Windows XP + Service Pack 2 + NVIDIA drivers!!!

Is anyone else dealing with this exact same mess???

So, I've got Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2 installed, plus the latest drivers for my NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900. Ever since I made the jump to XP a few days ago—I was on Windows 2000 before this and never had an issue—I keep getting this error message along the lines of "...display driver stopped responding." Then my resolution drops to 640x480, or even worse, the whole system just crashes with this horrible screeching sound from the speakers. This OS installation is only a day old! And it just happened again a moment ago... 😠

I was browsing some US forums and read that there might be a conflict between Windows XP, specifically Service Pack 2, and these ATI drivers.

I'm honestly at a loss here. Does anyone know what's going on? Or has anyone dealt with this and actually found a fix?

Should I just roll back Service Pack 2 to Service Pack 1 like I saw suggested online, or... what?

By the way, I couldn't just update the drivers over the old ones because there weren't any old ones left to overwrite.
Man, I seriously can't be reinstalling freaking Windows every other day!!! 😠 😠 😠

Anyone? Anything?

p.s. Not sure if this has come up in an older thread. If it has, sorry, I'm just losing it over here!

I'm dealing with the exact same thing. I'm running Windows XP with Service Pack 2 and an NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900. Honestly, the worst part was the absolute nightmare of trying to strip out my old graphics drivers. My advice? Just wipe the drive and do a clean install of Service Pack 2. I've been dealing with constant headaches ever since. Meanwhile, a buddy of mine hasn't had a single issue, but he's using a GeForce FX 5700.

I ran into similar issues with my Radeon 9200. The old drivers just wouldn't run on Windows XP Service Pack 2. I had to download the newer ones, which required both the Microsoft .NET Framework and DirectX 9c to function properly.

Until I got those installed, I kept getting the Blue Screen of Death, making a full system reboot unavoidable...

I'm not entirely sure if I have that Microsoft .NET Framework installed. I'll give it a shot and try to download it.

David Price5 said:I'm dealing with the exact same thing. Running Windows XP, Service Pack 2, and a Radeon 9000 series. Honestly, the worst part was wrestling with those graphics drivers... I just ended up formatting the whole PC and moving straight to Service Pack 2. Now I'm stuck with all these issues. Meanwhile, a buddy of mine has zero problems. He's running a Radeon 9600...

So you're still having trouble? Did you try uninstalling Service Pack 2? Because Service Pack 2 runs perfectly fine on my Radeon...
Btw, I formatted everything just the day before yesterday! That's the real kicker...
Seems like the best move might be to ditch Service Pack 2 and go back to Service Pack 1.

Jeffrey Ortiz7 said:I ran into similar headaches with my Sapphire Radeon 9200 Atlantis. The old drivers wouldn't work on Windows XP Service Pack 2, so I had to grab the newer ones. They required me to have the Microsoft .NET Framework and DirectX 9c installed to actually work properly.

Until I did that, I kept getting blue screens... constant restarts were unavoidable...

I don't have this .NET Framework either, but get this—ironically enough—the ATI site recommends Windows XP and Service Pack 2 (or even newer 😕 😠 ) for my card. WTF!??
Maybe I forgot to install DirectX 9.0c, but could that really cause such a massive mess?? Whatever, I'm gonna go check...

James Morris7 said:Cut...
I don't have this .NET Framework either, but—get this irony—the ATI site for my specific card actually recommends Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (or newer 😕 😠). WTF!??
Maybe I forgot to install DirectX 9c, but is it really possible that's causing such a total mess?? Whatever, I'm going to go check.

Two days ago, I wiped my hard drive and installed DirectX 9.0c without installing the .NET Framework, and I ran into minor issues.
But look at what it says on www.ati.com

CATALYST™ for Windows XP
Version 5.3 with CATALYST™ Control Center (29MB)*

* REQUIRES .NET Framework
to be installed first

Maybe that's the issue....

Jeffrey Ortiz7 said:I wiped my hard drive two days ago and installed DirectX 9.0c, but I skipped the framework and ended up having some minor issues.
But check out what it says on www.ati.com

CATALYST™ for Windows XP
Version 5.3 with Catalyst Control Center (29MB)*

* REQUIRES .NET Framework
to be installed first

Maybe that's the issue...

I totally missed that! And I was downloading it right from their site!
I just downloaded the .NET Framework this morning and installed it, but man, I didn't do it before the drivers.
I'll get to it tonight. I'd do it now, but I'm away from my PC. 😢
thanks anyway! 👍
p.s. Forgot to mention earlier—I also formatted everything two days ago because Windows crashed on me. Couldn't launch anything at all! And it was accompanied by this awful screeching sound... 😕

Jeffrey Ortiz7 said:I wiped my hard drive and did a fresh install of DirectX 9.0c a couple of days ago. I didn't bother installing the framework at the time, and I've been running into some minor issues.
But check out what they're saying over on www.ati.com

CATALYST™ for Windows XP
Version 5.3 with CATALYST™ Control Center (29MB)*

* REQUIRES .NET Framework
to be installed first

So maybe that's exactly where the problem lies...

That Control Center definitely needs .NET Framework to run. Honestly, you're better off just downloading the version with the standard Control panel—it’s actually way more functional anyway!

Douglas Wood84 said:That Control Center needs the .NET Framework installed. You're better off grabbing the version with the standard Control Panel—it's actually way more useful anyway...

