you really must be joking...

[merlocka]

LOL, I really can't believe this. My PC has (had) a Geforce3 installed. I just picked up a Dell flat panel for the "family" PC and I figured I would move the GF3 from mine to that PC because it has DVI.

To replace it, I would use this oppertunity to play with an ATI card for a change. I ordered and received a Sapphire Radeon 8500LE 64MB from Newegg.

I downloaded the Catalyst 2.5 drivers and Control panel from ATI.

I then did the following (which seemed to make perfect sense at the time),

Deleted all ati* files from \drivers directory

Removed ATI folder from registry (had a TVwonder VE installed quite a while ago, uninstalled it because of driver trouble)

Uninstalled nVidia device drivers from control panel.

Shut down.

Replaced GF3 with Radeon.

Booted, WinXP detects 8500 and installs a Microsoft driver. I thought deleting the ati files from system32/drivers would prevent this but perhaps they came from the SP1 folder.

Disable Norton auto-protect.

Oh well, I ran the catalyst 2.5 installer anyway. Rebooted. Driver installed OK. I started quake3 just to make sure. Application loaded and played properly. Refresh rates are stuck at 60hz though.

Disable Norton auto-protect.

Installed the catalyst 2.5 control panel. Reboot.

And this is what I FVCKING see...


Windows cannot restart because the following file is missing or corrupt :

\windows\system32\config\system



Now, I'm just looking at ways to try and fix this without re-installing the OS, but this really pisses me off. Why the EFF would the control panel installer corrupt/change this file?

It's crap like this that I hate more than anything. This should not happen.

If anyone sees anything which I did which was obviously wrong please let me know. If anyone knows a simple way to recover the config file, that would be good too.

Thx, spec's below.


System - Asus A7V, T-Bird 1GHz, WinXP home + SP1, DX8.1

 

[merlocka]

LOL, i can't roll-back or boot to safe mode either.

 

[TheWart]

You prolly deleted the file by accident.....never heard of that file giving problems from ATI drivers before...Also, next time try installing the drivers manually through CP
btw, Catalyst 3.0 is the latest version.

I think youll end up having to re-format, especially if you cannot even safe boot into it.
Sorry to hear that

 

[merlocka]

Originally posted by: TheWart
You prolly deleted the file by accident.....never heard of that file giving problems from ATI drivers before...Also, next time try installing the drivers manually through CP
btw, Catalyst 3.0 is the latest version.

I think youll end up having to re-format, especially if you cannot even safe boot into it.
Sorry to hear that

Deleted the file by accident? The system file isn't deleted. It's there, windows just won't read it. It was modified very recently, so something changed it.

The drivers seemed to install fine. Everything looked OK in the DM. It was the COntrol panel which caused the issue.

Catalyst 3.0 is DX9 and still has a bug with OpenGL laggyness. In addition, by following the "powered by ATI" link on ATI's page you end up with Cat 2.5 drivers.

 

[Trevelyan]

You can boot off the windowsxp cd and run some repair utilities... that should fix it.

 

[merlocka]

Originally posted by: Trevelyan
You can boot off the windowsxp cd and run some repair utilities... that should fix it.

Ya, that's what the error message stated. I booted off the WinXP CD, pressed 'r' to get to repair the install. You end up with a command prompt and a bunch of utilities. No magical "repair this file" button, and nothing popped out as an easy fix.

Fortunately, I just upgraded my C: drive last week and was able to copy the file from the old drive (which I just happen to leave alone in case "something" happened ).

The good news is that I am able to boot again.

It seems that the 'config' file which I replaced contains information like drive letter numbering (which I had changed from default) because that's the only thing different after I replaced the file.

What really tickles me is this. I didn't even uninstall the ATI software. I just removed the card, replaced this 'config' file, rebooted, ran the installer for the latest detonators, rebooted, fixed the refresh with rivatuner, and everything works.

I'm aware that for every person who has trouble with a card or software there are dozens who don't have a single issue. I just don't understand why I seem to have so much trouble with ATI. (and for those who would suggest a clean format to install a new video card, forget it. that's ridiculous)

Not being such an avid gamer/tweaker as I once was, not having to dick around with drivers is now a more valuable feature than an extra few FPS. Methinks I'm still an nVidiot for a while.

 

[merlocka]

Last thing.

Now I need a decent (non-ATI) card with DVI output for around $75.

Newegg has a Leadtek Geforce4 MX440 with DVI for about $75, which might be OK since it won't be in a game-intensive PC.

Any other suggestions?

 

[EXman]

saw a GF3 at mwave w/ dvi for lil less "mx"= GF2 imo

 

[DieHardware]

If you used add/remove in control panel instead of Detonator Destroyer you didn't remove the Nvidia drivers. Uninstall the Detonators now, reboot and you'll still see a Nvidia folder on your boot drive.

I just removed the card, replaced this 'config' file, rebooted, ran the installer for the latest detonators, rebooted, fixed the refresh with rivatuner, and everything works.

You seem to be whining because you're familiar with the procedures for Nvidia cards and not ATI cards. Thats like someone who has used windows for years complaining about how hard linux is to use.

 

[merlocka]

Originally posted by: DieHardware
If you used add/remove in control panel instead of Detonator Destroyer you didn't remove the Nvidia drivers. Uninstall the Detonators now, reboot and you'll still see a Nvidia folder on your boot drive.

I just removed the card, replaced this 'config' file, rebooted, ran the installer for the latest detonators, rebooted, fixed the refresh with rivatuner, and everything works.

You seem to be whining because you're familiar with the procedures for Nvidia cards and not ATI cards. Thats like someone who has used windows for years complaining about how hard linux is to use.

Actually, I was explaining exactly what I did and what the results were in hope someone would be able to assist me in recovering from the corrupted file issue which was preventing my PC from booting. Thanks for your concern, though

. It's fairly obvious that I'm not familiar with the install process for the ATI drivers considering I almost ruined my OS install by trying to load bloody device drivers.

 

[McCarthy]

Well, don't think it's an ATI deal. Just did a clean install of XP myself, did the 4in1s, sound drivers, video drivers....
and got the same \windows\system32\config\system error. GF2 card, used nVidia's drivers. Since it was a brand new not even used twice install with just drivers done I just went ahead and redid it and it didn't do it again. Seems like a XP feature though.

 

[Spicedaddy]

Sounds like you screwed something up yourself by deleting files here & there without knowing what they were...


But it's probably ATI's fault anyways, so putting back an nVidia card in there should fix it.

 

[railer]

You must have to be an ass to post around here.
The guy wasn't whining, he was explaining what happened.
I switch out video cards all the time in xp, and never have problems. I just remove the old drivers first...nothing elaborate.
Maybe I've just been lucky so far...