Video card... driver problems?

CrashCore · 08-30-2006, 11:42 AM

I've been using my ATI Radeon 9600 SE (AGP) on Windows XP without any problems, except once I had a small problem when I tried to uninstall Radlinker, an overclocking utility for ATI video cards. I have been unable to uninstall Radlinker since then, but everything was going fine for a few months. Then suddenly I was unable to write to the registry, and when I restarted my computer explorer and many other programs wouldn't start (msconfig, cmd, and some others would though). I eventually used msconfig to start with nothing and enable everything one by one until explorer would start. I got it down to a service, and later found it to be "Shell Hardware Detection". Whether I started it (explorer doesn't start then) or I didn't (explorer starts, many things don't work... MSN Messenger, Windows Messenger, My Computer freezes explorer until I restart it). A "Found New Hardware" window always pops up whether I use my 9600SE, onboard video, or my NVidia MX 4000. The MX 4000 seems the most promising because I can actually get drivers to think they're installing instead of just leaving the device driverless. However, after installing the MX 4000 drivers, it (Found New Hardware window) gives me the error message: "An error occured during the installation of the device. The parameter is incorrect." Starting Shell Hardware Detection when Windows is already started also freezes explorer and makes it unable to restart. Programs I installed recently incude File Association Editor, WAssociate, and Unlocker. I installed the first two because a few weeks ago I lost the ability to edit file associations through the normal "Tools > Folder Options > File Types tab" way (this was before I completely lost all ability to edit the registry). I have only one user on my computer and I am an administrator. I made sure I had permissions to edit the registry, but I still get the error: "Cannot create value: Error writing to the registry." Firefox, explorer (as long as I don't go to My Computer), and some programs run normally. So now I'm left with a 50% functional Windows XP which has extremely bad video (scrolling on web pages is extremely jerky and slow) no matter what I use for video (9600SE, MX 4000, or onboard). Can someone please give me any advice on what I could try before I reinstall Windows? I forgot to mention I had used my MX 4000 and the drivers were stable for about a year before I upgraded to my 9600SE, and also that all my System Restore points prior to the catastrophe (yesterday morning) somehow got deleted. Thank you for your help.

Edit: I forgot to say I uninstalled my 9600SE drivers after the registry mess-up and before I figured out Shell Hardware Detection was the problem and I was unable to reinstall them because ATI's installer said I should use generic VGA drivers before trying to install the drivers, and I couldn't get it to work when I followed M$'s instructions on how to do that.

Geekgirl · 08-30-2006, 12:47 PM

Hi and Welcome to TSF

You best bet is to first try to Perform a Repair Installation

Configure your computer to start from the CD-ROM drive. Then insert your Windows XP Setup CD, and restart your computer.

1.When the Press any key to boot from CD message is displayed on your screen, press a key to start your computer from the Windows XP CD.

2.Press ENTER when you see the message To setup Windows XP now, and then press ENTER displayed on the Welcome to Setup screen.

3.Do not choose the option to press R to use the Recovery Console.

4.In the Windows XP Licensing Agreement, press F8 to agree to the license agreement.

5.Make sure that your current installation of Windows XP is selected in the box, and then press R to repair Windows XP.

6.Follow the instructions on the screen to complete Setup.

If you have xp sp2 installed it needs to be incorporated into your xp disk or it will not offer the repair option only the clean install.

Slipstreaming Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Create Bootable CD

CrashCore · 08-30-2006, 02:00 PM

Ok thank you; I'll try that and report what happens.

