Upgrading from Vista 32-bit to Vista 64-bit

I recently "inherited" an Acer Aspire 5100 TravelMate from a family member. I've had great luck with Acer laptops in the past so I figured I couldn't go wrong with this one. So far, so good (great, actually).

My question/quandry: This system came, originally, with the 32-bit version of Windows Vista. For a lot of reasons I performed a clean install with Vista Ultimate 64-bit upgrade. Rockin'! However, there are at least two relatively minor issues that I cannot seem to find solutions to. FIRST: the built-in mousepad. I cannot disable it when a USB mouse is detected as I cannot find the Synaptics software and drivers for this computer for the 64-bit version of Windows Vista. Any suggestions? SECOND: the ATI xpress 1100 graphics chip. Same issue as with the built-in mousepad. Again, any suggestions?

Accepted answers

finlux

No mspot, here will be fine Smiley Happy

The symptoms you're describing sounds more like an hardware issue, either the graphics chip, or the motherboard. It's not likely to be the the BIOS upgrade - usually your laptop would just not start at all!

All comments

finlux

Hi mspot!

There is a driver on Synaptics website that works with Windows 8/7/Vista/XP 64 bit & 32 bit. Try installing it (here). As for your graphics driver, you can download an AMD (formally ATI) driver Autodetect program, where it automatically detects & installs the correct driver - you'll find that here.

Hope this helps!

mspot

Thank you for your response.

I downloaded the auto-detect program and ran it. Shortly, I was prompted that I have the latest driver. Okay. Fine. But I need/want the catalyst software, or whatever it is called now, so that I can change the 3D and desktop graphics. Any suggestions?

As for the synaptics software: I downloaded that as well. I have not unzipped and run the program yet as I still have bad memories of my keyboard and mouse inputs being completely non-responsive such that I had to run the OS installation again. Do I need the latest driver for the hardware first? Or will the 120mb zip file contain everything I need?

finlux

The zip file should contain everything. It will replace the old driver with the new.

As far as I'm aware, the "Catalyst Control Center" software is bundled with the driver (at least it used to be, it's been a while since I've used AMD/ATI graphics). Have you checked to see if there is an icon in the Control Panel?

mspot

Okay, I'll give the synaptics zip file a try. Fingers crossed my system does not lock up again.

As for the catalyst software: no, there is no such thing in the control panel. Any other suggestions for the graphics "problem"?

finlux

You could check AMD's support page to see if it available as a stand alone download. Or perhaps reinstalling the driver may help.

I've got Nvidia graphics on my desktop, and it automatically downloads the Catalist equivalent when the driver updates....

mspot

Okay, go the Synaptics software installed and all is good wth that.

The Catalyst software installed. ATI Catalyst Install Manager shows up in Programs and Features. Still no ATI Catalyst reference in the Control Panel. Still no ATI/AMD reference button in the display properties tabs. Received a compatability notice from Windows shortly after install. In hindsight, I should have clicked the yes button when I as prompted if I wanted Windows to re-install in the hopes that would have worked.

finlux

The "compatibility Notice" usually appears when you've installed an old program/driver that has compatibility issues with your version of Windows.

Uninstall, and see if there is a newer version available....

mspot

I did. No go (no difference). Very frustrating but I can live with it.

Anyway, now the computer screen occasionally displays anomalies across the screen when logged into Windows -- green, aqua and red square sections that resemeble a graphic equalizer. When this occurs, all mouse and keyboard input is "dead". No input. I can only resort to cold killing the computer and restarting. I have uninstalled the software.

Then, this began occasionally occuring just prior to the POST process as I am inputting the boot password. Now, I get a blank screen after pressing the power button -- the same blank screen you might expect to see when the computer is turned off. I cannot even get to the BIOS screen a majority of the times in order to reset the boot order so as to run the OS installation to repair the installation.

One side note: I flash upgraded the bios version to 3.whatever. I don't recall the precise sequencing of events but I am now wondering if that has become an issue?

Do I need to post this in a different forum under a different topic?

finlux

No mspot, here will be fine Smiley Happy

The symptoms you're describing sounds more like an hardware issue, either the graphics chip, or the motherboard. It's not likely to be the the BIOS upgrade - usually your laptop would just not start at all!