# [SOLVED] atikmdag.sys Forcing System Process to Use 50% CPU



## TribalBob (Jan 14, 2014)

Hello all,

I am usually capable of tracking down and fixing my own computer troubles but I have to say this one has got me stumped.

Some background info:

I have been running my current hardware/software set-up without issue for ~2 years now.

A few months ago I began experiencing graphics tearing at random that would come and go. This tearing was always accompanied by a clear, diagonal line running from the top-right of the window to the bottom left of the window on any/all windows that were open. See image: http://i978.photobucket.com/albums/ae270/Caniotherapper/mydesktop_zpsf44115c9.png 

In the image there isn't really any tearing going on (the problem comes and goes seemingly at random) but you can see the diagonal line from top-right to bottom-left. Also, the taskbar is unaffected in this picture but is also subject to very bad tearing at times.

The problem also seemed to be exacerbated by mouse movements, layering windows and moving the windows around (when you moved a window it would look like there was a small box of unaffected area around the window that would move with the window and then the graphics would be distorted around the rest of the screen).

I took the video card out, removed the fan/heat-sink assembly removed the old thermal paste from the chip and the heat-sink and re-applied new thermal paste (Arctic MX-2). I also did the same for my cpu. No change.

Now, here is where it gets REALLY weird...

During my troubleshooting I learned the following:

1) The problem does NOT occur when using standard windows drivers. During start-up the problem does not occur until the AMD drivers are loaded. I have uninstalled and re-installed the AMD drivers multiple times to no avail. I uninstalled the AMD drivers, removed my current card and replaced it with my previous card which is known to be in working condition (Nvidia Geforce 9600 GT OC) and had the same issue: no problem with windows drivers but when the Nvidia drivers were installed, it began to have issues with grey horizontal bars moving vertically up the screen.

2) If I use 16-bit color, the problem goes away. When I switch back to 32-bit color the problem comes back in a matter of minutes.

At this point as I was troubleshooting, I noticed that my "System" process was consistently using 50% CPU. Upon investigating in Process Explorer it points to "atikmdag.sys" as being the faulty thread. Not only that, but there is also a second "atikmdag.sys" thread running that is using FAR less cpu and has a different hex ID.

Thinking there may be an IRQ conflict, I unplugged everything from PC and re-added one at a time, no change.

Thinking maybe the file was faulty somehow, I re-named the current file to "atikmdag.sys.old", I went to the installation directoy and copied the packaged file "atikmdag.sy_" to another folder, expanded it, and moved the expanded file to c:\System32\drivers to replace the version I was using. Rebooted, still no change.

At this point I decided that there is nothing on this PC which is of great importance or is irrecoverable so I decide to nuke the current windows installation and do a clean re-install from disc.

So, I deleted all partitions, did a clean install from disc and booted into Windows. I immediately ran Malwarebytes Anti Root-Kit to make sure there was nothing hiding in the MBR, full scan came back clean on all drivers, sectors and system files.

The "System" process is now using proper CPU %.

First thing I do is install AMD drivers. The "System" process is instantly using 50% again. Process Explorer shows "atikmdag.sys" to be the faulty thread and again there is a second "atikmdag.sys" thread running with a different hex ID.

If I try to kill, suspend, view the properties, etc... of the faulty atikmdag.sys I receive an error that says "Unable to Access Thread".

So now, this is where I am. Uncertain of how to proceed from here, so I thought I would ask to see what the community at large thinks.

Thank you for reading and thank you in advance for any help, info, opinions, etc... that you may be able to provide.


System Specs:

OS:Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
Case: HP m7640n
Processor: 2.6 GHz AMD Athlon 64 x2 5000+
GPU: Gigabyte HD 5870 Super OC Edition
MoBo: Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM3-GL8E)
RAM: 4 GB PC2-4200 RAM
Power Supply: 650w Antec TruePower Trio TP3-650
Sound: Realtek ALC 888 Chipset On-Board Sound


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## JimE (Apr 16, 2009)

*Re: atikmdag.sys Forcing System Process to Use 50% CPU*

Are you using the nVidia or ATI card now?

The atikmdag.sys file, is an ATI/CCC file. So I can only assume you are using the ATI card. I don't know how or why it would be running with the nVidia card.

That also appears to be an HP OEM Asus board with an nVidia chipset. Not that it's relevant at this point, but it's generally not recommended to mix chipset/gpu brands. As this has worked in the past (in this build), it's likely not the problem.


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## TribalBob (Jan 14, 2014)

*Re: atikmdag.sys Forcing System Process to Use 50% CPU*

Turns out it was a driver conflict issue, I removed the latest version of CCC and went back two versions to 12.1 and it's working perfect, thanks everyone for your help/suggestions!


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Glad you resolved the problem and thanks for posting back.


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