What is the proper way to remove and replace an old graphics driver?

Ive been having problem with my Intel Graphics Card for quite some time now (GM45) and im guessing the next step for me to completely get rid of the existing driver and update it.

Do I disable or uninstall the old one and how do I stop my computer from automatically reinstalling it?

 

Before you read the below, what issues have you been having with your graphics card?




Go into Device Manager, and right-click the Intel GPU, goto Uninstall and tick Delete the driver software for this device.

If that's not available, uninstall it normally, restart and then let it reinstall, go to Update Driver Software, click Browse my computer, Let me pick and then pick Standard VGA Graphics Adapter. Run a driver cleaner program if you want.

 

Everytime I watch any sort of video, it starts to slow down and gets "stuck" and occasionally my whole system will just shut down. Also, the whole system heats up and my fans go berserk (which is par for the course with my Latitude e6400). I usually get some sort of alert stating that I need to update my graphics driver.

When I tried uninstalling the driver earlier today, I lost all my screens and had to restart my computer to get them up again...

 

Have you already checked your computer's CPU and other temps with a program like HWMonitor?

 

To verify, get a Linux Live CD/DVD, I would recommend Linux Mint (at www.linuxmint.com), since it comes with VLC and all required codecs. Burn this to CD/DVD and boot from it. The live session will take some time to load (a CD is not a speed-wonder), once it is loaded, access the video on your hard-drive and play it. Your system will no be modified in any way.

If the video runs fine in the Mint Live Session, look at a possible driver or Windows issue.

If the same behaviour (overheating, freezing etc) also happens under Mint Live, you can be reasonably sure that you have a hardware issue. If so, start out by cleaning the fan and heat-sink (compressed air spray).