CrashCore · 08-30-2006, 03:08 PM

I started a repair installation, but a little while after it started installing (or repairing) I got this error message: "The file 'VIAAGP1.SYS' on VIA AGP Filter Driver Disk is needed." I never installed any video drivers on my computer except the NVidia MX 4000 and ATI Radeon 9600SE as mentioned in my first post. I did install VIA sound drivers, but that's hardly relevant to AGP, which is obviously referring to video drivers. I do have a driver disk that came with my motherboard, but I did a search for "viaagp1.sys" and even just "agp" and it came up with nothing. Should I push cancel? I included a picture of the error.

dai · 08-30-2006, 04:55 PM

do you have the via 4 in 1 driver on your motherboard setup disk
http://www.viaarena.com/

CrashCore · 08-30-2006, 05:32 PM

Thank you for the reply, but I had found it myself. My disk did not include the 4 in 1 driver, but thanks to a blog called "Such Stuff" I found the driver and my Windows XP repair installation is continuing, so far without any more errors. I would like to again thank dai, Geekgirl, and this forum for helping me out.

dai · 08-30-2006, 05:37 PM

your welcome

Geekgirl · 08-30-2006, 06:16 PM

I ran into that issue before, just bypass that message and continuing with the repair, everything worked ok.

CrashCore · 08-30-2006, 06:42 PM

Thank you, but I had already found the driver online and used a floppy disk to transfer it. Now the repair installation finished. Everything (explorer, MSN Messenger, all the MS apps that didn't work before) works, but the registry is still unwritable even after I set all the permissions for every available user to full control. Also, the video card drivers still won't install and everything video related is still as slow as a snail. I doubt a full reinstall of Windows XP would even fix it if that didn't work... This is getting really frustrating; do you have any other suggestions besides a full reinstall? Thanks for all the help.

dai · 08-30-2006, 07:33 PM

in add and remove uninstall all ati
in the device manager uninstall the card
reboot tapping f8 and choose vga mode
when windows fishes rebooting and reinstalling the card
disable antivirus
install the drivers and software
reboot the computer

CrashCore · 08-30-2006, 08:38 PM

Ok thank you; I'll try that tonight or tomorrow morning. I did, however, already do the first two steps and I've tried the others, but not since the repair installation. Thanks.

CrashCore · 08-31-2006, 09:06 AM

UGH!

I'm starting to come to the conclusion that the whole reason I had other problems to begin with was because of my inablility to write to the registry. I've tried everything now, including changing ownership of the entire registry to me instead of administrator. I am still unable to change, create, or delete keys or values. I tried your suggestion with no results. I tried to reinstall the VGA drivers that came with my motherboard, and that caused my 9600SE to do the same thing as my MX 4000 had:

"An error occured during the installation of the device. The parameter is incorrect."

Even the VIA 4-in-1 driver I downloaded from MSI's website can't write to the registry. It says:

"Error 1406. Could not write value DefaultFeature to key UNKNOWN\Installer\Features\598A4D02C84788D478C1DF1B96B51096. Verify that you have sufficient access to that key, or contact your support personnel."

All registry keys I've ever seen have started with HKEY_[something], so why is this one different? Could that be the problem? But I don't see how the installer could be corrupt because I downloaded that installation from MSI's website. Would it maybe help if I made another user that was admin and used that user to try all of this instead? Thanks for all the help.

Edit: Also, when I try to install the ATI video drivers for my 9600SE, I took screenshots of the error messages I get and I have attached them. The "Platform Errror" window is the error from my VIA VGA drivers.

dai · 08-31-2006, 10:53 AM

in the run box type
sfc /scannow
and press enter

CrashCore · 08-31-2006, 06:20 PM

Thanks for the suggestion, but it didn't change anything. My registry is still unchangable and my video drivers are still not working. When I try to open some programs, like notepad or Windows Picture and Fax Viewer, they take almost a minute to open the first time, then all later times that session they start normally. My system isn't slow: AMD Sempron 64 3100+, 768MB of ram, etc. I took three screenshots of dialogs that pop up now since I started having problems. The first one is because I have Daemon Tools enabling an emulation at startup because I play off backed up disks so I don't ruin my originals (I've had that happen a few times before), but I've never gotten an error before; I only got that error after the repair installation I did. The second one is just because when I uninstalled the NVidia drivers it couldn't access the registry to stop that DLL from loading at startup, but I thought I might as well show you anyways in case it could help. The third one is just what happens at boot when it tries to install video drivers at boot (every boot). Thank you for the help.

