Topic: Gfx driver removal

[goodthink]

My older HD 4870 died. I put a 250gts in until my new 460gtx arrived. I was pretty confident I removed the older ati drivers, but now I am getting random BSODs.


I am pretty sure the BSOD are driver related. Just too many drivers I think. What I need is a good driver removal program, perhaps one that specializes in ati/nvidia driver removal. My only other choice is a new OS install and I am trying to avoid that if possible.


Any suggestions for good programs I can try out?

[teethering]

I'm very skeptical the other card's driver is the problem  The way that Windows OS (and likely other OSes too, I'm just not familiar with them) is the device has to be seen in PCI config space for the driver to be loaded.  If OS doesn't see the device enumerated in the PCI tree it just can't load that driver.  And those devices are marked by Vendor and DeviceID which match the INF section of the driver, so they really can't cross-install like that.

It might be, however, the new card's driver reverting to some bad version.  Booting into Safe mode, uninstalling the driver through device manager and check-marking the "Delete the driver software..." then rebooting into Safe mode again and doing it again until you see VGA device driver instead of NVidia should clean out the driver cache.  Then you should be able to install the latest driver package.

[Xptical]

What are you doing when you get the BSOD?

It (the card dying) could be a symptom of a bigger problem.  I'd start with a program like Memtest:

http://www.memtest.org/download/4.20/memtest86+-4.20.iso.zip

Download that, unpack it, and burn the ISO to a CD.  Reboot off that CD and let it run for 12+ hours.  If it comes back fine, then try something like Prime95:

http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft/

This will stress your CPU.  I usually copy/paste the folder and then launch 2 copies per CPU core.  Let that run for a while and see if you have crashes.



If you just want to clean drivers anyway, I think (may need a registry hack?) you can "show devices not present" in the Device Manager.  Open those and delete/uninstall the drivers.

Obviously, you should go to "Add/Remove Programs" and uninstall CCC or any other ATI crap there.



For all the work you need to go through to remove a virus/driver/DRM, it's usually more efficient to just do a complete re-install.  Why are you against that option?

[goodthink]

I went ahead and re-did the os. So far no bsod, but I don't think it's been long enough to say one way or another.

[superdave]

too late to the thread but just an FYI, I use the program Revo to uninstall things.  Works well and has some bonus features.  However, you can also try to change the driver settings from the device manager which you can get to by right clicking on my computer.

http://download.cnet.com/Revo-Uninstaller/3000-2096_4-10687648.html

[goodthink]

I removed all the previous drivers in safemode, then used a program that was supposed to remove the little bits left over while in safemode again. Sadly, I find moving from ati to nividia (rarely the reverse) always results in a re-installation of an OS.


The BSOD looked like a terminal IRQ dump. I think the computer received a request from more than one video card at one time. My system has a built in gpu (may have installed a driver when flipping cards), probably some bits from the ATI, some bits from the 250gts and the 460gtx.


The BSOD came up after 1hr of painting in mypaint regardless of any other programs running in the background. At first I thought it was having my mouse and my bamboo connected at the same time. Removing the mouse didn't affect a change. At best, I could work 1hr before a crash when I wanted to sketch or paint. I also begain experiencing glitches in EVE that weren't there until I installed the 250gts and increased once the 460gtx was installed.


I haven't run any tests to stress my system since the re-install. I am kind of affraid to in any case. In my experience, most BSOD related to burned out HDD, bad RAM, or one or more capacitors on the mobo being junked. When the 4870 died it could have been from a voltage spike rather than old age. In any case, I should know from general use whether or not the BSOD will continue. If they do, I will likely need to build a new system.

[teethering]

If you get another BSOD note the error code and the binary reported on screen and let us know.

[Skepdad]

I realize it's too late but when I used to use ATI cards (had a friend who worked in the driver department) I though they had a removal tool that removes everything.

[teethering]

I realize it's too late but when I used to use ATI cards (had a friend who worked in the driver department) I though they had a removal tool that removes everything.

Yeah, you just do Add/Remove Programs and remove AMD Catalyst Install Manager.  The problem is it can only remove what it knows about and the Windows ITB driver sticks around.

[Skepdad]

I realize it's too late but when I used to use ATI cards (had a friend who worked in the driver department) I though they had a removal tool that removes everything.

Yeah, you just do Add/Remove Programs and remove AMD Catalyst Install Manager.  The problem is it can only remove what it knows about and the Windows ITB driver sticks around.

I think there's also a stand alone tool available from ATI or used to be - I thought it ferreted out additional files/footprint, etc.

[goodthink]

3dguru used to have an ati driver sweeper program, cause, well, ati is the worst for leaving bits and pieces around and screwing your system over. It was discontinued.


Now CCC has a tool it installs, but doesn't seem to work well. I used it and CCC was left on my system and wouldn't uninstall.