AMD 14.12 drivers on Vista; oh yes...

[Timmy-P]

Fresh from the Steam Powered User Forums, I present to you how the **** this is possible.

 

Courtesy of bes, with permission from the OP, to share this guide.  I take no credit, aside from passing on the word, and editing for more appropriate formatting.

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3270859

He made do from a guide two months old, but was incorrect.  This is how he did it, and the link mentioned is available, but I paraphrased and revised the instructions.
 

Then look here, follow the instructions in this link:
http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-2335392/manually-installing-latest-amd-catalyst-drivers-windows-vista.html

Paraphrased:

Download the driver [found below] and install normally.  [iMPORTANT]64-bit users, this is when you reboot your computer into Safe Mode by tapping F8 and disabling Driver Signature Management.[/iMPORTANT]  After installation, go to the driver installation directory, then open Packages\Drivers\Display to find a bunch of .inf files, later you will need to open up each one to replace some lines of code to shoehorn for different Windows versions.  Proceed with the rest of the guide here on LTT.

Download this for 64bit:
http://support.amd.com/en-us/download/desktop?os=Windows+7+-+64

And this for 32bit:

http://support.amd.com/en-us/download/desktop?os=Windows+7+-+32

Look for this line:
[ATI.Mfg.NTamd64.6.1] (or [ATI.Mfg.NTamd86.6.1] ...if you have the 32bit version..the rest of them obviously should have 86 in them also..)

remove it and replace it with this:

[ATI.Mfg.NTamd64.6.0]

I also changed these:

%ATI% = ATI.Mfg, NTamd64.6.0, NTamd64.6.1 <-- switched the order so 6.0 was first..

There is also a line at the very bottom of the file:

[ATI.Mfg.NTamd64.6.0]

I replaced it with this:

[ATI.Mfg.NTamd64.6.1]

Then saved the file and followed the rest of the steps in the link... [Keep scrolling]

 

Go to start -> right click on "Computer" just like above to bring up the system information panel

Click "Device Manager">"Display adapters"

Right click your graphics card entry
Properties>Driver tab>"Update driver"
Click "Browse my computer for driver software," and instead of going back to the installation directory just yet, select "Let me pick from a list," CHECK "Show compatible hardware" (Important), then click "Have disk...", then go to the installation directory, and pick out one of your .ini files you edited.  Your GPU should be the only result, if not select a different .ini and try again.  Once you get that, just click "Next" and continue the installation.  If Windows nags you about the driver being unsigned, install it anyway and hope for the best.

Pic of it working in Vista: http://www.pasteall.org/pic/show.php?id=81383 ...so far no issues playing BattleField 4,Bioshock,Burnout,Never Alone, or Robocraft

 

Hope you enjoy!

[Aniallation]

uhh

 

@terrytek

[Timmy-P]

uhh

 

@terrytek

He beat me to it, I'm assuming?

[Aniallation]

He beat me to it, I'm assuming?

No he's the only person I can think of that'd find having the latest AMD drivers on Vista useful

[NeatSquidYT]

He beat me to it, I'm assuming?

He loves vista. He's one of the hated minorities.

[Timmy-P]

No he's the only person I can think of that'd find having the latest AMD drivers on Vista useful

 

He loves vista. He's one of the hated minorities.

It took me a bit until I realized...

 

I checked his profile, both of his rigs are Nvidia, unfortunately.  I'd imagine their drivers are a bit more... automated/streamlined, so this type of modification would be a bit harder to pull off.

[Aniallation]

He loves vista. He's one of the hated minorities.

 

It took me a bit until I realized...

 

I checked his profile, both of his rigs are Nvidia, unfortunately.  I'd imagine their drivers are a bit more... automated/streamlined, so this type of modification would be a bit harder to pull off.

 

I mean like, one of my PCs still has Vista, but it's not like I'd put a modern GPU in it without upgrading to 7/8/10

[Timmy-P]

I mean like, one of my PCs still has Vista, but it's not like I'd put a modern GPU in it without upgrading to 7/8/10

True, but it's still possible, as Vista supports DX11, and if firmwares fall in line with the hardware's policy of "DX11 support = DX12 ready" (subject to change) then Vista is still relevant until it faces the chopping block of support.

I won't argue any further so it won't get heated.

[flibberdipper]

Wait, AMD only released 13.2something for Vista? What the fuck guys?

[Aniallation]

Wait, AMD only released 13.2something for Vista? What the fuck guys?

As an official release. This shows you how to modify the new drivers to still work with Vista

[flibberdipper]

As an official release. This shows you how to modify the new drivers to still work with Vista

I know, but still. That is really stupid. As I recall, Nvidia was rolling them out until at least last Christmas.

[Timmy-P]

I know, but still. That is really stupid. As I recall, Nvidia was rolling them out until at least last Christmas.

And AMD's drivers technically still work this Christmas!

...I suck at self-advertising.

 

I have an old rig myself with a 6670 in there, I might actually do this myself just to see what happens, lol.

[flibberdipper]

And AMD's drivers technically still work this Christmas!

...I suck at self-advertising.

 

I have an old rig myself with a 6670 in there, I might actually do this myself just to see what happens, lol.

lol "Technically."

[Timmy-P]

lol "Technically."

Heh.