[SOLVED] If ATI Radeon Catalyst was re-installed, why "driver missing" pop-up on desktop?

[elderrhody44]

I keep getting a pop-up on the screen whenever I turn it on saying ATI won't run because it is missing a driver. Background is detailed below:

I moved my old Dell Dimension desktop, circa 2005 to another room. When I booted it up, Medieval Total War crashed, which it never has on this machine. Tried it on my Win 98 old Compaq, no good. Tried it on my Win7 ACER Aspire laptop, no good. This game is known by gamers to have graphics issues but on this machine and with the settings I had, no problem--until I physically moved the desktop. I did not drop the machine, by the way.

I re-installed the game and it still crashes. Then I enabled a graphics driver in the System Settings of this Windows XP machine. Nothing changed--Medieval Total War still crashes. Then I re-installed the ATI Radeon Catalyst software which I installed on the machine around 2005 when I first bought the desktop.

I have no idea what ATI Radeon model or whatever you call it I have, but it says 180-G01479-100 on the CD, copyright 2004.

Somehow, something, perhaps an alien life form, or perhaps my dead brother-in-law's poltergeist, or maybe simply Chance, has been messing with me, because it knows I favor Medieval Total War more than any other game I have.

Now keep in mind MTW is very choosy about graphics, and it uses DirectX 8.1, but I reinstalled that DirectX version directly from the MTW CD. The ATI dashboard said I had Direct Draw and Direct 3D accelerations enabled, and the system was okay.

But, this game always ran with no problem on the Dell desktop I am referring to. What is going on with the graphics on this machine? How could the ATI program not run when I re-installed it from the original CD? I had not modified the ATI program so presumably nothing changed.

Sherlock Holmes or Sanda Bullock or somebody please help me grasp what is going on.

Thanks.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

what version of Windows are you using?

How could the ATI program not run when I re-installed it from the original CD?

data can easily become corrupted over time.
and when just reinstalling drivers many times old versions of files are left behind and/or just skipped with the new install because they are already detected.

your best option would be to upgrade to a modern system where you wouldn't have these specific issues.

but you can also try removing all previous graphics related drivers, files, & settings. see if DDU supports whatever ancient OS you may be using and run that.
then perform a fresh install of the latest drivers available directly from AMD/ATI.
hopefully they have some sort of "legacy" search option for prehistoric cards.

to determine your model card just open the system and look at it.
if no logo with series is visible take the card out and look at it's manufacturer label for serial # and/or model.
you can also run GPU-Z and it should tell you the make & model of the card.

you could also perform a fresh install of your OS and then install drivers from your old CD fresh again.

 

[elderrhody44]

what version of Windows are you using?

data can easily become corrupted over time.
and when just reinstalling drivers many times old versions of files are left behind and/or just skipped with the new install because they are already detected.

your best option would be to upgrade to a modern system where you wouldn't have these specific issues.

but you can also try removing all previous graphics related drivers, files, & settings. see if DDU supports whatever ancient OS you may be using and run that.
then perform a fresh install of the latest drivers available directly from AMD/ATI.
hopefully they have some sort of "legacy" search option for prehistoric cards.

to determine your model card just open the system and look at it.
if no logo with series is visible take the card out and look at it's manufacturer label for serial # and/or model.
you can also run GPU-Z and it should tell you the make & model of the card.

you could also perform a fresh install of your OS and then install drivers from your old CD fresh again.

e
I am running Windows XP on that desktop because it allows me to play strategy games of that era like Medieval Total War.

I do not like Windows 10 at all. The last good Windows was Windows 7, and I still use that on my main laptop.

See, you have to join "Steam" and download Medieval Total War to run on the newer machines and operating systems and I hate the idea that Steam even exists. I want my boxed CD to OWN, not "lease to use." I also don't like the lack of good intelligent strategy games nowadays. Besides, one has to rely upon lengthy downloads, and anything can happen during a long download. What if you have to go to the toilet while a pop-up option occurs? Why should I have to opt for high download speeds, to make some cable company executive or owner rich? I want excellence in design and re-playability and affordability, and I will not bow to the compulsory "modern" mindless flash-in-the-pan/ use and throw away stuff.

Nowadays, it is all glitz and glitter for the kids and for most adults who are like kids. For reasons that escape me, the strategy game developers walked away for many excellent games instead of modifying their operating system requirements and re-issuing them. Not everything "New" is good. In fact, the gaming industry threw out the baby with the bath water when they dumbed-down to shooters and glitzy flashy speed-based junk to sell to kids. A lot of older people like me still enjoy the excellent strategy games of the late 1990's and early 2000's like the ones which Kalypso, Activision (then SEGA) put out. Who could deny the excellence of Patrician III for example? Who could deny the excellence of Waterloo, or Age of Sail, or Rome Total War for example?

I want my Medieval Total War back!

I appreciate your suggestions, and even in fact that you had the kindness to reply, but your suggestions are drastic for me, and besides I do not fully comprehend some of your references and abbreviations.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

...I appreciate your suggestions, and even in fact that you had the kindness to reply, but your suggestions are drastic for me, and besides I do not fully comprehend some of your references and abbreviations.

nothing i stated was even related to upgrading to Windows 10 so i don't know what all of that two paragraphs was about.

removing your current graphics related drivers, files, & settings with DDU; a program called DDU(Display Driver Uninstaller).
and reinstalling the latest available for your card from AMD/ATI was my first recommendation.

next i mention upgrading your hardware, not OS(operating system) software, to a more modern system where you can use more up-to-date drivers and where you won't have the issues you are experiencing trying to find legit old versions.

last i mention that you can try a fresh install "of your OS", not an upgrade to Windows 10 or any other iteration, and then to just reinstall your existing driver package you have on disc.

 

[elderrhody44]

Umm, I copied the sysinfo.exe file sent to me in a link by tech guy onto a thumb drive, scanned it for viruses, copied it to the desktop which is having the graphics issues, and ran it. It ran and provided a snapshot of my desktop. It is the same info I already sent in a previous post. When I tried to copy that info page to the thumb drive, it would not "Paste." So, I stymied. I cannot send it via www because the desktop has no internet connection.

 

[elderrhody44]

I give up. Too difficult even to get help. No way I am ever going to play Medieval Total War again unless I buy a Windows 10 machine and download the updated version on Steam. Went to a tech store nearby and the guy did a blank stare so that's that.