If you haven't, don't say anything that isn't helpful like "I haven't had any trouble". You don't get points for writing the most posts regardless of content. In fact, you're almost guaranteed to lose points for writing inane, asinine, and generally jack-t-asstic comments.

With that out of the way.....

Some of you may be aware of the newest Catalyst 11.5b Hotfix (the link in the URL tag says "115a", but it still goes to the 11.5b page). And, like me, some of you may be having the same trouble installing it, as was the case with 11.5a. Namely, that after choosing "Install", the "Catalyst" splash would display, and then the whole process tree would end, sometimes with or without Windows Error Reporter giving you the "InstallManagerApp has stopped working correctly" message.

I tried uninstalling the installed drivers and all ATI Install Manager/Catalyst software, but that just left without any drivers at all, as I wasn't even able to reinstall from the 11.5a package. It was a good thing I had a very recent Restore Point saved.

I'm at a loss for what to do next, and I don't want to use any third-party driver or registry cleaners, because there really aren't any that work on x64 Vista/7 without causing some sort of problem.

ATI software package is notoriously difficult to uninstall properly. Default uninstall leaves lots of leftovers which caused me compatibility issues in the past.

Last time I checked, there were lots of "How to remove ATI driver completely" instructions on the net, try following them. AFAIR, you won't need any third-party cleaners, just some manual registry cleaning and maybe some file deletion.

Unfortunately, I can't find a recent instruction set that does NOT include some kind of driver sweeper in it's steps.

Who bothers with hotfixes anyways if the system is playing games/etc fine?

I just stick to the stock drivers.

Hmmm. I just tried using the auto-update in Catalyst and it found new software version 11.5
Downloaded and installed it. Fine, no errors. Still version 11.4 in Catalyst. Rebooted. No change. Redownloaded and reinstalled 11.5, and ditto. :|

did u try just install the display driver by itself?.like other guys have said,keep looking 4 manual way to remove the old files and reg entries

I'll try it tomorrow. Getting too late to be faffing around now....
'salways gone on fine before.... :\

Spam. You're not helping or contributing in anyway. Start your own thread on the "virtues" of stock drivers. Please type in complete words and sentences, with proper punctuation and spelling. This isn't a multiplayer chatscreen, where shorthand is required to play and talk at the same time. And anyways, the program won't even let you install the driver on it's own. If you were to try that, it tells you "Please install this software through the Catalyst Install Manager".

After thoroughly sweeping my system for anything "ATI" or "AMD" that wasn't directly related to my motherboard or CPU, I tried running the 11.5b installation program again, and when that failed I tried running the 11.5a program. Since both failed at the "Install Manager App" step, I can only surmise that a program that the Catalyst Install Manager is dependent upon, like VC_Redist or something, is preventing it from running properly.

I had install issues and fixed it with a vcredist but I forget which one.

This fixed the issue for me...i'd link to it on microsoft.com but I forget where I found it:
VC Redist

Maybe they just forgot to update the driver version number. It happened before.

The VCRedist package is confirmed to be causing some problems with people installing the recent drivers, although this may or may not be your particular issue.

The newer drivers need the VC 2010 redist, so check your installed programs list to see if you have the Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 package installed. If so, run the Catalyst 11.5b executable and the drivers will unpack themselves. When the first install screen pops up don't click next but navigate to C:\AMD\AMD_Catalyst_11.5b_Hotfix_8.85.6RC5_Win7_May25\Packages\Apps (keep the install screen open in the background). Delete the folders that contain the VCRedist packages (x86 and x64), then continue with the driver install. The install should now work correctly if this was the issue.

Most recent VCredist 2010 x86 link

Most recent VCRedist 2010 x64 link

Install these Microsoft files if you are still having problems, although only the x64 if you are on an x64 OS.

{EDIT}
Removing the VC 2010 files didn't work, but removing the Microsoft SQL Server files did. I have no idea how they were interfering with installation, but there you are.

OK, I jumped the gun here, as I only solved one step of the problem. I got the Install Manager to start (after removing all VC 2005, VC 2008, VC 2010, VC 2010 Express, Visual J#, and SQL Server software), and after "Analyzing/Detecting Software/Graphics Hardware Configuration" and all that, it freezes on the Analyze step of "Enumerating source media for installable packages".

After cleaning out EVERYTHING mentioned above, including all ATI software, I chose "Custom" install with the 11.5b hotfix, and after it finished scanning for things that needed to be installed, I noticed immediately that the driver wasn't on the list of those things.

{EDIT}
Ok, I fixed it, I think. But I'm right back where I started with 11.5a, and I shotgunned a whole bunch of solutions at once so I'm not sure which fixed it. It mainly involved doing everything I've already said I did (read: Banging my head on a wall repeatedly). And now I've got to spend time reinstalling all those VC Redists, or else all the games that require them won't work.

Catalyst has really gone to Hell since AMD bought ATI out.