First of all, my hardware: Athlon XP 2600 ASRock K7VT4A board 1Gb RAM ATI Radeon X1600 AGP version Vista Ultimate I'm having major issues, and all of the hardware/software works under XP, so I can only assume (so far) this is a Vista issue. I'm a gamer, and play World of Warcraft; with this setup I get a good 45fps minimum under XP. Using the default WDDM driver under Vista (and the update on Windows Update) causes around 4fps! So I decided to update to the latest drivers. I downloaded the latest Catalyst Vista 32-bit drivers (7.2) and installed; and when it was doing the "installing ATI driver" it causes a bluescreen (STOP error 0x00000050, in file atikmdag.sys, "PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA"). Restarting the machine allows the "Welcome" screen to display, and then crash with the same error instantly when it tries to display the desktop. I know that page faults usually point to dodgy RAM, so I ran no less than three memory test programs on my machine (including the one from Vista at boottime) and no errors show. Similarly nothing ever crashes in XP. So far I've tried: Installing the 7.1 Catalyst drivers Installing the RC1 drivers Installing the XP drivers (that went well - not!) Installing only the driver and not the CCC from all of the above Installing the VIA Hyperion drivers for Vista (for the motherboard, as I've read that some VIA chipsets have issues under Vista) Booting to safe mode and renaming the atikmdag.sys file to atikmdag.doc; all this accomplishes is the standard VGA driver being installed Installing the above drivers using the "Update driver" through Device Manager, same result Reinstalling Vista (three times now) Turning off UAC (just in case, no effect) Changing the settings in the BIOS (AGP speed to 8x instead of auto, changing the AGP Aperture size to every setting on there, disabling fast write, all combinations of these) By this point, I'm about ready to give in completely and go back to XP as whilst I do love the improvements they've made with the interface, etc, I simply cannot install ny new graphics drivers - and I refuse to play my games at 4fps when they run flawlessly under XP (and indeed the box for this card says "Vista compatible" on it!) Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this to bluescreen every single time I try to install a driver? I know it's a new OS, and there's always going to be problems, but ......

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/02...

Hi, i have a Thinkpad X31, and have been having all of the problems that your descrbed. And unfortunately have had the same results. The following is a letter that i drafted for Microsoft. One for ATI will follow. Bottom line is i believe that ATI is having serious problems with their drivers. Norman A. Rich 759 Bloomfield Avenue Suite #334 W. Caldwell, NJ 07006 Fax 973-629-1155 April 21, 2007 Mr. Steve Ballmer President & CEO, Microsoft Corporation One Microsoft Way Redmond, WA 98052-8300 Re: Upgrading To Windows/Vista Dear Steve, I have been a long and satisfied Microsoft customer. The purpose of the note is to ask for your help. I have been attempting to install Vista/Ultimate on my companies IBM ThinkPad x31s (26734-U7), and have reached the point where I can proceed no further. Vista/Ultimate is repeatedly crashing in module ati3duag.dll The crash is caused by ATI's 32-bit Video Driver (Version 6.14.10.6547) which supports the ThinkPad's ATI Mobility Radeon Video (0x4C59 - 16meg). The error is reproducible. It occurs immediately when initializing applications such as the New York Times Reader. The reason I am asking your assistance is: 1. I believe that thousands of notebook customers are currently experiencing the same problem upgrading to Vista (all versions). 2. In seeking support from the three organizations who can resolve this problem (ATI, IBM/Lenovo, and Microsoft) all have declined, instead pointing to the other. 3. The Vista Upgrade Advisor reported the ThinkPad X31 as Vista compatible, only stating the installed Video capability will not support the 'Aero' capability. (attached) 4. Efforts to install an updated driver from ATI result in a second ATI/ Vista related error, Ati's setup program crashes in detecthardware.dll (attached) 5. ATI has in the past very a major provider of Video Chips. I believe that they provide Microsoft with major pieces of the XBOX/360. I have successfully used their products (indirectly) for many years without incident. Therefore I not sure what I could have done differently. The following of the vendors positions are: 1. ATI has responded that they offer no support to end users of their OEM products. "AMD Customer Care for ATI products does not provide direct technical support for laptops/notebooks at this current time (telephone or email). If you require direct technical support please contact the system manufacturer of your laptop/notebook." 2. IBM/Lenovo's position is that the hardware works perfectly, and the current issue was caused by a purchase of Microsoft's Vista Operating system. 3. Microsoft is currently addressing the problem under case number (SRX1033012007). The support organization has so far been unable to find a driver that functions, and has cautioned: "Please Note: The third-party product discussed here is manufactured by independent of Microsoft. We make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding this product's performance or reliability." Joseph Keller did come up with a word to describe this situation; "'catch-22' is any absurd arrangement that puts a person in a double bind: for example, a person can't get a job without experience, but can't get experience without a job." I have attached the detailed logs of the problem(s), and a copy of the Vista Upgrade Report summary. Except for this experience, I have been very satisfied with Microsoft's products. Office 2007 is a great product. However, these days I cringe when the Apple commercial featuring Mr. PC who says, "I am having major surgery. All of my innards are being replaced. If I don't make it, you can have my peripherals, Mr. Apple". I would suggest doing a few things to speed the market acceptance of Vista: 1. Get it stable - drivers are probably the biggest issue, especially Video drivers, in that they run in protected mode. Release a Vista SP1, understanding that improvements are continuous, but users, the industry expect Microsoft to release a SP1, and will give Vista a second look. 2. Make it easier to upgrade - add a capability to 'Easy Transfer++' to back up to disks (including programs), and allowing a clean install. Create a tutorial that very quickly explains the upgrade options, and follows the users through the steps. 3. Remove irritants - for me, it is UAC. It needs a simple mode and a verbose mode. 4. Find the 4-5 features - that have made the most immediate difference for the user. For me, they are: a. Vista consistently boots in ½ the time that Windows/XP did. b. Ready boost provided an immediate performance benefit at little cost. (I have 1 meg installed). The Vista performance diagnostics/reports are also excellent. c. System update - I no longer worry about it, it just completes. d. Search - saves lots of time, once you become familiar with it. e. The visual affects - do not know how I spent all of that time in front of a screen without a Vista. Finally, I am willing to pay for the assistance. I would appreciate a note (or an e-mail 'normanrich@att.net', or 'nar@msn.com', for Fax 973-629-1155) from your office indicating the next steps. In addition, anyone from the Microsoft organization is welcome to call me at 908-625-3753 to discuss this issue. Steve, Microsoft needs to stand behind Vista. It has some terrific features. I have no desire to return to Windows/XP. Very truly yours, norman rich ? VISTA UPGRADE ADVISOR Microsoft Operating System Crash Ati3duag.dll Page_Fault_In_NonPaged_Area (0xfffffffe), (0x00000000), (0x951D6B91),(0x00000000) Ati3duag.dll Address 951D6B91 Base at 951C0000 CATALYST INSTALL MANAGER CRASH Problem Event Name: APPCRASH Application Name: InstallManagerApp.exe Application Version: 3.0.608.0 Application Timestamp: 45c3d2f9 Fault Module Name: DetectionManager.dll Fault Module Version: 3.0.608.0 Fault Module Timestamp: 45c3d0df Exception Code: c0000005 Exception Offset: 0001f108 OS Version: 6.0.6000.2.0.0.256.1 Locale ID: 1033 Additional Information 1: b8e7 Additional Information 2: 44fc21a4c374764063d607999c6690a2 Additional Information 3: 206f Additional Information 4: 5775207edeea8e57735bbac873efbda5