Video Card Driver Update Problem...

So, I installed the latest directx and wanted to make sure my drivers were up to speed. So I installed the proper radeon catalyst drivers for xp and restarted. The computer booted through the windows loading screen only to hang on a grainy blue screen with 4bit color depth.

So I rebooted into safe mode and foolishly tried a system restore point from before the upgrade... it failed and when I rebooted it brought me to the desktop but in 640x400 with 4bit color depth. Ew

So back into safe mode... and I turned off system restore points and uninstalled video card drivers. I then used a driver cleaner to clear out all unwanted drivers from ati and to tidy the registry up some. Then I rebooted and it brought me back to windows with 32bit color depth and a good resolution but using the default vga drivers so everything is choppy. So I try installing the drivers fresh and rebooting... Bam, back to 4bit color etc. Uninstall and restart.

So I am currently able to use my computer but it is choppy and is barely using my video card at all. This is enough to get my work done but I really need to get this vid card functional at some point. I am thinking of installing legacy drivers or something. Any suggestions?


Any help is appreciated.

So when it booted up into 640x480, it wouldnt let you set the settings higher?

That's the odd part. It would but when I applied them they wouldn't actually change. It claimed the device was functioning properly but clearly it was not. It has been a very strange experience.