ATI driver blues...

OK, I just bought a Radeon X800 Pro. I installed the card and the drivers, then went to the ATI site for updates. I downloaded a new driver, and was told to uninstall the old one(which was from March of this year). After this I installed the newer driver(from this month). Next, I went to Device Manager to double-check that the driver was there and all. It says that the driver is from March! What the heck is wrong with it?!?! I just totally unistalled the March one and installed a new one! Please give me some feedback.

 

I really need help here...

 

I Need Help!!!

 

After you uninstalled, did you restart and then install the new driver? Once the older driver is uninstalled, restart and let the machine find the card again. When you get the prompts to look for the new driver, cancel out and then install the new driver that you just downloaded. Then reboot again, and then check your Devices Manager. It should display the newer driver info then

 

This method works everytime for me.

1.) Quick ‘n Easy Installation

For most, only a basic installation procedure is necessary. If this is your first time installing or updating the Catalyst drivers, then I would recommend you try this method first; if you have problems, move on to the more advanced installation routine in section 2.

Note: If you’re coming off an nVidia product, you’re going to have to uninstall the Forceware or Detonator drivers prior to installing the Catalyst software. To that end, run Driver Cleaner to get rid of your nVidia files. Of course, nothing can top formatting your hard drive. nVidia drivers are notorious for staying in your system even after you wrack your brains trying to remove them. So if you run into a bunch of problems after upgrading from nVidia (yes, I mean upgrading ) then I would suggest a full system format.

What you need:
The latest Catalyst drivers. So, get them for Windows 2000 or XP, or for you throw-back folks, here are the
Windows 98 and Millennium Edition (ME) drivers. And last, but not least, are the drivers for the open source Linux.

The ATI Uninstaller was written by ATI itself as an ‘official’ response to the uninstall muck-a-muck plaguing many users. It does as it name suggests – removes your old drivers, which most of the time is an essential process. I highly recommend saving this tool to your desktop, or at least in some folder other than the ATI root (C:\ATI), because if you plan on using some of the more advanced uninstallation methods, this tool will be deleted along with the other ATI files.
Uninstallation procedure:

Before you begin to uninstall, disconnect your computer from your internet or network! If you are connected to the internet, Windows, always impertinently thinking that it knows best, may try and install whatever Radeon driver is on Windows Update. We don't want to let it do this. So, either a) turn off your modem, or b) take out your phone jack (if you're on dial-up).

Go to the Windows Control Panel, and then to Add/Remove Programs. Select for removal any ATI entries. When asked, opt not to reboot.

Get the abovementioned ATI Uninstall Utility. It is not necessary to run this program in safe mode. Double-click on it, and then press “Ok” when a popup asks you if you wish to continue.

Reboot and install the new drivers (see below).
Note: If you have any ATI demos or ATI screensavers installed, the ATI Uninstaller will ask you if you want to remove them as well in a cryptic message, “Are you sure you want to uninstall this product?” You will get as many of those messages as you have non-driver related ATI products installed. Selecting “No” will NOT have an adverse effect on the driver removal process.

Installation:

After you remove your drivers and finish rebooting, Windows will popup the Found New Hardware "Wizard." Cancel out of it; it's useless and most unhelpful. It will popup twice in total, the first for your card and the second for its secondary (TV Out). Cancel out of both – we don’t need the help of Windows to install drivers. From here, it’s very simple. Go to wherever you downloaded the ATI drivers and double click the installer package. Follow the onscreen prompts; let it do its thing, and then reboot when asked.

Be patient when the system boots back to desktop. Smartgart sometimes takes a good while to finish doing its thing. It may take up to 20-30 secs after desktop appears to be loaded and the screen will flash once or twice, then it’s done!
Here is the ATI uninstaller that you need.
http://www.ati.com/support/drivers/misc/catalystutils.html
Den

 

I have found that sometimes, you need to uninstall the current driver, install the device as a generic VGA device, restart, then install the new driver.

 

http://www.tweaktown.com/document.php?dType=review&dId=569

 

Thanks, I reformatted and then the driver installed without a hitch!