The automatic prompt to install Armoury Crate is one of the main problems... imho

[Jimbo93]

2/16/2022 Edited to add some comments at the end about Asus utility software

Hello,

So lets say somebody finishes a fresh windows install, and logs in for the first time on a system that supports Armoury Crate, the first thing they will see is a prompt asking them if they want to install Armoury Crate. If they answer yes, they may be in for some problems. Why do I say that? Because it is highly likely that all the necessary or preferred drivers are not yet in place. Last night I reinstalled windows on my 6 week old system. Reason being is I was that guy, and even though I worked out the problems, I probably did one or two or three things that will haunt me in the future. The reinstall went so well, I thought I would share a little bit about it.

First thing to mention, is that I had a motherboard support dvd but no optical drive. So... using another computer, I extracted an iso image using Imgburn (free), and put it on an external hard drive before I wiped the system. Then I followed the guide for reinstalling windows that is posted at www.tenforums.com. https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/1950-clean-install-windows-10-a.html

At the first login, I cancelled the Armoury Crate install and instead mounted that motherboard dvd image and ran setup.exe, drivers tab, install all that are checked except I unchecked norton security. I had to remount it again when the system rebooted during the process. Then after the drivers were installed, I downloaded and installed GeForce Experience, and let it install the latest driver for the video card. I also checked for windows updates and Microsoft store updates. Only after the system was calmed down and stable did I install Armoury Crate with the Install tool. What a smooth process. I followed that by using AC to install AI Suite 3. The final piece of Asus software to be installed was GPU Tweak II. I am happy to report this all went very smoothly. Please note that other than drivers and updates, AC was the first app I installed. This might be a good idea for anyone else that finds themselves in a similar situation.

Happy gaming everyone.

2/16/2022
Updating my comments about the installation order of Asus Utility software. Based on more trial and error after I wrote this post, it seems on my system it might actually be preferred to install AI Suite III first, I mean before Armoury Crate. This might also be the case with many systems especially notebooks. Any asus software that provide Keyboard function or other hardware function should also be installed first in my opinion. For special accessories you will have to research that according to the device. One other thing, you should be able to experiment with different install orders without reinstalling windows additional times. So if your installation order is not optimum just uninstall what you have installed and change the order and try again.

[RedSector73]

Turn it off in the bios.

[Jimbo93]

RedSector73 wrote:
Turn it off in the bios.

That is all fine, and clicking no is fine and easy if one knows that is a much better idea than proceeding. My post is kind of a suggestion to the Armoury Crate people at Asus to rethink how they present the new owner with information/instructions etc. As well as providing tips to others. The number of Armoury Crate issues in this forum is quite alarming. And they are not little bugs, they are totally failed installations.

[RedSector73]

Alarming is a relative term really, one could surmise that from whatever the total motherboard sales vs complaints, there isn't really that big of a problem ? Rather than what your suggesting or at least that what I see from the complaints made.

I dont install Armoury Crate on my PC's and allow it on my laptops becuase I cant be bothered keeping them up to date.

[Jimbo93]

RedSector73 wrote:
Alarming is a relative term really, one could surmise that from whatever the total motherboard sales vs complaints, there isn't really that big of a problem ? Rather than what your suggesting or at least that what I see from the complaints made.

I dont install Armoury Crate on my PC's and allow it on my laptops becuase I cant be bothered keeping them up to date.

So here's what I see. Over 50% and probably even over 80% of the posts about Armoury Crate are because it simply doesn't work for the customer. People have been chasing solutions for months, years maybe with no resolution and little help, many posts about issues with the software go un-replied to.

From my own experience with it, and you can check out my other thread if you like, I have learned that the procedure or sequence of installing drivers and setting up the computer is important. Also that when an installation fails it really fails. Uninstall tool can't finish Install tool fails, or it succeeds and the program won't initialize etc, etc. If there were better instructions I believe there would be a decrease in unhappy customers.

My initial experience with it on a brand new computer was nearly enough to make me not use it for fear of it messing up the computer. But with the same computer and adding the steps in the beginning of this thread it was perfectly fine.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts RedSector.

[BigJohnny]

Yep, can be turned off in BIOS. Dont use it myself. Only thing I have installed is the last version of the lighting service so I can use Ique to control the lights on my MOBO. Nothing is connnected to the MOBO headers. Aura and now crate has never worked correctly since its inception. Look at posts in the forums. Far to many about issues with Armory Crate.

[Jimbo93]

BigJohnny wrote:
Yep, can be turned off in BIOS. Dont use it myself. Only thing I have installed is the last version of the lighting service so I can use Ique to control the lights on my MOBO. Nothing is connnected to the MOBO headers. Aura and now crate has never worked correctly since its inception. Look at posts in the forums. Far to many about issues with Armory Crate.

It seems pretty clear to me that the software will work provided a system is prepped as I described. The developers obviously have it working and probably in quite a few hardware configs.