So you're saying the 23MB one (the one with the Control Panel) doesn't require the .NET Framework installation?
Can someone just give me a quick rundown on what this .NET Framework thing even does? Honestly, I haven't a clue...😕

James Morris7 said:So you're telling me the 23MB version (the one with the control panel) doesn't ask to install the .NET Framework?
Can someone just give me a quick breakdown of what the hell this .NET Framework actually does? Honestly, I have zero clue! 😕

No, the one with the control panel won't prompt you for the .NET Framework... but since we're talking about it, I swear the Control Center feels like it was designed specifically for people who have no idea how computers work. You can't actually tweak anything in detail; all you get is one pathetic little slider to "adjust" the quality.

Omega totally rocks👍

Douglas Wood84 said:Nah, the one in the control panel isn't looking for .NET... but since we're talking about it, I feel like that Control Center is basically designed for people who have no clue what they're doing... you can't actually tweak anything specific, you just get one crappy little slider to "adjust" the quality

Yeah, I know. I don't even touch it. As long as it doesn't crash my damn Windows, I'm good. Is that really asking for too much? 😲 😁

I found myself in that exact same predicament once. It turns out you just need to get the Microsoft .NET Framework installed, and then everything should run smoothly. For those looking to really tinker with the settings, just head into the new ATI Control Center, select "view advanced," and you'll find all the granular options you need to fine-tune things.

Douglas Wood84 said:No, the one with the control panel isn't looking for .NET... but since we're talking about it, I think that Control Center looks like it was programmed for complete amateurs. You can't fine-tune anything; you just get one pathetic slider for "adjusting" quality.

I had those drivers installed without the control panel, and they didn't really work right until I installed the Microsoft .NET Framework. All I know is that just thinking about formatting and reinstalling the graphics card makes me 🙂

As for the Control Center, I can tweak every setting exactly how I want, including overriding the refresh rate so my apps use what I've set instead of whatever the app dictates...

Scott Morris8 said:I ran into the exact same thing. You just need to get the Microsoft .NET Framework installed and everything should run smoothly. Once that's done, go into the new ATI Control Center, hit "view advanced," and you'll have all the settings right there to tweak...

Jeffrey Ortiz7 said:I tried running those drivers without the control panel, but things didn't really start working right until I installed the Microsoft .NET Framework. Honestly, just the thought of having to format my drive and reinstall everything from scratch... 🙂
When it comes to the Control Center, I can tweak pretty much every setting exactly how I want. I can even force a refresh rate override so my apps actually use the settings I’ve picked instead of just defaulting to whatever the app says...

So, I installed the Microsoft .NET Framework yesterday too. Everything seems to be working perfectly fine so far. Let's hope it stays that way...
I am seriously fed up with all this formatting... I’ve lost count of how many times I've had to deal with it...🙄

So, I went ahead and reinstalled everything. 😠 Same old story, it’s acting up again.
But... this time I just stuck with SP1, an older ATI driver (skipping the Control Center), and .NET... now I'm just waiting to see what breaks next.
🙄
On a side note, some things actually seem better now that SP2 is gone. My DSL modem isn't acting crazy. For now.

I’d love to say this is my third lucky break, but I can't.😢
More likely my twenty-third. 😁

James Morris7 said:So, I did another clean reinstall. 😠 Same exact result.
But... this time I just installed SP1, an older ATI driver (without that Control Center mess), and .NET... now I'm just waiting to see what else breaks.
🙄
Off topic, some things actually run better without Service Pack 2. My ADSL modem isn't acting up. For now.

I'd love to say this is my third stroke of luck—but I can't.😢
It'll probably be more like my twenty-third. 😁

Lucky you. Mine just died on me.😢 😢 😢

Mr.Ex.President said:Omega rocks👍

I installed those Omega drivers on my Sapphire Radeon 9200 Atlantis. Everything worked perfectly for about five hours, then the card just died on me today...😲

I noticed these drivers have some overclocking features built in. I didn't touch anything, though. So, let me ask you: do these drivers overclock the card by default, or do you actually have to manually adjust the settings? It makes no sense to me that the card fried just one day after installing them...

Jeffrey Ortiz7 said:I installed those Omega drivers on my Sapphire Radeon 9200 Atlantis. Everything was running great at first, but then out of nowhere, the card just died on me the next day...😲

I noticed these drivers have some kind of overclocking trick built-in, but I didn't touch a single thing. So I'm asking you—do these drivers overclock the card by default, or do you actually have to go in and tweak the settings yourself? It makes zero sense to me that my card crapped out just one day after installing them...

The GPU died because of the drivers?😲 I highly doubt it...

Yeah, the Omega drivers have an overclocking tool, but it’s turned off by default. It doesn't do anything until you manually enable it and decide to push the card yourself.

Mr.Ex.President said:The GPU died because of the drivers😲 I doubt it...

Omega drivers include overclocking tools, but they’re disabled by default. They don't actually do anything unless you manually enable them and decide to push the card.

Believe me...
She ran those drivers all day and 🙂 🙂

I thought the monitor or the PCIe slot was shot, but no... I tested my card in a friend's rig and it failed there too. Then I put his card in my PC and it worked fine. So the slot is okay... and the monitor isn't the problem either...

It makes no sense. The card showed zero signs of failing; it was working perfectly. I'm telling you, I installed the drivers, used the system for two hours, and when I get home from work the next day and power it on—nothing but blackness.

Nothing left to do but go buy a new card today.

Thank Bog for the small mercies on the utility bill...