Network Adapter Driver Problem?

World

New Member
I purchased a new computer about 10 months ago running Vista 64 bit.
My system crashes intermittently sometimes 4 to 5 times a day. The form of
the crash is that just powers down and is locked. To reboot I first have to
unplug the power cord to the back of the unit. It crashes sometimes while
using fully compatible programs and sometimes while on line using Firefox or IE.
I am using a D-Link WUA-1340 USB network adapter (the router / access point
is on another computer) and I suspect that the driver for this adapter may be
the culprit. In the Device Manager the driver that is being used is a Ralink System 32
with a date of 5/24/09. This must have been installed via a Win update as I
surely did not install it. D-Link has a driver for 64 bit but the date on it is 9/07
and after downloading that and trying to install that over the present driver I
get a message that the current driver is the latest one and is retained. How do
I over ride this? Do I need to uninstall the current driver and then install the
D-Link driver? And if I do, will Win auto update change it on me down the road?
Any other ideas that might be causing these crashes besides the adapter?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Gateway LX6200-01
    CPU
    AMD Phenom 9500 Quad-Core 2.20 GHZ
    Memory
    8.00 GB
Any other ideas that might be causing these crashes besides the adapter?
I'd check this first - Have a look at the Event viewer logs for errors:

"Start>search type Event Viewer and Under Event Viewer (Local) Custom Views> Administrative Events" and look for any repeated errors. If it still looks like is the adpater causing the issue:

and after downloading that and trying to install that over the present driver I get a message that the current driver is the latest one and is retained.

How do I over ride this? Do I need to uninstall the current driver and then install the D-Link driver?

Yes. Remove the driver the via device manager, Do not reboot (even if it asks) and install the older one.

Alternatively, in Device Manager right-click on your adapter, select properties >driver tab and then select 'roll back driver'

And if I do, will Win auto update change it on me down the road?
Most likely it will. You can either set WU to never check, download but don't install, or check but download.

Once the older driver has been installed, change WU to 'Never Check for Updates' and then manually check for updates.

If the newer driver appears in the WU list, you can 'hide' it so it will not be installed. You can then change your WU settings back to whatever you wish.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Self Built
    CPU
    i7 3770K HT ON 4.7GHz
    Motherboard
    P8Z68 Deluxe Gen 3
    Memory
    8GB G.Skill Ripjaws X 2133mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    2x Gigabyte GTX 670 OC WindForce SLI
    Sound Card
    X-FI Forte + ATH-AD900
    Monitor(s) Displays
    x2 Dell U2410 / 58" Samsung / "40 Sony
    Screen Resolution
    1920*1200 / 1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    2x Intel 520 240GB * Crucial M4 128GB * 2x Samsung F3 1TB (RAID 0) * 2x WD Caviar Blacks 2TB (RAID 0)
    PSU
    Corsair AX1200W
    Case
    Lian Li PC-V1020A
    Cooling
    NH-D14: 3x140mm Gelid Wing 14: Sunbeam Rheobus Extreme
    Keyboard
    Topre Realforce // Ducky Shine Cherry MX Black
    Mouse
    Razer Imperator + Thermaltake Theron
    Other Info
    Laptop Specs:
    Clevo Sager P170HM //
    17.3 Matte 1920x1200 //
    i7 2720QM // 8GB 1333mhz //
    Dedicated GTX 485M //
    240GB Intel 520 + 750GB + Blu-Ray //

    Samsung Story 2TB USB 3.0
Thank you for your suggestions. The event log just shows an error with Event ID 6008 which doesn't help me. So I went the route of uninstalling the driver for the network adapter and so the adapter disappeared from the Device Manager. Clicked on it to discover new hardware and in the first go around it auto installed a 32 bit D-Link driver dated 7-07. I tried to install the later 64 bit over it and a message popped up saying the former was the best driver and was retained. Next go around the driver that was auto installed was the 32 bit 5-09 driver. I'm in a loop and not able to install the driver that I want. I also tried disconnecting from the network for a while during which another crash event occurred. So it may not be the driver for the adapter triggering the crashes.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Gateway LX6200-01
    CPU
    AMD Phenom 9500 Quad-Core 2.20 GHZ
    Memory
    8.00 GB
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