Windows 8 people how do you clean install nvidia drivers?

Discussion in 'Videocards - NVIDIA GeForce Drivers Section' started by gamer1291, Apr 5, 2013.

  1. sykozis

    sykozis Ancient Guru

    Messages:
    22,492
    Likes Received:
    1,537
    GPU:
    Asus RX6700XT
    As Rapyer stated, if you can't follow instructions, you deserve the resulting BSODs.

    Before removing, installing or doing an "in-place upgrade" of a driver....you should always close any software that may access the driver such as MSI-AB, Precision X, NVidia Inspector, any antivirus software, Virtu (if installed, uninstall it first), F@H, etc. This is just common sense though. The installer can't overwrite files that are being used. This is exactly why you're instructed to close all running applications prior to installing anything.

    As much as people on this forum like to deny it, the majority of problems are user induced.

    The "clean install" option in the driver installer doesn't remove anything but game profiles and custom settings. Nothing else is removed. From there, it simply overwrites older files with the newer ones.
     
  2. Vbs

    Vbs Guest

    Messages:
    291
    Likes Received:
    0
    GPU:
    Asus Strix 970, 1506/7806
    This.
     
  3. HeavyHemi

    HeavyHemi Guest

    Messages:
    6,952
    Likes Received:
    960
    GPU:
    GTX1080Ti

    The 'clean install option' removes the currently installed driver from the driver store. It does not remove the installation files from the C:\NVIDIA folder. You can check this easily enough by just installing over the top, then do a clean install and check the contents of C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository.
     
  4. Memorian

    Memorian Ancient Guru

    Messages:
    4,017
    Likes Received:
    883
    GPU:
    RTX 4090
    Not a single problem here.
     

  5. CSF90

    CSF90 Guest

    Messages:
    208
    Likes Received:
    0
    GPU:
    Gigabye GTX 980Ti OC
    Echoing what others have said - using the Advanced > Clean Install option in the NVIDIA Installer has never failed me.

    I tried Driver Sweeper once and it caused more problems then it fixed - the drivers would fail to install (although I think the beta I was trying to install actually had an issue). I don't find it's needed anyway, personally.
     
  6. gamer1291

    gamer1291 Master Guru

    Messages:
    263
    Likes Received:
    0
    GPU:
    ROG STRIX-GTX-1070-O8G
    Hm... its true what you all are saying about just use nvidia installer clean option.

    But i feel sometimes its better to remove previous left over drivers completely to make sure drivers are working as they should be.

    But i am still scared of using driver fusion on my windows 8 again last time it caused me nvidia installer failed everytime i tried to install any driver.
     
  7. Mineria

    Mineria Ancient Guru

    Messages:
    5,540
    Likes Received:
    701
    GPU:
    Asus RTX 3080 Ti
    1. Uninstall all Nvidia drivers and PhysX via Windows Control Panel, this will also remove the files from the Driver Store.

    2. Restart the PC so that the new driver can recognize the card (WDM 1.2)

    3. Run the unzipped installer for the new driver, select custom, select only what I need from the list and make sure that there is a tick the Clean Install option.
    NB. If you run the exe without unpacking it, you might want to remove the C:\NVIDIA folder first, it contains old installation files.

    4. Restart the PC if the driver asks for it and then adjust a few things in Nividia's Control Panel.
     
    Last edited: Apr 8, 2013
  8. F1refly

    F1refly Ancient Guru

    Messages:
    9,037
    Likes Received:
    0
    GPU:
    970GTX-oc edition
    You can extract the install files anywhere or rename it or even delete it after install. Why would it remove them? likely case something goes wrong and you have the installers as drivers themselves can have bugs. It's like opening a zip file except it auto launches so it has to decompress files somewhere of course, i suppose it could offer opt to do so in RAM for those that don't keep it. I rename mine and extract them to my backup drive where i keep all my app installers and replace it when it's outdated with the next one if it's a good driver.
     
  9. bishi

    bishi Master Guru

    Messages:
    575
    Likes Received:
    17
    GPU:
    GTX 1080 SLI
    Oh I do hope people aren't upsetting Prophet again. He is rather a supercilious one with an easily bruised ego. Be gentle.

    I also (since they introduced the option) only ever bother to user the clean install option. I've never had a single issue where I have had to use Driver Sweeper etc and I reinstall every time a new driver comes along and across multiple machines with different generations of cards and different OS.
    IMO everyone who is using a different approach because they are scared of the 1% chance of something going wrong is really just wasting their time, but hey if it makes you feel better don't stop ;)
     
  10. HeavyHemi

    HeavyHemi Guest

    Messages:
    6,952
    Likes Received:
    960
    GPU:
    GTX1080Ti
    Yes, but that really has nothing to what I posted. The files in the driver store are placed there during installation. You're conflating the driver installation files which are normally extracted to C:\Nvidia and the files placed in the driver store during the driver installation.
     

  11. Darren Hodgson

    Darren Hodgson Ancient Guru

    Messages:
    17,213
    Likes Received:
    1,537
    GPU:
    NVIDIA RTX 4080 FE
    I always install drivers over the old ones using the Custom > Clean install option with the two useless 3D ones deselected. I haven't used a driver cleaner or uninstalled a driver in years; I've never found it necessary.
     
