The Microsoft Basic Display Adapter is a generic display adapter driver that's built into Windows that provides basic display and graphics capabilities. A driver is a piece of software that allows a hardware device to communicate with Windows. The Microsoft Basic Display Adapter is used when a driver made specifically for the display adapter by the manufacturer isn't available or installed. To get the best experience from a Windows device, it's best to install a driver from the display adapter manufacturer.
Display adapter drivers from the manufacturer often feature:
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Faster performance.
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Smoother video playback.
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Higher screen resolutions.
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Improved battery life.
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Support for multiple monitors.
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Additional graphical features.
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Better stability.
Many times, a display driver is available in Windows out of the box and installs via Windows Setup when Windows is first installed. Other times display adapter drivers, including updated display adapter drivers, are available from Windows Update. However, other times drivers might either not get installed right away or might only be available directly from the display adapter manufacturer's website.
To determine if the Microsoft Basic Display Adapter is being used on a Windows device, select one of the following two methods:
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On the Windows device, right-click on the Start menu and then select Device Manager.
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In the Device Manager window that opens, select the arrow next to Display adapters to expand the Display adapters node.
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If Microsoft Basic Display Adapter is listed under the Display adapters node, then the generic Microsoft Basic Display Adapter driver is being used instead of a manufacturer specific driver. Microsoft recommends updating to the manufacturer specific display adapter driver. For more information, see the section Update the Microsoft Basic Display Adapter to use the manufacture's display adapter driver in this article.
Note: If multiple items are listed under the Display adapters node in Device Manager, it's possible that the Windows device might have multiple display adapters. Each item represents a different display adapter. It's possible that some display adapters are using the manufacturer's driver, while are using the generic Microsoft Basic Display Adapter driver.
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On the Windows device, right-click on the Start menu and then select Run.
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In the Run window that opens, next to Open: enter in:dxdiag.exe and then select the OK button.
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When the DirectX Diagnostic Tool window opens, select the Display tab.
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In the Device section of the Display tab, the name of the display adapter driver being used is displayed next to Name:. If the name is Microsoft Basic Display Adapter, then the generic Microsoft Basic Display Adapter driver is being used instead of a manufacturer specific driver. Microsoft recommends updating to the manufacturer specific display adapter driver. For more information, see the section Update the Microsoft Basic Display Adapter to use the manufacture's display adapter driver in this article.
Note: If there are multiple Display tabs in the DirectX Diagnostic Tool, it's possible that the Windows device might have multiple display adapters. Each Display tab represents a different display adapter. Check each Display tab to determine what driver each display adapter is using. It's possible that some display adapters are using the manufacturer's driver, while are using the generic Microsoft Basic Display Adapter driver.
Update the Microsoft Basic Display Adapter to use the manufacture's display adapter driver
When the Microsoft Basic Display Adapter driver is being used by a display adapter, Microsoft recommends updating it to instead use the manufacture's driver. For instructions on how to update the display adapter driver, see the article Update drivers manually in Windows which contains the following instructions:
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How to update drivers automatically using Windows Update. This option should be attempted first.
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How to update drivers manually using drivers downloaded from the manufacturer's website. This option should be attempted if there are no drivers available via Windows Update but are available at the manufacturer's website.
If the following two conditions apply:
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The hardware manufacturer doesn't provide Windows drivers for the display adapter
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Windows Update doesn't have any drivers for the display adapter
then the following are the two available options:
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Keep using the generic Microsoft Basic Display Adapter.
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If the Windows device has the capability of the video card being upgraded, then upgrade to a video card that has Windows display adapter drivers.
