Question about replacing Windows 7 OEM to retail and drivers

[Jonguy30]

So, I have a Windows 7 OEM copy. The problem I have is that I'm stuck on very outdated drivers, they're from mid-2010, ATI catalyst 8.xxxx.something (but they seem to be working..). I have an AMD mobility video card and if I replace the OEM license with a retail Windows 7 one will I then be able to update the drivers to the newest version? Right now when I try to update I get an error message from the ATI catalyst update check software. Is what I'm asking possible to do? I really don't like being stuck with this.

[wayne128]

You can always go to AMD driver website, such as this

http://support.amd.com/en-us/download

Download the versions you wish , and install.
I do not think there is any different from using Win7 OEM or any version (home, pro, enterprise, ultimate, etc) as far as installing AMD proprietary driver is concerned.

[Jonguy30]

But when I go to the AMD website to try and download the ATI Catalyst software I get an error message of something about my Windows 7 being OEM and that I should go to "the official homepage of the manufacturer and download the drivers from their support page". And when I select my card from the selection menus I only get a small "update check" software and then I get the error message. I have done this procedure many times. I cannot get the drivers. It sucks

[access2godzilla]

Did you try the above link that wayne gave you? WFM.

[Jonguy30]

Okay. So, now I did manage to download the drivers, I'm currently downloading the latest driver, 14.4 is the version right now. Oh, I should have mentioned that I was on Windows 7 RTM last time I tried downloading the drivers. I have since upgraded to service pack one. I'm wondering if that made a difference? I had trouble getting the drivers before.

EDIT: In the driver download page there is a notification "The following notebooks are not compatible with this tool:
Notebooks equipped with switchable graphics " What does this mean? I have switchable graphics.

[Jonguy30]

Forget my previous post. I have managed to run both the "auto detect and install" and managed to download the driver itself. Usually it would block me from doing anything but it seems AMD has increased its range of compatible notebooks. Tomorrow I will see how it goes.

[Jonguy30]

It seems I still have the old driver, I think (according to device manager at least). I ran the installer and it did encounter a few errors. If I must live with this driver then so be it.

[SvenG]

Might not just be caused by the software. Some Notebook manufacturers do strange things to the hardware and you are stuck to their limited support cause standard drivers wont work.

[Jonguy30]

Does that also affect my ability to play recently released video games? The most recent game I can play is Skyrim (high settings without lag). It sucks being stuck with this.

[jumba]

Does the manufacturer list any newer drivers than yours?

I have seen these in guru3d forums:
http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php ... 9&t=389511
and
http://leshcatlabs.net/unifl-unified-leshcat-drivers/

You could give them a try but check that your gpu and the switchable unit are supported.

[Jonguy30]

Wow, that looks really interesting. I read the guru3d thread a little bit and there seems to be minor problems for some users but overall seems pretty functional. My graphics card is supported as I have an Intel graphics chip and an AMD 5xxxM GPU (switchable).

About the instructions, it reads "remove all old drivers", does that mean only the graphics drivers? Both the Intel and AMD? Also, when removing drivers I use the device manager, yes? And, also, what's "driver signature enforcement"? Never heard of such a thing, lol. Thanks for any answers.

Also I'm not sure if I want go through all that as I haven't done anything that advanced, ever.

[SvenG]

You could try this one
http://www.guru3d.com/files_details/dis ... nload.html
to remove your old drivers. And yes, it should be restricted to graphics drivers, makes not sense to remove your printer driver

But before trying such stuff you should always backup your data on an external drive. It is not likely that it will break something but it can.

[Jonguy30]

I don't have an external drive. So this will have to wait then, probably sometime in the future though I will try this, thanks for the tips though, I had no idea there were modded drivers out there.