Windows 7: Mar 8th Update and ATI Radeon HD 4200 Driver Update

Yesterday when I went to install the Windows 7 patches the Windows 7 update module listed an optional driver update for the ATI Radeon HD 4200 graphics chip on the motherboard.

I downloaded and applied the update no problem.

My question is.



Does anyone know what the update to the ATI Radeon HD 4200 graphics chip was for?

Thanks in advance

Graphics Card ATI Radeon 4200

Thanks but I have no graphics card

The driver update for for the ATI Radeon HD 4200 graphics chip.

I guess my question wasn't clear.

Does anyone know what changes were in the new driver update?

Thanks in advance.

Hi Buddahfan. I downloaded this optional update for my ATI 4600 series card. It messed up the Catalyst Control Centre where the "Creating and Arranging Desktops" facility was no longer available. I went to the ATI site and downloaded the latest driver (version 11.2). This also included some unwanted programme that allowed me to create code for the GPU (I think that's right), I have now removed that programme but the CCC has a completely new interface. but all seems to be working well.

My advice is don't download this update.

If anyone thinks I am wrong on this one please correct me.

Thanks for the response.

I never really use CCC except when I add a display so I don't recall the specifics of what it contained before the driver update. That is why I started the thread.

I noticed that you referred to driver version 11.2.

The Windows Device Manager indicates that the driver version for display adapter is 8.821.0.0 dated 1/26/11.

The difference between the two drivers is probably due to the difference in the graphics hardware. Yours being ATI 4600 series card and mine being ATI Radeon HD 4200 graphics chip.

Digital Signer is MSFT Windows Hardware Compatibility Publisher.

My displays appear to be working as before so I will leave the current driver version in place.

Thanks for your response. Good luck with solving the problem that you are having with driver 11.2

Hi Buddahfan. Like you I have no idea what the update was supposed to do. My Windows Device Manager reads the same as yours. I now think V11.2 refers to the CCC version. For clarity here is a snip of the new CCC software section. All seems to be working as it should so I will leave well alone.

If you're interested in the incremental changes to version 11.2 of the ATI Catalyst drivers, you can check the release notes on the AMD website: AMD Catalyst. And on this page: Previous Catalyst, you can find previous driver releases and look at the release notes of each one if you would like to know the incremental changes as they only list incremental changes between their driver releases. With 11.1, they redesigned the Catalyst Control Center and I believe 10.12 added WMV/VC-1 Hardware Acceleration support.

Thank you for the links Darican that's interesting. What intirigues us is what the Microsoft update was all about because it messed up my Catalyst Control Centre although Buddahfan has not reported any problems.

Another thing that interests me is when I downloaded the new CCC and drivers from the Sapphire site (I have a Sapphire card) I ended up with an AMD CCC. I thought Sapphire and AMD are seperate manufacturers using ATI technology, so why didn't I get a Sapphire CCC?

Thanks for your input Darican.

Because the one through Windows Update is nothing but the driver, it does not contain any of the other bits and pieces you get from the full Catalyst suite. As a result there are times like this one where it can mess a current install of CCC or any of the other bits if you use the regular suite from AMD..

Sapphire may have made the card, but AMD makes the chips and writes the drivers. Doesn't matter who you get your card from, the drivers all come from AMD. As a result there is no need to ever go to the card manufacturer for the driver, just go straight to AMD (exact same thing applies to Nvidia cards as well).

The gist of the whole thing is that even with the improvements made with regards to drivers and Windows Update, the old tried and true still applies with regards to drivers for major components; do not get the drivers for them through Windows Update, always get them from the hardware manufacturer.

Because of Microsoft's certification program, generally vendor drivers are not the current version offered directly from the Vendor. In some cases, such as Integrated audio on Dell's, they can actually cause the device to malfunction (I used the Dell audio drivers as an example as non-Dell Integrated audio drivers will either not work or not work correctly in most cases).

I'm still using an old version (8.712) on my ATI HD4850, as Soldier of Fortune will not run with later Video drivers.