Video drivers causing safemode boot

fuster · Jan 7, 2008, 05:34 PM

Hello. I'm currently experiencing a problem where WinXP Pro is now booting into safemode only after attempting to boot normally. The following is happening:
Windows attempts to boot - can't boot normally so it reboots itself and the screen to boot into safemode (with the various options) appear. The error on the screen states that it is due to a hardware/software issue, but no changes have been made recently to the system. I have tried a system restore, reinstalling the ATI and Omega drivers for a 800xl card, virus/adware scans and the only way to 'get back' to a normal boot seems to be by uninstalling the ATI/Omega drivers and leaving WinXP with no drivers at all (which is why I believe it appears to be video driver related). I was going to perform a windows repair from the CD, but wanted to see if anyone had any thoughts or ideas prior to this. Many Thanks!

**temeteus82** · Jan 7, 2008, 05:49 PM

Hi there and welcome to DriverHeaven!

When you say reinstalling, did you uninstall the older drivers first or just installed new drivers on the top of older drivers? Try this: Download newest Omega's drivers. Remove all drivers for the system and then reboot normally. Then when Windows says that it has found new hardware click cancel on the window. Then install the newest omegas and reboot.

fuster · Jan 7, 2008, 06:46 PM

Hi. No, I had removed all the old drivers first, rebooted, then attempted to install the new ones. I have attempted your suggestion twice now, but it's still not recognizing the drivers and giving me the safemode screen. Thanks.

**temeteus82** · Jan 7, 2008, 06:48 PM

Sounds to me that it's time to make clean install of Windows.

**kris23** · Jan 7, 2008, 06:48 PM

how about a repair install of windows? just cleans up the whole mess without deleting anything.

Dyre Straits · Jan 8, 2008, 04:49 AM

Yes, I concur. The Repair installation would be my next step, too.

fuster · Jan 8, 2008, 11:11 AM

Thanks. I tried the repair but it couldn't repair the issue so I ended up doing an OS reinstall. Afterwards, I installed the new Omega drivers, install went well, but then on the reboot it started the reboot problem again so I am going to try another graphics card (once I can get a hold of one). Thanks!

Fr4nk3nst41n · Jan 8, 2008, 04:14 PM

i had that problem too, try using drivers from another supplier (Gecube,Visiontek...) intead of the cat drivers

kn00tcn · Jan 8, 2008, 09:25 PM

what about older omegas? before 7.6

fuster · Jan 10, 2008, 04:21 PM

First of all -- Thanks to everyone for their suggestions!

My video card / driver / reboot problem has been resolved.

After attempting to use older drivers, other drivers (i.e. Omega, other manufacturers), attempting the windows repair and performing the windows re-install, the problem was solved by a new Geforce 6800 XE card using the latest nVidia drivers (cost around $45). (Wish I would have tried this before the OS re-install and repair)

I haven't tried my previous ATI 800xl card in another system as no one I know still has the old AGP slot/motherboard so I can't confirm that it was a hardware problem with the card.

I'm planning a new system build after March after a few of the recently introduced Intel/AMD CPUs and chipsets settle down and will hopefully be going the PCIe 2.0 route although I haven't decided with who yet (Intel/AMD) as I don't see myself waiting for Nehalem.

Thanks again.

Dyre Straits · Jan 11, 2008, 03:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fuster

First of all -- Thanks to everyone for their suggestions!

My video card / driver / reboot problem has been resolved.

After attempting to use older drivers, other drivers (i.e. Omega, other manufacturers), attempting the windows repair and performing the windows re-install, the problem was solved by a new Geforce 6800 XE card using the latest nVidia drivers (cost around $45). (Wish I would have tried this before the OS re-install and repair)

I haven't tried my previous ATI 800xl card in another system as no one I know still has the old AGP slot/motherboard so I can't confirm that it was a hardware problem with the card.

I'm planning a new system build after March after a few of the recently introduced Intel/AMD CPUs and chipsets settle down and will hopefully be going the PCIe 2.0 route although I haven't decided with who yet (Intel/AMD) as I don't see myself waiting for Nehalem.

Thanks again.

Glad to know the problem is resolved.

If you're looking for some direction as to which CPU to consider, definitely go with Intel. They are the beast and will be for some time to come.