Vista - Re: Video card driver permanently lost after automatic update! :(

OK so I went to Acer's site (Acer is the laptop brand) and downloaded a
Windows XP update for the graphics adapter. Their site is messed up, though,
because the Aspire 5050 is marketed as having an Xpress 200M chipset, and
the previously installed drivers I'd been using for a month were Xpress 200M
drivers, but what I downloaded from Acer was for Radeon Xpress 1100.

The Xpress 1100 drivers install correctly (as in, without errors and with
32-bit color and support for my laptop's native resolution), but Aero is
disabled and I cannot reenable it (its option in Appearance settings is
still gone, only Vista Basic is showing).

I've found Direct3D support to be working correctly by firing up Guild Wars
and World of Warcraft and seeing solid performance and resolution. Why is
Aero disabled if D3D is stable?

Jon


"Jon Davis" <jon@REMOVE.ME.PLEASE.jondavis.net> wrote in message
news:9A51A166-3D60-48A0-BA48-65A95A8521C6@microsoft.com...
> On an Acer Aspire 5050 which has a Radeon Xpress 200M I upgraded a healthy
> configuration of Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 to Windows Vista
> Ultimate. Everything has been working fine for the last month, with
> beautiful 3D video, Aero support, Media Center support, game play support,
> etc., until now.
>
> After ATI's Vista update "failed to find any installable components," I
> made the idiotic mistake of opening up the Display settings and choosing
> "Search automatically for updated driver software". IMO this is a severely
> broken component of Vista but that's not the point of my post here. The
> automatic update UNINSTALLED all of my video card drivers and told me I
> "successfully" updated to the "Standard VGA Adapter".
>
> The "Rollback Driver" button is, and always has been, dimmed. I'd try
> rebooting to the "last successful hardware configuration" if it's
> available, but I've already rebooted a few times with different attempts
> to fix this.
>
> I had recently downloaded the Vista RTM drivers from ATI/AMD's web site,
> but all Setup does is tell me that there are no compatible components to
> install (that was both before and after "updating" to the "Standard VGA
> Adapter"). However, the .inf file containing a reference to the Xpress 200
> series is there. (Actually, three such references are there.)
>
> I tried pointing to this .inf file, but Windows fails to try installing it
> because it "cannot find the required files". There are several DLLs in
> this directory where the .inf file was extracted, but their filenames are
> suffixed with ".dl_" rather than ".dll". Does anyone know whether these
> ".dl_" files are compressed, and if so, how they can and should be
> expanded for this purpose?
>
> Jon
>

Jon--

As to Aero Glass, have you tried forcing it this way:

Ensure that you have the following registry value set to :

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM\Composition set to 1 (32-bit DWORD)

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM\CompositionPolicy set to 2 (32-bit
DWORD)

2/ Restart DWM by opening a command prompt with administrative privileges :

- Type 'net stop uxsms'
- Then 'net start uxsms'

Also see:
http://www.windows-now.com/blogs/rob.../26/15036.aspx

On the missing driver:


As to the driver wizard bug, that more than one poster in this thread has, I
haven't seen it but I'd sure wonder how many people have and will come Jan
30. I'd try to feed it back to MSFT and if I can finda good route to the
driver teams, I'll post it for you.

I have found that much of the time I have trouble installling a driver
instead of using the new hardware wizard or the update driver wizard from
device manager and letting them browse, what works is to browse to the
location of the driver folder where the files have downloaded but in your
case you have a roadblock in the way of the driver download from the site.

I'd try all restore points prior to this; if no go then Last Known Good
Configuration @ F8 Windows Adv Options. If no go I'd do a Startup Repair:
You run the startup repair tool this way:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925810/en-us

How To Run Startup Repair In Vista Ultimate (Multiple Screenshots)
http://www.windowsvista.windowsreins...rtup/index.htm

Note The computer must be configured to start from a CD or from a DVD. For
information about how to configure the computer to start from a CD or from a
DVD, see the information that came with the computer.
2. Restart the computer. To do this, click Start, click the arrow next to
the Lock button, and then click Restart.

This usually means that you enter bios setup by whatever key or keys
(sometimes there is more than one key that will do it for your model--go to
pc manufacturer site) and configure CD to be first in the boot order.

See for ref:
Access/Enter Motherboard BIOS
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/bios_manufacturer.htm

Note If you cannot restart the computer by using this method, use the power
button to turn off the computer. Then, turn the computer back on.
3. Set your language preference, and then click Next.

Note In most cases, the startup repair process starts automatically, and you
do not have the option to select it in the System Recovery Options menu.
4. Click Repair your computer.
5. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, click the operating system
that you want to repair, and then click Next.
6. In the System Recovery Options menu, click Startup Repair to start the
repair process.
7. When the repair process is complete, click Finish.

Additional References for Startup Repair With Screenshots:

How to Use Startup Repair:

***Accessing Windows RE (Repair Environment):***

1) Insert Media into PC (the DVD you burned)

2) ***You will see on the Vista logo setup screen after lang. options in the
lower left corner, a link called "System Recovery Options."***

Screenshot: System Recovery Options (Lower Left Link)
http://blogs.itecn.net/photos/liuhui...4/500x375.aspx

Screenshot: (Click first option "Startup Repair"
http://www.leedesmond.com/images/img...SysRecOpt2.bmp

How To Run Startup Repair In Vista Ultimate (Multiple Screenshots)
http://www.windowsvista.windowsreins...rtup/index.htm

3) Select your OS for repair.