dai · 08-31-2006, 08:19 PM

you are logged on as admin?
and you have removed all old video drivers from add and remove

CrashCore · 09-01-2006, 11:12 AM

Yes, I am logged on as admin and I only have one user on my system, and yes, I did remove all old video drivers of any kind. Then, just when I thought maybe re-installing the VGA drivers from VIA could potentially fix it, they wouldn't install correctly because of the registry problem. I also forgot to mention that since the repair installation the boot time has increased ten-fold. I timed it when I first built my system (early 2006) and it took less than 30 seconds from bios to completely up and running. Now it takes at least 3 minutes or so combined just to say, "Windows is starting up..." and then, "RPCSS is starting..." Would it maybe help to create a new admin and delete my current user? Thanks.

CrashCore · 09-01-2006, 12:43 PM

I just noticed two more things. The first is that when I try to look at System Information I get this error, "Can't Collect Information. Access denied to Windows Management Instrumentation server on this computer. Have an administrator change your access permissions." The first screenshot is of this window. The second screenshot is the error I get when I try to run Windows Update. I used to keep Automatic Updates service disabled because I personally believe that M$'s "fixes" open more holes than they fix, but I decided maybe updates could possibly fix some bug XP might have with video drivers or something. Then I was greeted with this error. Thanks.

dai · 09-01-2006, 04:38 PM

see what you get in safe mode see if you get access

CrashCore · 09-01-2006, 04:50 PM

Can you use Windows Update in safe mode? I've already tried editing the registry and everything else in safe mode with no luck. I guess I haven't tried that though. Today I tried Driver Cleaner Pro and installing SP2. Driver Cleaner got rid of a few things, but it didn't change anything. SP2 failed to install, presumably because of the registry problem. I'll try that and report back. Thank you for all your help, but if I don't see any improvement soon I'm going to do a clean XP install because I just got my 250GB external hard drive today. Thanks.

dai · 09-01-2006, 06:42 PM

one reason why sp2 will not install is if you have a virus
http://www.techsupportforum.com/showthread.php?t=15968

08-30-2006, 11:42 AM	#1 (permalink)
CrashCore Registered User Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 16 OS: Windows XP	Video card... driver problems? I've been using my ATI Radeon 9600 SE (AGP) on Windows XP without any problems, except once I had a small problem when I tried to uninstall Radlinker, an overclocking utility for ATI video cards. I have been unable to uninstall Radlinker since then, but everything was going fine for a few months. Then suddenly I was unable to write to the registry, and when I restarted my computer explorer and many other programs wouldn't start (msconfig, cmd, and some others would though). I eventually used msconfig to start with nothing and enable everything one by one until explorer would start. I got it down to a service, and later found it to be "Shell Hardware Detection". Whether I started it (explorer doesn't start then) or I didn't (explorer starts, many things don't work... MSN Messenger, Windows Messenger, My Computer freezes explorer until I restart it). A "Found New Hardware" window always pops up whether I use my 9600SE, onboard video, or my NVidia MX 4000. The MX 4000 seems the most promising because I can actually get drivers to think they're installing instead of just leaving the device driverless. However, after installing the MX 4000 drivers, it (Found New Hardware window) gives me the error message: "An error occured during the installation of the device. The parameter is incorrect." Starting Shell Hardware Detection when Windows is already started also freezes explorer and makes it unable to restart. Programs I installed recently incude File Association Editor, WAssociate, and Unlocker. I installed the first two because a few weeks ago I lost the ability to edit file associations through the normal "Tools > Folder Options > File Types tab" way (this was before I completely lost all ability to edit the registry). I have only one user on my computer and I am an administrator. I made sure I had permissions to edit the registry, but I still get the error: "Cannot create value: Error writing to the registry." Firefox, explorer (as long as I don't go to My Computer), and some programs run normally. So now I'm left with a 50% functional Windows XP which has extremely bad video (scrolling on web pages is extremely jerky and slow) no matter what I use for video (9600SE, MX 4000, or onboard). Can someone please give me any advice on what I could try before I reinstall Windows? I forgot to mention I had used my MX 4000 and the drivers were stable for about a year before I upgraded to my 9600SE, and also that all my System Restore points prior to the catastrophe (yesterday morning) somehow got deleted. Thank you for your help. Edit: I forgot to say I uninstalled my 9600SE drivers after the registry mess-up and before I figured out Shell Hardware Detection was the problem and I was unable to reinstall them because ATI's installer said I should use generic VGA drivers before trying to install the drivers, and I couldn't get it to work when I followed M$'s instructions on how to do that. Last edited by CrashCore; 08-30-2006 at 12:01 PM.

