Graphics settings odd problem

[chanchan05]

For some reason, I just recently noticed that my ATI Catalyst Control Center has gone missing from my control panel. Accessing it from the right click on the desktop also has some weird things. Before I can control the Direct3D settings, Vsync, OpenGL, etc, and all other settings for optimizing performance, but now, the only settings I could control is WiFi and brightness. What gives?

I am using a Vista Ultimate 32-bit on an AMD X2 Turion and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650

 

[MindoverMaster]

Is it still installed in your add/remove programs? Could be spyware or a virus. But first, let's try uninstalling it, and then reinstall. Be sure to get the latest driver/Catylist.

 

[chanchan05]

I do have ATI Catalyst Install Manager on the Installed Programs list. However, whenever I try to install the driver, it says that Catalyst Mobility cannot be downloaded because of incompatible hardware on my computer, and that my graphics adapter is not supported. I am not sure if I just downloaded the wrong driver, but the menu on the ATI site is kind of confusing and I cant seem to find which is the correct driver for my GPU.

 

[MindoverMaster]

You need this: AMD Support Search

 

[chanchan05]

Well thats kind of part of the problem. I'm using MOBILITY Radeon HD.....For laptops. Those are desktop drivers. If I go Notebook drivers on that site, there is no 3600 series. Oh well, I'll give it a try. It would just give the same error anyway if it doesnt work.

 

[chanchan05]

Ok. It seems that I have already added that. Installation goes smoothly, but checking on Control Panel, drivers still register as version 8 and not version 11 as what the installer is supposed to install. I guess I've have to uninstall the old driver first, and try again.

 

[chanchan05]

Problem escalated. Uninstalling the software seemed to be a bad idea. Now when I try to install the downloaded files from the ATI site, it gives me a hardware detection failed message. I'm now stuck using the standard VGA graphics adapter. I'm trying to download drivers from the Toshiba website, at quite a lower version (v8) than what is available on the ATI site (v11).

 

[chanchan05]

Ok, got the video driver running again through windows update. But I'm back to square one with the locked settings.

 

[MindoverMaster]

Get driversweeper. Install it, boot into safe mode, run driversweeper, delete all drivers for that card. Do NOT get drivers off Windows updates, those are out of date 99% of the time. Get them from the manufacturer.

 

[chanchan05]

Driversweeper? Ok. The problem was actually that the 11.1 update from ATI wont install. Anyway, I'll try your suggestion. At least now I know that if anything bad happens, I still can get the v8 driver that works from windows update...^_^