Updating Drivers

[HRMaddie]

Recently after I completed my first computer build, which I thought was a success might actually not be. Some time after I installed Nero 6 I received a blue screen of death. To my idiocy I didn't read the message, I turned off my computer and rebooted. The next day as I was playing around in Nero again (now I am starting to think it is Nero) I received the blue screen of death once again. Now I read it this time, didn't mean much to me, however, once again my idiocy didn't allow me to write the message down nor did I take a picture of the screen. Now down at the bottom of the message the only part I can remember was it saying something to the effect of atixxx.dll. The xxx I don't remember what was there. So now all I can do is sit and wait for it to happen again. My set-up is as follows:

ASUS A7V8X-X (Via Chipset) - I know I should have gotten the NVidia
Sapphire 9800 Pro
AMD Barton 2600+
2 512MB of Kingston PC2700
2 80gig Maxtor HD
Plextor 708A
Lite-On DVD Rom

I was reading on some different websites that some of the ASUS mobos have problems with ATI video chipsets. So I thought about updating my BIOS. Also I thought about updating the VIA drivers and my video card driver. The proper procedure would be to uninstall the drivers and wipe them from the registry. How do I clean them from the registry? Also does one actually uninstall the VIA driver or do I just install the update?

[thecoalman]

The ATI drivers can be uninstalled right from the Remove Programs window. There's instructions on ATI's website on how to uninstall then install the new drivers.

If you look on the bottom of the driver DL page you'll find a ATI utility for removing all ATI related programs if you want to go that route, this is the one I usually took and it worked fine for me. Then delete the ATI folders, I think there's two.

If you want to do a total manual uninstall head over too www.rage3d.com and you'll find very detailed info on how to do a complete uninstall.

I'd update the vid drivers first since they are safest to install. A bios update can be a nightmare if it goes wrong.

[DVD_Ripper]

The coalman beat me to it.... i've received the exact same BSOD. Download the latest ATI drivers from either ATI or the OEM mfg that is using their chipset. Remember, some ATI drivers will not work if the ATI chipset is being used, say, on the MB.... you would need to get the from the MB Mfg