Updating ATI video drivers crashes system

[StevenG]

This problem is driving me crazy, hoping someone can offer some advice.

About a month ago I built a new PC with a Gigabyte P55-UD3R motherboard and an ATI Radeon 5870 video card. I am running catalyst driver version 9.10. Everything is running fine, except for an occasional freeze-up that requires a reboot (maybe once or twice a week, usually while running a game). This minor instability has not bothered me very much.

But if I attempt to update the ATI catalyst drivers to 9.11 or 9.12, the system will not boot after the driver update is completed. I get the blue screen of death on startup (a few seconds after the 'Loading Windows' graphic appears) with a bunch of text that goes by too fast for me to read (is there any way to pause this?). This happens EVERY time I try to start windows normally; I can only start up in safe mode. Then I have to go back to a restore point before the driver update, and everything works fine again back on the 9.10 catalyst drivers.

I have tried both the 9.11 drivers and the 9.12 drivers with the same result. Each time I go through this process:
- Uninstall the ATI drivers.
- Reboot the system with no video drivers
- Install the new drivers I had previously downloaded
- Reboot the system per the driver install program
- System blue-screens on startup

I went throught the event log for clues, but I guess I don't know enough to get anything out of it. The very first error in the log says this:

The computer has rebooted from a bugcheck. The bugcheck was: 0x00000116 (0xfffffa800589e010, 0xfffff88004a5def0, 0x0000000000000000, 0x0000000000000002). A dump was saved in: C: \Windows\MEMORY.DMP. Report Id: 123009-9734-01.

But there is no such file in C: \Windows for me to look at.

Any ideas? Additional places to look for clues? It just seems very strange that he computer is relatively stable on an older driver version, but will not even boot with an updated driver.

 

[StevenG]

One additional piece of information - I'm on Win7 x64.

 

[evolucion8]

Try to install them with administrator privileges.

Which videocard are you using?

How come is possible that you joined 10 years ago and have such little amount of posts?

 

[Zargon]

get teh guru 3d driver cleaner

unintall old drivers and all ATI associated stuff

reboot

run the guru3d cleaner

reboot

install new drivers

 

[Nemesis 1]

Try to install them with administrator privileges.

Which videocard are you using?

How come is possible that you joined 10 years ago and have such little amount of posts?

Many people have a life and don't hang on the forums but use them for help only as this poster seems to .

 

[Nemesis 1]

Go into control panel . Click on administrative Tools Window opens to Computer Management Open that window opens on your screen left window. Your left Click device manager Anew window opens . On your right Clickon display adaptors Click on both items. Underproperties select delete.

Than go back to Control manager open Add or remove. Window opens remove ATI software. Than reload your new software. Its never faild me yet.

 

[evolucion8]

Many people have a life and don't hang on the forums but use them for help only as this poster seems to .

Oh, that may explain why you have more than twice the posts that I have, and you joined later than me Just kidding

But what I find very strainge is the people that have less than 3 months of membership and have over 500 posts, creepy...

 

[Nemesis 1]

Oh, that may explain why you have more than twice the posts that I have, and you joined later than me Just kidding

But what I find very strainge is the people that have less than 3 months of membership and have over 500 posts, creepy...

Oh is that what you think . Have you never stopped to think I might be home bound . Like others maybe. Youknow your life . Don't assume we all can go out and enjoy . I dislike TV because its a distraction and I can research and listen to music at same time.

I doon't game much anymore because of same reason I am homebound.

 

[StevenG]

Thanks for the responses. I tried driver sweeper to no avail. Also have 2 new memory sticks that have solved the stability issue, but the video driver issue remains: The computer runs fine with the Catalyst 9.10 drivers that are currently installed, but any attempt to upgrade the driver to a newer version (9.11, 9.12, 10.1) results in a BSOD when the computer is rebooted. The only way to get windows to boot normally is to boot into safe mode and revert back to a restore point from before the new drivers were installed.

This just seems completely bizarre to me. How can the PC be fine with an older driver version, and completely inoperable with a newer version?

One more strange thing - after I uninstall the old drivers, reboot, and install the new drivers, the PC stays at the same default resolution after the driver installation is complete. Then I am rebooting, and that's when the failure occurs. I can't recall, but now I'm wondering if after the driver install program finishes, the new drivers should be up an running and not require a reboot, and the fact that the PC remains at the default resolution implies that they are actually not installing properly?

 

[StevenG]

And one more thing... on a whim, I just tried installing the new drivers on top of the old ones (no uninstall), and more bizarre behavior - the computer BSOD'd during the driver install. Then rebooted fine, but there were no drivers installed. I right-clicked the desktop and selected Catalyst Control Center and got a message that no ATI drivers were installed.

Once again, back to a restore point.

And the last few times I ran the driver update program from ATI, I ran it as adminstrator. Has no effect.

And I've also caught the offending program listed as the BSOD flies by - atikmdag.sys.

HELP!!!

 

[Zargon]

try re dl'ing the drivers?

or tempt fate with the new 10.1's?

 

[StevenG]

Have tried 3 different driver versions, including the 10.1's, some driver packages downloaded more than once and tried to install multiple times. Same result every time.

 

[Meghan54]

I have tried both the 9.11 drivers and the 9.12 drivers with the same result. Each time I go through this process:
- Uninstall the ATI drivers.
- Reboot the system with no video drivers
- Install the new drivers I had previously downloaded
- Reboot the system per the driver install program

I'm first wondering why you do all that above as ATI's drivers don't need to be uninstalled, rebooted, etc. to install the new drivers. The ATI drivers install over the old ones without incident and have for quite a long time.....at least on all my systems and those of people I know who run ATI cards, and this includes on Vista, Win 7, and XP, and both 32-bit and 64-bit versions.

Also, are you running the CCC? It needs the latest version of the .net framework to function.

And despite any naysayers out there, CCC is quite useful and pretty much necessary these days.

I'd try installing the complete Catalyst package, with CCC, without all the clean, reboot, etc. routine you've been doing.

 

[dajeepster]

I've had a problem with 9.12 drivers on a system with 4 video cards in both Vista64 and Win7 64... 9.11 worked fine in that system. All my other systems with 2 ati cards or less ran fine under 9.12,