SecondLife + Vista Crashes.

I recently got myself a new DELL PC with Vista..
My video card is : Ati Radeon 13ooX Pro , 256 mb

When i downloaded and isntalled SecondLife i found myself in some multiple crashes ( because i tried to open it even when i got the crash loggers everytime)

Then i went to the forums to see this.. http://blog.secondlife.com/?s=Vista[url]I did exactly what it said, downloaded the drivers for my PC, installed them, restarted my computer. But with no succes.

How the heck do i open SL, and how do i actually login if i can't even get to the login screen?

I hope somebody can help me out, it's been a while and i need my drug, SecondLife ;-)

Thanks...

I was having issues until I right clicked the SL shortcut and set it to run in Windows XP Compatibility mode. If you are still having issues try turning off the Aero interface. Between compatibility mode and turning off Aero I rarely crash now.

Edit: Sorry Missed that it was an ATI card, disregard what I said as this probably has no effect on your problem.

My portable is an Acer rather than a Dell but I have the same graphics chip. The latest Acer drivers that mostly work ( full screen has issues, windowed is ok ) for SL are:

Driver Packaging Version 8.352-070306a-045300C-Acer
Provider ATI Technologies Inc.
2D Driver Version 7.01.01.613
Direct3D Version 7.14.10.0487
OpenGL Version 6.14.10.0717
Catalyst® Control Center Version 2007.0306.2142.38657

You can get this info in the Catalyst Control Control Center - Information Center - Graphics Software.

I believe the earlier the driver the worse the OpenGL support (version that came with my system didn't even have OpenGL!!)

Check versions against mine ( which are also a little out of date as Acer is behind the latest releases), I suspect they are earlier and you will need to contact Dell about getting their drivers updated.

From my understanding of the Vista ATI issue, is that this has been fixed when people either install an older GC driver version supplied on the DELL website, or they install Omega Drivers. The 'standard' drivers don't work for all MB manufacturers. So much for the open source architecture.

Also try unchecking the 'detect Graphics Card' hardware 'feature' in the client Preferences (assuming you get that far).