Software Update Nvidea drivers

[Interceptor]

Hello,I am always afraid to update my Nvidea card with the newest drivers,because of an incident I had on another computer,but what would be the safest way to do this?I also would like to be able to roll back the drivers to the original ones just in case something goes a foul.Thanks

 

[RisingFury]

You don't need to update the drivers to the latest ones and it's not always a good idea to do so.

1.) Not all driver updates are for your graphics card. Always check which model the drivers apply to and what the changes are.
2.) Don't update to the latest drivers. You can update the ones before them. That gives people time to find the bugs.
3.) Read the release notes to see if there are any warnings.
4.) Look around on the internet if people are complaining a lot about the driver version you're thinking of updating to.

With all that in mind, you can always set a system restore point before you update and if something goes wrong, roll back to it.

 

[Fabri91]

Regarding point 1, the file that you download is actually the same for all desktop cards on the same architecture, and the same goes for notebooks.

E.g, if on the Nvidia site I select GTX460 drivers for a Vista 64 bit system, I get the exact same file as if I selected GTX780Ti for a 8.1 64 bit system.

If you have played around with application profiles or are otherwise experiencing problems, it might be advisable to check the "clean installation" checkbox during setup.

 

[Interceptor]

Thanks for the answers guys,they really clear some things up.

 

[RisingFury]

Regarding point 1, the file that you download is actually the same for all desktop cards on the same architecture, and the same goes for notebooks.

E.g, if on the Nvidia site I select GTX460 drivers for a Vista 64 bit system, I get the exact same file as if I selected GTX780Ti for a 8.1 64 bit system.

If you have played around with application profiles or are otherwise experiencing problems, it might be advisable to check the "clean installation" checkbox during setup.

The file is the same, but there aren't always changes present for your graphics card. That's usually true for older cards. Always worth checking. No need to mess with drivers if they bring no positive changes.

 

[jangofett287]

Actually, as far as I'm aware Nvidia GPU driver updates always bring at least some positive change for all cards under its range, so its always worth updating. Its also important to note Nvidia have 2 driver streams. WHQL and Beta. Unless your playing the latest games, you should stick with the WHQL ones.

 

[Fabri91]

It also has to be noted that previous driver versions are archived on the site and can be downloaded if needed.

 

[Interceptor]

Regarding point 1, the file that you download is actually the same for all desktop cards on the same architecture, and the same goes for notebooks.

E.g, if on the Nvidia site I select GTX460 drivers for a Vista 64 bit system, I get the exact same file as if I selected GTX780Ti for a 8.1 64 bit system.

If you have played around with application profiles or are otherwise experiencing problems, it might be advisable to check the "clean installation" checkbox during setup.

If I use the clean install option when installing the newer graphics driver will I still be able to roll back the driver
If I am having a problem with it?

 

[Scav]

If I use the clean install option when installing the newer graphics driver will I still be able to roll back the driver
If I am having a problem with it?

Short answer: Yes.

Longer answer: It also may be good to know how to boot into Windows' safe mode and use the device manager effectively in case things go south. In a case like this you would need to locate the driver (in a standard Win7 setup it should be under 'Display Adapters' - double-click on it and you should have options to view the details, force an update, roll back to last config, disable entirely or uninstall.

 

[dbeachy1]

You can just create a system restore point before upgrading to the new nvidia driver. Then if things go south you can easily roll the changes back by using system restore.

 

[Interceptor]

Thanks for all the great advice,I know what to do now.:thumbup:

 

[Interceptor]

Hi I want update to new drivers,but,I can't find the Older driver for backup that came installed on my laptop I am looking for Nvidea Geforce Gt650m driver 2.95.55,I am afraid to download the new one,because of no back up for older one,any advice would be helpful.Thanks specs-HP Pavilion dv7t-7000 Quad Edition Entertainment Notebook PC
Components
• Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit HP Pavillion DV7
• 3rd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3610QM Processor (2.3 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache)
• NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) GT 650M Graphics with 2GB GDDR5 memory [HDMI, VGA]

 

[kuddel]

Hi I want update to new drivers,but,I can't find the Older driver for backup that came installed on my laptop I am looking for Nvidea Geforce Gt650m driver 2.95.55,I am afraid to download the new one,because of no back up for older one,any advice would be helpful.Thanks specs-HP Pavilion dv7t-7000 Quad Edition Entertainment Notebook PC
Components
• Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit HP Pavillion DV7
• 3rd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3610QM Processor (2.3 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache)
• NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) GT 650M Graphics with 2GB GDDR5 memory [HDMI, VGA]

My experience with updating graphics drivers is following:
1. Upgrading is easy (if it works)
2. Downgrading almost impossible (if e.g. "1" didn't work as expected)
3. But since Windows 7 there is that "Recovery Point" thing, that made it possible to "go back in time" to the point before "1"

I would therefore *always* make sure to make a "Recovery Point" before updating a driver. Usually this is done automatically, but having two is better than having none...

 

[Interceptor]

Thanks Kuddle,I feel better from your advice,so if I make a restore point before trying to install the new nvidea drivers if it screws up the installation,I can just use restore to get my computer back to the way it was before the trouble?:thumbup:

 

[kuddel]

Thanks Kuddle,I feel better from your advice,so if I make a restore point before trying to install the new nvidea drivers if it screws up the installation,I can just use restore to get my computer back to the way it was before the trouble?:thumbup:

You don't sue me when I say "yes", right?
But yes I've done this at least three times.
The only 'downside' of this procedure is that one has to have a running system (which is luckily true in your case).

 

[Interceptor]

Thanks for the advice Kuddle,no worries about sueing.