4) Its been my experience that you can see some causes of the crash from
theWin RE feature:

_____________________________________

CH
_______________

"Jon Davis" <jon@REMOVE.ME.PLEASE.jondavis.net> wrote in message
news:EFA75514-19AE-4DB3-891E-ED0A37DFE857@microsoft.com...
> OK so I went to Acer's site (Acer is the laptop brand) and downloaded a
> Windows XP update for the graphics adapter. Their site is messed up,
> though,
> because the Aspire 5050 is marketed as having an Xpress 200M chipset, and
> the previously installed drivers I'd been using for a month were Xpress
> 200M
> drivers, but what I downloaded from Acer was for Radeon Xpress 1100.
>
> The Xpress 1100 drivers install correctly (as in, without errors and with
> 32-bit color and support for my laptop's native resolution), but Aero is
> disabled and I cannot reenable it (its option in Appearance settings is
> still gone, only Vista Basic is showing).
>
> I've found Direct3D support to be working correctly by firing up Guild
> Wars
> and World of Warcraft and seeing solid performance and resolution. Why is
> Aero disabled if D3D is stable?
>
> Jon
>
>
> "Jon Davis" <jon@REMOVE.ME.PLEASE.jondavis.net> wrote in message
> news:9A51A166-3D60-48A0-BA48-65A95A8521C6@microsoft.com...
>> On an Acer Aspire 5050 which has a Radeon Xpress 200M I upgraded a
>> healthy configuration of Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 to Windows
>> Vista Ultimate. Everything has been working fine for the last month, with
>> beautiful 3D video, Aero support, Media Center support, game play
>> support, etc., until now.
>>
>> After ATI's Vista update "failed to find any installable components," I
>> made the idiotic mistake of opening up the Display settings and choosing
>> "Search automatically for updated driver software". IMO this is a
>> severely broken component of Vista but that's not the point of my post
>> here. The automatic update UNINSTALLED all of my video card drivers and
>> told me I "successfully" updated to the "Standard VGA Adapter".
>>
>> The "Rollback Driver" button is, and always has been, dimmed. I'd try
>> rebooting to the "last successful hardware configuration" if it's
>> available, but I've already rebooted a few times with different attempts
>> to fix this.
>>
>> I had recently downloaded the Vista RTM drivers from ATI/AMD's web site,
>> but all Setup does is tell me that there are no compatible components to
>> install (that was both before and after "updating" to the "Standard VGA
>> Adapter"). However, the .inf file containing a reference to the Xpress
>> 200 series is there. (Actually, three such references are there.)
>>
>> I tried pointing to this .inf file, but Windows fails to try installing
>> it because it "cannot find the required files". There are several DLLs in
>> this directory where the .inf file was extracted, but their filenames are
>> suffixed with ".dl_" rather than ".dll". Does anyone know whether these
>> ".dl_" files are compressed, and if so, how they can and should be
>> expanded for this purpose?
>>
>> Jon
>>
>

Thanks for the post. I appreciate you trying.

Yes, I had already tried following those steps to get Aero to start, no go.
However, after trying the DirectX SDK Browser sample executables I realized
D3D isn't working so fine after all, as the responsiveness to the mouse is
about two seconds delayed even though frame rate seems fine.

I hadn't saved restore points and it wasn't set up to automatically save, so
System Restore won't work.

Startup Repair won't work because it boots fine and as far as Vista is
concerned (that is, as far as it is illogically making sense of things) the
only conceivable stable configuration is with Standard VGA.

