Windows keeps restarting

[Rªdì¢âl_£Ð]

Unlike my other problems which were on my laptop, this time it is with my desktop.

I recently installed Halo on my computer and when I went to run it, it complained that hardware acceleration is not enabled. So I go check to make sure that hardware acceleration is working and everything seemed to check out. I run Halo again but it still complains.

So, I restart my computer but after the boot screen finishes up, the computer restarts. I try to boot into safe mode but that yields the same results. I boot Linux but there's some kind of kernel failure or something but I don't know if that's related since that operating system has been acting funny ever since I installed it. In fact, I have never used it at all since the integrated ATi graphics doesn't play very well with Linux.

So, I boot Ultimate Boot CD 4 Windows and, in preparation for a clean install, I backed up all of my personal files and drivers (for whatever that's worth). However, when it was backing up the ATi display drivers, it failed to back it up. So by deduction, I believe that the ATi graphics drivers are the cause of this problem.

And so, my options are:

Perform a clean install.
Perform a repair install.
Use the repair console. (Though I'll need consultation)
Delete the ATi drivers with UBCD and (assuming Windows will work) reinstall the drivers.



I would rather not perform a clean install so would those other options work? Or are there better options?

The computer has a MSI MS-7191 motherboard with a AMD Athlon 64 3200+, a Radeon Xpress 200 (RS480) Northbridge, and integrated graphics with 256MB (out of 1.25GB of RAM) allocated to it. It's running XP Home but I have an XP Pro disc and key which I can use.

[Goob]

IMO I'd just do a fresh install and be done with it. I know its a bit extreme but at least everything should be ok.

[Bryce W]

Based on the fact Halo complained and now its not booting. I would be looking at uninstalling the video card drivers using UBCD, letting XP install some stock drivers and see if that works. If that works try installing the proper drivers and see how that goes.

If its still an issue you can either try another video card or do a fresh install (if thats an option for you).

[Stealth]

Since running Windows by themselves isn't an option, I'd suggest stripping both the ATi and the motherboard drivers first - while it is a GFX issue, the motherboard's what controls the GART and acceleration level. After that, a swipe with DriverCleaner (provided Windows will want to boot up now) cleaning for anything ATi, followed by a MBO/GFX reinstall should fix it.

[Rªdì¢âl_£Ð]

So I decided to sleep on the problem and wouldn't you know the computer is working again. Though a little slow on the boot up but it's working none the less. It's about to send an error report to Microsoft which is unfortunately corrupted. So much for finding out the cause of the problem. However, I have disabled the automatic restart in case this happens agains and I missed the BSOD this whole time.

So with everything apparently running smoothly, I run Halo again but it still complains that hardware accleration is still not working. So, I guess I'll remove and reinstall the ATi display drivers and see if that does anything. Otherwise, I'm going to perform a clean install.

[Rªdì¢âl_£Ð]

Just as an update, my computer is now working nominally but even with the drivers from MSI, Halo still won't work. So, I went to ATi and got their drivers for motherboards with integrated graphics. The Radeon Xpress 200 was renamed to Xpress 1150 and now Halo works. However, I can't really push it past 800x600 pixels without slowing down the whole thing. I guess that's the limitation with onboard graphics.