Thanks, Michael...I suspected as much. I called Toshiba customer support to see if they knew if I could replace the graphics card....the rep had never heard of the Toshiba Tecra...The local repair shop tech just laughed...watch for me on Antiques Roadshow...Bob

Hi Bob, yeah unfortunately the video card system in laptops is not as easily upgraded or changed as it is with a desktop system.

With laptops some various pieces are often times custom built for each model since they need to pack a lot of stuff into a small space.

Most of the time with laptops the only things with sort of standard connections (and therefore easily upgradable) are system RAM and the hard drive. So that makes it a lot more difficult to rejuvenate an old laptop than an old desktop machine.

- Michael