ATI Driver installer randomly stops

I have an Acer Aspire M1610 with Vista pre-installed. It wasn't originally mine. The computer's CPU is an Intel Celeron dual core with 1.6Ghz speed and it only has 1GB RAM. The thing was awfully slow so I installed Windows XP Home Edition SP3. It runs so much faster now but there were several driver issues. The main issue is the display driver. I went onto the Acer site, I downloaded the VGA ATI and Nvidia drivers for Windows XP Home Edition, the Nvidia one didn't work but ATI did. I installed everything I could from the pack. The only thing I can't install, which if I could would PROBABLY resolve my problem is the installer in the driver folder. Every time I run it, Setup prepares itself, the installer opens but then quickly closes itself down again. I even tried running the installer on the very same OS but on a Virtual Environment I created with VMWare Workstation and still, it opens and instantaneously closes very with no reason.

I never really use forums and this is my first time ever really using one (Lol) but I was hoping maybe someone could help me. The Acer I'm trying to update has these specifications.

http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/570/killop.png

I hope that's enough info... Please help! The installer just randomly stops itself

 

G'Day "Cesariono ",

The information you posted is not clear on the physical "Video card" or on "board graphic" that you are using or have installed.

Obviously it is either ATI or nVidia, it is, I hope, not both! - So which is it please ?

Also noted that the "M1610" uses on board "VGA SIS VGA Driver 7.14.10.5052 6.6 MB 2008/12/10" i.e. the SIS and not the ATI or nVidia drivers, so you may have a mess on your hands.

pcbugfixer

 

Oh right, my bad. Yeah, it's ATI.

 

G'Day "Cesariono "
I edited my message to you.
Read my post again please and tell me what the situation is in reality please, are you using the on board or did you install a ATI card ?
and did you disable the on board, ? etc
What is the status quo ?

pcbugfixer

 

Ahh, well, I've never purchased a Graphics card before so it must be the "on board" one. I think those are called chipsets?
And I don't understand how it could have already had a VGA Compatible driver. I entered "dxdiag" into the command prompt and it displayed no information about my display driver. It was pretty much blank. When I went into device manager, I found that there were 4 drivers with a yellow question mark and one of them was "Video Controller (VGA Compatible) ". If what you said was true then surely my computer would've shown some information about the SIS when I was looking at my display driver in that Direct X Diagnostic menu yet it was blank hence why I went to the Acer site and tried to install an ATI driver.
And how do I disable the board?
Assuming it were disabled, how would I go about enabling it?
Status quo: Direct X Diagnostic menu displays nothing about my display driver which implies that it's non-existent. =S
I hope this was a more helpful post.

 

G'Day "Cesariono "

We need to start from scratch!

1. go to the Acer site to download the correct SIS drivers (click on the Hyperlink)

2. choose the menu items for your Motherboard i.e. -> Desktop -> Aspire -> M1610 -> then download the SIS VGA driver.

3. Now I need to know how much do you understand about Computers and do you know how to go to -> System Properties -> Hardware -> Device Manager ??

pcbugfixer

 

G'Day "Cesariono "

I am getting confusing info from Acers web site as to the drivers for your Motherboard and the Operating Systems drivers.

A few minutes ago it gave me SIS - now it gives me the ATI and nVidia for the XP Home OS - wait please while I sort this out !

 

No instructions appear to included with the drivers. They are in ZIP format, so before you try to install them you need to unzip/decompress them. When I decompressed them they made a folder called "VGA_ATI_5.10.1000.2_XPx86 ", so navigate to that folder and run the Setup.exe file.[I can't see any nVidia drivers, so did you go to the Aspire 1610 downloads page?
http://www.acer.com/worldwide/support/download.htm
That is the closest I can link to.]
[Edit: my information is for the Acer Aspire 1610 laptop, the question refers to a desktop computer.]

If you have followed those steps, you might need to upgrade the Windows installer program, although SP3 should have a recent version. There is also a Windows installer cleanup utility available at the Microsoft website, that you might try.

You might need to uninstall any drivers that are currently installed before installing the new ones. Look in Control Panel -> Add or Remove Programs. If you restart the machine after uninstalling the drivers, don't use the "Found New Hardware wizard ", click Cancel and install the drivers when you get to the desktop OR point it to the VGA_ATI_5.10.1000.2_XPx86 folder.

I looked up the User Guide for the model 1640 (which was the closest).
http://support.acer.com/acerpanam/manuals/acer/0000/userguides/AS1640_Guide_EN.pdf
(Use Internet Explorer to navigate on their website.) Look at the section "Re-install bundled software without CD ". Whether the ALT + F10 would work using a retail version of Windows, I don't know. It says you can install original drivers with that.

The system might not work correctly without having the original Acer version of Windows (XP) installed. Look in the section "I want to restore my computer to it's original settings without recovery CDs ".
[In your system information it says Windows is on Volume 2, so I expect Volume 1 is the "hidden 2 - 3GB partition ".] f you are asked for a password, the default password is six zeroes, assuming the previous owner hasn't changed it.

