[Tutorial] How to install/remove AMD and NVIDIA drivers using a clean method

Hi guys,
since "dirt" driver installation/update seems to be the first cause of problems, crashes, unwanted issues and so on AND since its tiring writing everytime a guide to help peoples out to "clean" install newer drivers, i thought it would be cool to have a guide for it.
In this little guide ill show how to perform a clean installation/update of Nvidia Drivers and related components.
Hope it helps.

NEEDED TOOLS:
1 - Driver Sweeper available here: Phyxion.net - Driver Sweeper
2 - Nvidia drivers WHQL or Beta here: World's Fastest Graphics Cards, GPUs, and Video Cards | GeForce
3 - AMD Drivers and CAP profiles if you're using an AMD card
Cap profiles here: http://sites.amd.com/us/game/downloads/pages/crossfirex-app-profiles.aspx
AMD Drivers here: Downloads
AMD Leaked drivers (asder00's twitter account) here: asder00 (@asder00) on Twitter

*** For those with unsupported cards****

How to insert the modded inf for your drivers:

Spoiler

*Go to Laptopvideo2go and get a modded inf: Drivers | drivers for mobile cards and laptops | laptopvideo2go.com
* Click on the driver and OS you want to use.
* Next page, click on "Click here to download driver and INF files"
* Next page, click on "Click here to download the modified INF file." and Save it somewhere accessible (Desktop as an example). File will have ".inf" extension and it can be named NVAM,NVWI or NV_DISP.INF.
* You can download the driver as well by clicking on "Click here to download the requested driver."
* Extract the driver by double clicking on it or with Winrar->Right Click->Extract to FILE_NAME
* Go into the just extracted driver folder, go into "Display.Driver" folder
* Copy and Paste here the precedent modified INF file that we just downloaded above and OVERWRITE if it asks so. If it doesnt, check your steps, because it has to.

STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE:

***/!\/!\/!\WARNING: BEFORE PERFORMING THIS CLEAN METHOD, YOU NEED TO DEACTIVATE THOSE EA GAMES (Origin) THAT USES AN ACTIVATION PROCESS SUCH CRYSIS 2, NEED FOR SPEED SHIFT ETC. Otherwise doing it more times in the future WILL make you RUN OUT of activations, and you will need to contact EA support./!\/!\/!\***

1. Download Driver Sweeper and Install it.

2. Go to Control Panel/Program and Featues and UNISTALL NVIDIA UPDATE AND THE NVIDIA DRIVER. It will ask for a reboot. DO IT.
-> AMD USERS: Go to Control Panel and remove AMD Application Profiles first (if you have them installed, otherwise don't bother) then the AMD Drivers package. It asks for reboot.

3. When Rebooting, just after the bios post HIT F8 A FEW TIMES until you see this screen:


4. When Windows boot to Safe Mode Desktop, launch Driver Sweeper and do this (each step is numerated):


-> NOTE TO AMD USERS! Select only AMD option (first one on top) instead of Nvidia options!

5. It will ask for a reboot. Do it and let Windows load normally until you reach the desktop.

6. Windows should INSTALL a STANDARD VGA ADAPTER. It can/cannot display with a notification box the installation of it. Under Control Panel->System->Manage Devices you can check your video card.

7. Now launch NVIDIA SETUP and do like this:


8. Then in the next screen:



NOTE: if youre installing a BETA/Modded inf, a Driver Sign not found/Verified warning should come up. Ignore it and let it install by clicking bottom option.

9. Setup should ask for a reboot. Do it. When Windows will load up again, your driver should be correctly installed like you just installed it on a fresh windows installation.

AMD USERS: Once rebooted into windows, launch AMD Drivers Setup. Select next and select customize installation, you will see a window like this:


1. First option should be AMD Application Profiles (if your drivers comes with it) - you can leave this enabled if you're sure they're update, otherwise deselect it and proceed with driver instlallation.
Once driver installation finishes, reboot your system.

2. When Windows has rebooted, check if Catalyst Control Center is working by right clicking a desktop area and selecting the appropriate option.
If everything went smooth, you can A) either update AMD CAPs if you deselected them or leave it as it is.

3. IMPORTANT NOTICE: AMD Application Profiles (CAPs) are highly adviced even for Single GPU users, as they contain game single profiles much like Nvidia has, they may contain special game fixes or hotfixes for a particular game. Its not only useful for Xfire users, but also for single gpu users.

