Nvidia 186.18 in Vista 64bit? Does it work?

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Flogger23m

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As the title states, does Nvidia's 186.18 driver fully work in Vista 64bit with the control panel?

I am currently running the 182.50 drivers, but I am getting a lot of crashes in games so I think I might want to try some new video drivers to see if that helps.

If they do work in Vista 64 bit, how should I go about installing them?

Do I:

1) Uninstall the drivers from the control panel.

2) Run the program Driver Sweeper.

3) Install new drivers?

Is this the correct method?
 
I always just install the driver, as it uninstalls the previous driver.
 
I generally do as you have listed.
Many argue it isn't necessary to run a drivercleaner program, but I always do.
 
magoo said:
I generally do as you have listed.
Many argue it isn't necessary to run a drivercleaner program, but I always do.
Click to expand...

I not only argue is not necessary, but a waste of time and life.
 
Atech said:
I not only argue is not necessary, but a waste of time and life.
Click to expand...

How do you really feel about that?

I have found it takes about 5 minutes to do the whole thing.......seems to be a bit more useful with my ATI cards.
 
magoo said:
How do you really feel about that?

I have found it takes about 5 minutes to do the whole thing.......seems to be a bit more useful with my ATI cards.
Click to expand...

It's not just 5 minuttes.
It's 5 minuttes for every single time you change the driver.

That would be 5+5+5+5+5+5+5+5+5+5......+5+5+5 wasted minuttes.

Doing something not needed, like swinging a dead chicken over your PC every time you change the driver...and over time wasting a lot of time (and thus life) on doing unnecessary stuff.
 
I uninstall from program & features and just remove the display driver. reboot, install new drivers, reboot again.


im running 186.18 in vista x64 with a gtx 285 and the only game that crashes on me is Fallout 3, but it doesnt happen very often. It's happened twice in the 10 hours ive been playing. i just started playing it recently and it seems fallout 3 generally crashes on most computers. every other game ive played is flawless with a decent o/c on my card.
 
Atech said:
It's not just 5 minuttes.
It's 5 minuttes for every single time you change the driver.

That would be 5+5+5+5+5+5+5+5+5+5......+5+5+5 wasted minuttes.

Doing something not needed, like swinging a dead chicken over your PC every time you change the driver...and over time wasting a lot of time (and thus life) on doing unnecessary stuff.
Click to expand...

To each, their own.
I like a clean slate when I install the new drivers, and if the ENTIRE process takes 5 minutes, so be it.
I don't see it as wasted time what-so-ever.:D
I usually sacrifice a goat, swinging dead chickens was too messy, feathers and all......got in the intake fans alot.
Goat, not so much.
 
Ok, I will go ahead and try it the new drivers.

To the person with FO3, before my PC's stability went downhill, the game ran amazing for me. Probably only two crashes h in 50 or so hours of gameplay, if that. One of the most stable games I've ever played.
 
Haste266 said:
I uninstall from program & features and just remove the display driver. reboot, install new drivers, reboot again.
Click to expand...


Did this, no Nvidia control panel. It informed me it could not install when the drivers "finished" installing. Can't find it anymore. Not surprising.

Are there any drivers out there aside from the 1.80 (I think that what it was) and 182.50 that does support the control panel on a GTX 260 and Vista 64 bit? Or did I get screwed over?

Nvidia really needs to step up. MY GTX 260's AA is inferior to my X700's, and on top of that they can't even get working drivers out? And how old is this card? I should have learned my lesson from the 7600GS 512MB...
 
Flogger23m said:
Did this, no Nvidia control panel. It informed me it could not install when the drivers "finished" installing. Can't find it anymore. Not surprising.

Are there any drivers out there aside from the 1.80 (I think that what it was) and 182.50 that does support the control panel on a GTX 260 and Vista 64 bit? Or did I get screwed over?