Jon


"Chad Harris" <msftneedstogetoutvistainfo.net> wrote in message
news:eSui1vlIHHA.3676@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> Jon--
>
> As to Aero Glass, have you tried forcing it this way:
>
> Ensure that you have the following registry value set to :
>
> HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM\Composition set to 1 (32-bit DWORD)
>
> HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM\CompositionPolicy set to 2 (32-bit
> DWORD)
>
> 2/ Restart DWM by opening a command prompt with administrative privileges
> :
>
> - Type 'net stop uxsms'
> - Then 'net start uxsms'
>
> Also see:
> http://www.windows-now.com/blogs/rob.../26/15036.aspx
>
> On the missing driver:
>
>
> As to the driver wizard bug, that more than one poster in this thread has,
> I haven't seen it but I'd sure wonder how many people have and will come
> Jan 30. I'd try to feed it back to MSFT and if I can finda good route to
> the driver teams, I'll post it for you.
>
> I have found that much of the time I have trouble installling a driver
> instead of using the new hardware wizard or the update driver wizard from
> device manager and letting them browse, what works is to browse to the
> location of the driver folder where the files have downloaded but in your
> case you have a roadblock in the way of the driver download from the
> site.
>
> I'd try all restore points prior to this; if no go then Last Known Good
> Configuration @ F8 Windows Adv Options. If no go I'd do a Startup Repair:
> You run the startup repair tool this way:
>
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925810/en-us
>
> How To Run Startup Repair In Vista Ultimate (Multiple Screenshots)
> http://www.windowsvista.windowsreins...rtup/index.htm
>
> Note The computer must be configured to start from a CD or from a DVD. For
> information about how to configure the computer to start from a CD or from
> a
> DVD, see the information that came with the computer.
> 2. Restart the computer. To do this, click Start, click the arrow next to
> the Lock button, and then click Restart.
>
> This usually means that you enter bios setup by whatever key or keys
> (sometimes there is more than one key that will do it for your model--go
> to
> pc manufacturer site) and configure CD to be first in the boot order.
>
> See for ref:
> Access/Enter Motherboard BIOS
> http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/bios_manufacturer.htm
>
> Note If you cannot restart the computer by using this method, use the
> power
> button to turn off the computer. Then, turn the computer back on.
> 3. Set your language preference, and then click Next.
>
> Note In most cases, the startup repair process starts automatically, and
> you
> do not have the option to select it in the System Recovery Options menu.
> 4. Click Repair your computer.
> 5. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, click the operating system
> that you want to repair, and then click Next.
> 6. In the System Recovery Options menu, click Startup Repair to start the
> repair process.
> 7. When the repair process is complete, click Finish.
>
> Additional References for Startup Repair With Screenshots:
>
> How to Use Startup Repair:
>
> ***Accessing Windows RE (Repair Environment):***
>
> 1) Insert Media into PC (the DVD you burned)
>
> 2) ***You will see on the Vista logo setup screen after lang. options in
> the
> lower left corner, a link called "System Recovery Options."***
>
> Screenshot: System Recovery Options (Lower Left Link)
> http://blogs.itecn.net/photos/liuhui...4/500x375.aspx
>
> Screenshot: (Click first option "Startup Repair"
> http://www.leedesmond.com/images/img...SysRecOpt2.bmp
>
> How To Run Startup Repair In Vista Ultimate (Multiple Screenshots)
> http://www.windowsvista.windowsreins...rtup/index.htm
>
> 3) Select your OS for repair.
>
> 4) Its been my experience that you can see some causes of the crash from
> theWin RE feature:
>
> _____________________________________
>
> CH
> _______________
>
> "Jon Davis" <jon@REMOVE.ME.PLEASE.jondavis.net> wrote in message
> news:EFA75514-19AE-4DB3-891E-ED0A37DFE857@microsoft.com...
>> OK so I went to Acer's site (Acer is the laptop brand) and downloaded a
>> Windows XP update for the graphics adapter. Their site is messed up,
>> though,
>> because the Aspire 5050 is marketed as having an Xpress 200M chipset, and
>> the previously installed drivers I'd been using for a month were Xpress
>> 200M
>> drivers, but what I downloaded from Acer was for Radeon Xpress 1100.
>>
>> The Xpress 1100 drivers install correctly (as in, without errors and with
>> 32-bit color and support for my laptop's native resolution), but Aero is
>> disabled and I cannot reenable it (its option in Appearance settings is
>> still gone, only Vista Basic is showing).
>>
>> I've found Direct3D support to be working correctly by firing up Guild
>> Wars
>> and World of Warcraft and seeing solid performance and resolution. Why is
>> Aero disabled if D3D is stable?
>>
>> Jon
>>
>>
>> "Jon Davis" <jon@REMOVE.ME.PLEASE.jondavis.net> wrote in message
>> news:9A51A166-3D60-48A0-BA48-65A95A8521C6@microsoft.com...
>>> On an Acer Aspire 5050 which has a Radeon Xpress 200M I upgraded a
>>> healthy configuration of Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 to Windows
>>> Vista Ultimate. Everything has been working fine for the last month,
>>> with beautiful 3D video, Aero support, Media Center support, game play
>>> support, etc., until now.
>>>
>>> After ATI's Vista update "failed to find any installable components," I
>>> made the idiotic mistake of opening up the Display settings and choosing
>>> "Search automatically for updated driver software". IMO this is a
>>> severely broken component of Vista but that's not the point of my post
>>> here. The automatic update UNINSTALLED all of my video card drivers and
>>> told me I "successfully" updated to the "Standard VGA Adapter".
>>>
>>> The "Rollback Driver" button is, and always has been, dimmed. I'd try
>>> rebooting to the "last successful hardware configuration" if it's
>>> available, but I've already rebooted a few times with different attempts
>>> to fix this.
>>>
>>> I had recently downloaded the Vista RTM drivers from ATI/AMD's web site,
>>> but all Setup does is tell me that there are no compatible components to
>>> install (that was both before and after "updating" to the "Standard VGA
>>> Adapter"). However, the .inf file containing a reference to the Xpress
>>> 200 series is there. (Actually, three such references are there.)
>>>
>>> I tried pointing to this .inf file, but Windows fails to try installing
>>> it because it "cannot find the required files". There are several DLLs
>>> in this directory where the .inf file was extracted, but their filenames
>>> are suffixed with ".dl_" rather than ".dll". Does anyone know whether
>>> these ".dl_" files are compressed, and if so, how they can and should be
>>> expanded for this purpose?
>>>
>>> Jon
>>>
>>
>

Jon--

You can try to use startup repair to fix Vista regardless of whether you're
in a no boot situation. It does an assessment and tries to fix what's
broken but it doesn't always fix.

