Installing nvidia drivers question

[lschmidt]

When I install a new/updated nvidia driver, do I first need to get rid of the current driver? Or do all I need to do is download the latest forceware or whatever exe from nvidia, and run it..?

Ex: I have 169.25, but nvidia recommends installing 169.44 (beta) for Crysis. Do I need to somehow uninstall 169.25 first, or if I run the 169.44 setup will it take care of it all?

 

[Annisman]

Yes, uninstall first, usually I simply got to Control Panel>Add/Remove Programs>Nvidia Drivers>Remove display driver, then restart your computer and install the new driver. Others may do more complicated installs, such as using safe mode and driver cleaner, but I have never had a problem doing it this way, good luck.

 

[lschmidt]

I've already installed the new driver without uninstalling the old one...should I go uninstall any nvidia drivers and reinstall the latest driver?

 

[Annisman]

I would say yes.

 

[systemlord]

Each and everytime you update you video card drivers always uninstall the drivers then run Driver cleaner Pro to remove the entries that Windows does not. This will effect all aspects of performance, you must run DCP in Safe Mode for it to work.

 

[swifty_morgan]

You guys are close to being purist nuts that I have ever seen. You don't "always" have to remove the old drivers unless some problem arises which from time to time it MIGHT. I've ran a multitude of nvidia drivers without uninstalling the old ones first without any problems at all. I have also run nvidi and ATI drivers at the same time without any problems at all. Rule of thought might make you think to uninstall the old first, but NOT !!!! Where's Werner Wolfe when you need him......... "give me a break"

 

[blacksci]

Its a great idea to uninstall the drivers, and is highly suggested. As far as installing drivers on top of old drivers, sure it might work, but then again it might not and leave you in a worse situation then you began with. Personally I think swifty_morgan is either lazy or just stupid not to do so. Especially if your installing a new driver to get rid of a problem, good chance the problem will persist if you dont do a uninstall first, but its your comp, if you choose to take the chance dont come whining here. youve been warned.

 

[swifty_morgan]

Thanks for your concern but take your warning and stick it. I've been doing this stuff for too long.

 

[blacksci]

As i guessed just lazy, and i wasnt concerned about you, i was talking to ischmidt.

 

[systemlord]

You guys are close to being purist nuts that I have ever seen. You don't "always" have to remove the old drivers unless some problem arises which from time to time it MIGHT. I've ran a multitude of nvidia drivers without uninstalling the old ones first without any problems at all. I have also run nvidi and ATI drivers at the same time without any problems at all. Rule of thought might make you think to uninstall the old first, but NOT !!!! Where's Werner Wolfe when you need him......... "give me a break"

Well you seem to be in a good mood today swifty_morgan. If you follow simple logic swifty_morgan, its always better to do it right the first time and just uninstall the old drivers before installing the news. This is what Nvidia would tell you to do if you were having problems with your card. You seem to think you know it all, that the right way is the wrong way and your way is better.

Thanks for your concern but take your warning and stick it

I pass on your advice to some moderators! You are being rude to all of us and the OP with a childish remark like the one above!

 

[swifty_morgan]

I pass on your advice to some moderators! You are being rude to all of us and the OP with a childish remark like the one above![/quotemsg]


You want a medal or a chest to pin it on ?

 

[systemlord]

I pass on your advice to some moderators! You are being rude to all of us and the OP with a childish remark like the one above!

You want a medal or a chest to pin it on ?[/quotemsg]

No I don't want a medal or a chest to pin it on, what I want is for all posters is to act mature and grown up. Thats what I want, so you think you have that in you swifty_morgan? This isn't the place to vent your daily frustrations out on others, this is a place where people offer their help during their free time. But I thought you knew that.

Anyway back to the thread topic, its a good idea to uninstall old drivers simply because drivers are released sometimes with bugs and errors in the code. If your lazy about uninstalling old drivers then you run the risk of leaving all those bugs and errors in the drivers one on top of the other, this can only make things bad for you not better.

