installing drivers in XP

dogus1

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As I've been saying, I've been having troubles in XP... could my GeForce drivers be an issue?

My main question: how do I install these drivers properly? The installation programs warns that the previous GeForce drivers, automatically installed by XP, must be removed first. I tried, but when I reboot to complete the removal, XP will just reinstall them right away! So, I could find no way to install the GeForce drivers w/o doing them over the XP installed ones.

HOW DO I DISABLE XP AUTO-DRIVER INSTALLATION long enough to do a clean installation of my new Detinators?

COULD the installation of my new Detinator over the XP installed cause problems similar to the ones I've described below -- my device manger shows no errors.
 

jiffy

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Your GF drivers can be an issue, but so can a lot of things. <A HREF="http://www.nvidia.com/view.asp?IO=IO_20011116_3824" target="_new">How to</A>


I don’t know how you can stop XP from loading a driver; I wouldn’t worry about it and let it load the driver, you might cause more problems, then just download the new driver and click away. But read the above first.
I don’t know what Detonator Destroyer you would use, since your using WinXP, plus the driver WinXP is loading is sum what old. You can look, though I wouldn’t worry about it. It just kills left over stuff from the previous driver.
<A HREF="http://www.guru3d.com/guide/benchmark-guide/" target="_new">guru3D</A>




Hey Baby, want to play with my computer?
 

Toejam31

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I have long warned people not to use the .exe self-installer in the nVidia drivers ... this is <i>not</i> the best method of installation, as the self-extracting .ZIP (.exe) can be damaged during the download, and cause many problems afterwards.

There is no need to uninstall the previous driver. For a typical example, I've loaded five nVidia drivers on my main system, without removing any files in advance. Instead, create a new folder, name it, right-click the downloaded driver, and choose to extract the driver files into the new folder from the right-click menu, by dragging-&-dropping the files. Then open the Device Manager, and browse to the Display Adapter listing.

Device Manager: Start\Settings\Control Panel\System\Hardware\Device Manager.

Open the device tree with the plus sign so that the video card type is visible, and right-click on the video card. Choose "Update Driver" from the menu, and then browse to the new folder than contains the driver files. Do <i>not</i> allow Windows to search for the files ... select the folder and files manually. Windows may not be able to locate the files with an automatic search, even if you select the new folder as a possible location to be included in the search.

After the .inf file is located, click Open, select your type of video card, and then allow Windows to install the drivers, even if a warning appears about the driver not being digitally signed or WHQL (which is the case with the newest 41.09 drivers).

When the files are installed correctly, Windows will ask to restart the system.

After the system has rebooted, go to Start\Settings\Control Panel\Administrative Tools\Services, and disable the NVIDIA Driver Helper Service. This particular service serves no useful purpose, and could greatly delay the shutdown process when you turn off your system.

Toey

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jiffy

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As far as I know the cyclic redundancy check should make sure the file is downloaded as expected, beside if the download got corrupted this isn’t limited to just the .exe self-installer as for as I know. Also, have to consider the source as well, since the driver may have different effects on different systems, I don’t think there is a driver out there that hasn’t raised havoc or one system or another no matter how you installed it. Nvidia did mention to disable any anti-virus programs running in the background, because certain anti-virus programs will prevent you from making any changes to your system files and can corrupt your drivers

I think the driver is about the simplest install there is, but for him to do it that way, doesn’t he also have to have WinZip installed?

;)


Hey Baby, want to play with my computer?
 

Toejam31

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As far as I know the cyclic redundancy check should make sure the file is downloaded as expected, beside if the download got corrupted this isn’t limited to just the .exe self-installer as for as I know.
That just isn't the case, and there are plenty of people who would be willing to argue the point with you. For example, it's a well-known fact that many download managers can damage the self-extracting .exe of the driver file, and I personally have run into many users who have encountered odd errors within a system after using the .exe to install a driver, instead of using the manual method.

You, yourself, have had more than a few problems with nVidia drivers, and if you have been using the .exe to install the files, this could account for some of those problems.

I won't argue the point that only the .exe can get damaged, because that would be silly. If part of the file is damaged, the chance that other files are also damaged is quite high.