CH


"Jon Davis" <jon@REMOVE.ME.PLEASE.jondavis.net> wrote in message
news:0F707925-CCA6-433C-A948-F8DDF0F84FB1@microsoft.com...
> Thanks for the post. I appreciate you trying.
>
> Yes, I had already tried following those steps to get Aero to start, no
> go. However, after trying the DirectX SDK Browser sample executables I
> realized D3D isn't working so fine after all, as the responsiveness to the
> mouse is about two seconds delayed even though frame rate seems fine.
>
> I hadn't saved restore points and it wasn't set up to automatically save,
> so System Restore won't work.
>
> Startup Repair won't work because it boots fine and as far as Vista is
> concerned (that is, as far as it is illogically making sense of things)
> the only conceivable stable configuration is with Standard VGA.
>
> Jon
>
>
> "Chad Harris" <msftneedstogetoutvistainfo.net> wrote in message
> news:eSui1vlIHHA.3676@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>> Jon--
>>
>> As to Aero Glass, have you tried forcing it this way:
>>
>> Ensure that you have the following registry value set to :
>>
>> HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM\Composition set to 1 (32-bit DWORD)
>>
>> HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM\CompositionPolicy set to 2 (32-bit
>> DWORD)
>>
>> 2/ Restart DWM by opening a command prompt with administrative privileges
>> :
>>
>> - Type 'net stop uxsms'
>> - Then 'net start uxsms'
>>
>> Also see:
>> http://www.windows-now.com/blogs/rob.../26/15036.aspx
>>
>> On the missing driver:
>>
>>
>> As to the driver wizard bug, that more than one poster in this thread
>> has, I haven't seen it but I'd sure wonder how many people have and will
>> come Jan 30. I'd try to feed it back to MSFT and if I can finda good
>> route to the driver teams, I'll post it for you.
>>
>> I have found that much of the time I have trouble installling a driver
>> instead of using the new hardware wizard or the update driver wizard from
>> device manager and letting them browse, what works is to browse to the
>> location of the driver folder where the files have downloaded but in your
>> case you have a roadblock in the way of the driver download from the
>> site.
>>
>> I'd try all restore points prior to this; if no go then Last Known Good
>> Configuration @ F8 Windows Adv Options. If no go I'd do a Startup
>> Repair:
>> You run the startup repair tool this way:
>>
>> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925810/en-us
>>
>> How To Run Startup Repair In Vista Ultimate (Multiple Screenshots)
>> http://www.windowsvista.windowsreins...rtup/index.htm
>>
>> Note The computer must be configured to start from a CD or from a DVD.
>> For
>> information about how to configure the computer to start from a CD or
>> from a
>> DVD, see the information that came with the computer.
>> 2. Restart the computer. To do this, click Start, click the arrow next to
>> the Lock button, and then click Restart.
>>
>> This usually means that you enter bios setup by whatever key or keys
>> (sometimes there is more than one key that will do it for your model--go
>> to
>> pc manufacturer site) and configure CD to be first in the boot order.
>>
>> See for ref:
>> Access/Enter Motherboard BIOS
>> http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/bios_manufacturer.htm
>>
>> Note If you cannot restart the computer by using this method, use the
>> power
>> button to turn off the computer. Then, turn the computer back on.
>> 3. Set your language preference, and then click Next.
>>
>> Note In most cases, the startup repair process starts automatically, and
>> you
>> do not have the option to select it in the System Recovery Options menu.
>> 4. Click Repair your computer.
>> 5. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, click the operating system
>> that you want to repair, and then click Next.
>> 6. In the System Recovery Options menu, click Startup Repair to start the
>> repair process.
>> 7. When the repair process is complete, click Finish.
>>
>> Additional References for Startup Repair With Screenshots:
>>
>> How to Use Startup Repair:
>>
>> ***Accessing Windows RE (Repair Environment):***
>>
>> 1) Insert Media into PC (the DVD you burned)
>>
>> 2) ***You will see on the Vista logo setup screen after lang. options in
>> the
>> lower left corner, a link called "System Recovery Options."***
>>
>> Screenshot: System Recovery Options (Lower Left Link)
>> http://blogs.itecn.net/photos/liuhui...4/500x375.aspx
>>
>> Screenshot: (Click first option "Startup Repair"
>> http://www.leedesmond.com/images/img...SysRecOpt2.bmp
>>
>> How To Run Startup Repair In Vista Ultimate (Multiple Screenshots)
>> http://www.windowsvista.windowsreins...rtup/index.htm
>>
>> 3) Select your OS for repair.
>>
>> 4) Its been my experience that you can see some causes of the crash from
>> theWin RE feature:
>>
>> _____________________________________
>>
>> CH
>> _______________
>>
>> "Jon Davis" <jon@REMOVE.ME.PLEASE.jondavis.net> wrote in message
>> news:EFA75514-19AE-4DB3-891E-ED0A37DFE857@microsoft.com...
>>> OK so I went to Acer's site (Acer is the laptop brand) and downloaded a
>>> Windows XP update for the graphics adapter. Their site is messed up,
>>> though,
>>> because the Aspire 5050 is marketed as having an Xpress 200M chipset,
>>> and
>>> the previously installed drivers I'd been using for a month were Xpress
>>> 200M
>>> drivers, but what I downloaded from Acer was for Radeon Xpress 1100.
>>>
>>> The Xpress 1100 drivers install correctly (as in, without errors and
>>> with
>>> 32-bit color and support for my laptop's native resolution), but Aero is
>>> disabled and I cannot reenable it (its option in Appearance settings is
>>> still gone, only Vista Basic is showing).
>>>
>>> I've found Direct3D support to be working correctly by firing up Guild
>>> Wars
>>> and World of Warcraft and seeing solid performance and resolution. Why
>>> is
>>> Aero disabled if D3D is stable?
>>>
>>> Jon
>>>
>>>
>>> "Jon Davis" <jon@REMOVE.ME.PLEASE.jondavis.net> wrote in message
>>> news:9A51A166-3D60-48A0-BA48-65A95A8521C6@microsoft.com...
>>>> On an Acer Aspire 5050 which has a Radeon Xpress 200M I upgraded a
>>>> healthy configuration of Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 to
>>>> Windows Vista Ultimate. Everything has been working fine for the last
>>>> month, with beautiful 3D video, Aero support, Media Center support,
>>>> game play support, etc., until now.
>>>>
>>>> After ATI's Vista update "failed to find any installable components," I
>>>> made the idiotic mistake of opening up the Display settings and
>>>> choosing "Search automatically for updated driver software". IMO this
>>>> is a severely broken component of Vista but that's not the point of my
>>>> post here. The automatic update UNINSTALLED all of my video card
>>>> drivers and told me I "successfully" updated to the "Standard VGA
>>>> Adapter".
>>>>
>>>> The "Rollback Driver" button is, and always has been, dimmed. I'd try
>>>> rebooting to the "last successful hardware configuration" if it's
>>>> available, but I've already rebooted a few times with different
>>>> attempts to fix this.
>>>>
>>>> I had recently downloaded the Vista RTM drivers from ATI/AMD's web
>>>> site, but all Setup does is tell me that there are no compatible
>>>> components to install (that was both before and after "updating" to the
>>>> "Standard VGA Adapter"). However, the .inf file containing a reference
>>>> to the Xpress 200 series is there. (Actually, three such references are
>>>> there.)
>>>>
>>>> I tried pointing to this .inf file, but Windows fails to try installing
>>>> it because it "cannot find the required files". There are several DLLs
>>>> in this directory where the .inf file was extracted, but their
>>>> filenames are suffixed with ".dl_" rather than ".dll". Does anyone know
>>>> whether these ".dl_" files are compressed, and if so, how they can and
>>>> should be expanded for this purpose?
>>>>
>>>> Jon
>>>>
>>>
>>
>

