Cannot launch AMD Catalyst Control Center at the moment how to fix. AMD Catalyst Control Center - what is it, why is it needed and how to work with it Catalyst control center is not installed

Catalyst Control Center is software released by AMD that is designed to manage and configure video cards (AMD brand only). This software is a single control center that does not require additional work programs and includes all the necessary tools.
The Catalyst Control Center program allows you to fine-tune the video card's operating parameters and monitors driver updates, which it downloads and installs automatically from the official AMD website. If you own an AMD video card, then you just need to download this program to properly configure and increase the performance of your video card for comfortable work.

Unfortunately, this software is no longer released and supported. In December 2014, AMD released a major update to the Catalyst Omega drivers, and almost a year later decided to permanently abandon the previous brand, which it had used for thirteen years. Thus, the Catalyst Control Center program is no longer supported since 2015, in its place a new software was released, Radeon Software Crimson Edition, which is still relevant today and has a set of the latest drivers with more advanced functionality.

Many people continue to use Catalyst Control Center to configure their video cards, since this program has a very simple and intuitive interface with all the necessary tools.

Main functionality:

• Performance tuning.
• Desktop management.
• Performance settings for working and watching videos.
• Configuring switching between two GPUs.
• Gaming performance tuning.
• Video card power management.
• Driver update.
• Notification about innovations in updated drivers.
• General information about the video card.
• CPU frequency control.
• Control and configuration of more than one monitor.

Due to the constant updating of drivers for its video cards by AMD, it was necessary to adjust the parameters of its video card for optimal and maximum performance with different programs and games, which is exactly what you need the Catalyst Control Center program for.

This software can help you even if you have a fairly old video card; the program will help you properly configure the video card and achieve optimal performance with programs and slightly increase FPS in games.

This application independently monitors all changes in updated video card drivers and notifies the user about this.

Catalyst Control Center will also help you connect and configure 2 or more monitors to one or more video cards.

You may have encountered that the monitor is dim and does not convey colors and contrast very well; with the help of this program you can adjust these parameters yourself, bypassing the standard monitor settings.

Having understood the full meaning and functionality of the Catalyst Control Center program, you can clearly understand that if you own a computer or laptop built on the AMD platform, you simply need to install this application in order to use it to configure and control your computer or video card.

Installation

First, we need to download this software from the official website, for this follow the link:

https://support.amd.com/en-us/kb-articles/Pages/latest-catalyst-windows-beta.aspx#

In the window that opens, click on the link that corresponds to the version and bitness of your operating system, after which the installation package will be downloaded. This software is suitable for operating rooms Windows systems 7/8/8.1/10 with bit depth X64 and x32.

After you have downloaded Catalyst Control Center, launch the installer and go through all the installation steps. When selecting the installation type, select “Quick installation”. With this option, the installer will check whether the drivers for your video card are installed and install the Catalyst Control Center software itself.

After the installation is complete, restart the computer and launch the program.

When you first launch the program, it can take quite a long time to launch, so we must be patient and wait.

This completes the installation software Catalyst Control Center.

Checking for video card driver updates

Catalyst Control Center independently monitors driver updates for your video card. In order to check the update and driver version, go to the “Information” menu and select “Software Update”.

In the tab that opens, click “Check for updates.” If updated drivers are detected, a window will appear asking you to download from, click the “Download Now” button and the program will automatically download and install them.

Tune performance to your requirements

The first thing you need to do when you first start it is change the standard window view to an expanded one. This can be done in the Options menu, which is located in the upper right corner. In the drop-down menu, select the “Advanced View” option.

This way, all the configuration tools in this program will become available to us.

It is worth remembering that if you are using a computer that is completely built on the AMD platform, then you must have 2 graphics cores, built-in (built-in video core in the processor) and discrete (video card). In this case, when configuring the system through the Catalyst Control Center program, the parameters marked “Energy Saving” will apply to the video core built into the processor, and all parameters marked “High Performance” will apply to the discrete video card that is connected to the PCI express slot.

Settings for viewing videos and photos

In order to configure the operation and color rendering of your video card when watching movies, you need to open the “Video” section and go to the “Color (energy-saving graphics adapters)” tab, check the settings in the “Custom” section.

After that, use the tools to adjust the picture to the parameters that you like best.

