Intel 865 Video Drivers for Windows 7 & Vista

I've had the opportunity to test out Windows 7 and I must say, I really like what I see! Not only is it quick, but the engineers at Microsoft have finally begun to realize that their software needs to make sense!

Enough of the Kudos, I still personally believe that Microsoft has a long way to go before they ever get a clue... so, on to the topic at hand: Getting the Intel 865 video drivers to work on Windows Vista and Windows 7.

On first install of either OS, the standard VGA drivers provided by MS are used for display. While this might work fine in some situations, other issues are presented like video responsiveness, screen resolution etc. I decided to test out Windows 7 on an old HP 2.4GHz system I had lying around which has the Intel 865 onboard video. I recently ran into a similar issue on a clients computer where they had upgraded an (even older HP) from XP to Vista and they had the similar issue where the video drivers really needed to be updated to have a smooth experience. Since I can't remember exactly where I found the "fix", I regret to say that I cant give props to the person who figured this out... but, I do want to report that updating the Intel 865 video drivers on Windows 7 using the following method works like a charm!

Short Version

Manually update using the Intel 865 XP Professional Drivers. (Trust me, they work fine...)

Long and Involved Version

1. Download the latest Windows XP driver for the intel 865 graphic card. (I used the XP Professional version) download

1. Download the XP Professional version of the Intel 865 graphic driver. When I originally wrote this, Intel kept lots of drivers. 15 years later, those drivers are no longer on Intel's website so you'll have to get creative. You might see if you can find similar drivers from Dell, for example a quick search resulted in Intel 865 v.6.14.10.4396, A09. (Do a web search for that) Point is, you'll have to dig to find a working driver, then follow the steps below.

2. After extracting the driver, go to "Device Manager" in Vista or Windows 7.

• Easiest way to get there is "Win key + pause/break" -> "Device Manager"...
• Second easiest way is to click "Start", right click "Computer" -> "Properties" -> "Device Manager"
• Third way is to fumble around in the control panel until you find it... good luck...

3. Click on the arrow to the left of "Display Adapters" and you should see the "Standard VGA Graphics Adapter" drop down.

4. Right click on the "Standard VGA Graphics Adapter" and choose "Update Driver Software"

5. Choose "Browse my computer for driver software"

6. Choose "Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer"

7. Find the "Have Disk" button (lower right corner) and click on it

8. Browse to the location where you extracted the Intel 865 XP driver zip file and go into the win2000 folder, then choose "Open"

9. You should see a driver in the main box now, that says it's for the Intel 865 Graphic Adapter. Choose "Next" and it will begin the driver installation.

10. Once the driver is installed, reboot and you are all done!

Update: 2009/09/27 Due to a comment posted below, I am introducing a disclaimer that this method is NOT SUPPORTED by Intel. That doesn't mean it WONT WORK... If it breaks something, please insert $0.50 and try again...

Update: 2010/03/01 I am not 100% sure, but I believe that this workaround will also work for the Intel 845 video drivers as well. Just make sure to download the driver for the 845 instead of the 865 (they might actually be the same though...) Anyone who has been successful in getting this to work, feel free to post a comment and let us know :)