Fine, but as far as Vista is concerned, the Standard VGA Adapter isn't
"broken" and doesn't need to be "fixed" in the first place. There is no
final driver for Vista for the Radeon Xpress 200M and the driver I was using
before came from XP, and the driver for XP installer won't run on Vista.

Only solution I've found so far is to format the drive, install XP MCE, and
upgrade, all over again.

Jon

"Chad Harris" <msftneedstogetoutvistainfo.net> wrote in message
news:%234T9cOxIHHA.5000@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> Jon--
>
> You can try to use startup repair to fix Vista regardless of whether
> you're in a no boot situation. It does an assessment and tries to fix
> what's broken but it doesn't always fix.
>
> CH
>
>
> "Jon Davis" <jon@REMOVE.ME.PLEASE.jondavis.net> wrote in message
> news:0F707925-CCA6-433C-A948-F8DDF0F84FB1@microsoft.com...
>> Thanks for the post. I appreciate you trying.
>>
>> Yes, I had already tried following those steps to get Aero to start, no
>> go. However, after trying the DirectX SDK Browser sample executables I
>> realized D3D isn't working so fine after all, as the responsiveness to
>> the mouse is about two seconds delayed even though frame rate seems fine.
>>
>> I hadn't saved restore points and it wasn't set up to automatically save,
>> so System Restore won't work.
>>
>> Startup Repair won't work because it boots fine and as far as Vista is
>> concerned (that is, as far as it is illogically making sense of things)
>> the only conceivable stable configuration is with Standard VGA.
>>
>> Jon
>>
>>
>> "Chad Harris" <msftneedstogetoutvistainfo.net> wrote in message
>> news:eSui1vlIHHA.3676@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>>> Jon--
>>>
>>> As to Aero Glass, have you tried forcing it this way:
>>>
>>> Ensure that you have the following registry value set to :
>>>
>>> HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM\Composition set to 1 (32-bit DWORD)
>>>
>>> HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM\CompositionPolicy set to 2 (32-bit
>>> DWORD)
>>>
>>> 2/ Restart DWM by opening a command prompt with administrative
>>> privileges :
>>>
>>> - Type 'net stop uxsms'
>>> - Then 'net start uxsms'
>>>
>>> Also see:
>>> http://www.windows-now.com/blogs/rob.../26/15036.aspx
>>>
>>> On the missing driver:
>>>
>>>
>>> As to the driver wizard bug, that more than one poster in this thread
>>> has, I haven't seen it but I'd sure wonder how many people have and will
>>> come Jan 30. I'd try to feed it back to MSFT and if I can finda good
>>> route to the driver teams, I'll post it for you.
>>>
>>> I have found that much of the time I have trouble installling a driver
>>> instead of using the new hardware wizard or the update driver wizard
>>> from device manager and letting them browse, what works is to browse to
>>> the location of the driver folder where the files have downloaded but in
>>> your case you have a roadblock in the way of the driver download from
>>> the site.
>>>
>>> I'd try all restore points prior to this; if no go then Last Known Good
>>> Configuration @ F8 Windows Adv Options. If no go I'd do a Startup
>>> Repair:
>>> You run the startup repair tool this way:
>>>
>>> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925810/en-us
>>>
>>> How To Run Startup Repair In Vista Ultimate (Multiple Screenshots)
>>> http://www.windowsvista.windowsreins...rtup/index.htm
>>>
>>> Note The computer must be configured to start from a CD or from a DVD.
>>> For
>>> information about how to configure the computer to start from a CD or
>>> from a
>>> DVD, see the information that came with the computer.
>>> 2. Restart the computer. To do this, click Start, click the arrow next
>>> to
>>> the Lock button, and then click Restart.
>>>
>>> This usually means that you enter bios setup by whatever key or keys
>>> (sometimes there is more than one key that will do it for your model--go
>>> to
>>> pc manufacturer site) and configure CD to be first in the boot order.
>>>
>>> See for ref:
>>> Access/Enter Motherboard BIOS
>>> http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/bios_manufacturer.htm
>>>
>>> Note If you cannot restart the computer by using this method, use the
>>> power
>>> button to turn off the computer. Then, turn the computer back on.
>>> 3. Set your language preference, and then click Next.
>>>
>>> Note In most cases, the startup repair process starts automatically, and
>>> you
>>> do not have the option to select it in the System Recovery Options menu.
>>> 4. Click Repair your computer.
