Display driver problems

[shwan]

hello, i am currently running the latest version of the ATI drivers on my Radeon HD 3870 (or at least i think how can you diffidently tell what version you are on?). and the "display driver" keeps crashing this happens when i am playing a game AND when i am not playing games. it used to happen only once a day but not it happens pretty regularly and it is driving me nuts! so can some one please tell me a fix for this problem i really need one thanks.

OS- vista 64 bit (just pre orderd win7 yay!)
GFX card - Radeon HD 3870

ps: i will be uninstalling and re-installing the drivers and will post back if that works but please give me some help.

 

[daedalus685]

Define crashing.

Are you getting a warning such as "the display driver atikmdag.sys has stopped responding and has recovered"?

Also, the version is under software information in the catalyst control center.

 

[shwan]

Define crashing.

Are you getting a warning such as "the display driver atikmdag.sys has stopped responding and has recovered"?

Also, the version is under software information in the catalyst control center.

when i say crashing i mean the monitors go black then come back to live saying "display driver has stoped working but has recovered" or something like that.

i check and i am on 9.5 witch is weird because i installed 9.6 a while ago i'll install 9.6 again and post back.

 

[shwan]

sorry for the double post but i just installed the latest drivers so i will post back a final time to whether or not it still "crashes'

 

[hardwaretechy]

Make sure that when you install the new drivers that you uninstall the old ones first. Old drivers are known to cause issues if you don't uninstall them first.

 

[daedalus685]

Ok, that error is part of the windows feature (windows vista and seven anyway) known as Timeout Detection and recovery (TDR).

This is the error you get when windows resets the display adapter.

It is designed (though doesnt always work) to detect hardware faults and prevent teh computer from having to hard reset.

There were a lot of bugs with it in the early days with it triggering mistakenly. This was due to poor drivers, poor windows, conflicting software, etc.

First thing to be sure is to check if your card is broken or not. Assuming TDR is working corectly the card is crashing, if you have the latest drivers, this is probably due to heat, power, or an overclock.

Check the temperatures, back off an overclock if you have one, and make sure the PSU is up to snuff (they can age not so well if they are cheep).

If you are certain the hardware is fine thigns to help with this are a wipe of the drivers and a reinstall of them, cleaning up the registry, and even disabling TDR nteh registry.

 

[shwan]

Ok, that error is part of the windows feature (windows vista and seven anyway) known as Timeout Detection and recovery (TDR).

This is the error you get when windows resets the display adapter.

It is designed (though doesnt always work) to detect hardware faults and prevent teh computer from having to hard reset.

There were a lot of bugs with it in the early days with it triggering mistakenly. This was due to poor drivers, poor windows, conflicting software, etc.

First thing to be sure is to check if your card is broken or not. Assuming TDR is working corectly the card is crashing, if you have the latest drivers, this is probably due to heat, power, or an overclock.

Check the temperatures, back off an overclock if you have one, and make sure the PSU is up to snuff (they can age not so well if they are cheep).

If you are certain the hardware is fine thigns to help with this are a wipe of the drivers and a reinstall of them, cleaning up the registry, and even disabling TDR nteh registry.

wow thanks for the info i have some more questions now though

what is PSU?
below i posted a link to a picture of all the temps on my computer if nothing is wrong with that can you direct me to a good tutorial for cleaning out the registry?


http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff73/shwanman1/temps.jpg

Make sure that when you install the new drivers that you uninstall the old ones first. Old drivers are known to cause issues if you don't uninstall them first.

can i just go into the c:ATI:support folder delete all of the folders there but the current driver version or do i need to do something else to uninstall them?

 

[daedalus685]

Just run the uninstaller that comes with the drivers.

PSU means power supply unit.

Ccleaner is a good cleanup utility, google it to find it.

 

[shwan]

just to let you guys no i haven't had the display driver fail yet new record thanks for the help <3