Nvidia really needs to step up. MY GTX 260's AA is inferior to my X700's, and on top of that they can't even get working drivers out? And how old is this card? I should have learned my lesson from the 7600GS 512MB...
Click to expand...

ok...after u uninstall and reboot and windows prompts u to install your video card drivers you are clicking cancel, right?

you do not want windows to automatically install any drivers at all. you want to do this with the nvidia standalone installer.

another option is just go into windows device manager and just uninstall the video card from there(right click on device ->uninstall). a prompt will come up asking you if you want windows to "save" those drivers for later use...tell windows to delete them! that way when windows reboots it wont have any drivers to install at all.
 
Haste266 said:
ok...after u uninstall and reboot and windows prompts u to install your video card drivers you are clicking cancel, right?
Click to expand...

Yes, I click cancel.


I will try your other suggestion though. They don't make drivers like they used to. With my X700, you just installed the new ones and everything would go well.
 
I tried that method listed above and get the same issues. I guess Windows let itself install the 180.48, and I got my control panel back. But I do not want these drivers.


My PC starts up much slower now to. I guess Nvidia is having fun bloating their customers (well, former now) systems up with 100s of bloatware/drivers. :rolleyes: Can't support Vista with their drivers? Then what the hell do they support?
 
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Flogger23m said:
I tried that method listed above and get the same issues. I guess Windows let itself install the 180.48, and I got my control panel back. But I do not want these drivers.


My PC starts up much slower now to. I guess Nvidia is having fun bloating my system up with 100s of bloatware/drivers. :rolleyes: Can't support Vista with their drivers? Then what the hell do they support?
Click to expand...

Look, this is not that complicated.
Try this:
Download your CORRECT Vista x-64 GPU drivers to your documents folder and save them
In control panel remove the current nvidia GPU drivers
Make sure you are unplugged from the internet.
Restart in safe mode.
Run driver cleaner or sweeper or whatever you have.
Do it a couple of times.
Restart into Vista.
From Documents run the Driver Download......it should extract.....then off it goes.....it will prompt you a couple of times......then allow it to restart after the drivers load.
You should be good to go after restart.......obtain nvidia contol panel by RT clicking on your desktop.
 
magoo said:
Look, this is not that complicated.
Try this:
Download your CORRECT Vista x-64 GPU drivers to your documents folder and save them
In control panel remove the current nvidia GPU drivers
Make sure you are unplugged from the internet.
Restart in safe mode.
Run driver cleaner or sweeper or whatever you have.
Do it a couple of times.
Restart into Vista.
From Documents run the Driver Download......it should extract.....then off it goes.....it will prompt you a couple of times......then allow it to restart after the drivers load.
You should be good to go after restart.......obtain nvidia contol panel by RT clicking on your desktop.
Click to expand...

^
if this doesnt work, im not sure what will!
 
Does the .exe file for the drivers have to be in that specific folder, or can I run it from the desktop?
 
magoo said:
Look, this is not that complicated.
Try this:
Download your CORRECT Vista x-64 GPU drivers to your documents folder and save them
In control panel remove the current nvidia GPU drivers
Make sure you are unplugged from the internet.
Restart in safe mode.
Run driver cleaner or sweeper or whatever you have.
Do it a couple of times.
Restart into Vista.
From Documents run the Driver Download......it should extract.....then off it goes.....it will prompt you a couple of times......then allow it to restart after the drivers load.
You should be good to go after restart.......obtain nvidia contol panel by RT clicking on your desktop.
Click to expand...



Did this, but no go. Yes, I did do every step. The exe file was place where you specified and ran from there to, which I was assuming was supposed to be:

C:\Users\MyPCName\Documents

First time I got some error about this file:

C:\Windows\system32\NvCpl.dll

I clicked ok, and let it continue on and it just hung at 80% or so for a while. So I ended the task.

Retried and got the error, but it went all the way. It then reset my resolution to something really low and asked me to restart. I did.

Got this error message upon restart:

C:\Windows\system32\NvCpl.dll

The specified module could not be found.


No Nvidia control panel, not by right clicking on the desktop at least.