>>> 5. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, click the operating system
>>> that you want to repair, and then click Next.
>>> 6. In the System Recovery Options menu, click Startup Repair to start
>>> the
>>> repair process.
>>> 7. When the repair process is complete, click Finish.
>>>
>>> Additional References for Startup Repair With Screenshots:
>>>
>>> How to Use Startup Repair:
>>>
>>> ***Accessing Windows RE (Repair Environment):***
>>>
>>> 1) Insert Media into PC (the DVD you burned)
>>>
>>> 2) ***You will see on the Vista logo setup screen after lang. options in
>>> the
>>> lower left corner, a link called "System Recovery Options."***
>>>
>>> Screenshot: System Recovery Options (Lower Left Link)
>>> http://blogs.itecn.net/photos/liuhui...4/500x375.aspx
>>>
>>> Screenshot: (Click first option "Startup Repair"
>>> http://www.leedesmond.com/images/img...SysRecOpt2.bmp
>>>
>>> How To Run Startup Repair In Vista Ultimate (Multiple Screenshots)
>>> http://www.windowsvista.windowsreins...rtup/index.htm
>>>
>>> 3) Select your OS for repair.
>>>
>>> 4) Its been my experience that you can see some causes of the crash from
>>> theWin RE feature:
>>>
>>> _____________________________________
>>>
>>> CH
>>> _______________
>>>
>>> "Jon Davis" <jon@REMOVE.ME.PLEASE.jondavis.net> wrote in message
>>> news:EFA75514-19AE-4DB3-891E-ED0A37DFE857@microsoft.com...
>>>> OK so I went to Acer's site (Acer is the laptop brand) and downloaded a
>>>> Windows XP update for the graphics adapter. Their site is messed up,
>>>> though,
>>>> because the Aspire 5050 is marketed as having an Xpress 200M chipset,
>>>> and
>>>> the previously installed drivers I'd been using for a month were Xpress
>>>> 200M
>>>> drivers, but what I downloaded from Acer was for Radeon Xpress 1100.
>>>>
>>>> The Xpress 1100 drivers install correctly (as in, without errors and
>>>> with
>>>> 32-bit color and support for my laptop's native resolution), but Aero
>>>> is
>>>> disabled and I cannot reenable it (its option in Appearance settings is
>>>> still gone, only Vista Basic is showing).
>>>>
>>>> I've found Direct3D support to be working correctly by firing up Guild
>>>> Wars
>>>> and World of Warcraft and seeing solid performance and resolution. Why
>>>> is
>>>> Aero disabled if D3D is stable?
>>>>
>>>> Jon
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> "Jon Davis" <jon@REMOVE.ME.PLEASE.jondavis.net> wrote in message
>>>> news:9A51A166-3D60-48A0-BA48-65A95A8521C6@microsoft.com...
>>>>> On an Acer Aspire 5050 which has a Radeon Xpress 200M I upgraded a
>>>>> healthy configuration of Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 to
>>>>> Windows Vista Ultimate. Everything has been working fine for the last
>>>>> month, with beautiful 3D video, Aero support, Media Center support,
>>>>> game play support, etc., until now.
>>>>>
>>>>> After ATI's Vista update "failed to find any installable components,"
>>>>> I made the idiotic mistake of opening up the Display settings and
>>>>> choosing "Search automatically for updated driver software". IMO this
>>>>> is a severely broken component of Vista but that's not the point of my
>>>>> post here. The automatic update UNINSTALLED all of my video card
>>>>> drivers and told me I "successfully" updated to the "Standard VGA
>>>>> Adapter".
>>>>>
>>>>> The "Rollback Driver" button is, and always has been, dimmed. I'd try
>>>>> rebooting to the "last successful hardware configuration" if it's
>>>>> available, but I've already rebooted a few times with different
>>>>> attempts to fix this.
>>>>>
>>>>> I had recently downloaded the Vista RTM drivers from ATI/AMD's web
>>>>> site, but all Setup does is tell me that there are no compatible
>>>>> components to install (that was both before and after "updating" to
>>>>> the "Standard VGA Adapter"). However, the .inf file containing a
>>>>> reference to the Xpress 200 series is there. (Actually, three such
>>>>> references are there.)
>>>>>
>>>>> I tried pointing to this .inf file, but Windows fails to try
>>>>> installing it because it "cannot find the required files". There are
>>>>> several DLLs in this directory where the .inf file was extracted, but
>>>>> their filenames are suffixed with ".dl_" rather than ".dll". Does
>>>>> anyone know whether these ".dl_" files are compressed, and if so, how
>>>>> they can and should be expanded for this purpose?
>>>>>
>>>>> Jon
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>

Hi John, I had the same problem as you with my ATI Radeon X800GT.

