Uninstalled drivers with DDU, now Windows won't boot

Jaffo · 07 Oct 2016

I previously posted several months ago on the forum after a ton of Blue Screens of Death and crashes/restarts, and eventually everything was solved.

Recently I started having problems again. I got steady and frequent crashes while gaming (Elite: Dangerous, World of Warcraft, and 7 Days to Die, mostly). So I decided to uninstall my AMD drivers (16.4.2) with Display Driver Uninstaller and try a newer set. I used DDU and uninstalled the AMD drivers in Safe Mode, restarted, the ASUS boot screen came up, the dots started spinning, and after a few seconds it froze (kind of like this pic I found online).

After a lot of trial and error I established that the computer won't boot up to the Windows login screen if my Radeon HD 7970 is installed. If I remove the card and plug the HDMI back into the onboard video, everything's fine and I have a functioning computer...but not one I can game with.

I've tried:

Uninstalling/re-installing the same AMD drivers I used before.
Installing more current AMD drivers.
Installing AMD drivers before installing the card.
Installing the card before installing the AMD drivers.
Reinstalling Windows 10 ("reset this PC" option).
Updating chipset, VGA, USB, and onboard video drivers available via my motherboard manufacturer's website.

Things I noticed:

This started shortly after a Windows 10 update.
Windows Updates continued to redownload/install the 16.4.2 drivers after I would uninstall them; it kept doing it even after I uninstalled the card.
The card had zero issues up until I uninstalled the drivers, outside of frequent crashes while gaming (which I figured might just be a software or driver issue), and now it's like it isn't being recognized during the boot process which causes my computer to freeze.

I have yet to try:

Reinstalling or flashing the BIOS. I already know I have the most recent BIOS, and messing with the BIOS is a last resort for me.

Formatting the SSD and reinstalling Windows 7 or Windows 10. I'm getting tempted to try this, especially with Windows 7; Windows 10 has been kind of a mess for me ever since I upgraded to it.

Any help or advice would be hugely appreciated.

(Edited for detail and clarification.)

Kbird · 08 Oct 2016

only thing i'd suggest is borrow a Nvidia Card for a few hours and see if it changes anything if possible ...perhaps the Radeon is just Flakey and always has been? or it's dying ?

Perhaps try 2nd hand on CL or ? whereever you are...

with the 10 Series out you can likely buy a Nvidia GTX 970 fairly cheap these days if you need a new card .....or even a 960 depending on Budget.

KB.

Jaffo · 08 Oct 2016

No card to borrow, or money to spend. If I had either I'd give it a shot. I've got 2 Radeon 7970s that I bought years ago, intending to use them in a Crossfire configuration. Eventually I just used one card and put the other away. Back in May when the computer issues first started, I swapped out the older one with the unused one.

Best I could do is swap out the newer one with the older one, but I still think the issue is more related to Windows 10 forcing updates. I didn't have any problems until a recent big update, then every game I play started crashing often. I figured maybe updating my AMD drivers would help, so I used DDU to get the old ones completely removed. Then I found that Windows 10 kept downloading and installing them as part of its mandatory updates. After a few run-ins with that and not seeing any progress, I reinstalled Windows 10. Now Windows Updates isn't downloading any graphic driver other than the onboard video, but the computer still freezes while booting up (at the ASUS logo screen) if the Radeon 7970 card is installed.

Kbird · 08 Oct 2016

pity ..... Sorry I am not really up on AMD , I have not used them for years after one issue too many but did you try 16.10 too?

http://support.amd.com/en-us/kb-arti...ase-Notes.aspx

You didnt install the AMD Chipset Driver too did you?