Hey, you must have forgotten the days when dial-up was the norm, download managers didn't exist, and how easy it was to get a damaged download, even from a reputable source. I certainly remember downloading pictures with no headers, and ZIP files that appeared to be functional, but weren't. I've downloaded hundreds of files that were damaged in transit, in the past, and watched the installer bring good ole' Win9x to it's knees.

since the driver may have different effects on different systems
I've watched a lot of users install video drivers over the years, and I truly believe that the bulk of the problems were between the chair and the keyboard. The great majority of the time, unless there is a direct conflict with another device, nVidia drivers tend to impact an operating system exactly as expected, with no adverse results. I can say from experience, that if I install an nVidia driver, and the system goes down ... this means, 99% of the time, that there's an IRQ conflict, or some other issue with the system. <i>Not</i> that the driver is a mess, unlike drivers from other companies in the past, such as Creative, ATI, and VIA.

I can't begin to tell you how many times I've installed nVidia drivers with absolutely no problems, whatsoever ... even if the system has had an operating system installed for two years or more, and is rather junky as a result of sheer laziness and neglect.

I've watched people around me recently complaining of driver issues with certain games, installation issues ... complaints when moving from the 30 series to the 40 series, and I have to say that I have not run across any of those issues, neither with new systems, or my own.

That really makes me wonder about how many of those so-called problems are due to something else entirely, such as overclocking, damaged system files, etc.

The last time I had a problem, per say, with an nVidia driver was with the 6.xx series. It's been that long. I didn't care much for the driver that shipped with XP, due to lack of OpenGL support, but it still didn't bring down systems regularly. Not the ones I built, anyway.

Nvidia did mention to disable any anti-virus programs running in the background, because certain anti-virus programs will prevent you from making any changes to your system files and can corrupt your drivers
That's just a "gimme", and for the majority of capable users, simple common sense. Firewalls and anti-virus programs, and other third-party programs not needed at the point of installation should always be disabled before attempting a driver installation. Of course, with newer users showing up all the time, this kind of advice should definitely be repeated frequently, so that these "green" users can avoid problems of this type. Good point, and thanks for mentioning it.

I think the driver is about the simplest install there is, but for him to do it that way, doesn’t he also have to have WinZip installed?
Again, a good point. While WinXP has support for .ZIP files, it may be easier to download and install a separate program like WinZIP, WinRAR, or WinACE, or another unzipping utility, which can add features to the OS, as well as the right-click menu's.

Since WinZIP is free in most respects, here's a link:

<A HREF="http://www.winzip.com/ddchomea.htm" target="_new">WinZIP 8.1</A>

Toey

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jiffy

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“That just isn't the case, and there are plenty of people who would be willing to argue the point with you. For example, it's a well-known fact that many download managers can damage the self-extracting .exe of the driver file, and

I personally have run into many users who have encountered odd errors within a system after using the .exe to install a driver, instead of using the manual method.”
I’m not sure if that proves your point, because you haven’t actually cornered the self-extracting as the cause, and I’m sure installing it your way could produce the same odd errors afterwards. You may feel more comfortable doing it your way, and think it can’t be your driver if you have a problem, but the truth is, it still could be your driver, thought you may know right away.

The way I look at it if you go to Nvidia they tell you how to do it, and you know you should always read up, and do as the manufacture recommends when doing anything with the computer.

I did have that little problem with the ACPI, a simple default fix that. But out side of that I can’t recall the driver being the direct cause of any problems I may have had. Sure the driver is always questionable; just like a half dozen other things are as well. Me myself may do more in a week to my computer then most do in a year, except for other tweakers.

I don’t think there’s any problem how you do it, you may have confused the poster a little ;)
Either way will work, but I’m not convinced that the self-extractor is as bad as your making it out to be. Nvidia doesn’t recommend it that way, and I been downloading drivers for some time myself. I know I had problems with my system and tried reinstalling the drivers, but most of the times it never fix anything, and I doubt doing it that way would fix the problem either.

Your right yesterday is the thing of the past and today and tomorrow is looking much better. Look at the programs we can download off the net, theirs thousands of them. You name it, it can be downloaded. Most of us are downloading almost daily, no wonder we run into problems, not to mention the tweak programs and the things we do to the system. The computer doesn’t stand a chance, lol. I’ve built computers for other people, but they don’t have the problems like I get myself into, and when they do it usually something very simple. I’ll be more then happy to eat my words, I’m just not convinced. Now if people come forward and say yeah I had problems with the Extractor, then did it manually and the problem was gone, then I would be a believer. There maybe a chance, maybe, but what are the odds.



Hey Baby, want to play with my computer?<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by jiffy on 12/18/02 01:34 AM.</EM></FONT></P>