No ATI graphics driver is installed. HUH?

[afireinside]

Two days ago I was playing TF2 as usual and BAM! BSOD. I get BSODs all the time. I don't know why, but I do. I think it's an Intel thing because I never had major issues with AMD and now that I run all Intel my rig, my brothers rig, and my LAPTOP all lock/BSOD/do weird stuff. ANYWAY I rebooted and saw this lovely message from CCC. "No ATI graphics driver is installed, or the ATI driver is not functioning properly. Please install the ATI driver appropriate for your ATI hardware" Tried to reinstall the drivers and it told me the INF was not found...

I reformatted (vista x64 again)

I was fine (aside from a few reboots/lock ups as usual. oh and it would lock for a second, loop sound, then resume in TF2)

Fastforward to 2am and I'm chillin in town in hellgate talking to someone on AIM. Reboot. Load windows to the same message from the wonderful catalyst control center. Reinstalling the drivers goes smoothly now but the message persists after a reinstall. Removing one of my 3870s from the CF config doesn't help. I don't have my massive collection of spare parts anymore so actually finding the problem is going to be hell

At the time of failure #1 I was @ 3737mhz
At the time of failure #2 I was @ 3600mhz
ram @ stock or under at all times
cards @ 860/1200 (BIOS) with fan speed at 45 or 50%. Max temps = 76C load. No artifacts.

I tried Orthos blend priority 10 and I lasted 12 hours and 41 minutes @ 3737, so I highly doubt 3600 in games 60% loading the CPU is causing the problem, but who knows.

Basically I need help figuring out:
WHY DO I BSOD SO MUCH?
Why are the drivers breaking themselves then refusing to reinstall?

config:
maximus formula SE
4gbpq
xeon 3060 /w TRUE
3870 CF
700w coolermaster PSU (rails are plenty stable)

The weirdest part is that my constant lock up issues started when I switched from a 24" westinghouse LCD to a 32" sharp aquos TV. My system was much more stable before hand, but I'm sure it BSOD'd and stuff then to I just can't remember.

[afireinside]

I looped 3dmark06 for 2 hours and VPU recovered (in XP). Disabled VPU recover and I black screened after a few minutes. Flashed back to the stock BIOS from the IAX tech 860/1200 and lo and behold, my vista install came to life on it's first boot. Didn't even need to reinstall the drivers it just worked. Go figure... I guess my cards are complete crap OCers.

[dsturner]

I don't know what O/C you put on the cards but I had the same prob with a 2900xt until I increased voltage to the GPU. Its weird but I check my O/C quickly with Need for speed Pro street If it starts im good in all games if not I have probs with other games. The memory seems to cause me more probs than the core. Try lowering the mem and run your loop again. Ive tried to set them individualy to the max but when I put them togeather they fail so I end up lowering the mem till i get stable again.

I also run a fan to keep the back side of the card cool and it helped O/C a little further but I have 2900 furnace to keep cool.

Maybe it might help? just a thought

[hazardous]

I'm having the exact same issues. Running an abit ix38 quadgt and two sapphire hd 3870s (with vf900s) on vista 64. I was getting random BSODs and on occasion i would log on and it would tell me that the ati driver was not installed properly. Reinstalling the driver did nothing, but i found that if i rebooted the pc the ati drivers would suddenly start working, so it was a pain in the ass but i just decided to deal with it.

Today I'm suddenly getting the message again, and unlike last time it wont go away with a reboot. My cards are overclocked slightly (800/1200) but hardly at all. I assume that's the issue, but i find it hard to believe that they need extra voltage for such a small overclock. They certainly arent getting too hot, I'dling in the 35ish degree Celsius range with AS5 and the vf900s. I'm still using the stock bios on my sapphire cards, but this problem seems to be widespread as I've talked to several people with similar problems recently.