Next, in the “Video” menu, select the next tab “Quality (energy-saving graphics adapters)”. In this window, we remove all checkboxes from all items except “Deinterlacing”, so as not to overload the GPU and increase the number of FPS when watching high-quality 2K and 4K video.

The next step in setting up video and photo viewing options is the “AMD Steady Video” section in the “Video” menu. This function allows you to stabilize shaky video that was filmed while moving. This option will reduce the degree of video jitter for comfortable viewing, but it will also put an extra load on the graphics adapter, so I advise you to deactivate this option if your video card is low-power.

As for the “Color (High-Performance Graphics Adapters)” and “Quality (High-Performance Graphics Adapters)” sections, we set the parameters in the same way.
And at the end of setting the parameters for viewing videos and photos, in the “Accelerated video conversion” section, check the “Enable hardware acceleration” checkbox. This option will allow you to relieve the graphics processor when playing high-format videos, or when editing and creating videos using special programs.

Setting up for games

In order to adjust the performance of your video card in games, you need to go to the “Games” menu and adjust the 3D graphics settings in applications one by one. To do this, we need to open the sections “3D Application Settings (Energy-Saving Graphics Adapters)” and “3D Application Settings (High-Performance Graphics Adapters)”, in fact, in these sections we configure the graphics in games for different models video cards

It is worth noting the “AMD Radeon Dual Graphics” section; this option was developed by AMD specialists and, provided that your computer is based on the AMD platform, allows you to enable multiple graphics processors to work together to improve graphics quality and performance. I advise you to enable this function, as it significantly increases the performance of the video card in games and applications that require accelerated graphic processing.

System Performance Tuning

In order to adjust the performance of the entire system, we need to open the “Performance” menu and select “CPU Power”. If you are using a computer, then set the processor frequency to the maximum value. If you are the owner of an AMD-based laptop, then you should approach this setting more subtly, since we will have 2 options for adjusting the processor frequency.

• From battery. This parameter should be configured taking into account that when setting the maximum parameter, the battery discharge rate will increase, since the processor will consume more electricity. Therefore, if you want to extend the battery life of your laptop, do not set it to the maximum value.
• Connected. This parameter can be set to the maximum value to increase CPU performance if your laptop is connected to the network and is not using battery resources.

Switching between these modes occurs automatically. Please note that the processor temperature may increase with these settings.

As for the “AMD OverDrive” item, this parameter allows the Catalyst Control Center program to independently examine all overclocking options for your central processor and accept the most suitable ones to increase performance. Also, in some versions of AMD OverDrive drivers, you can control the rotation speed of video card or laptop coolers. I advise you to disable this option and manually configure these parameters in the “CPU Power” section described above.

Power Settings

In this section, you can fine-tune the power settings for laptops, namely power consumption when using the laptop from the network or from the battery. If you are the owner of a computer, then I advise you to set such parameters as “PowerPlay”, “Global parameters of switchable graphics” to “ Maximum performance" When choosing such parameters, the system will not save energy.

If you have discrete and integrated graphics from the same AMD brand, then when you use the “Maximum Performance” setting, the system will always play graphics from the discrete video card. If you select another option, then the system will switch between two video cards to save power, which can have a bad effect on gaming performance, but will increase battery life.

Let’s take a closer look at the “Switchable graphics settings” item. In this section, you can configure specific performance and usage settings for the desired graphics core separately for each installed application on your computer. Thus, for games or applications that play high-definition video, you can set the “high-performance” parameters, and for applications that do not require good graphic processing, and in order not to overload the system once again, you can set the “Energy Saving” parameter, which will tell the system to use for These applications have a built-in video chip.

When you use the Application Monitor, which is located in the Switchable Graphics Adapter Application Monitor, you will be able to set automatic switching graphics adapters between applications.

We looked at the parameters in which it is possible to configure the performance of your video card to the maximum value. As for the remaining sections, this will be briefly described below, since their settings will not affect system performance.

Reasons and solution for Catalyst Control Center not starting

There may be several reasons why Catalyst Control Center stopped starting. Let's look at common causes and methods for solving them.

Outdated drivers. One of the reasons that the program has stopped launching may be outdated drivers, as a result of which a conflict occurs between the Catalyst Control Center and the video card drivers and it cannot be launched. The solution to this problem may be updating the drivers; to do this, go to the official AMD website and install latest version drivers for your video card.