 

[blacksci]

Agreed with systemlord, it is smart. And we are trying to give constructive advice to someone who wants a straight forward answer, if he didnt care, he wouldnt have posted. Yeah you should be a little more polite, i prolly should too. But my pet peeve is when someone gives bad advice to a person who doesnt want to screw up there computer. Im tired of people with little know how trying to give bad advice to users in this forum that want a straight forward answer. Great your computer has never had a issue, but the right way to install drivers is how we mentioned it, and were trying to help a person keep there computer in good working order, not giving them advice so they take a chance and possibly screw something up. Its a waster of there time if you arent going to give sound advice, and people will quickly note you as having a skewed idea of how you do things. As you have seen here, were here to help, your comments didnt help at all. Next time wise up and get your FACTS straight, not your opinion, i always tack that onto the bottom after i state the FACTS.

 

[Annisman]

I think swifty meant that he HAS installed drivers over other drivers before, not that he does it all the time. The truth is, when I was younger I did the same thing, and it often worked. Although I would never follow that practice now.

 

[systemlord]

You guys are close to being purist nuts that I have ever seen. You don't "always" have to remove the old drivers unless some problem arises which from time to time it MIGHT. I've ran a multitude of nvidia drivers without uninstalling the old ones first without any problems at all.

Ok lets say your right for a fraction of a second (ns), how would you know if you were missing out on extra performance if your old drivers are still installed? You wouldn't know if it was bogging down performance, not unless you did it the right way. Your advice is seriously lacking here when we have new members asking for advice on how to do it the right way, not your illogical way.

 

[swifty_morgan]

Ok lets say your right for a fraction of a second (ns), how would you know if you were missing out on extra performance if your old drivers are still installed? You wouldn't know if it was bogging down performance, not unless you did it the right way. Your advice is seriously lacking here when we have new members asking for advice on how to do it the right way, not your illogical way.

Pretty easy actually. I have multiple machines and keep track of the FPS on all games that I can. I don't install the newest drivers on all machines at all times therefore it's easy to see if there are any great discrepancy when I do update. I know what they are running from one driver to the next. If one machine is getting 30fps or 800fps with one driver and you install another and I was getting a little more or a little less I'd know it. Depends on the game. Some run fine with 25fps. You're not going to notice it one way or another.

I don't remember saying that I NEVER uninstall old drivers before the new, which I have, but the majority of the time I don't and it doesn't hurt in 99% of the cases. Some of you preach it as gospel having to do so. It's not true.

The original question was something to referring to weather or not he should have un-installed the old drivers first, because he didn't, and wanted to know if he should have. I'm confident it wouldn't have done any harm and his game or games would have run fine. I gave my opinion gathered through many years of experience. If you don't like my opinion, too bad.

 

[Guest]

Like swifty_morgan, I also usually install drivers over the top of old ones and things have worked fine. Only on a few rare occasions I've had to uninstall first beforehand.

 

[Annisman]

The only people giving swifty a hassle are the ones that are super anal about their driver installation....Ex: OMG, you didn't uninstall, format your HDD, reinstall your OP, run Driver Cleaner or pray for 10+ hours for enlightenment before you installed the new driver...I hate those people, and they are out there.

 

[deranged]

Another good reason to unistall a driver completely as System Lord stated is to keep your registry clean of dupes and other no longer needed entries. they can slow down your computer oand create minor problems that you may not think is your vid card's driver.

 

[Mousemonkey]

[:mousemonkey:2] But do any of you know exactly, and I mean line for line, what changes Driver Cleaner Pro and any other 'cleaner tool' make to the registry?

 

[deranged]

[:mousemonkey:2] But do any of you know exactly, and I mean line for line, what changes Driver Cleaner Pro and any other 'cleaner tool' make to the registry?

Not exactly sure... I will admit it is a little blind faith on my part, but most people that use DCP say it does a pretty good job cleaning.

 

[Mousemonkey]

Not exactly sure... I will admit it is a little blind faith on my part, but most people that use DCP say it does a pretty good job cleaning.

Kudos for your honesty, anyone else?

 

[topper743]

After all the give and take and good points made all around......Sorry swifty_morgan

BOOM..Head Shot