thphoenix
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Dell Inspiron Laptop won't boot after video driver update
We have a Dell Inspiron 1526 laptop running Windows Vista Home Premium. Yesterday, I was on the Dell website and noticed that the video driver for its ATI Radeon X1270 video hardware was newer than the one that was installed. I downloaded the driver software, which included ATI's Catalyst Control Center software, and installed it according to the posted instructions.
After installation, however, the laptop won't boot completely. The boot process begins properly, goes through the "scrolling bar" part of loading the OS, the mouse pointer comes up (and is operational); but at this point everything stops. I tried booting in safe mode but the process stops at the same point. I also tried booting from the recovery disk and started a repair of the operating system; but the repair process told me that nothing was wrong. I also tried to go back to an earlier Restore Point, but the message came back that no restore point exists.
I know I could just start a new OS install, but I would like to try to undo the video driver and get things back to where they were, if possible. Is there any way to get the old drivers back and fix this computer without "wiping it" and losing everything?
Thanks in advance for any help.
After installation, however, the laptop won't boot completely. The boot process begins properly, goes through the "scrolling bar" part of loading the OS, the mouse pointer comes up (and is operational); but at this point everything stops. I tried booting in safe mode but the process stops at the same point. I also tried booting from the recovery disk and started a repair of the operating system; but the repair process told me that nothing was wrong. I also tried to go back to an earlier Restore Point, but the message came back that no restore point exists.
I know I could just start a new OS install, but I would like to try to undo the video driver and get things back to where they were, if possible. Is there any way to get the old drivers back and fix this computer without "wiping it" and losing everything?
Thanks in advance for any help.
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ASKER
Thanks for all the comments.
Lieven, Your suggestion is, in fact, what I was trying first, but I can't get to Safe Mode. As I stated in my question, the boot process stops in Safe Mode in the same place it does during a normal boot. The mouse cursur shows up but nothing else happens after that.
Jackieman, I tried to boot using my Setup disk and use System Restore to go back to before the driver update. However, when System Restore starts I get a message that says there are no previous restore points, and the System Restore function stops at that point.
I have not tried creating a recovery disk as suggested by both nobus and jackieman. Because of the holiday travels I am now away from that computer. I will try that when I get back.
Thanks again for all the comments.
Lieven, Your suggestion is, in fact, what I was trying first, but I can't get to Safe Mode. As I stated in my question, the boot process stops in Safe Mode in the same place it does during a normal boot. The mouse cursur shows up but nothing else happens after that.
Jackieman, I tried to boot using my Setup disk and use System Restore to go back to before the driver update. However, when System Restore starts I get a message that says there are no previous restore points, and the System Restore function stops at that point.
I have not tried creating a recovery disk as suggested by both nobus and jackieman. Because of the holiday travels I am now away from that computer. I will try that when I get back.
Thanks again for all the comments.
ASKER
I agree with splitting the points. The question was never resolved. We could never find a solution to the problem without just completely re-installing the operating system.
YOu can close this question as requested.
YOu can close this question as requested.
- go to device manager, select video driver and click rol back driver.
(you could also uninstall from add/remove software and reinstall the correct working driver in normal boot mode)