Incompatibility. The same reason that startup does not occur may be incorrect installed version Catalyst Control Center software.
The solution to this problem is to remove and install the correct software that is suitable for your operating system. To do this, check the bitness and version of your Windows OS, then go to the official website and download the version that suits you.

Antivirus programs. The reason could also be that Catalyst Control Center is blocked by antivirus programs.
The solution to this problem may be to temporarily disable your antivirus program or add Catalyst Control Center to the exclusion list.

Damage to program files. You may have mistakenly deleted some files in the Catalyst Control Center program directory, or your antivirus program may have done this for you. Also, do not discard the option that sectors hard drive were damaged.

The solution for this reason may be to completely uninstall and reinstall the software.

If the startup problem could not be resolved and the error “AMD Catalyst Control Center cannot start at this time” remains, then you should update all drivers in your Windows OS.

How to remove this software

To remove AMD Catalyst Control Center you should use standard means Windows.
To do this, open the control panel. To open the control panel, press the Win+R key combination and in the “Run” line that opens, enter the “control” command.

In the control panel window that opens, click on “Uninstall a program.”

Find the Catalyst Control Center program, right-click on it and select “Change” from the drop-down menu.

In the installation wizard that opens, select “Quick removal of ALL AMD software components” and click next.

We wait for the removal to complete, after which we restart the computer.

Conclusion

After reading this article, you have become familiar with AMD software, the AMD Catalyst Control Center. With this program, you can make the most effective settings for your video card to improve performance in games or when watching high-format videos and movies. The big advantage of this program is the ability to configure the system using more than one GPU.

As of today, AMD Catalyst Control Center is no longer supported by AMD due to the release of the new Radeon Software Crimson Edition, which adds new features and configuration tools. But even after this, many continue to use it, since it has a very convenient and intuitive interface with a set of all the necessary tools.

If you are the owner of an old AMD video card and want to run applications that require high graphics processing, then you should resort to adjusting the video card parameters through the AMD Catalyst Control Center to improve performance.

Clean Windows installation, as well as installing new hardware components in a PC, almost inevitably ends for the user with the need to search for and add drivers for various devices to the system. A video card, as one of the most important components of modern computers and laptops, requires the installation of components to be able to function properly almost in the first place. Owners of Radeon graphics adapters can hardly worry about this issue, because a powerful and functional tool has been created for them - AMD Catalyst Control Center.

Download and update AMD drivers via Catalyst Control Center

We can say that AMD Catalyst Control Center (CCC) is designed mainly to maintain the performance of video cards based on the AMD graphics processor at the proper level, which means that installing and keeping drivers up to date must be done using this software without any problems. In fact, this is true.

The CCC installer is now called Catalyst Software Suite. It cannot be downloaded from the official website for modern powerful video card models - the developers have created a new application for them: AMD Radeon Software. Use it to install and update video card software.

Automatic installation

The driver package for Advanced Micro Devices graphics adapters is included in Catalyst Control Center and all the necessary components are added to the system when installing the application. In order to install the video adapter driver, just follow a few simple steps.

1. Download the AMD Catalyst Control Center installer from the official website of the manufacturer in the technical support section. To obtain the required driver version, you need to determine the type, series and model of the graphics processor on which the video card is based.

   

   After this, you will need to indicate the version and bitness of the operating system you are using.

   

   The final step is to expand the tab and select Catalyst Software Suite.



2. After the Catalyst installer is downloaded, we launch the installation.
   
   

   The initial stage is the unpacking of the components necessary for the installer to work according to the path specified by the user.

3. After unpacking, the Catalyst Installation Manager welcome window will automatically launch, in which you can select the language of the installer interface, as well as the Control Center components that will be installed along with the drivers.



4. The CCC installation program “can” not only install the necessary components, but also remove them from the system. Therefore, a request for further operations appears. Press the button "Install",

   

   which will bring up the following window.

5. To start automatic installation graphics adapter drivers and the Catalyst Control Center software package, set the installation type switch to "Fast" and press the button "Further".



6. If you are installing AMD drivers and software for the first time, you will need to create a folder into which the components will be copied. The directory will be created automatically after clicking the button "Yes" in the corresponding request window. You will also need to accept the terms of the License Agreement by clicking the appropriate button.



7. Before starting the file copying procedure, the system will be analyzed for the presence of a graphics adapter and its parameters for installing the latest version of drivers.