08-30-2006, 12:47 PM	#2 (permalink)
Geekgirl Assistant Manager, Microsoft Support Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Six-burgh, Pennsylvania Posts: 14,192 OS: XP Home SP3/XP Pro SP3/Vista Ultimate SP2/Windows 7 Professional	Hi and Welcome to TSF You best bet is to first try to Perform a Repair Installation Configure your computer to start from the CD-ROM drive. Then insert your Windows XP Setup CD, and restart your computer. 1.When the Press any key to boot from CD message is displayed on your screen, press a key to start your computer from the Windows XP CD. 2.Press ENTER when you see the message To setup Windows XP now, and then press ENTER displayed on the Welcome to Setup screen. 3.Do not choose the option to press R to use the Recovery Console. 4.In the Windows XP Licensing Agreement, press F8 to agree to the license agreement. 5.Make sure that your current installation of Windows XP is selected in the box, and then press R to repair Windows XP. 6.Follow the instructions on the screen to complete Setup. If you have xp sp2 installed it needs to be incorporated into your xp disk or it will not offer the repair option only the clean install. Slipstreaming Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Create Bootable CD __________________ Compare NOD32 to your current antivirus and anti-spyware solution, HERE How to back up and restore the registry in Windows XP and Windows Vista Or Windows 7 How to back up and restore the registry in Windows 98/ ME / NT 4.0 / 2000 I DO NOT ACCEPT EMAILS AND WILL NOT REPLY TO THEM !!!!! TSF DOES NOT SUPPORT ASSISTANCE THROUGH EMAIL OR PRIVATE MESSAGES, PLEASE KEEP ALL QUESTIONS IN THE OPEN FORUM *The Pittsburgh Steelers - 6 X Superbowl Champions !!!!!!!* *The Pittsburgh Penguins - 2009 Stanley Cup Champions !!!!!!!*

08-30-2006, 04:55 PM	#5 (permalink)
dai Manager, Hardware Forums Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: west australia Posts: 56,717 OS: win 7 32x 64x rtm	do you have the via 4 in 1 driver on your motherboard setup disk http://www.viaarena.com/ __________________

08-30-2006, 05:37 PM	#7 (permalink)
dai Manager, Hardware Forums Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: west australia Posts: 56,717 OS: win 7 32x 64x rtm	your welcome __________________

08-30-2006, 06:16 PM	#8 (permalink)
Geekgirl Assistant Manager, Microsoft Support Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Six-burgh, Pennsylvania Posts: 14,192 OS: XP Home SP3/XP Pro SP3/Vista Ultimate SP2/Windows 7 Professional	I ran into that issue before, just bypass that message and continuing with the repair, everything worked ok. __________________ Compare NOD32 to your current antivirus and anti-spyware solution, HERE How to back up and restore the registry in Windows XP and Windows Vista Or Windows 7 How to back up and restore the registry in Windows 98/ ME / NT 4.0 / 2000 I DO NOT ACCEPT EMAILS AND WILL NOT REPLY TO THEM !!!!! TSF DOES NOT SUPPORT ASSISTANCE THROUGH EMAIL OR PRIVATE MESSAGES, PLEASE KEEP ALL QUESTIONS IN THE OPEN FORUM *The Pittsburgh Steelers - 6 X Superbowl Champions !!!!!!!* *The Pittsburgh Penguins - 2009 Stanley Cup Champions !!!!!!!*

08-30-2006, 02:00 PM	#3 (permalink)
CrashCore Registered User Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 16 OS: Windows XP	Ok thank you; I'll try that and report what happens.

