Fresh when it gets here from
Julie Barrett
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
I'm working from the laptop today as I try to resolve some issues with my desktop computer.
I've written several times about my ATI All-in-Wonder video card and how it simply isn't playing well with Vista. It seems that every driver update adds another layer of instability. It peaked yesterday when I found I couldn't start the computer. This was especially frustrating as I hadn't yet finished my taxes. (Oh, my taxes were finished, but darned if I was going to pay money before the deadline.)
Windows Vista has a new feature that actually looks for solutions to problems. When you have a crash under XP you hae the option to send data to Microsoft but with no real feedback until you discover (or not) that the next system or driver update fixes your problem. Vista actually keeps track of problems (including those mysterious lock-ups and reboots) and periodically checks in to see if there's a resolution to your problem. It even checks for updated drivers for your hardware, which is pretty cool.
Vista has been telling me that the ATI Catalyst drivers were causing problems and to get an update. The only problem was that there was no update available. I took to ignoring the messages, but discovered last night that ATI had posted an update a couple of weeks ago. Oops.
The only problem was that I kept booting into a very mysterious Blue Screen of Death, and some digging confirmed that the cause was most likely the Catalyst drivers. So what's a Geek Girl to do? Roll back the drivers, of course. But I couldn't even start in Safe Mode. That problem was solved by clearing the BIOS cache, so I was able to boot and get the taxes printed out. I updated the drivers and everything seemed fine until the system hosed up this morning and I got the same BSOD on reboot.
I decided that perhaps it's time to remove the video card. The motherboard has an Nvidia 6100 built in. I wouldn't mind something more robust, but it does support the Aero interface in Vista and appears to be capable of supporting two monitors (though I need to dig up some documentation on that). The best part, though, is that I can test system stability without spending more money. Normally I'm not a fan of built-in video on motherboards, but they do make a good backup plan in case of issues with the better add-on card.
So now I'm waiting on Windows to install an update and shut down. Then I can see how well things work.
At this point I don't see any difference in startup times, which is disappointing. I thought that perhaps the ATI driver was the culprit behind the mind-numbingly long hang during startup. On the other hand, every restart I've done since I've removed the card has been with updated video drivers installed, so I guess I shouldn't worry just yet. Windows XP was bad about taking its sweet time the first restart after a hardware change, so I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that Vista has similar behavior. This really doesn't qualify as a complaint; I can understand why that happens.
My restart was a bit faster, so now we'll see what happens when I do some real work.
More later, I hope.
Tags:
Technology