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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