ADDITIONAL TWEAKS POST INSTALLATION WINDOWS:

1. Grab Unpark Cores Utility from here and launch it.
2. Follow the guide (credits to the main website for instructions and pictures, located here):.
   
   
   
3. Select "Unpark All".
4. Once done, reboot your system. Core parking is disabled now allowing cpu to use full potential.

ADDITIONAL TWEAKS POST INSTALLATION (NVIDIA):

1. Right click on desktop and select NVIDIA CONTROL PANEL.
2. Select Manage 3d Settings.
3. Highlight Display Mode and switch to Single Display Mode (should be Multiple Displays)
4. Scroll down to Power Management and switch it to Prefer Maximum Performance (should be Adaptive).
5. There are no downsides about power management, your card will keep downclocking in idle, so dont worry. But i can make a huge difference in games.

ADDITIONAL TWEAKS POST INSTALLATION (AMD):

1. Grab ULPS Configuration Utility 1.1.4 from here.
2. Launch the program and make 1) backup of ULPS key and 2) disable/delete ULPS keys.
3. Once done, reboot your system. ULPS is the low power state that AMD features but it's known to have some serious side effects with single and xfire systems. It may help performance problems. Don't worry your card will still downclock just fine.

FAQ:

- This guide is nonsense! Perform Clean Installation option in Nvidia Setup does the same things!
- Obviously you dont read release notes nor nvidia new gui installation guide. The "Perform Clean Installation" option removes ONLY Nvidia Control Panel and Game Specific profiles, NOTHING ELSE. That means that your old driver components are still in the system, which is a bad thing.

- I have a BETA/DEV driver that comes without Physx as an options in the setup. How can i fix this?
- You can grab any previous driver you have stored, extract it and move the Physx folder in the new driver folder root (once extracted) to add the entry in the setup. Or just install the driver without physx, then install it separately from any other driver package. Same goes for 3D related items.


-- EOF--

If this guide helps and you like it, please +Rep. Thanks

 

When I pasted the modified inf file, it dint ask me whether i should overwrite it. What went wrong? I had followed your steps to the T.

 

So I rename it to nv_disp and overwrote the original one. It starts installing an after it says installing graphics driver, it says a restart is required after which it will continue with the installation. But after restarting and continuing, the install fails. Log shows that driver installation failed and the rest of it doesn't get installed. I'm at my wits end now. HELP!!!!!

 

You probably downloaded the wrong driver/inf file.
Download 285.27 beta and from the same page download also the inf.
Try to copy the downloaded inf in Display.Driver folder.
If it doesn't ask to overwrite, start from scratch again.
Re extract the driver but rename the inf file to nvam.inf and see if it works.

 

Yup. I downloaded the desktop version (141MB) and not the notebook version (191MB). God I'm so stupid. Downloading the notebook version now.
Thank you Kingpinzero.

 

Downloaded the correct (read notebook) driver. Installed it. The modified inf file was not needed. Will test using Crysis after some time. Thank you so much for your help.

 

No problem mate, glad you fixed it

 

Thanks!!
it actually fixed the crushes and lockups in Fallout new vegas!!
+1 rep

 

You're welcome mate

 

Great job with this. Hoping it helps my issue in my thread I started.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...1-so-did-i-fry-mt-g73sw-vbios-locking-up.html

 

Ive been reading your thread. If my guide doesn't help you should reflash your original vbios in case you flashed a modded one.

 

awesome guide got mine updated to latest on my new g53sw-a1

 

Thanks for guide.Good job K0!

 

+rep there, gj

 

Thanks alot!! you really helped me! just tell me how to give you +rep, I have no idea how

 

I have 2 questions that are confusing me too much:

1- Isn't good to install official 'notebook' drivers from nvidia.com instead of modded drivers such as from laptopvideo2go.com? What's the purpose of using modded drivers? Really i wonder.

2- Is it ok to install Nvidia display drivers other than the ones provided in Asus download site? (support.asus.com) I read somewhere, installing official drivers of Nvidia from nvidia.com can prevent GPU and GPU fans from functioning properly and would cause overheating/stability problems and that's why OEM vendors supply their own drivers like Asus. Eg: I hava factory-nvidia driver versioned 259.34 which is unavailable on Nvdia.com! Is that true?

Thanks!