Before I finally managed to "fix" it, I too could no longer turn Aero on.
In the end, I uninstalled everything ATI through Control Panel, then
reinstalled the beta Vista RC1 drivers (not sure which version of Vista
you're using), and that finally sorted a lot of my problems. One program I
use regularly (WinAVI Video Converter) may still bluescreen my computer,
which only started after the driver update from Windows Update, I'm too
scared to try :P.

Only thing is, it seems to have ruined my connection to my Media Center
Extender; it sits at the "contacting..." screen now and then says there was a
"failure" about five minutes later, every time.

*sigh*

"Jon Davis" wrote:

> Fine, but as far as Vista is concerned, the Standard VGA Adapter isn't
> "broken" and doesn't need to be "fixed" in the first place. There is no
> final driver for Vista for the Radeon Xpress 200M and the driver I was using
> before came from XP, and the driver for XP installer won't run on Vista.
>
> Only solution I've found so far is to format the drive, install XP MCE, and
> upgrade, all over again.
>
> Jon
>
> "Chad Harris" <msftneedstogetoutvistainfo.net> wrote in message
> news:%234T9cOxIHHA.5000@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> > Jon--
> >
> > You can try to use startup repair to fix Vista regardless of whether
> > you're in a no boot situation. It does an assessment and tries to fix
> > what's broken but it doesn't always fix.
> >
> > CH
> >
> >
> > "Jon Davis" <jon@REMOVE.ME.PLEASE.jondavis.net> wrote in message
> > news:0F707925-CCA6-433C-A948-F8DDF0F84FB1@microsoft.com...
> >> Thanks for the post. I appreciate you trying.
> >>
> >> Yes, I had already tried following those steps to get Aero to start, no
> >> go. However, after trying the DirectX SDK Browser sample executables I
> >> realized D3D isn't working so fine after all, as the responsiveness to
> >> the mouse is about two seconds delayed even though frame rate seems fine.
> >>
> >> I hadn't saved restore points and it wasn't set up to automatically save,
> >> so System Restore won't work.
> >>
> >> Startup Repair won't work because it boots fine and as far as Vista is
> >> concerned (that is, as far as it is illogically making sense of things)
> >> the only conceivable stable configuration is with Standard VGA.
> >>
> >> Jon
> >>
> >>
> >> "Chad Harris" <msftneedstogetoutvistainfo.net> wrote in message
> >> news:eSui1vlIHHA.3676@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> >>> Jon--
> >>>
> >>> As to Aero Glass, have you tried forcing it this way:
> >>>
> >>> Ensure that you have the following registry value set to :
> >>>
> >>> HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM\Composition set to 1 (32-bit DWORD)
> >>>
> >>> HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM\CompositionPolicy set to 2 (32-bit
> >>> DWORD)
> >>>
> >>> 2/ Restart DWM by opening a command prompt with administrative
> >>> privileges :
> >>>
> >>> - Type 'net stop uxsms'
> >>> - Then 'net start uxsms'
> >>>
> >>> Also see:
> >>> http://www.windows-now.com/blogs/rob.../26/15036.aspx
> >>>
> >>> On the missing driver:
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> As to the driver wizard bug, that more than one poster in this thread
> >>> has, I haven't seen it but I'd sure wonder how many people have and will
> >>> come Jan 30. I'd try to feed it back to MSFT and if I can finda good
> >>> route to the driver teams, I'll post it for you.
> >>>
> >>> I have found that much of the time I have trouble installling a driver
> >>> instead of using the new hardware wizard or the update driver wizard
> >>> from device manager and letting them browse, what works is to browse to
> >>> the location of the driver folder where the files have downloaded but in
> >>> your case you have a roadblock in the way of the driver download from
> >>> the site.
> >>>
> >>> I'd try all restore points prior to this; if no go then Last Known Good
> >>> Configuration @ F8 Windows Adv Options. If no go I'd do a Startup
> >>> Repair:
> >>> You run the startup repair tool this way:
> >>>
> >>> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925810/en-us
> >>>
> >>> How To Run Startup Repair In Vista Ultimate (Multiple Screenshots)
> >>> http://www.windowsvista.windowsreins...rtup/index.htm
> >>>
> >>> Note The computer must be configured to start from a CD or from a DVD.
> >>> For
> >>> information about how to configure the computer to start from a CD or
> >>> from a
> >>> DVD, see the information that came with the computer.
> >>> 2. Restart the computer. To do this, click Start, click the arrow next
> >>> to
> >>> the Lock button, and then click Restart.
> >>>
> >>> This usually means that you enter bios setup by whatever key or keys
> >>> (sometimes there is more than one key that will do it for your model--go
> >>> to
> >>> pc manufacturer site) and configure CD to be first in the boot order.
> >>>
> >>> See for ref:
> >>> Access/Enter Motherboard BIOS
> >>> http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/bios_manufacturer.htm
> >>>
> >>> Note If you cannot restart the computer by using this method, use the