    Last edited: Apr 10, 2013
  12. ubronan

    ubronan Guest

    Messages:
    15
    Likes Received:
    2
    GPU:
    1070 OC 8 Gb
    depends on the hardware but since a year or so i do not update my drivers for the laptop anymore, i actually installed the oldest driver i could find and not planning to ever install the newer buggy crap they make ever again. All the newer make that machine crash or bsod especially the last 20 versions. as long as i do not touch the crappy nvidia driver this laptop runs with its 8400m videocard driver 178.xx.
    But i disagree on leaving the old versions or using that so called clean install, it has made several huge problems leavind the old drivers.
    Especially when you have todo about 500 computers minimal once a year.
    I allways use driver cleaner from 3dguru and make sure its all clean after the boot. Then the new driver gets installed on this clean machine.
     
    Last edited: Apr 9, 2013
  13. Flakman

    Flakman Master Guru

    Messages:
    790
    Likes Received:
    62
    GPU:
    RTX 4090
    Here's my understanding. Someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

    Most modern operating systems are pretty good about keeping track of files and extension. Mismatched files/extensions are just ignored.

    The problems start with software like Overclocking software, Anti virus software "Scans files during use" and any software that hooks into the drivers really.

    This is why you should disable these applications before install. You can also run into issues with factory over clocked cards, as nVidia is always tightening it's code. Here the only recourse is to down clock or up voltages.

    I have never gotten into an issue on Windows 8 just uninstalling and reinstalling the new driver or even old drivers, Win 8 does a pretty good job and will just ignore files left over anyways.

    I have seen issues though with file cleaners removing files that were needed by the OS, they should be used with caution. File cleaners are not recommended by Microsoft BTW, but can be useful in an emergency.

    My 2 cents.
     
  14. F1refly

    F1refly Ancient Guru

    Messages:
    9,037
    Likes Received:
    0
    GPU:
    970GTX-oc edition
    Of course they are, that is the point of driver store. It's just another thing that has relieved some of the common PC issues that average people tend to end up in. MS didn't put it there cause they felt like it ya know.
    It's not a big deal but why not just use this if you want to mange it yourself and remove the offending driver?
    http://driverstoreexplorer.codeplex.com/

    However it's really not necessary unless space alone is very critical to you. It does not effect nor have anything to do with problems installing new drivers regardless of how you install them. That is why i assumed you were just referring to the default install folder of Nvidia. Nothing in Driver store will cause you a problem from a new driver.

     
  15. ren008

    ren008 Member Guru

    Messages:
    105
    Likes Received:
    2
    GPU:
    GTX 1070 G1 Gaming
    Just install over, sometime use the clean option but not usually. Tried the whole driver sweeper/cleaner method couple years back with vista and ended up having to format my computer after it did whatever it did... Waste of time nowadays and never again.
     

  16. HeavyHemi

    HeavyHemi Guest

    Messages:
    6,952
    Likes Received:
    960
    GPU:
    GTX1080Ti
    I really don't know what you're arguing. Considering I specifically cited the driver store and the path to its directory, AND noted I was NOT talking about where the driver extracted the installation files: "The 'clean install option' removes the currently installed driver from the driver store. It does not remove the installation files from the C:\NVIDIA folder. You can check this easily enough by just installing over the top, then do a clean install and check the contents of C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository. I don't know how you managed to confuse that. Further, corrupted drivers or a corrupted base WDM driver in the driver store can cause issues including being unable to install a driver. Lastly my prior post: "If you don't use HDMI audio or 3D you can uncheck those in the custom install options. Other than that, I never use the 'driver cleaners'. Always using the 'Clean install' option does prevent your driver store from getting too large (couple of GB or more if you do frequent driver updates) as installing over the top, doesn't remove the roll back driver files. Really only a concern if you're limited in space on an SSD."
    Hey thanks for pretty much repeating what I already posted. :3eyes:
     
    Last edited: Apr 10, 2013
  17. F1refly

    F1refly Ancient Guru

    Messages:
    9,037
    Likes Received:
    0
    GPU:
    970GTX-oc edition
    lol. Well since i wasn't arguing anything, i don't think you know what i was saying
     
  18. DJ_Casper

    DJ_Casper Guest

    Messages:
    476
    Likes Received:
    5
    GPU:
    Asus RTX 4070 Dual
    Format C, Deleting the drive as the variant

    on a true side - just Driver Sweeper in Safe Mode
     
  19. gamer1291

    gamer1291 Master Guru

    Messages:
    263
    Likes Received:
    0
    GPU:
    ROG STRIX-GTX-1070-O8G
    I am still scared of using driver sweeper on my windows 8 i dont want to reinstall whole windows cause of nvidia drivers :bang:
     
  20. HeavyHemi

    HeavyHemi Guest

    Messages:
    6,952
    Likes Received:
    960
    GPU:
    GTX1080Ti
    Ah, my bad, it sure looked like you were arguing or trying to correct what I posted...which oddly enough ended up with you nearly repeating what I posted. So you're right, I don't know what you were trying to say.
     

Share This Page