[rshaffer61]

OK thanks for the update.
I will wait on the results of the post 72

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I can't find any .exe's on my recovery discs.

[greenman19]

I can't find any .exe's on my recovery discs.

[rshaffer61]

OK the article states a Recovery disk probably will not work. You need to borrow a installation disk from someone but it has to be the same version as yours. Home, Media or Ultimate
Then you can proceed with the steps.

[greenman19]

Don't know anyone with a Vista Home disc :c.
Do you have any other ideas I can try by the way pertaining to the original issue? I can live with the OS troubles.

[rshaffer61]

What firewall are you using.. Windows or another 3rd party?

[greenman19]

Windows.

[rshaffer61]

It is possible that the firewall has blocked something and that is what is causing the problem. Being a new install that normally would be corrected.
Being a faulty recovery would most likely cause the issue again.

[greenman19]

I'll try running the game again with firewall disabled. It froze quicker last time (With orange bars), the vents were cool to the touch. I can play for as long as I want in power saver mode (Very slowly of course)
The recovery didn't seem to re-install old drivers correctly, my BIOS was F18 which was the last one I updated (It came with F13 I believe, unless BIOS firmware is always unaffected by system recovery)

[rshaffer61]

unless BIOS firmware is always unaffected by system recovery

You said it. The recovery only does the OS and installed programs.
By chance when did you do a bios update in relation to all this starting?
Why did you do a bios update, was there a new feature added to your bios or a correction to something wrong with bios according to the manufacturer?

[greenman19]

I updated the BIOS after the problems began, hoping it would help. I've recently reflashed it back to the old version.

[rshaffer61]

OK the situation as I see it is a bad recovery.
Solution is to purchase a new recovery disk from manufacturer or purchase a new Vista installation disk.
Retesting memory, hd and OS as we did previously to double check everything.
IMHO I think the issue is with the recovery itself.
85 posts and it seems the problem is no better even after a recovery was done which was riddled with problems also just to get that done.

[greenman19]

I will do those tests later then, thanks.
I know the OS problem is due to the bad recovery, the only way I can sort that out is to fix the problem with it shutting down and freezing (Which is still a mystery to me) and then doing another recovery.
The only thing I can think of trying next is copying some of the driver files off my brothers PC which is the same make and model (atikmdag.sys for instance) and seeing if that helps as I'm sure this is a driver thing.

[greenman19]

Tried copying some drivers over, but it didn't work.

[rshaffer61]

Uninstall video drivers completely.
Get the ati 9.3 or older driver without the catalyst and let that be the one to install.

[greenman19]

Can you give me some instructions on how to totally remove everything ATI? I may not have got everything last time I did it.