Crash after installing SMBus

[Northwood]

Hi everybody.
Im new on this forum and I hope you can help me with this annoying issue.

My system is:
Windows 7 Ultimate
MB: Asus M4A78T-E, AMD 790GX
SSD: Samsung EVO 840, primary (+ 2 HDD)
CPU: Phenom II 955
GPU: Radeon HD 6770
8 GB ram
Misc dvd etc

All drivers are updated, but I had bad performance with the SSD. So I checked the driver and it was native Microsoft 2006
Via DriverEasy I could see that a new version of the SMBus driver was available through Catalyst. An update didnt install the SMBus driver, so I downloaded it seperately via AMD and tried to force it.
BUT now my pc has crashed. I get to the welcome screen and it loops (I can see the HDD led flashes in a looped pattern)
I have turned off Restore.
When I boot into safe mode the file 'aswRvrt.sys' is the last one to load. Then it hang.
I have made a rescue USB and tried to make a repair, but it didnt fix the issue.

I would hate to reinstall Windows, so Im willing to try anything you suggest.

Luckily I have my laptop


Edit:
I just changed to IDE in bios and now I can boot

So now the question is 'How the heck do I install SMBus without everything going south?'
Right now SSD speed is a laugh. Takes more than a minute to boot.
Maybe this thread should be in Drivers forum?!

 

[TrainableMan]

If you can boot in to safe mode then type "system restore" in the start search bar. Run System Restore to restore your computer to before you forced the driver. That should at least get you back to what you had.

Then run the Samsung Performance Restoration program. Here is the Installation Guide.

 

[Northwood]

Hi trainableman.

Im sorry if I didnt make myself clear.
I have no restore point as restore is disabled :/
After I switched from AHCI to IDE in bios I have been able to boot normally.
If I enable AHCI in bios it still crashes.
HDD, SSD and SMBus-controller are native Microsoft 2006 drivers, but there's still a conflict.
Am I missing something?
I see no change in speed from before my update, when bios was AHCI and Windows register showed AHCI enabled, and now where AHCI is disabled in bios.
I guess my SSD never ran AHCI. Thats odd.

When I search the net it seems this problem is sort of rare, but on my last 3 computers I have experienced trouble installing SMBus drivers.
How do others update their SMBus driver without hazzle? Im in the dark.

Thanks for your reply

 

[TrainableMan]

I would encourage you to limit the size rather than completely turning off system restore points.

But in your current situation there still may be a simple solution. Go to control panel > device manager and locate the SMBus driver you installed and under the Driver tab choose "rollback driver".

 

[Northwood]

Looking behind, turning off restore was a brainfart
But as I wrote, all of the drivers mentioned above are stock Microsoft. I dont know where else to look for altered drivers. Is there a log listing updated drivers?
I tried to run Catalyst again to eventual override faulty drivers, but no luck. It still crashes if I enable AHCI in bios.

Thanks,

 

[TrainableMan]

Even Microsoft drivers are listed in (Control Panel > ) Device Manager. Open any that say controller and in the Drivers tab see if the "Rollback driver" button is available (not grayed out). If you find any, take screenshots and post them here. Hopefully we can figure out which one it might be.

 

[Northwood]

Hi again.
Sorry for the delay.

I have taken a screenshot of the altered drivers on my system. The rest is standard Microsoft 2006 drivers. The bottom left is the Enhanced PCI to USB host controller.
As you see the SMBus driver is standard Microsoft. I am surprised.

 

[TrainableMan]

None of those drivers pictured can be rolled back except the audio, and I doubt the problem is an audio driver.

You know aswrvrt.sys is your Avast! anti-virus; try uninstalling Avast in safe mode.

 

[Northwood]

So Im back.

I tried to uninstall Avast but without any luck.
I have disconnected any periphericals from IDE. Still nothing.
It seems like the only way around is a fresh install. Dammit.
And I have to skip that SMBus driver

 

[TrainableMan]

Driver update programs are dangerous; I've said it before, years ago, after I had a bad experience myself and you have reconfirmed my objection to them. I'm sorry it worked out for you like it did but I hope a clean install runs better than ever.