08-30-2006, 05:32 PM	#6 (permalink)
CrashCore Registered User Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 16 OS: Windows XP	Thank you for the reply, but I had found it myself. My disk did not include the 4 in 1 driver, but thanks to a blog called "Such Stuff" I found the driver and my Windows XP repair installation is continuing, so far without any more errors. I would like to again thank dai, Geekgirl, and this forum for helping me out.

08-30-2006, 06:42 PM	#9 (permalink)
CrashCore Registered User Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 16 OS: Windows XP	Thank you, but I had already found the driver online and used a floppy disk to transfer it. Now the repair installation finished. Everything (explorer, MSN Messenger, all the MS apps that didn't work before) works, but the registry is still unwritable even after I set all the permissions for every available user to full control. Also, the video card drivers still won't install and everything video related is still as slow as a snail. I doubt a full reinstall of Windows XP would even fix it if that didn't work... This is getting really frustrating; do you have any other suggestions besides a full reinstall? Thanks for all the help.

08-30-2006, 07:33 PM	#10 (permalink)
dai Manager, Hardware Forums Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: west australia Posts: 56,717 OS: win 7 32x 64x rtm	in add and remove uninstall all ati in the device manager uninstall the card reboot tapping f8 and choose vga mode when windows fishes rebooting and reinstalling the card disable antivirus install the drivers and software reboot the computer __________________

08-30-2006, 08:38 PM	#11 (permalink)
CrashCore Registered User Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 16 OS: Windows XP	Ok thank you; I'll try that tonight or tomorrow morning. I did, however, already do the first two steps and I've tried the others, but not since the repair installation. Thanks.

08-31-2006, 10:53 AM	#13 (permalink)
dai Manager, Hardware Forums Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: west australia Posts: 56,717 OS: win 7 32x 64x rtm	in the run box type sfc /scannow and press enter __________________

08-31-2006, 08:19 PM	#15 (permalink)
dai Manager, Hardware Forums Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: west australia Posts: 56,717 OS: win 7 32x 64x rtm	you are logged on as admin? and you have removed all old video drivers from add and remove __________________

09-01-2006, 11:12 AM	#16 (permalink)
CrashCore Registered User Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 16 OS: Windows XP	Yes, I am logged on as admin and I only have one user on my system, and yes, I did remove all old video drivers of any kind. Then, just when I thought maybe re-installing the VGA drivers from VIA could potentially fix it, they wouldn't install correctly because of the registry problem. I also forgot to mention that since the repair installation the boot time has increased ten-fold. I timed it when I first built my system (early 2006) and it took less than 30 seconds from bios to completely up and running. Now it takes at least 3 minutes or so combined just to say, "Windows is starting up..." and then, "RPCSS is starting..." Would it maybe help to create a new admin and delete my current user? Thanks.

09-01-2006, 04:38 PM	#18 (permalink)
dai Manager, Hardware Forums Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: west australia Posts: 56,717 OS: win 7 32x 64x rtm	see what you get in safe mode see if you get access __________________

09-01-2006, 04:50 PM	#19 (permalink)
CrashCore Registered User Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 16 OS: Windows XP	Can you use Windows Update in safe mode? I've already tried editing the registry and everything else in safe mode with no luck. I guess I haven't tried that though. Today I tried Driver Cleaner Pro and installing SP2. Driver Cleaner got rid of a few things, but it didn't change anything. SP2 failed to install, presumably because of the registry problem. I'll try that and report back. Thank you for all your help, but if I don't see any improvement soon I'm going to do a clean XP install because I just got my 250GB external hard drive today. Thanks.

09-01-2006, 06:42 PM	#20 (permalink)
dai Manager, Hardware Forums Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: west australia Posts: 56,717 OS: win 7 32x 64x rtm	one reason why sp2 will not install is if you have a virus http://www.techsupportforum.com/showthread.php?t=15968 __________________