Changing drivers should be easier My well natured rant
OK all,

I thought I'd ask a question that has probably been asked before although I've never seen it.
Also, probably the wrong forum but you guys always give straight answers.

Why is updating a GFX driver such a major pain in the rear? Ever since I can remember, you get problems if you don't uninstall previous drivers, boot to safe mode, run some 3rd party driver removing software that not everyone agrees on etc etc.

Surely....in this day and age...at least with windows 7 there has got to be a way for users to update gfx drivers without all the grief?
How hard can it be? (i'm no programmer so if someone tells me it's harder than just building a "driver cleaner" in to the driver installer then I'm happy to be educated)

I'm spending this evening making it easier for my customers to use a product I sell by making a video. I'm doing this to a: provide good customer service and to b: reduce the amount of calls I get asking the same questions.

I'm not a whiner and I like (99% of the time) the nvidia products I buy, I've not been let down. But if I ever found myself working on the driver team for Nvidia the first thing I would do is make a one click installer for new drivers that didn't require any more of my customers other than that first click.

What do you think?
OK all,



I thought I'd ask a question that has probably been asked before although I've never seen it.

Also, probably the wrong forum but you guys always give straight answers.



Why is updating a GFX driver such a major pain in the rear? Ever since I can remember, you get problems if you don't uninstall previous drivers, boot to safe mode, run some 3rd party driver removing software that not everyone agrees on etc etc.



Surely....in this day and age...at least with windows 7 there has got to be a way for users to update gfx drivers without all the grief?

How hard can it be? (i'm no programmer so if someone tells me it's harder than just building a "driver cleaner" in to the driver installer then I'm happy to be educated)



I'm spending this evening making it easier for my customers to use a product I sell by making a video. I'm doing this to a: provide good customer service and to b: reduce the amount of calls I get asking the same questions.



I'm not a whiner and I like (99% of the time) the nvidia products I buy, I've not been let down. But if I ever found myself working on the driver team for Nvidia the first thing I would do is make a one click installer for new drivers that didn't require any more of my customers other than that first click.



What do you think?

#1
Posted 03/18/2010 07:27 PM   
Hi,
I agree 100%

But these issues do not happen on all machines.
I run several computers/several OS with NVIDIA graphics hardware

The procedure you describe (uninstall/run in SafeMode/use DriverCleaner/Install driver stepwise)
is always necessary on one certain machine of mine.

Here I don´t even manage to get the 3DVision-Controller working > another driver issue...

I would be a really great help if NVIDIA could figure out what causes this....
Hi,

I agree 100%



But these issues do not happen on all machines.

I run several computers/several OS with NVIDIA graphics hardware



The procedure you describe (uninstall/run in SafeMode/use DriverCleaner/Install driver stepwise)

is always necessary on one certain machine of mine.



Here I don´t even manage to get the 3DVision-Controller working > another driver issue...



I would be a really great help if NVIDIA could figure out what causes this....

#2
Posted 03/18/2010 07:44 PM   
Well maybe I can help you out with the confusion a little bit. The step of running driver sweeper is not 100% necessary. Uninstalling the video drivers from the control panel is 99% of the time just fine. You see all of us suggesting users run driver sweeper because it eliminates any possibility that old files are left in place and can/could cause issues. In better terms it's just a an idiot proof way for us to make sure the end user is doing all they can to prevent or help resolve an issue they are already having. I personally run it every time I do a driver install just because I like to know that my system is clean from the "get" and it's one check off the list of things to diagnose if something does go wrong.

Installing drivers over top of drivers is ok as long as you are aware of what you are doing.
Well maybe I can help you out with the confusion a little bit. The step of running driver sweeper is not 100% necessary. Uninstalling the video drivers from the control panel is 99% of the time just fine. You see all of us suggesting users run driver sweeper because it eliminates any possibility that old files are left in place and can/could cause issues. In better terms it's just a an idiot proof way for us to make sure the end user is doing all they can to prevent or help resolve an issue they are already having. I personally run it every time I do a driver install just because I like to know that my system is clean from the "get" and it's one check off the list of things to diagnose if something does go wrong.



Installing drivers over top of drivers is ok as long as you are aware of what you are doing.

Image

#3
Posted 03/18/2010 08:37 PM   
I've only ever gone through the 'purge' once after i used a modded inf driver that just didnt play nice with the 3d afterwards. Otherwise its download/extract/run start.exe and go from there, no uninstalling.
I've only ever gone through the 'purge' once after i used a modded inf driver that just didnt play nice with the 3d afterwards. Otherwise its download/extract/run start.exe and go from there, no uninstalling.

#4
Posted 03/18/2010 08:57 PM   
[quote name='lumpeh' post='1022233' date='Mar 18 2010, 04:57 PM']I've only ever gone through the 'purge' once after i used a modded inf driver that just didnt play nice with the 3d afterwards. Otherwise its download/extract/run start.exe and go from there, no uninstalling.[/quote]

I haven't had to do any uninstalling when upgrading drivers either. I just download the new set and install them. No problems with doing that so far. (I've done it alot of times already).
[quote name='lumpeh' post='1022233' date='Mar 18 2010, 04:57 PM']I've only ever gone through the 'purge' once after i used a modded inf driver that just didnt play nice with the 3d afterwards. Otherwise its download/extract/run start.exe and go from there, no uninstalling.



I haven't had to do any uninstalling when upgrading drivers either. I just download the new set and install them. No problems with doing that so far. (I've done it alot of times already).

#5
Posted 03/18/2010 09:23 PM   
i did the no driversweep install yesterday and it worked for me also. the drivers on the other hand....what a waist of time. rendered 3/4 of my games unplayable in 3d. just for fun i tried the driversweep and and a fresh install- it made no difference!
i did the no driversweep install yesterday and it worked for me also. the drivers on the other hand....what a waist of time. rendered 3/4 of my games unplayable in 3d. just for fun i tried the driversweep and and a fresh install- it made no difference!

System:

Intel I7 920 overclocked to 4ghz

Asus Rampage Extreme II

2 Ge-force 480 in SLI

GTX 295 PhysX Card

12gb ddr3 2000mhz ram

Intel SSD in RAID 0

BR RW

1000w Sony surround sound

NVIDIA 3D Vision



3d displays tested:



Mitsubishi 65" DLP 3d HDTV (good old 1080p checkerboard since 2007!!!)

Panasonic VT25 (nice 2d but I returned it due to cross talk)

Acer H5360 720p on 130" screen (the best 3d)

23" Acer LCD monitor (horrible cross talk- sold it)

Samsung 65D8000

#6
Posted 03/18/2010 09:51 PM   
As I already mentioned: I is not necessary on ALL machines.

But there are some configs, where this procedure is the only to geht the driver-setup-routine finish its job.

It is probably no help reporting how well everything works.

I would be help to solve the problems of those who have them...
As I already mentioned: I is not necessary on ALL machines.



But there are some configs, where this procedure is the only to geht the driver-setup-routine finish its job.



It is probably no help reporting how well everything works.



I would be help to solve the problems of those who have them...

#7
Posted 03/19/2010 01:04 PM   
Scroll To Top