Guide to uninstalling ATI drivers in Win2K/XP...

Jeff

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/drivers/uninstall.php

Thanks, Candyman, and Mad_Hattah!

Update: New address is http://www.hardwareheaven.com/drivers/...p?op=uninstall

Update 2: New address is http://www.hardwareheaven.com/drivers/...page=uninstall

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qirard

AA

Jeff

Yeah, have you tried the second page?

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chewdz

From the "second page":
7. When returning to Windows, the NEW HARDWARE FOUND wizard will come up and will tell you that it has found a new VGA card and will prompt you for drivers. Hit CANCEL!

But is there any way to deactivate the New Hardware Wizard in winXP besides deleting the OEM.inf files?

Jeff

Not that I know of.

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shuki

try this set of instructions if you haven't already http://www.hardwareheaven.com/drivers/uninstall2.php it's that oem part (I think) that takes care of windows detecting and installing the ATI drivers. I think with those oem files gone then windows will give you the option to cancel out.

qirard

AA

shuki

second page has worked fine for hundreds of users. in fact just went through it with a guy for the first time (for him) three days ago and it went fine. He kept not being able to cancel out but didn't realize there was a second way but after he tried that it worked fine... Don't know what happened to your 4 machines?!? hope you had a system restore point

DarkFoss

There is another way to stop the device manager . I use Norton's Internet Securities to stop
the device manager from accessing the internet, after the reboot ..downside is I have to click block like 6 times but after that the wizard will pop up and I can then hit cancil as recommended.. Perhaps you can jack you settings up when doing the uninstall so everything needs permission then tone them down afterwards.

__________________
Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety,deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.

Ben Franklin, 1755

EmAzY

is there a software that cleans the driver out of our os just like how Nvidia has detonator destroyer...

we need that kinda stuff guys.........


also win xp is too fast and i dont even have cancel on the thing, i only have an x to press on and thats about it.

also whats the disadvantage of not cleaning it on ati drivers.

is that the reason why some people get bsod and some other ill stuffs.

JoseAPR

What's up everyone... I don't usually post on message boards but I was having the same problem as these other people with the automatic install of the 8500/ 8500 le vid card driver (6071). I tried everything possible to clean the computer of any remains of ATI driver files to no avail. I was completely confused as to how XP finds these files... until someone mentioned the wizard and how it connects to the internet. So I unplugged my LAN on reboot... problem solved!
Thanks!

Impulse

[SIZE=x-small]Well written guide [/SIZE]

CJintheUK

Good guide, followed it to the letter.........

But I've hit a slight problem, every time I set my desktop to 1280x1024 my viewable area is 600x400 with a 1280x1024 desktop.... Other settings work fine.....

One good thing has come out of this clean-up, GTA3 now Looks and Plays AWESOME.....

I'm using
Retail ATI 8500DV - Lastest Omega/Pluto drivers (I haven't installed the patch YET!!....)
AMD Athlon 1400Mhz
MSI K7T266 6380 Mobo
512Mb DDR memory
Philips 17" monitor

Impulse

[SIZE=x-small]Hi m8, good for you... LOL [/SIZE]

SD-[Inc]

Ah Ha! Thanks Jose. I was beginning to think I was insane. I have a cable connection that is always on so this makes sense why I could never get past the auto-install. I've been deleting oem*.* files and had no luck whatsoever. Now I have a ton of driver entries in the registry to clean out.

Thanks,
SD

Functor

I just went through the same process above. I followed both guides to the tee, and still XP installed the 8500 drivers automatically. I eventually got it to work by doing the following:

I went through the two pages and removed all the files and uninstalled drivers etc.

when the first guide calls for a reboot, reboot into safe mode (F8 after post). Then, I was able to cancel the driver installation. Now I could continue on with the guide, deleting more files and registry keys. When I rebooted a second time, I rebooted in saef mode again, but I don't think it was necessary. i think you can just do a regular boot, and then XP asked me for the location of the drivers at boot up. You can cancel it finally, and run the setup of the latest drivers.

I hope this helps.

Stafford

This happens to me as well, where it didn't before.
My Process used to be.
1.Uninstall boot
2. Regcleaner boot
3.Install new drivers

On both reboots I used to be 'Prompted' by Windows XP to install the Drivers to which I just cancelled, but now Windows is being, Frankly a little rude and just installing them without permission.

I don't feel like disconnecting my LAN everytime I Install drivers, especially since they seem to be leaking every 12Hours

Nice tip in any event.

hwg

Hello.

I tried some drivers incl. xk1102 and ATI drivers, and I have a problem now. I do the uninstall, but there are always 2 ati*.inf I cannot delete. They always get back somehow.
And I cannot uninstall ATI Control Panel, the uninst process goes into 5-6 blank "OK" error messages, and is unsuccessful.
The driver-uninstall goes okay, but after restart the ATI control panel posts an error message finding no ATI card.

And as I remember, the end part of installing an O/P driver also goes into blank error messages. There seems to be a connection between these problems. Can anyone help me?

I have a PowerMagic Radeon 7500. And I cannot install properly O/P drivers.
XP reinstall?

