Graphics/Sound card not recognised

[Occultus7]

I previously had an Nvidia graphics card and a Creativelabs sound card
installed. Upon restarting my operating system for an unrelated reason, I had
left the cards in their PCI slots, so they were removed and I reinstalled my OS
again. When attempting to install the cards the graphics card is not recognised
at all and the sound card is currently recognised as an ethernet controller. (Yellow exclamation)
I have tried changing PCI slots and searching for the hardware myself to no avail. I don't have the original CD for the Creativelabs soundcard but i do for the nvidia. When attempting to install nvidia i am told that there is no relevant hardware installed.
What does this mean and how can I get my PC gameworthy (Rome: Total War) without
buying new cards or a new PC?
Thank you very much for your time.

[Fed]

Your question makes no sense  
Being a registered member you can edit it.

[merlin_2]

un-install the drivers.......you dont need for the graphics card...........now install the drivers and the graphics card you need to play the game.......dont forget to diable background processes......and maybe even anti-virus programs........check the game box..

[Frankie]

Did you do a proper reinstall of windows, like fdisk and format the drive. If you did i belive you need to reseat the cards and install there latest drivers.