All ATI drivers cause Windows 7 to fail to boot

Discussion in 'Videocards - AMD Radeon Drivers Section' started by TBirdIV, Feb 13, 2013.

  1. TBirdIV

    TBirdIV Guest

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    2x VisionTek ATI HD7970
    Hello all,

    I'm having a problem getting my rig to boot. My specs are as noted on my profile.

    I'm running Windows 7 Ultimate x64 and no matter which Catalyst Drivers I install they all cause my computer to hang on boot. What happens is WIndows is going through the normal boot process, the 4 spheres float around the screen and form the Microsoft logo, the logo pulses, then just when it's about to load the whole process stops and hangs. I can tell it's about to load because when my computer boots up properly just before the login screen pops up my sound flickers for a second and the LEDs on my keyboard go out then come back.

    I know it's the driver because as soon as I go into safe mode and uninstall the drivers (through Device Manager) and run Driver Sweeper until it finds nothing then Windows boots into normal mode with no problem at all.

    What I've tried so far:
    Made sure both cards are seated correctly on the motherboard
    Express Uninstall from Catalyst Control Panel Uninstaller
    Driver Sweeper
    AMD Catalyst Uninstall Utility
    Tried, from clean (no hits in driver sweeper), the following drivers:
    13.2 Beta
    13.1
    12.10
    12.8

    My cards are completely stock, no OCing at all and using stock cooling

    What I'm going to try:
    I just read about ATIman and the difference between driver sweeper and driver fusion. I'm going to try ATIman and driver fusion in conjunction with driver sweeper and see if that fixes anything.

    Anyone have any suggestions?

    Thanks in advance!

    Additional:

    Sometimes, with the driver installed, after the LEDs on my keyboard and sound flickers neither come back on, sometimes they do and stay on but it always sits there at the Starting Windows screen.
     
    Last edited: Feb 13, 2013
  2. DM789

    DM789 Master Guru

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    i think the culprit is AMD uninstall utility that you are using, because when i try to use it on my win 7 ultimate x64, it made my pc unable to boot, and have the same symptoms that you have.

    try to press F8 when its about to boot, then choose "ran with last known good configuration", by choosing that, i'm able to boot again,

    and then uninstall catalyst driver (if you already install it), if not then try checking your device manager, if it doesn't say generic VGA for your GPU, then you need to click uninstall for it, and then restart, and try to install the driver again.

    Edit : i forgot to say, you only need to use driver sweeper in safe mode (after uninstalling your driver, and before installing new driver), no need to use atiman, or combination of atiman and driver sweeper, driver sweeper alone is enough.
     
  3. TBirdIV

    TBirdIV Guest

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    Thanks for the suggestion DM789. I only ran it once or twice in the middle of the process then stopped because every time after it finished it would trigger Windows to scan for new hardware and then download drivers from Windows Update which would, again, cause Windows to not boot correctly.

    For some reason my system doesn't accept F8 at boot, I think it might be because the UEFI BIOS on my motherboard seems to capture keystrokes up until the very moment Windows wants to boot up.

    I just ran a full run of ATIman using Extreme Next-Generation Scan (???), as confusing as it is, then tried to install 12.3Beta again to no avail, Windows hangs again.
     
  4. DM789

    DM789 Master Guru

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    i never used atiman, because i never needed to use it.

    but you said you stopped AMD uninstall utility 2x in the middle of it doing its business ?

    well that is a bad thing, because that meant the uninstallation that it was doing, is interrupted in the middle.

    if your system restore is enabled, try restoring to before you try to use AMD uninstall utitlity, if your os still broken, then i suggest a clean install of your win 7.
     

  5. TBirdIV

    TBirdIV Guest

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    No, I didn't have to run it twice because it failed once. I ran it once, tried a new driver which didn't work, ran it again, then tried another driver, then decided I shouldn't use it anymore.

    Whenever it doesn't boot properly I send it into Startup Repair and it restores back to a restore point I made when I originally cleaned it up with Driver Sweeper.
     
  6. hallryu

    hallryu Don Altobello

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    You don't need to use any other software than the uninstaller that comes with the driver package. Been allowing it to do its own thing since year 0 with no issues. No need for safe mode or anything else.
     
  7. TBirdIV

    TBirdIV Guest

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    I'd love for that to be true hallryu. But I have no evidence either way if it works or not. Just what always happens is, Windows boots fine without an ATI graphics driver, then hangs at boot whenever I install any ATI graphics driver I mentioned in the original post.
     