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ABIT BE6-II / 256 MB SDRAM / Celeron 800@1067 / Powermagic Radeon 7500 64MB DDR

shiro08

Well I've got a Radeon 8500DV and like many others, I've been having problems installing some of the latest drivers on Windows XP. I've read the uninstallation process once or twice, ever since that first bug in the O/P 1.1.02 that didn't detect 7500 and other cards correctly. Having reinstalled the drivers over and over, I finally found a solution that works (for me anyways). Of course the problem I'm talking about is easily recognized by the slow windows gui redrawing you see after installing new drivers. It's very simple.

I don't suppose you need a totally prepped and cleaned system like process described in the uninstall page, but it wouldn't hurt to start off there. Next, boot into safemode. If the Windows prompts you on detecting a new video card, stop the installation. Go into your Device Manager under the Hardware tab in the System control panel. Get the properties for the video card (it would be either "standard video card" or "Radeon" etc depending on if you cleaned out your drivers or not, but it works either way for me). Update the driver for your card and choose "Install from a specific location." Then pick "Don't search, I'll choose..." Goto Have Disk and pick the CX*.inf in the directory where you extracted the drivers. Pick your card and go. That should be it. I guess you could do it out of safe mode, but I do it there just to be safe. Oh, and BTW you can't install the WDM drivers in safemode. I think there could be something screwy with ATI's driver installer, at least for me and betas anyways.

You can tell it worked when the windows drag and scroll smoothly again.

Gurm

I've discovered that the last couple driver installations (with the "new" ATI installer) have been no problem to get rid of. It doesn't redetect it on reboot, and I can reinstall a different set of drivers no problem.

My problem? Figuring out which ati*.* files to delete. There are a LOT of them, not just 3 or 4... like 30 or 40. Many in drivercache, many in system32. Not sure which ones to kill... any ideas?

(XP Pro, Radeon 8500, uninstalling 6118's, for example!)

- Gurm

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<Insert random "Army of Darkness" quote here...>

Gurm

Ok I'm going to quote the uninstall guide, and make a few notations and changes. For the record, I'm running a Radeon 8500 (genuine ATI, 64MB, 275/275, Bios 1.009) under Windows XP Pro, and the drivers I'm discussing are... any recent set. I've checked this information with both Omega/Plutonium and ATI drivers. Changes will be noted by curly braces {} and bold italics.

- Gurm

{Gurm's Modified} guide to uninstalling radeon drivers in windows 2000 and XP

1. Go into the Control Panel and under the ADD/REMOVE SOFTWARE icon uninstall the ATI MultiMedia software and/or the ATI DVD software. {If prompted to reboot, say no.}

{1a. Uninstall the ATI Control Panel also found in the Add/Remove section. Again, do not reboot.}

{1b. Uninstall the "Omega/Plutonium" entry also found in the Add/Remove section. If you don't have "ATI Drivers" you may now reboot, otherwise proceed to step 2.}

2. Uninstall the ATI drivers also found in the Add/Remove section. Once removed, it will prompt you to reboot....do so. {When rebooting, hit F8 and choose "Safe Mode" and "Windows XP". This is important, since otherwise files that you need to delete will be locked when you get into Windows!}

3. When returning to windows, the NEW HARDWARE FOUND wizard will come up and will tell you that it has found a new VGA card and will prompt you for drivers. Hit CANCEL! {You may not see this box. It may be happening behind your login, or it may just not appear. Don't freak out if it doesn't, but if you have a classic Radeon (aka anything up to a 7200) and you're running Windows XP, you'll need to uninstall XP's default drivers for the Radeon series - link at bottom of this guide.}

4. Now, go to START - SEARCH - FOR FILES OR FOLDERS and do a search for all files and folders using the filename ati*.* {and in the location c:\
Your search is likely to turn up some entries in Program Files. Ignore them for now. Instead focus on the files in the c:\Windows (or c:\Winnt, for those of you running Windows 2000) directory and its subdirectories. Ignore the files in the c:\windows\inf subdirectory and those contained in the "Reinstallbackups" directory. Select the rest of these files and erase them. Now go to your Recycle Bin and Empty your bin.

4a. Now browse onto "My Computer", and to the "C:" drive and then to the "Program Files" folder. Delete any folders that start with "ATI" (examples - "ATI Control Panel", "ATI DVD Player", etc.) and any folders that start with Omega/Plutonium.}

5. Next...time to go to your Registry. Go to START -- RUN -- regedit

Here go to key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE -- SYSTEM -- ControlSet001 -- Control -- Video . Here there should be 4 entries. 3 of them are default Windows XP entries and the 4th one is put in by the ATI drivers. Expand each one by one until you see ATI entries {Note: The "ATI Entries" may very well just be a long list of parameters. Basically, one of these things is gonna have a subkey FULL of information}. Once found, erase the entire key. {Note: if you are working with recent ATI Catalyst drivers (non-customized) and you have installed the WDM component, there may well be MORE THAN ONE key in here that needs deleting! Just remember, when you're done there should only be 3 keys left.}

Now repeat the same step above for the ControlSet002 key.

Once all keys are deleted, proceed to the next step.

