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How to install an older graphics driver

I just installed Windows 7, but keep getting blue screens of death.  I was able to figure out -- through a free third-party program, no thanks to Microsoft -- that it is being caused by my graphics driver.  I have an Nvidia GeForce 7200.  

I updated to the latest driver, but am still getting the BSODs, and they are still related to the Nvidia driver.  

I would like to try installing an older driver, namely the one that came on the CD with the graphics card.  But it won't install because there's a newer driver installed.  I can't get rid of the newer driver, because as soon as I uninstall it, it simply reinstalls itself next time I boot up.

I would appreciate any assistance.

In step #6 you can completely remove the driver so it will not reinstall.


Uninstall A Driver Using Device Manager


1. Click Start, type: Device Manager

2. Press Enter

3. Expand your device listing in the Device Manager tree

4. Right click the device

5. Click Uninstall.

6. If you’re sure you want to delete the driver click OK.

Note: If you want the driver completely removed from the computer check “Delete the driver software for this device.”  

7. Restart the computer - it will reinstall a driver, or prompt you to install one.



MCC 2011

TrekDozer

Sharing bits of knowledge.

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I followed all the steps (actually I had already done this several times), but on step 6, I did not see any option to "Delete the driver software for this device".  

Thanks anyway.  

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Also, when the computer restarts, it just automatically reinstalls the same driver, which is the one that's causing the BSOD.  What I want to know is how to make it stop installing the same driver, and let me install the one I want to install.

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Try uninstalling it through the device properties:

In Device Manager right click the device
Click Properties
Click the Driver tab
Then click Uninstall

Do you see the “Delete the driver software for this device" option in the confirmation box? There should be a box you can check before clicking OK.
MCC 2011

TrekDozer

Sharing bits of knowledge.

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No, it just says "Warning:  You are about to uninstall this device from your system", and when you click OK it just does it.  

I have software called Driver Sweeper that is supposed to delete all driver-related files.  But as I said, the problem is that upon reboot, Windows just reinstalls it again.

It's extremely frustrating that Windows doesn't let you install the driver you want to install, instead of making up your mind for you.  

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Windows 7 will install a "limited" driver that nVidia has provided to Microsoft. 

Since you have a large problem with video card and their drivers, you may get a better "answer" on the forums @ www.guru3d.com.

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I wanted to let you know that I figured out how to prevent Windows from re-installing the latest driver, which allowed me to install the older driver that I wanted.  

The trick is to delete the driver files from the DriverStore.   My understanding is that these are driver files that are installed when Windows 7 is installed.  When you uninstall a device, the device is removed from the registry, and the driver files are uninstalled too.  But the driver installation files in the DriverStore are still there.  So, when you reboot, Windows detects the device and automatically installs the driver files that are stored in the DriverStore.  

The DriverStore is located at c:\windows\system32\DriverStore.  Next, double-click the FileRepository folder, and find the folder containing the drivers for your device.  It may not be easy to know which ones they are, but in this case I knew it was the ones beginning with "Nv_disp", since they were Nvidia display drivers.  

When you try to delete the folder containing the files, you may get a message saying that you don't have permission.  What you have to do then is take ownership of the file.  There are instructions on how to do that here:  http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=169555

Once you have taken ownership of the folder, you can delete it.  Then uninstall the device from Device Manager (or maybe you have to uninstall the device first, I don't remember which way I did it, sorry).  

When I rebooted the computer, Windows reinstalled the device as Standard VGA Display or something like that.  Then, I right-clicked the display adapter and clicked "Update Driver", and chose the option to "Browse my computer for driver software", told it to look on the driver CD that came with the device, and it installed the driver I wanted.

After that, you have to make sure Windows Update doesn't download the latest driver.  You do that by changing the Windows Update settings to notify you of updates, but let you choose which ones to install.  Then, when it notifies you of an updated driver for the device that you wanted to use the older driver for, you right-click it and choose "Hide Update".  That way it won't keep trying to download the newer driver.  

Thanks everyone for your efforts to help out.  I hope this helps someone who is as frustrated as I was!

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Last updated February 14, 2024 Views 16,939 Applies to: