Optional update disables DreamScene

[Gary Mount]

I had a new optional update show up in Windows Update dated September of
this year.

"ATI Technologies Inc. - Video - RADEON 9600 SERIES
Installation date: ?12/?29/?2007 5:17 AM
Installation status: Successful
Update type: Optional
ATI Technologies Inc. Video software update released in June, 2007
More information:
http://winqual.microsoft.com/support/?driverid=20064802
Help and Support:
http://support.microsoft.com/select/?target=hub"

This update caused DreamScene to have a black background and no video.
This update seems to be the same one that was dated August of this year that
I installed and the same problem occurred.
I installed the latest drivers after installing that update the first time
and my DreamScene was back to normal.
This time I used a restore point to get back to normal.

Seems to me that this update shouldn't become available to download an
install if it is causing system instabilities A novice might not know what
is causing his system to crash and possibly corrupting it so badly that he
can't even restore his computer, which is what happened to me a couple of
weeks ago when I installed that update.
I didn't know what had caused my problems at that time, as I couldn't
investigate the problem as I had to reinstall Vista from scratch.

 

[Andre Da Costa[ActiveWin]]

Thats why its an 'optional' update, its your decision to install it or not.
You might want to relay this message in the following ng:
microsoft.public.windowsupdate

 

[Andrew Rossmann]

[This followup was posted to microsoft.public.windows.vista.general and
a copy was sent to the cited author.]

I had a new optional update show up in Windows Update dated September of
this year.

"ATI Technologies Inc. - Video - RADEON 9600 SERIES
Installation date: ?12/?29/?2007 5:17 AM
Installation status: Successful
Update type: Optional
ATI Technologies Inc. Video software update released in June, 2007
More information:
http://winqual.microsoft.com/support/?driverid=20064802
Help and Support:
http://support.microsoft.com/select/?target=hub"

NEVER use video drivers from Microsoft Update. Download the drivers from
ATI.
http://ati.amd.com/support/driver.html

 

[MICHAEL]

I had a new optional update show up in Windows Update dated September of this year.

"ATI Technologies Inc. - Video - RADEON 9600 SERIES
Installation date: ?12/?29/?2007 5:17 AM
Installation status: Successful
Update type: Optional
ATI Technologies Inc. Video software update released in June, 2007
More information:
http://winqual.microsoft.com/support/?driverid=20064802
Help and Support:
http://support.microsoft.com/select/?target=hub"

This update caused DreamScene to have a black background and no video.
This update seems to be the same one that was dated August of this year that I installed and
the same problem occurred.
I installed the latest drivers after installing that update the first time and my DreamScene
was back to normal.
This time I used a restore point to get back to normal.

Seems to me that this update shouldn't become available to download an install if it is
causing system instabilities A novice might not know what is causing his system to crash and
possibly corrupting it so badly that he can't even restore his computer, which is what
happened to me a couple of weeks ago when I installed that update.
I didn't know what had caused my problems at that time, as I couldn't investigate the problem
as I had to reinstall Vista from scratch.

Never use Windows Update to update hardware. Especially, your graphics
card. Get the update directly from the manufacturer's website.
More than likely, you could have fixed your problem just by installing
the latest drivers from ATI's site. But, as with any update, if your hardware
is working fine, don't update. Unless, it's some security fix.
If it ain't broke....... don't break it.

http://game.amd.com/us-en/drivers_catalyst.aspx?p=vista32/common-vista32
https://a248.e.akamai.net/f/674/9206/0/www2.ati.com/gamesite/Catalyst_712_Release_Notes.html


-Michael

 

[Andre Da Costa[ActiveWin]]

To be honest though, I have downloaded driver updates for my ATI Mobility
Radeon x1600 through Windows Update and experienced no problems.

 

[MICHAEL]

The Mobility/Laptop updates can be a bit different.

Generally speaking, the computer manufacturer is responsible
for those updates not ATI or Nvidia. Sometimes, those updates
may only come through via Windows Update. On one of my
laptops, a Gateway, there hasn't been an official Vista driver update
from ATI (Radeon 9700 Mobility) since March, and there has never
been update posted at the Gateway site. Sure, you can go to ATI's
site and download the newest Catalyst pack. But, if you check your
driver properties it will not update the mobility drivers, only the
Catalyst control stuff gets updated. However, there is a way around
that. Please, anyone reading this, I am not suggesting you do this.
Use with extreme caution and have a backup/recovery plan in place.

You can run the ATI setup, it will extract the files to another folder.
Usually, C:\ATI
If you know how, you can edit that installer to force it to update
your drivers. Orca; http://support.microsoft.com/kb/255905

Or, use a program like Mobility Modder located here;
http://www.driverheaven.net/modtool/, to do it for you.

Then run the setup like normal. I've done this numerous times
since Vista was released on the Gateway laptop, and I haven't
experienced any problems. Actually, there have been a couple of
times when forcing the update this way made a positive difference
in performance.

Once again, do this at your own risk.... be prepared for disaster.


-Michael

 

[Charlie Tame]

To be honest though, I have downloaded driver updates for my ATI Mobility
Radeon x1600 through Windows Update and experienced no problems.

And me too Andre, but NVdia say uninstall first and I think that is the
safer method. Reboot, uninstall, reboot, install - so it is all clean -
nothing to interfere.

It has nothing to do with Windows / Microsoft update - just what is also
running at the time

 

[Andre Da Costa[ActiveWin]]

Well, maybe its an issue specific to nVidia then.