> >>> power
> >>> button to turn off the computer. Then, turn the computer back on.
> >>> 3. Set your language preference, and then click Next.
> >>>
> >>> Note In most cases, the startup repair process starts automatically, and
> >>> you
> >>> do not have the option to select it in the System Recovery Options menu.
> >>> 4. Click Repair your computer.
> >>> 5. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, click the operating system
> >>> that you want to repair, and then click Next.
> >>> 6. In the System Recovery Options menu, click Startup Repair to start
> >>> the
> >>> repair process.
> >>> 7. When the repair process is complete, click Finish.
> >>>
> >>> Additional References for Startup Repair With Screenshots:
> >>>
> >>> How to Use Startup Repair:
> >>>
> >>> ***Accessing Windows RE (Repair Environment):***
> >>>
> >>> 1) Insert Media into PC (the DVD you burned)
> >>>
> >>> 2) ***You will see on the Vista logo setup screen after lang. options in
> >>> the
> >>> lower left corner, a link called "System Recovery Options."***
> >>>
> >>> Screenshot: System Recovery Options (Lower Left Link)
> >>> http://blogs.itecn.net/photos/liuhui...4/500x375.aspx
> >>>
> >>> Screenshot: (Click first option "Startup Repair"
> >>> http://www.leedesmond.com/images/img...SysRecOpt2.bmp
> >>>
> >>> How To Run Startup Repair In Vista Ultimate (Multiple Screenshots)
> >>> http://www.windowsvista.windowsreins...rtup/index.htm
> >>>
> >>> 3) Select your OS for repair.
> >>>
> >>> 4) Its been my experience that you can see some causes of the crash from
> >>> theWin RE feature:
> >>>
> >>> _____________________________________
> >>>
> >>> CH
> >>> _______________
> >>>
> >>> "Jon Davis" <jon@REMOVE.ME.PLEASE.jondavis.net> wrote in message
> >>> news:EFA75514-19AE-4DB3-891E-ED0A37DFE857@microsoft.com...
> >>>> OK so I went to Acer's site (Acer is the laptop brand) and downloaded a
> >>>> Windows XP update for the graphics adapter. Their site is messed up,
> >>>> though,
> >>>> because the Aspire 5050 is marketed as having an Xpress 200M chipset,
> >>>> and
> >>>> the previously installed drivers I'd been using for a month were Xpress
> >>>> 200M
> >>>> drivers, but what I downloaded from Acer was for Radeon Xpress 1100.
> >>>>
> >>>> The Xpress 1100 drivers install correctly (as in, without errors and
> >>>> with
> >>>> 32-bit color and support for my laptop's native resolution), but Aero
> >>>> is
> >>>> disabled and I cannot reenable it (its option in Appearance settings is
> >>>> still gone, only Vista Basic is showing).
> >>>>
> >>>> I've found Direct3D support to be working correctly by firing up Guild
> >>>> Wars
> >>>> and World of Warcraft and seeing solid performance and resolution. Why
> >>>> is
> >>>> Aero disabled if D3D is stable?
> >>>>
> >>>> Jon
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> "Jon Davis" <jon@REMOVE.ME.PLEASE.jondavis.net> wrote in message
> >>>> news:9A51A166-3D60-48A0-BA48-65A95A8521C6@microsoft.com...
> >>>>> On an Acer Aspire 5050 which has a Radeon Xpress 200M I upgraded a
> >>>>> healthy configuration of Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 to
> >>>>> Windows Vista Ultimate. Everything has been working fine for the last
> >>>>> month, with beautiful 3D video, Aero support, Media Center support,
> >>>>> game play support, etc., until now.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> After ATI's Vista update "failed to find any installable components,"
> >>>>> I made the idiotic mistake of opening up the Display settings and
> >>>>> choosing "Search automatically for updated driver software". IMO this
> >>>>> is a severely broken component of Vista but that's not the point of my
> >>>>> post here. The automatic update UNINSTALLED all of my video card
> >>>>> drivers and told me I "successfully" updated to the "Standard VGA
> >>>>> Adapter".
> >>>>>
> >>>>> The "Rollback Driver" button is, and always has been, dimmed. I'd try
> >>>>> rebooting to the "last successful hardware configuration" if it's
> >>>>> available, but I've already rebooted a few times with different
> >>>>> attempts to fix this.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> I had recently downloaded the Vista RTM drivers from ATI/AMD's web
> >>>>> site, but all Setup does is tell me that there are no compatible
> >>>>> components to install (that was both before and after "updating" to
> >>>>> the "Standard VGA Adapter"). However, the .inf file containing a
> >>>>> reference to the Xpress 200 series is there. (Actually, three such
> >>>>> references are there.)
> >>>>>
> >>>>> I tried pointing to this .inf file, but Windows fails to try
> >>>>> installing it because it "cannot find the required files". There are
> >>>>> several DLLs in this directory where the .inf file was extracted, but
> >>>>> their filenames are suffixed with ".dl_" rather than ".dll". Does
> >>>>> anyone know whether these ".dl_" files are compressed, and if so, how
> >>>>> they can and should be expanded for this purpose?
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Jon
> >>>>>
> >>>>
> >>>
> >>
> >
>