 

1 - the purpose of using a modded driver is to use the latest released set on your gpu card. Asus with newer g53sw and some JW versions modified the gtx460m device-Id to a custom one; therefore only them are able to provide an "official" support for it. This eventually is utterly stupid because beside some minor layout changes on the gpu itself, the card is the same as retail ones, installed in customizable laptops such Msi or Clevo barebones.
In short, it's all about a missing string in the inf file which stores all the compatible adapters supported by the verde notebook official driver. You could add just the string or modify an existing one and you're good to go.
Laptopvideo2go doesn't modify the official driver in any way. It just adds those strings for the unsupported cards. So yes is totally safe and advised to upgrade to latest driver set officially released using a modified inf.
I usually release a modified inf to just add support to our gtx460m.
Official drivers CANNOT be installed without this simply edit.

2 - if you find that info in the interwebs then you missed some vital parts of it. First the Fan problem was related to an old Whql, 197.13, and only with old desktop cards. Desktop cards have the fan control totally manageable by the user, because it's a driver-level feature.
With the newer fermi architecture hoverer there's both hardware and software fan management. The first is a fixed value that enables the fan to work unconditionally from the driver even if no driver is installed because it's managed by vbios. The second is a driver level feature, thus software, that be managed to the user by some specific programs.

On notebooks the fans are managed by bios and not by vbios. This means that your card will keep working as it should regardless the driver, if any installed.
The Asus driver you're referring to is a custom edited version much like what I've explained in point 1. They basically took an official release, added their own strings, and packed all the things together, upping the build number (which isn't official and is non-canon).
That driver set you're speaking of is old, is one of the worse performer I ever seen and there's no point to even use it because basically it's nothing but an edited old driver, non official.

Imagine laptopvideo2go inf or my own infs as a Asus driver release, because it's the same thing.
Also it's not a strange thing that notebook manufacturer that uses custom
Gpus doesn't release any driver update because it's not worth the hassle, as an experienced users will provide their own updaters by himself using the methods described above.
And they totally know this, so why bother.

Long story short: update always to latest official nvidia drivers by either adding your own string or by grabbing a modded inf somewhere such the ones I make or laptopvideo2go ones.
That's all.

 

Hi Kingpinzero, thank you for your beautiful clarification. However still i do not understand something related to point 1. So far, what i heard is that my friends are used to update their notebook drivers by going to nvidia.com.

..and the latest verde notebook driver on nvidia.com says 'gtx460m' in supported products tab

So, why are we still need to modify inf? Won't the installer on nvidia.com work eventhough 'gtx 460m' takes place in 'supported products' tab on nvidia.com's drivers page?

Thanks!

 

Because there are around 6 versions of gtx460m which have different dev I'd.
Asus ones as an example are NVIDIA_DEV00D1 2046/47.
Those contained in the official inf are 2044/45/48.
That's why.

 

So if i download and try to install:

NVIDIA DRIVERS 280.26 WHQL

...will the installation fail? Note that i have G53JW-XA1.

Another question, as Asus is a world-wide notebook manufacturer, why didn't Nvidia add Asus's dev_id even it includes Nvidia card? That's a big pity of Nvidia!

Thanks!

 

Its not an nvidia fault: asus asked for a custom gtx460m in order to have a complete driver control on it. Thing that failed to deliver hard.

Besides as i sated some JW users are lucky enought to have their DEVID listed in the official driver package, some not.

Skip 280.26 that are problematic as hell and download straight these:

http://us.download.nvidia.com/Windo...ok-win7-winvista-64bit-international-beta.exe

These are BF3 optimized drivers, plus they have tons of fixes here and there, and they perform noticiably better than previous WHQL.

If youre id is supported, as soon as you launch the installer it should ask you to agree to license agreement. If it doesnt, it will say that theres no supported hardware.

In that case you need a modded inf: and if you plan to install them follow my guide to clean install them, better in that way.

 

So, there is no certainity whether official verde installer would fail? Anyway nvidia should have added at least device id(s) of 'famous' gaming notebook's gpus' such as our RoGs'.

For the version, i always sticked with non-beta versions of software, especially when i think of serious ones - drivers.

I can wait a some more to see a most stable release (final) for gtx 460m.

Thank you so much!

 

Whql drivers are just betas certified by Microsoft.
Betas are certified by nvidia themselves, there's no reason to not use them, but it's your call.

 

Well, just downloaded the newest drivers (285.38), worse performance on 3DMark 11 (with 285.27 2021P and now 1901P) my GPU-Z writes that I have gtx 560M (and I have 460M). Some games don't work, like GTA IV and etc...


I think 285.27 is better.

 

Lol.. then we can't trust the latest one as it fails to run GTA IV? Horrible.