  8. hallryu

    hallryu Don Altobello

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    My statement pertains to general use, sorry. All these folks using uninstallers are creating issues that didn't exist before they used them.
     
  9. TBirdIV

    TBirdIV Guest

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    Well I just uninstalled a driver with the Express Uninstaller and Driver Fusion found some registry entries and files left over.
     
  10. TBirdIV

    TBirdIV Guest

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    My Process is now going something like this:
    Starting from clean
    1. Install driver
    2. Restart
    3. Windows hangs at boot
    4. Hard Shutdown
    5. Startup Repair restores back to clean state
    6. Uninstall Driver through Programs & Features
    7. Run Driver Fusion to clean up any remnants (always 3-4 things)
    8. Restart to let uninstall and clean up take effect
    9. Boot in with clean system, start over at #1 with a different driver (moving between 13.2Beta, 13.1, 12.10, and 12.8)

    Thanks again for any suggestions!
     

  11. GREGIX

    GREGIX Master Guru

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    I always was doin those steps(with 6850)
    1. Uninstal
    2. Driver sweeper
    3. Rebot, again sweeper.
    4. Install new driver.

    Now, with 7870 i just uninstall and then use amd cleaning utility(heard that can crank system, but never saw this personally, 2 diff rigs with ati, both Intel CPU based) and after reboot install new driver.
    13.2 b5 ATM

    Just a little EDIT
    IF 1 of ur cards are faulty, U'll never install driver without problems with boot
     
  12. The Mac

    The Mac Guest

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    other way around.

    People use 3rd part tools because the CIM doesnt properly work on their system...

    Ive never had a single issue using ATIman after CIM borked my dirvers 3 times in a row...
     
  13. far-cough

    far-cough Active Member

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    i allways use ati man uninstaller and it is the best i never had any problems at all with it..
     
  14. Eastcoasthandle

    Eastcoasthandle Guest

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    It's never good to stop any uninstall process in the middle of uninstalling a program.
    That would causes problems.

    In order to stop windows from auto updating you have to deactivate the feature. In order to do that type windows update in Start's search box. Next go to change settings (located in the upper left). Then select "Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them". Reboot.

    If you can get back to desktop re-use AMD's uninstall program and let it finish the uninstall process. Once prompted, reboot. Note: There is no GUI so a popup screen should come up a few minutes after starting the uninstall program to let you know it's complete.

    Then reinstall the new drivers.
     
  15. TBirdIV

    TBirdIV Guest

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    This was right on the money GREGIX. Pulled out the 2nd of the two cards (The one not being used for a display only being used for CrossFire) and the driver installed just fine and Windows started just fine. Talking with VisionTek to get a replacement.
     

  16. vavyn

    vavyn Member Guru

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    I had the same problem once. It's caused 2nd gpu. I would suggest take out the 2nd gpu first then try to boot. If you can boot to windows, plug in your 2nd gpu and see if the problem is still there.
     
  17. chop007

    chop007 Guest

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    Weird

    This is so weird I had that exact problem about a month ago. The issue lies with windows 7. You need to disable driver signature enforcement. I went throught he whole process of sending my pc in etc etc. When I got it back it had drivers from 2009, I was not impressed. I then installed the ati drivers and it would not boot again. Then I found out I need to disable driver signature enforcement in win7. My goodness what a pain.
     
  18. GREGIX

    GREGIX Master Guru

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    Glad my post helped U :)
    I just had in past 4850 thad died(memorys) while web browsing, and symptoms were similiar, can c bios messages or so, first secs of system boot, but driver fails to load.
     
  19. Vengeful#1

    Vengeful#1 Member Guru

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    I agree. The current AMD uninstall tool works perfectly well, i always manually delete the AMD folder after running the uninstaller and have installed every cat driver version since 12.10 using this method on this machine and many others with not one single problem.

    I would suggest that the ATI driver is not the sole cause of the problem in this case..
     
  20. nocheinfinita

    nocheinfinita Guest

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    Was it a faulty card issue after all? I have the exact same problem (under Win 7 64 bit). I have managed to get it to work in the past, but it's not playing as nice this time around. After installing the drivers, Windows freezes during the boot up process (freezes at the point where the Windows emblem reassembles itself). I have to do a hard restart, hit F8, and choose the option, Last Known Good Configuration, just to boot into Windows.

    On top of the exact same process you've done, I've disabled Windows Driver Signing, but it hasn't helped.
     

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