IF the MB Chipset and ME drivers are Updated to those for Win10 on Website , and the bios is 2104 already then I'd suspect a bad card , or that you really need OLDER Drivers , not the latest and Greatest ....newer is not always better .....do some googling and see if you can find what is the best suggest driver for that card ....

https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards...Desk_Download/

Jaffo · 08 Oct 2016

Kbird said:

pity ..... Sorry I am not really up on AMD , I have not used them for years after one issue too many but did you try 16.10 too?

http://support.amd.com/en-us/kb-arti...ase-Notes.aspx

No, I was using 16.4.2, as I mentioned previously. I figured with the crashes I was experiencing (not knowing at the time that Windows 10 was forcing updates), maybe it was time to update my drivers to something more recent but still stable.

Kbird said:

You didnt install the AMD Chipset Driver too did you?

No, I've been using the ASUS motherboard chipset drivers this whole time.

Kbird said:

IF the MB Chipset and ME drivers are Updated to those for Win10 on Website , and the bios is 2104 already then I'd suspect a bad card , or that you really need OLDER Drivers , not the latest and Greatest ....newer is not always better .....do some googling and see if you can find what is the best suggest driver for that card ....

https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards...Desk_Download/

Again, I was already using older drivers to begin with. Everything was stable and fine for several months until the last big Windows 10 update. I read up on it and found people who were experiencing Windows 10 overriding some of their driver choices, so I figured I'd uninstall all AMD drivers using DDU to see if a clean install would help. 16.4.2 wouldn't install at all, so I tried more recent drivers. Those also wouldn't install. Plus Windows 10 kept downloading and installing 16.4.2, even though the card was no longer installed.

Kbird · 08 Oct 2016

Methinks you edited the 1st post :) substantially ..... time for a re-read but I am not sure I can help....

Jaffo · 08 Oct 2016

Kbird said:

Methinks you edited the 1st post :) substantially ..... time for a re-read but I am not sure I can help....

Yes, like the edit note reads: tried to clarify and expound on some details. Listing what I've tried, haven't tried, things I noticed. This computer's always been a pain in my ass but I'm not ready to give up on it yet.

Kbird · 08 Oct 2016

If the MB is not seeing the Card at boot , either the card is Bad or perhaps the Slot ...try another PCIEx16 Slot.
does that MB have the GPU Post option in the Bios so you can see the GPU's?

Or the Bios has be corrupted somehow? Your Board has USBFlashback like mine so Bios Updates are pretty easy and nearly foolproof with a USB2 FAT32 Drive , just rename the bios file as required , see this PDF

http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/...821.1474825586

It is no unknown for older GFX Cards to slowly lose their ability to work due to heat issues with the Soldered joints , some have tried Baking them to reflow the solder and it worked but YMMV . Are you willing to sacrifice a card :) ..... 385° for 10 mins....

Jaffo · 08 Oct 2016

Kbird said:

If the MB is not seeing the Card at boot , either the card is Bad or perhaps the Slot ...try another PCIEx16 Slot.

Or the Bios has be corrupted somehow? Your Board has USBFlashback like mine so Bios Updates are pretty easy and nearly foolproof with a USB2 FAT32 Drive , just rename the bios file as required , see this PDF

http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/...821.1474825586

It is no unknown for older GFX Cards to slowly lose their ability to work due to heat issues with the Soldered joints , some have tried Baking them to reflow the solder and it worked but YMMV . Are you willing to sacrifice a card :) ..... 385° for 10 mins....

I'll give the BIOS USB option a go first. As for baking a card... Well, I've got two on hand so I can always take a crack at the BIOS, see if either card works out in the PCIEx16 slots available, and if that's a no-go... Time to find a cookie sheet?

Kbird · 08 Oct 2016

So not even a $35-45 GFX card is doable ? ie 1GB or 2GB GT 610 ............ a 2GB 730 would be better gaming wise but is $70 probably
Amazon.com: EVGA GeForce GT 610 1024MB GDDR3, DVI, VGA and HDMI Graphics Card 01G-P3-2615-KR: Computers Accessories

Baking videocards has been around a long while , so lots of info out there , though I have not needed to try it myself.... but if you have nothing to lose....

Google