Under device manager, I get see this for drivers under GTX 260:

8.15.11.8618

As I mention, 182.50 works fine, as do some older drivers (well, aside from crashing...). It is only the newer drivers that don't fully support Vista 64 bit.

It did rearrange my desktop icons, so I'll have fun putting those back in place. EVGA didn't advertise the free "puzzle game" that would come with their card. ;)


Searching on Google, it seems to be a very common issue. I am starting to think Nvidia is just no longer supporting Vista 64 bit. I hope not, because a $250 video card that no longer works 7 months after purchase is no good. :( No artifacts or anything at all, so EVGA won't give my money back (no, I don't want a new card of the same type). :mad:
 
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Couldn't hurt I guess, though I went from 185.85->186.18 directly, no special steps taken.

You should check C:\Windows\system32 for NvCpl.dll, see if it's being installed.
 
Here is a link that offers a solution to my problem. But I have no idea what to do. Their instructions are so poorly written I am clueless as to what to do.

What I did was:

1) Download the driver.
2) Put it in a folder.
3) Extracted it with winrar.
4) Removed the physics exe. (PhysX_9.09.0428_SystemSoftware) from the folder
5) Then I repeated this process, but instread of running the original exe, I ran the setup exe from the extracted file:

1) Download your drivers and place them in the Documents folder
2) Unplug/disable internet
3) Remove Nvidia display drivers from control panel
4) Restart computer in safe mode
5) Run Driver Sweeper or Driver Cleaner (I have sweeper)
6) Restart into Vista 64bit
7) Ran setup exe

I still get both of the same errors.

The errors I am getting are:

1) No Nvidia control panel
2) The C:\Windows\system32\NvCpl.dll can't be found, and an annoying pop up comes on every time I restart.


At the least, does someone know how to fix error number 2, because now it affects me when I am doing non-gaming things.
 
Flogger23m said:
Yes, I have this program installed, but it is never running when I am installing/uninstalling drivers.
Click to expand...


If I can get a hold of this dll file, would I be able to enable the control panel, or is there something else I have to do?
 
186.18_desktop_win7_winvista_64bit_english_whql.exe

Is that the name of the file you DLed?

If so, try running Driver Sweeper from safe mode after uninstalling from control panel (PhysX and Stereo Glasses too). Run it twice in a row for nVidia display drivers, then run CCleaner's registry cleaner and let it fix any issues (make a back up of course).

Then boot into Windows and run the above mentioned executable (DLed from nVidia's site I hope).
 
You DO NOT need to extract the nvidia driver.
It is self extracting.
If you follow my post you'll be just fine.
This is the driver you want:http://www.nvidia.com/object/win7_winvista_64bit_186.18_whql.html

Just fucking download it to your documents
Then unplug from the internet
Get rid of your nvidia drivers using the control panel
restart and go into safe mode
run drivercleaner.net twice or three times
restart
open the NEW driver package and let it run..............these are big files and may take up to 10 minutes to fully unload and install.
 
magoo said:
This is the driver you want:http://www.nvidia.com/object/win7_winvista_64bit_186.18_whql.html

Just fucking download it to your documents
Then unplug from the internet
Get rid of your nvidia drivers using the control panel
restart and go into safe mode
run drivercleaner.net twice or three times
restart
open the NEW driver package and let it run..............these are big files and may take up to 10 minutes to fully unload and install.
Click to expand...

Tried this a few times, no go. As mentioned in the above link, this does not work for a lot of users.

Yes, that is the driver I have. Downloaded it twice from Nvidia, twice from EVGA's site. Same errors each time.

Haven't tried CC or removing the Physx yet, maybe I'll try those, but I have a feeling if I keep it up I'll destroy my Vista install.

Any tips when running CC? I heard sometimes it can cause registry errors. Anything I should be looking out for?
 
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Flogger23m said:
Tried this a few times, no go. As mentioned in the above link, this does not work for a lot of users.

Yes, that is the driver I have. Downloaded it twice from Nvidia, twice from EVGA's site. Same errors each time.