Matt

 

G'Day "Cesariono "

OK, seems a minor hicky on the site.

Now lets start again.

1. go to the Acer site to download the correct drivers (click on the Hyperlink)

2. choose the menu items for your Motherboard i.e. -> Desktop -> Aspire -> M1610 -> Choose the correct OS (Operating System you may need to reload the page, then download all these drivers.


Chipset SIS Chipset Driver 6.14.10.3790 17.2 MB 2009/12/17
Audio Realtek Audio Driver 5.10.0.5436 30.7 MB 2009/08/03
Lan SIS LAN Driver 2.0.1039.1070 52.7 KB 2009/04/20
Modem Pro-Nets Modem Driver 6.10.05 1.9 MB 2008/12/10
VGA ATI VGA Driver 8.380.0.0000 82.6 MB 2009/12/17
VGA NVIDIA VGA Driver 6.14.11.5822 67.8 MB 2009/12/17

The Chip-set driver is important! As to ATI or nVidia, what did the Manual for the Motherboard say ?

3. Now I need to know how much do you understand about Computers and do you know how to go to -> System Properties -> Hardware -> Device Manager, before we proceed to the next steps ??

pcbugfixer

 

We are talking about the M1610 not the M1640 Laptop "mattman "!!
pcbugfixer

 

Lol, there's a new post every time I refresh the page. xD
Okay, I think I'm very familiar with device manager as I feel confident any instructions you wish to give that involve it can be executed flawlessly however, if I feel even the slightest doubt, I will say it as the device manager is something I feel requires somewhat of a level of caution.
I shall begin to download the drivers you specified.

 

OK "Cesariono "

Also keep this hyper-link handy Acer Downloads from the UK, http://www.user-guides.co.uk/download/acer/aceraspire/acer-aspire-m1610-user-guide.html

Has some good info and downloads for the Acer systems.

Let me know when you have finished the downloads please.

BTW, are you on Skype by any chance ??

pcbugfixer

 

The downloads have finished and I've extracted the .rar's onto the Acer computer. And although I have a mic, I don't have Skype
There was a realtek audio driver I randomly found and installed onto the Acer though. It seems to work fine as Direct X Diagnostics has discovered it and "Sound acceleration" is enabled. (or something like that )
Should I uninstall this driver and then install the one from the Acer download site? And do I just install all the drivers in general and hope to come across no problems during the installations?

 

Next, "Cesariono ",

I need some info and I need you to extract all the zip files you downloaded into specifically named folders for each of the drivers!

Suggest you creatre a master folder Called AcerM1610, and then sub folders for each of the downloaded drivers, E.G. Extract the Chipset.zip into a folder called Chipset, .... Audio, etc.

Info I need is from the Device Manger -> click on the "Display Adapters" and tell me what is installed there please.

pcbugfixer

 

http://img691.imageshack.us/img691/5488/7777l.png

It doesn't say "Display Adapters" anywhere.

 

I don't think my previous reply was successful

http://img691.imageshack.us/img691/5488/7777l.png

There is no "Display Adapters ".

 

OK, just a minor adjustment in the procedure we will take.

Q1. Did you extract all the zip files into their respective folders ?

Step Q2. Please open the Network and Sound in Device Manager and send me another image - Thanks

pcbugfixer

 

"Cesariono "

This is taking too long.

You will need to stay tuned as my replies and instructions are immediate and this could have been fixed in less than an hour!

pcbugfixer

 

I'm sorry, it's just, every time I tried to post or reply or anything, it kept saying that the forum moderator has to approve of it first or something. I must've made at least 5 posts each with the same message. And then I went to bed
I didn't mean to stall like this =S

http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/5509/erererv.png

 

Thanks for pointing that out. Acer's model numbering system is quite confusing, there is an Aspire 1610 model laptop.

That is something we need to use to avoid abuse of the WindowsBBS posting system. The post will be "vetted" by moderators if there is something like a weblink in the post. During this holiday period, some of the moderating staff will be taking time off, so it might take a little longer. Cesariono, you can avoid the delay by not putting the weblink into your posts if it is not necessary. [Edit: sorry, I see pcbugfixer asked for an updated link.]

I thought my reply was going to be the first, but during my research, seven replies had been posted. My own preference is not to get into rapid post/reply exchanges. I would like the questioner to have time to try any suggestions, check if they have used the best method or maybe use a modification (different systems might have different procedures) and allow any other people some time to reply. pcbugfixer, rapid replies/exchanges can get confusing. There is also the time zone factor, people might want to go to bed while it is only morning here in Australia. If the questioner wanted help "urgently" I would try to respond as quickly as possible, but even then I would try to avoid any "off the cuff" suggestions that might cause confusion. Anyway, that is my own personal BBS "etiquette ".

Matt