Thread: Aborted Video Card install screwed up Windows...help

I hate it when something seemingly simple blows up and screws up the rest of the computer!

I was installing a new ATI Reardon AGP X1650GT and was installing the drivers from the CD. All was okay until the reboot part. The computer just hung there in the middle of the shut-down. No life. Video showing "Windows is shutting down"

After 45 minutes, I figured it was never going to do it on its own and turned off the computer with the front switch (Press and hold for 5 seconds) to power off.

When I restart the computer it starts up okay but then just as Windows is finished loading I get a small error screen CCC ATI Install failed. ("OKAY"). I click on that, and I get another CCC ATI INSTALL FAILED ("okay"). I click on that. Then I get a full fledged system32.dll error with options "Report" "Do Not Report" and "debug". If I press either report or not, I get a completely unusable computer. The I cannot even properly shut down the PC. I have to essentially pull the plug (or press the power button until the system shuts off). If I press "debug" the computer works fine, except It's flaky in other ways. It makes sounds, but does not recognize the on board audio card on the mother board. I get "critical stop" dings and piano chords, but the any other audio is not available. I also get weird things happening to the styles. Right now I have a "classic" start bar with "XP" style buttons and Icons.

So, the question is, HOW DO I FIX THIS???

I reinstalled the old video card with no change (other than it actually works properly displays on my PC)

ATI has new drivers, but the system will not let me install the new drivers because it detects the install program already running. Looking at the processes, I see no hint of this so I cannot stop the process.

I have found that my original XP install disk is damaged and will not work so reparing the install is not an option since I am not a hacker and I'll be damned if I'm paying another $200 for a new operating system.

For some reason I cannot figure out how to use the restore points on my PC. It seems the option to restore shows no restore points available and yes I had the system set for restoring periodically.



I would rather not use a Ghost image since it's quite old (4 months) and could affect some of the programs I use. I think the nuclear option of restoring back to late March is not attractive.

So... does anyone have any suggestions as to what I should do? I appreciate any help I can get!

System info:
Win XP SP2
AMD Athlon 64
Currently using an ancient GEForce2 as a stand-by when my other ATI was blown up due another long story, but the problem did not start until the attemped install of the new ATI card so the GEForce is not the issue.
2 GB RAM,
ASUS motherboard with on board audio and LAN

See ya
Tony

Try to run a driver cleaner. It will remove all of the old files, infs, registry entries, etc. and hopefully bring your computer back to a clean slate. I don't know which one to recommend (since I haven't done it for a while), but if you google the term you'll get several options.

Also, the ATI control panel requires the .NET runtimes, so you may want to reinstall those in case the ATI installer screwed them up.

perhaps you could try unistalling the ATI drivers from the add/remove program control panel? Then I would personally recommend Omega Drivers instead of the default ATI Drivers. (
OmegaDrivers.net - Home of the ATI & NVIDIA Omega Drivers. Home

) Much less memory usage (due to no CCC crap needed, and much better customization capabilities.

Thanks for the suggestion, but I have cleaned the registry.

The drivers are fine. It's the "set-up" in windows that's buggered up.

Thanks about the .net stuff.

Tony

Originally Posted by Agonizing Fury

perhaps you could try unistalling the ATI drivers from the add/remove program control panel?

Thanks... it's the first thing I attempted to do. But since the drivers didn't install properly, I cannot un-install them. Again, the video drivers are okay. It's the "Windows Set-up" install shield that's goofy.

Thanks for the alternative drivers. I'll give them a go once I get this other disaster straightened out!

Se eya
Tony

Here are three screen caps.

The first shows the first CCC error and the really nasty error I want to fix.

The second is another failed ATI install error (windows set-up install shield error)

The third shows how the style of the start-bar changed to "classic" all by itself!

See ya
Tony

Originally Posted by TNGTony

Here are three screen caps.

The first shows the first CCC error and the really nasty error I want to fix.

The second is another failed ATI install error (windows set-up install shield error)

The third shows how the style of the start-bar changed to "classic" all by itself!

See ya
Tony

The CLR error means your .NET installation is hosed.

I would also recommend making sure ALL other apps are closed when you install.

Thanks Chapter, but we all know that is absolutely IMPOSSIBLE with XP.

See ya
Tony