8. The further process is fully automated,

   

   you just need to wait for the installation to complete and click the button "Ready" in the final installer window.



9. The final stage is a system reboot, which will begin immediately after pressing the button "Yes" in the request window for the operation.



10. After the reboot, you can check whether the driver is present in the system by opening "Device Manager".

Driver Update

Software is developing at a fairly serious pace and AMD video card drivers are no exception. The manufacturer is constantly improving the software and therefore you should not neglect updates. In addition, Catalyst Control Center provides all the possibilities for this.

As you can see, despite the importance of drivers in the functioning of Advanced Micro Devices video cards, installing and updating them using Catalyst Control Center turns into a simple procedure, which usually does not cause difficulties even for novice users.

Any video card, even the most powerful and modern, requires a suitable driver or a special utility to operate. additional settings. Radeon video adapters, discrete or integrated, perform much better and deliver higher frame rates when you install the AMD Catalyst Control Center (CCC), first released in 2007, on your computer. This tool is designed to fine-tune the characteristics of graphics cards from the American brand Advanced Micro Devices.

The CCC utility, which has been included with drivers for more than 10 years Radeon video cards, may in the future replace the Software Crimson software package from the same manufacturer. However, today it still needs to be installed on a desktop PC or laptop with AMD graphics.

Every year, the functionality of the utility is improved, increasing the ability to properly allocate resources and the performance of graphics cards, which continue to successfully compete with Nvidia models.

Catalyst Control Center features include:

• 3D graphics optimization to improve image quality in most games;
• integration with social networks, improving the performance of widgets and gaming applications built into these resources;
• frame smoothing necessary for use in games;
• Laptop power management to reduce power consumption mobile computers when operating on battery power;
• setting the optimal level of contrast and picture detail is a function that is useful not only for games, but also when working with graphic editors and watching movies in high definition;
• simultaneous configuration of several screens connected to the video card (computer displays or TVs);
• Software updates for video adapters, in most cases automatic.

The advantages of using AMD CCC include low requirements for computer resources, a built-in game manager and the possibility of hardware acceleration of video cards.

Control Center works on both modern high-end PCs and legacy devices, allowing you to speed up graphics and add a few frames per second to your gameplay. Using the same utility, you can adjust the frame rate manually.

AMD Catalyst Control Center: Setup for Gaming

Playing using the CCC control center is more convenient and easier, and the process of setting up games takes no more than a few minutes. And the only problem typical for laptops with both integrated and discrete graphics installed occurs when there are no video card settings in the utility menu and there is no option to optimize the image.

The issue is resolved by switching from one graphics adapter to another - through the BIOS, using the Catalyst Control Center, or by selecting the appropriate GPU, which is offered to the laptop user when changing the power source.

When deciding on the video card settings for a game, you should decide whether changes need to be made. If the frame rate during gameplay is high enough and there are no graphical problems, it is recommended to leave the control center set to default. If you need to increase the fps level, you should do the following:

1. Open AMD Catalyst Control Center.
2. Select the game tab in the left column.
3. Click on the “Add” button located in the application settings section.
4. Find the executable file of the game in the list (has the extension .exe and is designated as “Application” in Windows) and click “OK”.

The utility automatically analyzes game settings and optimizes integrated or discrete graphics. Thanks to this, the video card not only works faster, but also wears out less during operation.

When manually adjusting graphics, the user has the opportunity to independently choose the maximum image quality, high game speed, or standard settings that involve a compromise between fps and resolution.

How to Launch AMD Catalyst Control Center

The control center requires special attention when starting up for the first time. Before opening the AMD Catalyst Control Center, the user selects a configuration mode:

• basic, which sets the default video card parameters and allows you to further configure the resolution, quality and number of connected image output devices;
• advanced, providing manual adjustment of most graphics characteristics.

If there is no need to change the video card parameters, it is recommended to select the normal mode. An experienced user who is planning to optimize the performance of games should give preference to the second option.

If a problem arises that AMD Catalyst Control Center does not open, just update the drivers by first removing the old ones.

How to Update AMD Catalyst Control Center

To update the control center, the user will need to do almost the same steps as when installing new drivers for any other computer component. Get new version Utilities along with control programs for the graphics adapter are available on the company’s official website.

Where to download AMD Catalyst Control Center

The only correct option when downloading the CCC control center is the official website of the video card manufacturer AMD. After going to the main page, the computer owner must open the software tab “Download AMD Drivers & Software”.

