Still necessary to remove old drivers?

D

Despotes

Gawd
Joined
Aug 27, 2005
Messages
821
Win 10 is a PITA when trying to uninstall drivers and installing new ones. Win 10 constantly reinstalls the old drivers before I can install the new.
Is it no longer necessary to remove the old video card drivers before installing the new drivers in Win 10?
 
I used to always remove older drivers before installing new ones but like you said W10 messes that up...so now I just install on top but I select the 'clean install' option (Nvidia) which theoretically is supposed to remove the older drivers...
 
With the version of Win 10 I have (free upgrade from a Win 7 action pack key), you HAVE to reset to manual updates after each large upgrade Win 10 pushes out.

You will know it because a blue screen pops up asking if you like everything the way it is and clicking ok(NO). Or you can look for the advanced settings and go in and change that shit.

If you don't stay on top of it the sneaky bastards will turn that auto update shit back on and you will be screwed again.

I have been doing Win updates since it was first introduced win Win95 or 98 (I cant remember), so I never let shit slide in but lots of folks don't think about it much and that is when they screw you on the video drivers.
 
I assume you mean hardware drivers, If so, I recommend you turn off hardware updates through windows. Depending on which version of Windows 10 you use the process is different.
With Win 10 Pro head to Group Policy Editor and make the changes as illustrated below.
Start > (type run) click on run.exe
(Type) gpedit.msc then enter
Go to: Computer Configuration>Administrative Templates>Windows Components>Windows Update
as seen below.
right click the entry and click edit make sure it's set enabled click apply then OK then close editor
changes should take effect immediately but restarting is always best.
ximg_58ebeb15584d1.png.pagespeed.gp+jp+jw+pj+ws+js+rj+rp+rw+ri+cp+md.ic.C-c520f6HJ.png


If you use Win 10 Home your have to make a registry edit. Be sure to back up your registry and mark the key as a favorite before you proceed. Marking it as a favorite make it easy to come back and change it again when M$ goes where it shouldn't be.
Go to this key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate
create a DWORD (32-bit) Value
name it: ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate
once created double click it and set the hexadecimal value to 1
Don't forget to add as favorite and close the editor
That's it just restart your PC for changes to take effect.
Now you can uninstall drivers and install your desired version without interference from windows.
GL & Happy New Year!
 
Nvidia's new drivers have a "Clean Install" option now. When you click to install the new driver, click on "custom" and at the bottom of the driver UI there should be a checkbox you can check labeled custom. This uninstalls previous settings and drivers before installing the new ones.

Just be aware though a "Clean Install" will delete all of your previous settings in your Nvida Control Panel including game profiles.

I do that option every time I update and haven't had a problem yet.
 
I have always installed the new drivers on top of the old ones for years now and there have been no issues for me. I just periodically clean the driver update folder to reclaim the space on my SSD.

The only time I would find it necessary to remove the old drivers via DDU in safe mode and then do a clean install is when I encounter a problem.
 
Win 10 Pro
I tried installing on top of old, but nothing happened. The installation process didn't complete for some reason. I went the Device Manager route and manually searched for updated drivers which worked since the attempted install at least created a folder. 388.71 installed
Thanks for all the help.
 
I never had a problem installing newer versions of drivers and I rarely use the "clean install" option.
 
I use ddu evertime in safe mode in win10.

Thst clean install has been there for years and I don't trust it.

Installing new card for sure use ddu in safe mode.
 
eclypse said:
Why? Cause I deal with people all the time having driver issues on evga's forums!

Left over crap from past drivers conflicting that's why.
Click to expand...


I've really only see it from switching from AMD to nV or vice versa, never had any real issue with old to new nV drivers. I haven't had back to back gens of AMD cards since the 9700 and 9800 series and they were pretty much the same gen..... so can't say anything for them.
 
I only use DDU if I'm having install errors or the new card that I've installed isn't performing as it should, other than that I just install right over the old drivers.
 
CAD4466HK said:
I only use DDU if I'm having install errors or the new card that I've installed isn't performing as it should, other than that I just install right over the old drivers.
Click to expand...


yep that is the only time I use it too, and its very rare...
 
razor1 said:
yep that is the only time I use it too, and its very rare...
Click to expand...

Rare indeed. I haven't had an install issue since upgrading from SLI'ed 9800GTX's to a 570GTX on a new build back in the day. The only problems I've had recently, when using DDU was warranted, was when I had to downgrade due to GPU failure and was waiting on an RMA.
 
In recent times, I only wipe everything out if I'm rolling back to an older driver branch or installing a new card.
 
I run the updater, install the driver, keep my settings, no problems I can recall...ever.
 
I swapped my MB out with a z370 tachi and I bad just few glitches using the same hard drive but I had some problems so I just formatted to be safe.
 
I've only had to really use DDU when upgrading same brands when the installer crashes or the system looses power in the middle of install. Both usually my fault lol.
 
I've been installing drivers over the top of older drivers for years now. In the old days, the uninstaller wasn't worth a shit and would leave incompatible garbage laying around in the registry. You would end up with drivers referencing incorrect DLL file versions and all that crap. It's not 2003 anymore. You should be fine just installing over the top of the old stuff.
 
I Uninstall old drivers , reboot install new drivers never an issues win 10 Pro 64 bit
 
I don't bother uninstalling drivers anymore, nor do I use DDU unless its required. Shit just works these days.

Despotes said:
Win 10 is a PITA when trying to uninstall drivers and installing new ones. Win 10 constantly reinstalls the old drivers before I can install the new.
Is it no longer necessary to remove the old video card drivers before installing the new drivers in Win 10?
Click to expand...

If you want to stop windoze from self installing drivers you have to run DDU. By default it will disable drive updates on the gpu.
 
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