6. While still in the registry, go to the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE -- SOFTWARE section. Here you should find an ATI Technologies key. {Note: You may not see this key. ATI keeps moving it. Don't freak out.} Select it and delete it. In that same section, look for an Installed Options key. Expand it and there you should find another ATI Technologies key. Select it and erase it.

7. Still in the registry, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER -- Software and there you should find another ATI technologies key. {Note: Again, you may not see this key. ATI keeps moving it around, from "Current User" to "Local Machine" and back. Don't freak out.} Select it and erase it. Once all this is done, close the registry. the registry is now clean.

8. Close all windows and reboot.

9. When in windows after the reboot the NEW HARDWARE FOUND WIZARD will pop up again. Cancel that. [i][b]{Note: Again, you may not see this. Don't sweat it.} Now find the new ATI drivers that you have downloaded and extracted and run the SETUP file. Once complete, reboot and you are done. You may want to reinstall your ATI MMC software and DVD software if you use them. DONE!

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<Insert random "Army of Darkness" quote here...>

DarkFoss

Nice bit of addenda Gurm
Here's something I pulled off of EQ tech support before they closed it
He said he got it from ms tech support works fine for me with Xp not sure if any other os has this option although 2000 might.
In step 2 after removing the vid card drivers hit start, run, type in msconfig and click on the boot ini tab,check the box for base video and reboot. Now you don't have to go into safe mode the files you were talking about will no longer be "locked".After rebooting you'll see some box warning you about not using the original boot ini check the do not show this on start-up in the lower left hand side and close it, if prompted to reboot ignore it. Follow the rest of your guide. After installing the new drivers (step9) hit start run type in msconfig again and under the boot ini tab uncheck the base video box ..If you don't use a modified boot ini also click on the general tab and check use original boot ini, close and reboot.
Note if you don't uncheck the base videobox your new drivers will give you some warning about no ati card installed when you reboot and you'll have to uncheck it reboot and then manually direct the wizard to your new drivers.
Doing this I've had no problems unistalling/installing any drivers and if you've got cable/dsl don't forget to disconnect from the net while rebooting after step 2 so the wizard doesn't reinstall the 6071's automatically

__________________
Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety,deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.

Ben Franklin, 1755

Gurm

Yeah, or just cancel out of the wizard.

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<Insert random "Army of Darkness" quote here...>

shuki

am I the only one that now has problems with winXP auto installing ATI drivers since adding xpsp1? Even in safe mode, winXP never does give me the opportunity to cancel out of automatic driver installation... Tried in safe mode and disconnected from LAN and XP still installs ATI MS driver grrr. Any ideas?

Edoardo

I think I made it to uninstall the drivers from my WinXp SP1
I just followed page2 literally - and was disconnected from the net while doing that.

My machine is a Dell SmartPC250N w/ Mobility Radeon.
I was in a real mess since I upgraded the original driver, first with what i found on Dell's site and then with the Plutonium and Omega/Plutonium. In fact I simply did a normal uninstall ... not a thorough one. When I did that, I found that win kept tarck of all versions of the drivers.

The only doubt about a total uninstall is about:
delete all ati*.* form under win dir & subdirs.

there I hit WFP (Windows File Protection) - so certain files found in systm32 and system32/dllcache reappear after deletion.
Now, disabling that from XP_SP1 is really tricky, so I stopped at that and did the rest of the uninstall, followed by an install of the Plutonium XP, and now things are almost OK, except some freezes while working with java (1.4.1 IDEA+Junit).

Edo

gibbon565

Thanks for this and
Cheers
Andy

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3500 x64
ASRock Dual Sata 2
7900 GTO 512
1 gig OCUK
HANNS-H HW13D

Gurm

Edo, yeah that happens with SP1, since it includes stock ATI drivers. They shouldn't interfere in any way. I'll be updating this soon to reflect SP1 changes.

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<Insert random "Army of Darkness" quote here...>

RIV@NVX

If I can say something....

{Gurm's Modified} guide to uninstalling radeon drivers in windows 2000 and XP

1. Go into the Control Panel and under the ADD/REMOVE SOFTWARE icon uninstall the ATI MultiMedia software and/or the ATI DVD software. {If prompted to reboot, say no.}

{1a. Uninstall the ATI Control Panel also found in the Add/Remove section. Again, do not reboot.}

{1b. Uninstall the "Omega/Plutonium" entry also found in the Add/Remove section. If you don't have "ATI Drivers" you may now reboot, otherwise proceed to step 2.}

2. Uninstall the ATI drivers also found in the Add/Remove section. Once removed, it will prompt you to reboot....[COLOR=red]do not do so, first go to device manager and uninstall any monitors (because you will later have a lot of installed monitors if you don't do so - this can sometimes mess some things up).[/COLOR] . {When rebooting, hit F8 and choose "Safe Mode" and "Windows XP". This is important, since otherwise files that you need to delete will be locked when you get into Windows!}

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-- Vedran

BobyJo

To be on the safe side, delete all of them.

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Dreadnought

In W2K i don't have any LOCAL MACHINE - SYSTEM - CONTROL - VIDEO keys.