After that, on the right half of the page you can see a menu for manually selecting an AMD video card and find the appropriate series and model. The last item “Select the supported operating system that you have” allows you to select one of the operating systems supported by the card:

• for older video adapters this will be Windows XP and Unix platforms;
• for video cards of later years of release - Windows 7 and 8;
• for the latest desktop models - only Windows 10.

Having chosen the appropriate option, you should download this version and run the installation on your computer. It is not advisable to use third-party sites for downloading. The result may not only be the installation of outdated software, but also an increased risk of infection of the system with viruses.

How to Install AMD Catalyst Control Center

Installation of the control center is carried out in three ways:

1. Go to the manufacturer's official website and select the appropriate video card model. After downloading the installation file, it is installed on your computer.
2. By choosing to automatically detect the video adapter model on the same website.
3. Using utilities to automatically update drivers such as Drivers Pack Solution.

AMD Catalyst does not start: what to do?

Problems that arise when installing and launching a software package are often associated with the wrong system bit size. Correct work The program is only possible if the version downloaded from the manufacturer’s resource matches the Windows bit depth. For example, for 32-bit Windows, an installation error for the AMD Catalyst package occurs when trying to install the control center for a 64-bit platform.

The utility does not start even if there are problems with version compatibility. Therefore, if you cannot start AMD Catalyst Control Center, you should remove the already installed software for the video adapter.

How to completely remove AMD Catalyst Control Center

One way to solve the problem with starting the control center is to complete removal AMD CCC from computer. To do this, the user must do the following:

1. Open the control panel.
2. Select Programs and Features (or Add or Remove Programs for Windows XP).
3. Find the utility to be removed in the list that opens and select its removal.

When the program is completely removed from the computer, you should restart the system. Now the PC (or laptop) is ready to install the new version of the control center.

Best Setting for Gaming: Video

In contact with

So that the computer user can configure how the image generated by the system and applications, video card developers supply special programs along with drivers for their equipment. In the case of AMD ATI graphics cards, the corresponding software is called . However, despite the fact that the company makes significant efforts to ensure that the user does not experience problems with their software, glitches may still occur in its operation. So at one point the user, when trying to open CCC, may see the following message: “The AMD Catalyst Control Center cannot be started at the moment.” Let's figure out what to do in this case.

Reasons why AMD Catalyst Control Center may not start

There may be several reasons why AMD Catalyst Control Center is currently not starting. Most often, the corresponding problem is caused by outdated drivers. In this case, the conflict can be caused not only by the video card driver, but also by other equipment (for example, motherboard), since AMD by and large focuses on the latest hardware and software.

The second most common cause of problems starting AMD Catalyst Control Center at the moment is blocking some program components by antivirus. Many anti-spyware programs do not work perfectly, and therefore they can quarantine files that are completely harmless, but important for the operation of the system.

The third reason is software incompatibility with operating system . Some users after Windows reinstallation They do not download the latest drivers, but install them, for example, from the CD that came with the video card. If the corresponding software was developed, for example, for Windows 7, and the user’s computer already has Windows 10, then there is a possibility that it will not work correctly on it.

And the last reason: corrupted program files. It is possible that some components were accidentally removed or the corresponding sector of the hard drive was damaged.

How to resolve Catalyst Control Center failure to start

To fix the message “AMD Catalyst Control Center cannot be launched at this time,” you should try to reinstall the driver by downloading its new version from the official AMD website. To do this you will need:

1. Go to the website SUPPORT.AMD.COM;
2. In the “Drivers and Support” section, select your operating system version;
3. Download the software by clicking on the “Download” button;
4. Start the installation process.

In most cases, there is no need to remove old drivers first. The installer will do this himself, replacing the old software with new software. However, if you still want to clear the system of relevant programs in advance, then do the following:

1. Go to the “SYSTEM_DISK:\Program Files\ATI\CIM\Bin” folder and open the “Setup.exe” file;
2. In the window that opens, select “Delete”;
3. Click “Next”, and then “Finish”;
4. Restart your computer;
5. After that, install new drivers.

If the appropriate steps do not help fix the error “AMD Catalyst Control Center cannot be started at this time,” then try updating the drivers for all devices. It would also be a good idea to look into your antivirus and see what files it has quarantined. If there are AMD CCC components there, you will need to remove them from there.