ATI Tools causing system crash and BSODs

[geokilla]

I think my computer is dying....I hope it isn't since I am a student and I have like no money....

For the past few weeks, my computer has been acting strangely. Sometimes, my computer would hang forcing me to turn off the computer manually and not through Windows. First I thought something crashed so I didn't really care about it. Then a few days later, when I boot the computer, some of my desktop icons were either missing or not showing up. So I restarted the computer again, and everything went back to normal. Last night, I was going to turn my computer off before I went to sleep. So I pressed the power button on my case, and what do you know, the computer hanged again. Then today, after I got home from school, I turned my computer off and it didn't boot into Windows. All I saw was a black screen. So I turned my computer off by holding the power button for 5 seconds, then turned it back on. As I'm typing this, I have experienced no slowdowns or freezes.

So can anyone help me determine what's wrong with my computer? Is it dying?

Thanks in advance.

BTW, my overclock passed Orthos 24 hrs and Memtest 1 hr of test 5.

 

[hurtstotalktoyou]

I highly doubt it's dying. However, sometimes even the one-two punch of Orthos-Memtest misses stability issues. I'd try resetting the BIOS to defaults, and run that way for a while. If you stop experiencing hangs, then you know it was your overclock. If not... well, then you may be in trouble.

 

[Rottie]

Clean install OS (Windows XP or Vista) will clear up the problems you are having such as corrupted files, registry, etc.

 

[geokilla]

I've already done a clean install, and I still have this problem. This happens to me only once in a while, so maybe my comp isn't dying after all...

I'll run my comp at stock settings for a while and see what happens.

Update: My computer just crashed again. Twice within 3 min actually. I think F@H might be causing the crashes. I checked the use beta WU option. I'm gonna change that option and see what happens.

 

[geokilla]

Well the computer freezing problem was gone for a while, but now it's back again. I think it might be ATI Tool that's crashing my computer. I noticed that when my computer froze for the second consecutive time, ATI tool had just loaded at Windows startup. But, other times when my computer boots normally, ATI Tool loads normally as well. There's no program crashing or anything, just an instant freeze.

I have no idea why my computer is freezing at random times. Today was the first freeze in I think 3 weeks. Oh, and I never changed my settings back to default since I assumed the problem was gone.

 

[0roo0roo]

reinstall windows and run at stock speed with on board video only and video card ripped out and see if it crashes.
maybe your processor is growing whiskers?
i dunno
set windows to give you a bluescreen instead of a reset. in advanced my computer properties

 

[geokilla]

I've already done a clean install, and I can't run with on board video. I've already test my processor to be 24hrs Orthos stable (small FFTs)

I got a BSOD today, and it said that it was something related to ATI that caused the BSOD. In fact, it was the ati2mtag that caused the BSOD, as well as all the errors that I see in the event log. I'm pretty sure that this rules out my CPU or RAM being unstable.

 

[0roo0roo]

maybe, its hard to say without spare parts to swap in to test for reliability. find a friend and swap video cards and stuff. could even be your psu

 

[geokilla]

Well, I just ran one hour of Memtest test #5 to stress my RAM at the overclocked settings and I didn't get any errors, so I'm sure my RAM is stable since test #5 is like the one that stresses RAM the most.

I would swap it, but then I'll probably have to keep the card for a couple of weeks, since the problem isn't always there. Plus, like none of my friends have video cards since they all use integrated graphics.

BTW, my PSU is a OCZ GameXstream 600W that was bought a month ago, so I'm sure that it's not my PSU. My PSU is suppose to be pretty good, except for the ripples under crazy-high loads which my computer can never generate.

 

[marrr]

Check to see if the fan on your video card is still working

 

[geokilla]

The fan on my video card is still working. My video card operates at normal temperatures, just like before.

I think it's the drivers that's causing a problem. I was playing Drift City, then after I exit the game I got a BSOD saying that the problem was caused by this: ati2cqag.dll. I'm going to try and reinstall my drivers right now and see what happens.

 

[geokilla]

Hmm. My computer just froze again during Windows startup, after I got logged in into my Windows account. I checked the event log, and it said that it was the ati2mtag that caused my system to freeze again.

Why does it keep on doing this. I would be happier if this constantly happened, but it doesn't. This happens like whenever it wants. It could take days for this to happen, or it can happen a couple of times in a row. What can be wrong? Does anyone have a clue?

BTW, I verified that my overclock wasn't causing these problems startup problems.

 

[geokilla]

Anyone please?

 

[lamere]

what drivers are you using? when is the last time you updated them?

it looks like the drivers are causing it to crash, try different ones, man........

use driver cleaner in regular AND safe mode after uninstalling them, install a previous version, like the 7.8's or 7.9's or try the 7.10's if you're not using them already.

 

[geokilla]

I'm using the Catalyst 7.10 drivers right now. Before, I was using 7.9 and 7.8. I update my drivers as soon as they come out.

I uninstall my old drivers through add&remove programs. Then I boot into safe mode and run driver cleaner to get rid of whatever is left of the previous drivers. I then restart Windows and install the new drivers with Kaspersky and Ad-Aware disabled.

 

[geokilla]

Turns it it was ATI Tools that was crashing the computer.

 

[dclive]

So you removed those, and that fixed the problem?

 

[geokilla]

Uhh my problem only came randomly. But this is what happened. I booted up my computer the other day, but ATI Tool didn't load for some reason. So I went to programs, and opened up ATI Tool. As soon as ATI Tool opened, my system froze. CTRL + ALT + DEL didn't open Task Manager so I restarted the comp the old fashion way.