What do you REALLY Need to do when Uninstalling Drivers?

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apcs13

apcs13

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Oct 2, 2013
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Hi everyone, so I have been getting some not-so-great performance in certain games ever since I updated my display drivers to the Nvidia 332.21 WHQL ones from the 331.82, and doing a quick search on the internet show that a lot of people share the same feeling. Now I want to go back to the 331.82 drivers.

In the past, I have just uninstalled the drivers, used Driver Sweeper/Fusion in safe mode, then done a Clean Install of the new drivers. However, I have read that Driver Fusion can cause issues with certain things and remove important registry entries or files by mistake.

Also, NVIDIA just says that you can just install the new drivers without even uninstalling the old ones, or just use the control panel uninstaller to remove the old drivers and components, and the put the new ones on. Some people just do that and are fine that way.

However, this guide begs to differ: http://www.overclock.net/t/1150443/how-to-remove-your-nvidia-gpu-drivers

Obviously that is quite a few steps and a relative pain to have to do, plus I don't want to do anything in the registry ever if I really don't have to.

My question is:

What do I REALLY need to do to ensure proper driver uninstallation and installation? Can it be as simple as what is on the NVDIA site, just use the control panel, or should I use Driver Fusion and do all of that? Or, is Driver Fusion unsafe and I really DO need to follow those steps? I know there are other posts abot this everywhere on the internet, but every single one contradicts the last!


thanks!
 
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clutchc
Again, this is just from my own many years of experience. But I used to be a stickler for totally uninstalling the entire Nvidia packages through Control Panel, one by one. Then, like you, running DS from SM and having it remove any Registry entries, left over files, etc that it could find. I even would run CCleaner for little extra assurance that all was gone. But lately, I simply run the new Nvidia driver in Windows and that's it. That is the way Nvidia recommends doing it too. Letting their uninstall routine do its job. No issues so far.

The only thing I opt for is NOT to do a clean install, because I have some settings in the NCP I want to keep.

I've never run the Nvidia driver installation pgm from Safe Mode. Since the...
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clutchc

clutchc

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Hmm... Funny, I have been using this "variant" of DS for many years with both AMD and Nvidia cards with no problems whatsoever.
http://www.techspot.com/downloads/4266-driver-sweeper.html And on many different builds.
I keep a copy of that one in case it disappears from existence. Ever since DS got taken over (bought out?) by Driver Fusion, it has been just another bloatware pgm. And a questionable one, at that.

If you have been having issues with the newest driver, maybe you want to give CCleaner a run to clear up registry errors and junk files.
http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner
I get every new version of Nvidia drivers when released, without any issues...yet.
 
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apcs13

apcs13

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Actually according to the lead dev of Driver Sweeper Driver Fusion is just the same as Sweeper but more up to date, efficient, and faster, and created by the same exact people not bought out. They just changed the name.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1282510/nvidia-edit-cards-dead-baking-tips-please-d/30#post_17724118

Anyways, so you think it's fine to uninstall all NVIDIA software items in the control panel and then use DS/DF and reinstall the drivers you want? Awesome, that seems to be the best one for me too, peace of mind but not much in the way of digging required.

Do I want to uninstall the drivers, PhysX, Audio, etc. in safe mode or while Windows is running normally? Also, same for when I run DS/DF? Thanks!
 
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clutchc

clutchc

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Again, this is just from my own many years of experience. But I used to be a stickler for totally uninstalling the entire Nvidia packages through Control Panel, one by one. Then, like you, running DS from SM and having it remove any Registry entries, left over files, etc that it could find. I even would run CCleaner for little extra assurance that all was gone. But lately, I simply run the new Nvidia driver in Windows and that's it. That is the way Nvidia recommends doing it too. Letting their uninstall routine do its job. No issues so far.

The only thing I opt for is NOT to do a clean install, because I have some settings in the NCP I want to keep.

I've never run the Nvidia driver installation pgm from Safe Mode. Since the install pgm no longer does a re-boot, I don't know how that would work.
 
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