• Welcome to Overclockers Forums! Join us to reply in threads, receive reduced ads, and to customize your site experience!

Windows Update Kills my computer

Overclockers is supported by our readers. When you click a link to make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn More.

dribblesnort

Member
Joined
Nov 29, 2002
Location
USA
So I'm checking out the latest bug fixes and patches at Windows Update Sunday morning and I decide to load the WHQL Drivers offered through Windows Update for my SB Audigy card. Seems innocuous enough, right?

It loads the Game Port Driver fine but when it gets to the Driver for the card itself, my system BSOD's and reboots.

Once it comes back up I have no sound. I go into the Device Mangler and try to remove the sound card so I can reload the drivers. No go. BSOD and reboot again.

Once it BSOD's the second time and reboots, I can then (and only then) remove the sound card from Device Mangler and reinstall via the Driver Disc that came with the Sound Card.

I locate the Original Install CD and reload the drivers. I reboot and get sound.

I go back to the Windows Update site and reinstall the WHQL drivers. Sure enough, BSOD and reboot. Once it reboots there's no sound and I have to perform the previously-mentioned steps to get my sound card to work.

I know that I should avoid the WHQL Drivers like the plague (at least with the current platform I have) but I'm wondering how/why this is occurring because it seems to me that a system shouldn't BSOD and reboot when loading a WHQL Driver.

Anyone else run into a strange issue with Windows Update causing a crash?
 
I have had this happen to two boxes over the years.

One was a nic driver (linksys) that caused the bsod, the other was a sound card driver (creative something or other).

I do not have the foggiest notion why this happens, I also don't know why it hasn't been fixed, when I talk to people about it it is a somewhat rare occurance, out of 2 dozen pcs that I have installed drivers from windows update, only two had the bsod problem.

In general I never use that feature anymore, unless I absolutely cannot find a driver from the manufacturer. It is funny to know that they still haven't fixed this problem.
 
redwraith94 said:
I have had this happen to two boxes over the years.

One was a nic driver (linksys) that caused the bsod, the other was a sound card driver (creative something or other).

I do not have the foggiest notion why this happens, I also don't know why it hasn't been fixed, when I talk to people about it it is a somewhat rare occurance, out of 2 dozen pcs that I have installed drivers from windows update, only two had the bsod problem.

In general I never use that feature anymore, unless I absolutely cannot find a driver from the manufacturer. It is funny to know that they still haven't fixed this problem.

I generally avoid loading the device drivers from Windows Update as well, but I thought, "WTHeck? Give it a shot since your audigy drivers are the ones from the install CD and there are surely improvements available by now"

Dumb move on my part.

I used the "Hide this update" feature on Windows Update so I don't see that particular update anymore and make a mistake by trying to load it in the future. (I did that with IE7)
 
dribblesnort said:
So I'm checking out the latest bug fixes and patches at Windows Update Sunday morning and I decide to load the WHQL Drivers offered through Windows Update for my SB Audigy card. Seems innocuous enough, right?

It loads the Game Port Driver fine but when it gets to the Driver for the card itself, my system BSOD's and reboots.

Once it comes back up I have no sound. I go into the Device Mangler and try to remove the sound card so I can reload the drivers. No go. BSOD and reboot again.

Once it BSOD's the second time and reboots, I can then (and only then) remove the sound card from Device Mangler and reinstall via the Driver Disc that came with the Sound Card.

I locate the Original Install CD and reload the drivers. I reboot and get sound.

I go back to the Windows Update site and reinstall the WHQL drivers. Sure enough, BSOD and reboot. Once it reboots there's no sound and I have to perform the previously-mentioned steps to get my sound card to work.

I know that I should avoid the WHQL Drivers like the plague (at least with the current platform I have) but I'm wondering how/why this is occurring because it seems to me that a system shouldn't BSOD and reboot when loading a WHQL Driver.

Anyone else run into a strange issue with Windows Update causing a crash?

Sure that happened to me. Of COURSE a driver can cause BSOD. Drivers are, in fact, the NUMBER ONE cause of BSOD. I think the exact same thing happened to me: Windows update, sound card driver, BSOD. From then on (and before that moment too) I only get drivers from the sound card manufacturer. Because these WHQL drivers are just some crap Microsoft themselves put together "hoping" it might work.
 
I have been sorting out my PC so I have only just read this now I would of said AVOID any drivers that show up in Windows Update. I did this once for my old nForce2 Ultra's audio I updated the driver that came up and I got the same thing.

In the end I removed it and I went to find out if there was a newer driver on nVidia's site my advice would be to use this as info that there's a newer driver and I would go to the official site. Usually there realease a package normally WU just provides a certain file when its really needed loads of files thats better than the current ones installed.
 
Back