what is hardward T&L? and how do i make the game work?

[Sophsta]

When I try to play skyrim a box pops up that says failed to initialize rendered, hardward T&L required not supported by adapter. I am guessing its something to do with the graphics on my laptop? Can you get graphic cards for laptops to make it work?

[Sl@y3D for my n@me]

What GPU is in use on your laptop?

[aiusepsi]

It stands for Hardware Transform and Lighting. Any GPU for about the last decade or something ought to have hardware T&L, so I'd suspect your first port of call ought to be installing new graphics drivers. I'd also follow the advice of the previous poster and be sure that whatever graphics hardware you have is up to the job. You can find out what you have by clicking on "Help" in the main Steam window, and clicking "System Information".

[Sophsta]

Its a 965 express chipset family

[Sophsta]

Thank you. Is it difficult to install new graphics drivers on a laptop?

[Sl@y3D for my n@me]

Unfortunately, regardless of whether the chip has hardware T&L, it would not be fast enough to run the game to a satisfactory level. Upgrading the graphics chip in a laptop is, with a couple of exceptions, impossible. I would recommend buying a new PC if possible, or acquiring the game on a console that you own.

[Sl@y3D for my n@me]

Follow-up: I did some digging, and found that your chip does indeed have support for hardware T&L. If you tell me what operating system you use, and whether it is 64 bit or not, I can point you towards the right site to get your graphics drivers updated. It's a super easy process, don't worry.

You can find out your operating system from the System Information menu noted above.

[Sophsta]

That great thanks a lot! Its a 32 bit operating system, Intel(R) Pentium(R) Duel CPU T2370 @ 1.73Ghz

[Bearton Jay]

The 965 is not designed to play modern games. Even if you manage to get past the T&L error, the game would be mostly unplayable.

It is recommended that you upgrade your computer if you wish to play Skyrim.

[Sl@y3D for my n@me]

While I agree with the above poster, I have fond memories of sitting in front of my old AMD K6-2. I would try to play games like Half-Life and Deus Ex, and despite the pitiful 10 or less FPS, having a wonderful time. I just thought... can I really deprive another person of that experience?

Back to the operating system. What I was looking for was the version of Windows you are running. Examples include Windows XP, Vista, 7 and 8.

[Sophsta]

I do love the laptop I have and I dont think its old enough to be replaced yet :)

Its a Windows Vista

[Sl@y3D for my n@me]

Here are the drivers you are looking for:
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=17407&lang=eng&OSVersion=Windows%20Vista%20Home%20Premium%2C%2032-bit%20version*&DownloadType=Drivers

Hopefully this will fix your problem. If not... well, I'm heading off now, so I'll check up on this thread in the morning.

[Sophsta]

Thank you so much for finding that for me! It got rid of the problem but unfortunately the game runs so slow that its near impossible to play. I guess I will just have to stick to classic computer games until I upgrade to a new laptop :)