ATI - Invalid Display Adapter Error - Adapter Disabled - Incompatible Driver (4870 X2)

I ran into quite a few issues trying to install a new video card today, the ATI Radeon 4870 X2 by Sapphire on Vista Ultimate.

After pulling the previous Nvidia 7950 GT from the system and barely fitting in the  monstruous 4870 X2, I booted into Windows and proceeded to install the latest drivers 8.10. Prompted to reboot, I did and then disaster; Vista would disable at least one of the adapter saying something along the lines that the driver is not compatible with the VGA adapter installed. Something that made absolutely no sense.

I did try uninstalling and reinstalling many times, while also making sure there are no more Nvidia drivers and files left. Not much luck there for me.

Here's what worked after all:

- Uninstall any and all display adapter and ATI software from the Control  Panel/Remove Programs, including the ATI Catalyst Install Manager. When finished and prompted to reboot, don't.

Download and install Driver Sweeper from Guru3D. It's a free and clean piece of software.

Analyze and clean for ATI and Nvidia display drivers using Driver Sweeper. If you get errors just close the program and reopen and do one at a time: ATI - analyse and clean, then Nvidia.

When done, reboot. When computer restarts, hit F8 to be prompted with the Safe Mode startup screen.

Disclaimer: The following stepsmay involve making changes to the registry either by using automatic software or manually removing files. Backup your registry first. There are many guides who show how to do that. I take no responsibility for anything that may happen by following these steps. They just worked for me.

Now I don't know if it's like that on all computers, but I had the option of enabling Low-Resolution (640x480 mode). I chose that option to boot. Once in Windows, I went to Device Manager and uninstalled whatever was under Display Adapters. Then I ran Driver Sweeper again and cleaned as much as possible for ATI and Nvidia files. If Driver Sweeper fails to clean some registry files, just check the location, run regedit yourself and delete these files manually.

Reboot.  When back in normal Windows, I downloaded and installed the previous version of the drivers, 8.9 as I had read that some had success with that. After installing things seemed back to normal. I rebooted and then also obtained the latest hotfix for Far Cry 2 from ATI, which is a slightly updated version of the 8.10 drivers, somewhat newer. 

That's it. Hope it helps somehow.

Quick Facebook Numbers

If you've ever wondered how many servers it takes to run a website like Facebook, wonder no more. Although Facebook has never made it public, it is estimated to be around 10,000 servers, according to this CNET article.

Some other interesting numbers (all estimates):

• Members: 70 million +
• Revenue (projected for 2008): 350 million
  
• Employee headcount: 450, with possibility to rise to more than 1000

Source: Facebook borrows $100 million

Hard Drive model numbers explained (WD)

In case you wanted to know exactly what those extra letters and numbers on your hard drive mean exactly, here's a very useful information sheet. This applies only for Western Digital hard drives. As I come across similar details from other hard drive manufacturers, I will update this article.

Click here for the WD Model and Order Number Format

iPhone: Quick iPod Shortcut/Music Controls

I have come across a little nifty shortcut on the iPhone that allows almost immediate access to the music controls. Almost everyone knows by now that the home button can be configured with different functions when double "clicking" on it. However, the same button seems to double as a shortcut for music controls, whenever the iPod application is running (actually, also when it does not).

I have configured my home button to go to Contacts tab whenever I am in in another application. Interestingly enough, however, if I double hit Home when I am at the Home screen, while there is music playing in the background, you'll get a little window with Previous/Pause/Next buttons.

Even better, the same little window with music controls appears also when double hitting Home while at the Lock screen! That's big.. at least for me.. because it means i don't have to slide and unlock and change to iPod in order to control the music (for when you are in the car for example and need to keep your eyes on the road ;)).

Now, if music is not playing and music (iPod) application is closed and you are at the lock screen, you can still double hit Home and get access to music controls and start playing the music! That again is big :).

To illustrate everything, here are some screenshots of what I've been describing:


At the lock screen with music application not running


At the Home screen with music playing


At the Lock screen with music playing and iPhone charging


At the Lock screen with music playing and iPhone not charging

Wow! Wanna have a 3D VR monitor?

Gotta watch this... this would be so cool for so many applications. But for starters, I would like to see this for mere picture viewing, as shown in the video. Next, such a device on a gaming console, playing Call of Duty 4 online would be like the ultimate gaming experience today :).



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ZDNet: A dozen free & essential apps for Windows

A neat little collection of free software that I happen to have already installed on my system; not all, but most of the mentioned applications. It's a great reference for when you have just installed/reinstalled Windows.

Read on at ZDNet...

Massive "laptops"

We're starting to see more and more of these massive machines intended for portable scenarios. The Dell XPS M2010 is one attractive system with a number of features that to me were appealing enough to actually go for it, but now others seem to want to hop on the train of pleasing to the eye, sexy machines that stop others in their tracks.

HP has refined their original 20" HDX laptop, which was much more of an actual laptop than Dell's M2010 (since the M2010 is heavier, thicker and meant more for desk use than lap use). The new HDX has a 1080p screen ( which is a nice + ), offers a fast cpu which seems to actually not offer as much performance as one would think, and choice of blu-ray and hd-dvd drives. Despite all, the screen does not offer the same flexibility as Dell's M2010 sleek silver hinges, it does not have a wireless keyboard and mouse or a wowy pop-up slot dvd drive :).

I wonder how much of these HP will sell especially since HP's HDX page doesn't even come close to Dell's M2010 product information page.

Got a desktop? Got a laptop? Use Google Browser Sync

I accidentally came across this little Browse Sync Firefox extension from Google which lets you use your Google account to synchronize Firefox browser settings among two or more computers. This is great because you no longer need to add bookmarks twice, on every computer, and everything is done in the background. Simply install the extension on both systems, choose a pin and you're in sync!

Google has a few more extensions for Firefox that you may find useful.

Quickie: What is an exabyte?

An exabyte is hopefully the storage capacity of my next computer. Seriously now, an exabyte is a quintillion bytes, or a billion gigabytes!! My system currently has roughly one thousand gigabytes, which is called a terabyte. So I am getting there...

Lunar eclipse pictures

Here are some pictures taken earlier this evening by yours truly. The lunar eclipse took place today, February 20 2008, between roughly 9PM and 10PM EST. For those interested, the shots were taken with a Nikon D50 with a 70-300mm VR lens, in shutter priority mode. Images were cropped and resized, slight sharpening applied, however colors, brightness and contrast were left as taken. This was my first time photographing a lunar eclipse (on a very cold winter night).

I thought a little description from NASA may come in handy:

A total eclipse of the Moon occurs during the night of Wednesday, February 20/21, 2008. The entire event is visible from South America and most of North America (on Feb. 20) as well as Western Europe, Africa, and western Asia (on Feb. 21). During a total lunar eclipse, the Moon's disk can take on a dramatically colorful appearance from bright orange to blood red to dark brown and (rarely) very dark gray.

An eclipse of the Moon can only take place at Full Moon, and only if the Moon passes through some portion of Earth's shadow. The shadow is actually composed of two cone-shaped parts, one nested inside the other. The outer shadow or penumbra is a zone where Earth blocks some (but not all) of the Sun's rays. In contrast, the inner shadow or umbra is a region where Earth blocks all direct sunlight from reaching the Moon.

This page at NASA discusses this year's lunar eclipse in more detail. For more general info on lunar eclipses, read the Lunar Eclipse for Beginners.