Clean Video Driver Upgrades
In this article, I’ll show you the proper way to upgrade video drivers on your system, as well explain the difference between the various driver options. I’ll also show you a handy tool to assist you in cleaning up old video drivers.
If you have a high performance video card (whether you’re a gamer, graphics designer, Home Theater PC builder, etc) you know how important it is to have the latest video drivers for your specific video card. But HOW you install those drivers can be just as important. Many lockups, crashes, freezes, or other anomalies can be attributed to lazy and sloppy driver installation. I’m going to show you the method I use which has proven to reduce and almost eliminate video driver-related problems on my systems.
Which Driver?
The first thing you need to consider is which driver to download. Usually there are several different versions, each with different features. On top of that, there are reference drivers, OEM drivers, etc.
CD = Crappy Driver
First off, don’t ever use the driver that came on the CD. Always download the latest driver. From the time that CD was burned, pressed, packaged and boxed; that box has sat in a manufacturer warehouse, delivery truck, distributor shelves, delivery truck, store shelves, purchased, returned, re-shrink-wrapped, and purchased again before it finally sat nestled in the bottom your plastic Fry’s bag as you stand in line at the exit holding your receipt waiting for the 19yr pant-sagger who doesn’t know a video card from a box of diapers to mark your receipt with the oh-so-important pink highlighter mark of approval to ensure that you’re not stealing it, allowing you exit from the store…months have gone by since then, and that is an eternity in the video card world. So always download the latest driver.
OEM vs Reference
We all know that ATI and Nvidia are the “Big Two” when it comes to video cards. But what many people don’t know is that ATI and NVidia don’t actually MAKE video cards. Instead ATI and NVidia develop the video card technologies and make it available to video card manufacturers (OEM’s). ATI and NVidia usually manufacture a prototype card that tells the OEM’s (Asus, Gigabyte, eVGA, Sapphire, XFX, BFGTech, MSI) “Hey, here’s what this new card should look like”. They call this the “Reference Card”. Along with the reference card, ATI and NVidia also release a set of Reference drivers.
So the video card OEMs each come out with their own versions of the Reference Card, each adding their own personal modifications to it. One OEM might add a better cooling fan, another OEM might increase the clock speed for better performance, and another might add an additional output. They’re trying to compete with each other in offering unique features that the other guy doesn’t have. But in the end, each OEM tries to create a card that is (at its core) as close as possible to the reference card, for compatibility reasons.
As each OEM deviates from the reference card, it sometimes becomes necessary for the OEM to also modify the reference drivers to work with their video card. In some instances, an OEM will make performance enhancements to the reference card, but these enhancements can only be realized by using the OEM’s modified drivers.
So the question then becomes which should you choose? Reference drivers or OEM Drivers? Generally speaking, I always try to use drivers from the OEM FIRST. If I experience problems, or the OEM isn’t keeping up with the latest reference driver enhancements, then I will use the reference driver. The more specialized your card is, or the more “extreme” it is in performance, the more likely you should use the OEM driver. But also keep in mind that most games and applications are written to be most compatible with the reference drivers. So there is a balance between performance and compatibility.
But in short, go for the OEM driver first. If that doesn’t work, go for the reference driver.
Full Package or Driver Only
Typically the driver will come in several optional download packages. Usually the recommended package will be the one that includes the driver, along with a control center and maybe some other applications. I do not recommend you use this package unless you specifically need something provided by the control center. I recommend you download the “Driver Only” package as it is simply less “stuff” to get installed on your PC.
Driver Upgrade Procedure
OK, now that we know the who’s and why’s behind the drivers, and we have the proper driver downloaded, we can now get to the actual upgrade.
First, I recommend you download a program called Driver Sweeper. Note there are two versions of the program: (with Installer) and (no Installer, binaries only). Quick question? Which one do you think I want you to download? Of course I want you to download the (no installer, binaries only) version! We are cleaning our PC here, not installing more crap! You will unzip this to your “Util” directory in a folder named “DriverSweeper”. I put it on a network drive so it is available to run from any computer on my network. This also makes a nice utility for your USB flash drive when you’re working on PC’s in the field.
Now that you have the right driver, and a copy of Driver Sweeper, here are the steps for upgrading your video drivers:
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1. Exit all programs.
2. In Device Manager (I get there with Windows-Key+Pause, then Hardware tab) right-click your video card and click “Uninstall”. When prompted, check the box to delete driver files.
3. Windows will ask you to reboot. Select No. Close any remaining dialog boxes, then reboot.
4. As the computer comes back up, press F8 to go into safe mode. Log in normally.
5. Navigate to C:\Util\DriverSweeper and run Driver Sweeper. Highlight the video card driver brand you have, then click the button with the broom on it. It will run very quickly. In a second, you may click the Log button to see a log of what was deleted.
6. Reboot your computer normally and log in as you usually would. (No Safe mode)
7. If Windows prompts you to install New Hardware, click Cancel. Do not let Windows install anything.
8. Execute the driver installer that you downloaded and follow instructions. Depending on your specific card, and which driver package you are using the installation procedure will be a little different. Usually it will extract to C:\NVIDIA or C:\ATI, which you would then navigate to and execute the appropriate setup.
9. When setup runs, UNCHECK any unneeded control applications, toolbars, Game Offers, or trials. Install the drive only. At the end of the install, select “No” to the reboot prompt, and then reboot manually.
That’s it… By downloading the appropriate driver for your card, uninstalling and cleaning your old drivers, and installing the new drivers in a minimal, clean and controlled manner, you have a much better chance of having a successful upgrade. You’ll spend more time enjoying the performance of your video card, and less time trying to figure out what’s wrong. More importantly, you avoid being that guy on the support forums who claims “d00d tihs dr1v3rs sux0rs!!!1! I install it and my PC cr4$h wtffffff!!!11111!!!!! and i hv oc quad core so u know i hv l33t h4x0rzzzskillz”
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