calamitus

Windows freezes up shortly after booting onto desktop screen.

Shortly after upgrading from Windows XP Professional to Windows Vista Home Premium (no graphics card compatability problem shown by Vista upgrade advisor), Windows would freeze during every boot-up only seconds after reaching desktop screen. After using safe mode for a while, I disabled my graphics card (NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT) and the problem was resolved. Of course, now even semi-graphics-intensive functions (screensaver, watching videos) became impossible or at least problematic. I updated graphics card driver, but that did not resolve problem. Installing Vista's Service Pack 1 also did not resolve the issue. Vista is up-to-date with all important updates installed.

Here are my specs:

OS: Windows Vista Home Premium Service Pack 1 (build 6001)

Processor: 1.80 gigahertz AMD Athlon 64
128 kilobyte primary memory cache
512 kilobyte secondary memory cache

Mobo: Board: NF-CK804
Bus Clock: 201 megahertz
BIOS: Phoenix Technologies, LTD 6.00 PG 12/21/2004

Drives: 330.06 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
104.84 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space
_NEC DVD_RW ND-3540A ATA Device [CD-ROM drive]
SONY DVD-ROM DDU1621 ATA Device [CD-ROM drive]
3.5" format removeable media [Floppy drive]
ST325082 3AS SCSI Disk Device (250.06 GB) -- drive 0
ST380817 AS SCSI Disk Device (80.02 GB) -- drive 1

Memory: 1024 Megabytes Installed Memory

Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT

Multimedia: ATI Unified AVStream Driver
Realtek AC'97 Audio

Controllers: Standard floppy disk controller
IDE Channel [Controller] (2x)
NVIDIA nForce4 Serial ATA Controller (2x)
Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller

Bus adapters: Microsoft iSCSI Initiator
Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller
Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller

Other devices: AGERE OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller
Built-in Infrared Device
Standard PS/2 Keyboard
Logitech USB Cordless Mouse
USB Root Hub (2x)
Generic volume shadow copy
pcouffin device for 32 bits systems (4x)

Here are a couple of other issues that may or may not be related to possible graphics card problem:

Upon every successful boot-up not ending in freeze-up, error box pops up at desktop screen. It reads: Windows host process (Rundll32) has stopped working. A problem caused the program to stop working correctly. I close the window and everything seems to work fine.

A "Safely Remove Hardware" icon for ATI Unified AVStream Driver is always present on the taskbar. When clicked on, BSOD comes.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

Underclocker

NF-CK804 isn't the actual model of your motherboard. Use something like Everest to check: http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=1072

For the graphics card problem, check that you have the latest motherboard drivers also installed. What power supply are you using? PCI-E requires a unit capable of 26A on the +12V rail to run properly, so test out a quality one if your's doesn't meet the requirement.

From a quick Google I can at least gather that your motherboard uses an NVIDIA nForce4 chipset, so I don't see why you would have the ATI Unified AVStream Driver installed. If you want, boot into Safe Mode by hitting F8 during the boot screen, and uninstall it.

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calamitus

Everest didn't work. Downloaded and installed it and it immediately said it's license was expired.

Anyway, mobo is a WinFast NF4UK8AA-8EKRS.

I'm not sure how to check if my motherboard drivers are up-to-date. I went to Foxconn's (motherboard maker) Web site, but I couldn't tell for sure if I need any updates.

I'll have to check on power supply info, but I'm pretty sure it's 350w.

As for the ATI Unified AVStream Driver, I have an ATI TV tuner card installed that I'm not currently using,so I'm guessing that driver is associated with that device.