About this "Driver Cleaner" . . .

Aiwin

Weaksauce
Joined
Jul 16, 2008
Messages
79
So I read the sticky and I think I definitely need to go through this comprehensive driver cleaning-out process, in order to install the new drivers properly. It's not that I'm adverse to the idea of spending a mere $10 on some good software, but is a purchase absolutely necessary? Short of wiping Windows out and reinstalling it, is there any other way? A Win XP utility or freeware of some kind maybe?
 
I've always had good luck just uninstalling the driver. I think using driver cleaner is overkill unless there are actual problems.
 
Go to Guru3d.com download Driver Sweeper, it's free and actually works in Vista x64.
 
Nothing beats a fresh load with each new video card installation.

Call me old fashioned but this forum is riddled with "why is my new card running so slow" or "new card low 3dmark score" threads with each new product release.
 
Thanks everyone. My problem is that I've got a PC and a laptop both using Nvidia, and for some reason with the last driver update came a host of problems - the same ones on both machines, oddly. When I try playing anything on Steam on either machine, the game crashes within a few minutes. I get an error concerning .NET framework on every startup that I can't seem to get rid of. It started immediately after the driver update, which I did at a different time (spaced out by a week or two) for each machine.

Also, the Nvidia card I'm running on my PC is an 8x card in an 8x slot, but I can't get it to stop running at 4x (according to Everest). I dunno if that has anything to do with the video card drivers or the rest of this, but I thought I'd throw it in there because it BUGS ME.
 
I have had problems with driver cleaner that the last time I used it I was forced to do a reinstall of Windows b/c it fu*ked my system up so bad. Here is the process that I use for installing new video card drivers that has never failed me: uninstall old drivers, reboot, install new drivers, reboot, now use pc.
 
The newest version of Guru3D.com's Driver Sweeper is leaner, meaner, and works better than Driver Cleaner which has become a bloated pile of crap - crap that they now have the gall to charge money for.

Grab you some Driver Sweeper courtesy the folks at Guru3D.com. :)


Ideally you shouldn't need to use any driver cleaning program unless you just experience problems you think are related to driver remnants. Both the ATI and Nvidia video drivers have come with their own 'proper' uninstall routines for quite some time now. So long as you uninstall your old video driver from the add/remove programs control panel first, you should have no problems updating to a new driver.
 
[21CW]killerofall;1032768753 said:
I have had problems with driver cleaner that the last time I used it I was forced to do a reinstall of Windows b/c it fu*ked my system up so bad. Here is the process that I use for installing new video card drivers that has never failed me: uninstall old drivers, reboot, install new drivers, reboot, now use pc.

never had this issue and i've been using DC since 4 years ago. it also creates a restore/backup of the files/registry it deletes, in case you encounter problems, although i never had to use this function.
 
never had this issue and i've been using DC since 4 years ago. it also creates a restore/backup of the files/registry it deletes, in case you encounter problems, although i never had to use this function.


QFT: I have never had any issues either with Driver CLeaner.
 
I'm surprised so many people seem to be in favor of NOT using Driver Cleaner! It seems to be the core of the Drivers sticky at the top of this forum, so I thought I'd get a chorus of approving voices :0)
 
I paid for driver cleaner and do not regret it, works like it should and gets constant updates, I've never had any driver trouble since I started using it...
 
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