Microsoft Basic Display Adapter (also known as Standard VGA Graphics Adapter Driver) is a generic video driver included with Windows this driver is automatically installed if no compatible driver for the current video card/display adapter is found or detected either in initial installation of Windows or after a Windows update/upgrade is performed. Today’s computers are commonly installed with AMD (ATI), Nvidia and Intel Graphics cards and sometimes they are not picked up by Windows as stated.
Steps you can take or not take:
Identify the graphics adapter:
Laptop/Notebooks/Branded Computers:
Search for the make and model of your computer on this site or in a search engine to get more information on what type of Graphics are install in the laptop.
Generic PC’s:
For generic desktop computers a quick to have a look inside the computer and find the make and model number of the graphics device. For an on-board video (built-in to the motherboard) you will need to look for the video chips.
I still can’t get the correct driver installed what now?
You technically can continue using Windows with this generic driver with no issues, however there may be graphical deficiencies such as low colors, slower rendering/refresh of objects on the screen, low frame rate and lack of 3D for gaming and other applications.
This article covers Windows XP all the way through to Windows 10
