Recap: AMD graphics card users have reported instances of driver installations completely bricking their Windows installations since mid-February. Despite reports popping up on several social media outlets and forums, no official statement on the issue has been made. AMD has now gone ahead and admitted that they have been able to reproduce the issue, introducing the Adrenalin driver package as a “Factory Reset” option as the main issue.
The issue, which was originally reported earlier this year, is suspected to be a bug in the new Adrenalin 23.2.1 driver package. AMD users who unfortunately encounter the issue try to install the drivers, only to encounter an inaccessible boot drive error upon restart. Once encountered, affected users have two options: try to restore an earlier restore point, or completely reinstall Windows.
PCWorld editor Brad Chacos has been investigating the issue and has been working closely with AMD to find out and fix it since the first reports came in. scenario when using the “Factory Reset” option in the software during driver installation.
“We have identified an issue that may occur in a very small number of instances when a PC update occurs during the installation of AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition, and we are actively investigating We recommend users to ensure that all system updates are applied or stopped before installing the driver, and that the “Factory Reset” option is not checked during the installation process. of the AMD driver. We are committed to resolving issues as soon as possible and strongly encourage users to submit issues with AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition through the Bug Report Tool.”
According to the article, AMD is actively investigating the issue, which has been found to be extremely rare and difficult to reproduce. Regardless of how rare it is, the potential for a failed operating system installation and data loss is never a good possibility. Fortunately, there is a very easy workaround: just don’t check “Factory Reset” box during the Adrenalin installation process.
While many users never check the feature box, there are a number who use it to clear old data and ensure a clean driver installation. All users should be careful when using the “Factory Reset” feature until a fix is implemented. Those who use it to perform a clean install and clear any legacy driver files can turn to another well-known graphics driver removal tool, Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU). The program is available for Windows 7 through Windows 11 and can be used to remove all traces of AMD, Nvidia, or Intel graphics drivers.
The bug is rare, and many users (myself included) have installed the latest driver packages using the reset feature without issue. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, and making sure the “Factory Reset” box is unchecked is a quick step to ensure you don’t become one of the affected users before AMD fixes the issue.