Windows refuses to boot after GPU drivers are installed.

I recently tried upgrading to the latest AMD drivers,
but after successfully installing the drivers,
and after rebooting the system,
I get the following error message in boot:

“Windows has failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause.”

I then thought "Oh, well, probably a bug with the March drivers, I'll just try the January drivers.",
same deal with those, so I then tried getting the drivers through Windows Update,
you can guess how that went down.

All of those times I got windows back up again by using "Last Known Good Configuration",
which gets me a windows with no gpu drivers, with no way to install them.

Is my GPU simply beyond saving?

I was hoping to wait till August / September to upgrade my rig.

Thanks, Vineet Garg!

1. The system has been running Windows 7 for the last 6 years,
almost no hardware has been swapped except 2 memory modules of the exact same make,
this was done 3 months ago.

2. Everything shows up in device manager,
no yellow bangs.

3. I can't remember if the bios has been updated,
I can't check the version right now,
but it has posed no issue the last 6 years.

Hello again.

1. BIOS Version: American Megatrends Inc. 1903, 19.08.2013

2. This is not a new installation of windows, this windows 7 installation has been running since October 2012,
the only thing I did was try to update from an older gpu drivers (December 2018 driver) to March 2019 driver. :)

Original Install Date: 28.10.2012, 01:46:02

This seems to be the last BIOS for your mobo-

https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards...HelpDesk_BIOS/

My apologies for giving you the wrong link. It looks to me like you have the latest BIOS. MAXIMUS V FORMULA BIOS & FIRMWARE | Motherboards | ASUS USA

Vineet Garg said:

Hi Malmern,

Sir,

1. You already have the latest BIOS installed.

2. Latest is not the best! Update drivers only when they are creating problems/Issues & that issues are said to be fixed in a later version. Even when a driver creates issues, the just next driver version needs to be tried first in most cases & not the latest.
( A long back I always thought it would be the best to switch to latest drivers but that is not the truth. Latest drivers can show marginally exciting numbers in bench marking tests but the system stability is way ahead.
Make Windows Updates & Software Updates regularly but always make System images because even a single update can make the things all bad. Keep distance from updating drivers just for the cause of updating all the things.
And Yes avoid updating BIOS without any reason. That is more critical than drivers because driver updation ends with OS but BIOS updation is permanent regardless of reinstallation or recovery. I have seen people revert back to previous BIOS but it is not possible always )

3. It seems the problem has got worse in the back to back updating effort. Always make System Images.

4. Having said that all, Its really surprising the way the latest drivers are behaving. Please make sure you are using drivers from genuine source & they support your device & OS.
When i was searching for your Graphic card, I got this support page. This is your Graphic card, isn't it ? : ASUS Radeon HD 7970 3GB : HD7970-DC2T-3GD5 Driver & Tools | Graphics Cards | ASUS Global
Just a thought : Why do you go straight to AMD when ASUS already provides a dedicated support page, Just for the latest drivers ?

5. When you are not able to boot, did you try System Recovery Option : Startup Repair : You may need to run it for three times one after other.Startup Repair

6. Did you run sfc /scannow on your OS ? What it says ? You may neeed to run it for 7 times one after other.SFC /SCANNOW Command - System File Checker

7. How Device Manager shows ? Is it all well there ?

8. You should check for the latest Intel Chipset driver with 'Intel® Driver & Support Assistant'.
Intel(R) Driver & Support Assistant
Let me know what it suggests ?

9. Did you run Memtest to check RAM issues : RAM - Test with Memtest86+

10. You may do Repair Install & then check the issue : Repair Install

Let me know.

Thanks & Regards. ...

Just a thought : What it says when you run DISM++ & select 'Recovery > Scanhealth': https://www.chuyu.me/en/index.html

2. The only reason I tried to update to March drivers is that they have added support for "The Division 2",
which I'm currently playing. (Well, I did anyway untill the drivers didn't work anymore.)

3. Will do that in the future.

4. That's some really old driver from 2013.

5. Yes, I've tried it multiple times, the repair tool just gives me a message that it failed to automatically repair the windows installation.

6. Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.

7. All is well in Device Manager.

8. "Sorry, no software updates are available." is all I get from Intel's support page.

9. No issues in Memtest86+

10. I will try to do that now, I'll let you know how it goes.