Installing AMD Video Drivers - Windows 8.1 (Step-By-Step Tutorial)

I am currently in the process of installing the latest AMD Video Drivers for Windows 8.1 (64-bit) on a Bootcamp partition. I previously had three ATI Radeon HD2600XT Graphics cards (in CrossFire) installed in a 2008 Apple Mac Pro.

I've run into several problems with trying to remove the Radeon HD2600XT graphics cards and install the latest drivers (for the Radeon R9 290 graphics card) in Windows 8.1 (64-bit), so I am creating this to be used as tutorial for others experiencing similar problems.

1) First I created a new/clean system restore point in Windows 8.1 prior to starting this.

Instructions can be found here: http://www.intowindows.com/how-to-create-restore-point-in-windows-8-1/

2) Second, I manually tried removing/uninstalling the AMD Software from add/remove programs in Windows 8.1 (Control Panel)

In Computer Control Panel, select "uninstall a program"

Select AMD Install Manager (and any Catalyst Software) and remove/uninstall the software (choose "express uninstall all AMD software").

Be sure to uninstall the AMD Install Manager.

3) In my system, the hardware drivers for the three Radeon XT2600 graphics cards were not properly removed, and the drivers for the Radeon R9 290 were not properly installed.

4) I tried running the AMD Driver Autodetect Tool

It stated "We were unable to find your product or OS" (and failed to download or install any drivers)

AMD Driver Autodetect displayed the following information:

Graphics hardware: 0x1002 - 0x9588 PCIE

Operating system: Windows 8.1 64-bit

5) Since the latest software/drivers were not found with the AMD Driver Autodetect, I decided to manually download the latest Graphics card drivers from the AMD website for my graphics card and for my operating system (Windows 8.1 64-bit). I created a folder called "C:\Drivers\AMD" and downloaded the latest AMD Graphics card drivers (Catalyst Software Suite 14.9) to that folder and unzipped the AMD drivers installation file. I unzipped the file which included the following drivers/files:

Catalyst Software Suite 14.9 includes the following files:

AMD Display Driver ver. 14.301.1001

OpenCL(tm) Driver

Catalyst Control Center

HydraVision

6) I downloaded and unzipped DDU v13.5.1.3 (downloaded from 3D Guru)

I created a folder called "C:\Drivers\DDUv13.5.1.3" and unzipped the DDU installation files to that folder

7) I ran DDU v13.5.1.3 (downloaded from 3D Guru)

It displayed the following information:

DDU Version:13.5.1.3

GPU # 0000 Detected : ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT (Microsoft Corporation - WDDM v1.1)

GPU DeviceId : pci\ven_1002&dev_9588

Detected Driver(s) Version(s) : 8.97.10.6

INF : oem55.inf

INF Section : ati2mtag_RV630

--------------

GPU # 0001 Detected : ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT (Microsoft Corporation - WDDM v1.1)

GPU DeviceId : pci\ven_1002&dev_9588

Detected Driver(s) Version(s) : 8.97.10.6

INF : oem55.inf

INF Section : ati2mtag_RV630

--------------

GPU # 0002 Detected : AMD Radeon R9 200 Series

GPU DeviceId : pci\ven_1002&dev_67b1

Detected Driver(s) Version(s) : 13.251.9001.1001

INF : oem63.inf

INF Section : ati2mtag_Hawaii

--------------

5) Based on the output above, it seems that some extremely old drivers are currently installed (v13.251.9001.1001), and I need to remove the old drivers for the hardware above, and try to install the latest AMD drivers (v14.9)

6) I rebooted the computer into Windows 8.1 "Safe Mode".

Instructions can be found here: http://www.7tutorials.com/5-ways-boot-safe-mode-windows-8-windows-81

7) I went to the folder called "C:\Drivers\DDUv13.5.1.3" and ran DDU v13.5.1.3 and selected "Clean and restart" (in DDU 13.5.1.3) to remove ALL of the existing AMD drivers and to restart/reboot the computer.

- After removing the current display drivers (in safe mode) with DDU v13.5.1.3 and after the system rebooted, I then tried to perform a "clean install" of the latest AMD drivers (v14.9)

8) Now perform a "Clean Install" of the new AMD graphics drivers. Steps for performing a "clean install" (from AMD's website) are listed below:

To perform a 'clean install' of AMD graphics drivers:

You should make a system restore point before attempting, just in case

1. IMPORTANT: All Windows Updates should be current, including the 'optional/suggested' updates
2. IMPORTANT: Disable all anti-virus/ad blockers/anti-malware/ anti-anything before trying to install
3. IMPORTANT: Netframework is required and must be the latest version. (from Windows Update)

Download the drivers for your computer to the desktop. Follow steps 1-5 ( http://support.amd.com/en-us/download ).
Do not use 'auto-detect and install (it might not detect your graphics card or best drivers).

Delete existing drivers from your computer:

In computer control panel select 'uninstall a program'
For computers with Intel processors:
Select AMD install manager and choose 'express uninstall all AMD software'
Including the install manager.

For computers with AMD processors:
Select AMD install manager and 'custom uninstall' the graphics drivers and CCC only.

Reboot into 'safe mode'
In safe mode run Guru 3D's DDU

Reboot

Install the new driver suite.

9) I went to the folder called "C:\Drivers\AMD\AMD-Catalyst-14-9-win7-win8.1-64Bit-dd-ccc-whql" and ran setup.exe (Catalyst Install Manager)

I selected "Express Install" as the default installation (highly recommended).

10) Rebooted the system after the Catalyst software and video driver installation.