 

Yep, for now, the 285.27 is the best.

 

Indeed, gpu-z has more problems with mobile GTX GPUs, for instance it reports wrong memory speed (half of actual) of my GTX460M:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus-gaming-notebook-forum/590386-gpu-z-shows-wrong-memory-speed-gtx460m.html

 

Gta Eflc works great with 285.38 beta, dunno why isn't working for u waffleboy.

 

Description:
Critical runtime problem

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: APPLICATION CRASH
System RAM: -1
Available RAM: -1
Number of CPUs: 8
Video Card Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Video Card Description: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M
Video Card Driver Version: 8.17.0012.8538
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.1
Locale ID: 1037


Strange, uhh? and I don't have Eflc, only the regular game.

 

Isn't the use of Driver Sweeper redundant since the new drivers have the checkbox in Custom Install to remove the previously installed driver?

 

Nope, check first post FAQ section to understand what the nvidia installer does.

 

What happens if i remove Nvidia drivers through Control Panel? I used to do it on my older systems and generally caused no problem. Is Driver Sweeper doing something extra when compared to Nvidia's uninstaller in Control Panel including registry entries?

 

Add/Remove programs typically doesn't get everything. That is why you notice leftover files and folders if you check 'program files' after running it. That said, this guide is for the minority of people having Nvidia driver related issues.

 

I've been having crashes like crazy with any OC over 750, so I'm trying to reinstall drivers. I only see the 141mb, where are you finding the 191mb?

 

Get the notebook verde international package from GeForce.com directly.

 

Yup. I downloaded it from the nvidia website i think. Either that or i just Googled for the latest nvidia 285.38 driver for windows 7 64bit.

 

Thanks! Worked like a charm, and for some weird reason it made my screen brighter too! (I haven't touched the nVidia custom settings, EVER)

 

Glad to hear that mate have fun!

 

Mate could you help me ? i did as u said i also found this way on other forums but the way is after that after reboot BSOD goes from 3-5 mim, nvdlmmk.sys or something is the cause do you have any way to solve that

thank you

 

Sorry for the bump, but guide has been updated for amd users and general windows tweaking as well.

 

+1 thanks for the update

 

NP man, i further tweaked the guide a bit. Should be good now.

 

after reading about core parking..... I'm curious why the hell they even implemented this? I understand from a power saving perspective, but why doesn't it turn itself off when plugged in, and why the F does my desktop do it to?!

 

Reason is to optimize the load on some cores instead of all.
Practically it causes more harm than good things, but even with solid proofs against it, still Microsoft doesn't disable it as yet.

 

Thread has got a title update and it has been moved to a better section.
Thank you Charles

 

So what do you feel about the replacement of Driver Sweeper with Driver Fusion? I've got to reinstall and I'm contemplating going with his newer program except I haven't heard anyone talk about it.

 

I didnt had the time to use Driver Fusion as I'm still using Driver Sweeper.
I have to test it a bit and maybe update the guide to reflect the new app.
I guess no one talks about it because is rather new, and DS proved to be affidable enough to get things goin.

 

I thought after Catalyst 10.1 or 11.1 or something, the AMD driver update is integrated into the Catalyst Control Center and it's no longer necessary to use driver sweeper/cleaner programs.

I stopped using Driver Sweeper at that time (2010 or 2011 I believe) and haven't had any issues with AMD drivers since.

 

This is what Nvidia guys thinks as well. Both unistallers don't remove completely components and they still leave behind entries and stuff that needs to get ridden.
Usually part of these files are locked by the Os, therefore the appropriate way is to run a cleaner tool under safe mode to get rid of them completely.
If you didnt had any problems in those years consider yourself lucky, because amd drivers have the habit to be more messy than nvidias.
Also I'll repeat again, before someone else asks: Nvidia own "perform clean installation" option gets rid only of registry entries, game profiles and user settings, same applies to amd unistaller.
All the crap will still be flying around.

 

you don't need to clean uninstall nvidia/AMD drivers tbh.
the way the drivers are designed to install is that they overwrite the older files.

So you run a cleaner program to remove left over .dll which will otherwise sit there and do nothing anyway. You will save some disk space by cleaning it out but then you install another driver anyway so whats the point.

Only time I would recommend a clean installation is if you switch gpus from Nvidia/AMD (vice versa) to ensure no conflicts between the .sys files of both gpus.

The nvidia 'perform clean installation option' is whats only really needed and the most useful. Same as AMD's equivalent.