Haven't tried CC or removing the Physx yet, maybe I'll try those, but I have a feeling if I keep it up I'll destroy my Vista install.

Any tips when running CC? I heard sometimes it can cause registry errors. Anything I should be looking out for?
Click to expand...

Name three people who can't download an nvidia GPU driver package to Vista x-64 correctly.:rolleyes:
 
The problem lies elsewhere in your system. It is not a compatibility issue with Vista 64, guaranteed.
 
Haste266 said:
i agree.

maybe something with UAC or antivirus?
Click to expand...

I disabled AVG and UAC is off. Pretty sure I tried right click run as admin to.

I downloaded the nvcpl.dll file. The read me says to install it to windows\system directory, but there are no other files there. Since I am on 64 bit Vista, do I put it in the SysWOW64 folder?


magoo said:
Name three people who can't download an nvidia GPU driver package to Vista x-64 correctly.:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Downloading is easy. Install is easy. Working? Pretty much impossible. If you can't add anything aside from fanboi influeneced posts, then please don't reply. As for the people having issues, check the link above.

Compared to the 4870 and X700Pro, it is far harder.
 
do you have more than one video card?

whats your system specs?
 
Just checked the OP, forgot to put the specs...:eek:

Vista 64 bit Home Premium
GTX 260 Superclocked 192 (only one of course)
500 watt Antec Earth Watts
AMD Phenom X4 9950 Black Edition
Corsair XMS2 TWIN2x4096-6400c5 4GB
ASUS M3N78 Pro ATX AM2+

Everything is stocked, never overclocked.
 
Do you have all the Microsoft .NET packages installed, along with service packs? Have you allowed windows to update itself at all for that matter. I believe the new nVidia CP requires .NET of some version.
 
For the record I have been running a dual boot system (triple now with W7 x64) of XP SP3 and Vista 64 and haven't got a single issue with Vista drivers.
In fact the only issue I had was under XP where I was not able to select or enable Physx. I had to switch my main video card to the first PCIE port and the Physx card to the Second port in order to fix it.
Regards
 
vick1000 said:
Do you have all the Microsoft .NET packages installed, along with service packs? Have you allowed windows to update itself at all for that matter. I believe the new nVidia CP requires .NET of some version.
Click to expand...

As far as I know only ATI requires the .NET framework. At any rate update in Vista x64 should automatically take care of that.

The nvidia drivers install to the x86 directory of Vista if I recall.

If you have done everything I suggested, you have a software conflict somewhere. Nvidia drivers have always been much more simple to install than my ATI driver packages.......

You may need to reformat your HDD, download all your necessary drivers to a flash drive,install them then jack into the internet and install Vista updates.
 
magoo said:
Just fucking download it to your documents
Then unplug from the internet
Get rid of your nvidia drivers using the control panel
restart and go into safe mode
run drivercleaner.net twice or three times
restart
open the NEW driver package and let it run..............these are big files and may take up to 10 minutes to fully unload and install.
Click to expand...

Easy, easy man :) I'll have to support the claim with also having problems with 186's and getting error messages:

C:\Windows\system32\NvCpl.dll
The specified module could not be found.

Also having problems with BSOD and blank screens once I moved to the 185's now 186's. Flogger23m is correct that if you go through the whole precess again as you outlined (same one I use all the time) somewhere in the driver install the NVpanel doesn't install correctly. I tried installing the 186 drivers three times straight last night without any luck.

Finally just had to give it a rest and walk away.
 
That's too bad.
I haven't had that problem at all......and I use Vista x64.
I guess one solution would be to use a 185 driver version or a beta 186.

I'm using an earlier 186 and have had no problems.......and haven't had any for a couple of years.
 
Installed them without the problems, put them on last WHQL package - Vista64bit system, got the control panel too. Though I went back to 182.43 series, as the 186 has problems with dynamic shadows in AoC dx10 mode, and 182 works perfectly for me in that game.
 
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