labs. If you have a Voodoo 3 video card, it is manufactured by 3dfx. Other drivers can be found in the new menu structure.

If you do not have your receipt, there are still a number of ways to find out what components you have installed in your computer.

If you are using Windows® 98, the easiest way to find out what you have installed in your computer is to check System Information. To do this, follow these steps:

1. On your screen, locate and click the Start button. From the Start menu, point to Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and then click System Information.
2. In the System Information window, double-click Components.
3. A number of components are listed. Video is located under Display. Sound is located under Multimedia. Other components are listed under similarly named areas such as modems under Modem, and so on.
4. Select any of these areas. Information relating to each of these devices is displayed on the right side of the window.
5. You may select either Advanced or Basic Information, but all you need is Basic Information.
6. The name of each component, including the manufacturer, should be listed in bold at the top of the information. This is the information you need to find new drivers on Gateway's Web site.

If you are using Windows® 95, you have to find the information you need in a different way. This method also works in Windows 98, but the System Information feature of Windows 98 is more convenient.

1. Note the location of the extracted drivers that you located in the previous steps. You need it later in this process.
2. On your screen, locate and click the Start button. From the Start menu, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
3. In Control Panel, double-click the System icon.
4. In the System Properties dialog box, click the Device Manager tab.
5. On the Device Manager tab, locate the type of device for which you are installing a new driver. For example, Display Adapters lists video cards, and Sound, video, and game controllers lists sound cards.
6. In the list of devices, double-click the device name, and then locate your specific device in the list. Click the device name.
7. This generally gives you the manufacturer and model of the device, which should be enough to find the drivers you need.

If you are still unable to find the driver you need for your computer, you may obtain assistance from one of Gateway's e-mail Technical Support staff.

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