How to install an older version? Reinstalling video card drivers Installing the driver from a CD or DVD
Your question:
How to install an older version?
Master's answer:
If your computer has graphics problems, do not think that you can solve them by installing a new driver for your NVIDIA video card. There is often a situation when it turns out that programs worked much better with the old version of the driver. Attention, next you will need to perform several steps in a certain sequence to install an older version of the driver for the NVIDIA video card.
Before installing an older version of the driver, you must decide where you will install it from, either you will get it on the Internet, or install it from the disk that came with the video card. In the second option, everything is simple and clear - you simply load the disk, and the installer's instructions will tell you what to do next.
If you don’t have a disk and decide to download the old version of the driver from the Internet, then a search problem arises. To resolve this issue, you should visit the official NVIDIA website, and then go to the “Drivers” section. In the menu that appears, select the “Beta and archived drivers” item and select it with the left mouse button.
In the window that appears, use the drop-down menu to enter the type, series and family of the installed video card; in addition, you should note the installed operating system and its language. To do this, you need to select the “Search” button and wait for the list to be built.
On the official website, from the established list, select the desired driver version and left-click on it, this action will take you to the driver page. When you go to the page, take your time, but first read the information and select the “Download Now” button. Specify the path to save the downloaded file and wait for it to download.
First, be sure to uninstall the driver version currently installed on your computer. Typically, this action is performed in several ways. For example, you can simply click on the icon of a freshly downloaded file. When the installer has completely collected all the information, it will give you a signal that the current version will be replaced with a new one and will automatically remove the previously installed one.
The second method involves removing the installed driver yourself. To do this, right-click on the “My Computer” icon and select “Properties” in the menu. A window will appear in front of you, go to the “Hardware” tab and click on the “Device Manager” button.
From the list of equipment presented to you, select the “Video adapters” item. By clicking on the line, or highlighting the “+” symbol to the left of it, you will see your video card. If you double-click on it with the left mouse button, a window will open in front of you in which you can go to the “Driver” tab and highlight the “Delete” button.
You need to confirm the removal of the driver version and restart your computer. After restarting the system, do not be alarmed, since the desktop is not fully displayed, but only in limited mode. Start installing the older version of the driver that you downloaded on the Internet; you can do this by clicking on its icon with the left mouse button. Strictly follow the installer's instructions until the driver is completely installed. Restart your computer.
And finally, some useful tips. In a situation where you do not know what video card is installed on your computer, click “Run” from the “Start” menu, type “dxdiag” into the line and look at the information about the video card in the “Display” tab. In the same way, you can see the driver version currently installed on your PC.
It is rare to resort to reinstalling video card drivers, usually when the graphics adapter is replaced or the already installed software is unstable. In this article, we’ll talk about how to properly reinstall your video card drivers and ensure its normal functioning.
Before installing new software on your computer, you need to get rid of the old one. This is a mandatory condition, since damaged files (in the case of unstable operation) can become an obstacle to normal installation. If you change the card, then you also need to make sure that there are no “tails” left from the old driver.
Uninstalling the driver
There are two ways to remove an unnecessary driver: through the applet "Control Panels" "Programs and Features" or using special software Display Driver Uninstaller. The first option is the simplest: you don’t need to search for, download and run a third-party program. In most cases, standard removal is sufficient. If your drivers have crashed or you encounter errors during installation, then you should use DDU.
Installing a new driver
Searching for software for video cards should be done exclusively on the official websites of GPU manufacturers - NVIDIA or AMD.
- NVIDIA.
- AMD.
Reinstalling drivers, at first glance, may seem like a rather complicated matter, but, based on everything said above, we can conclude that this is not at all the case. If you follow the instructions given in the article, then everything will go as smoothly as possible and without errors.
When it comes to drivers for NVIDIA video cards, most users can be divided into 2 categories - those who use the drivers supplied with the operating system, and those who install driver packages from the NVIDIA website.
Recently, the NVIDIA driver installation package has grown significantly. Now it includes not only the necessary driver, but also many other components that may not even be required, depending on the purpose of the computer.
The NVIDIA installer by default installs 3D Vision components, HD audio driver, PhysX software and GeForce Experience. Even when the user disables the checkboxes corresponding to additional components, some additional services and telemetry services will still be installed on the system.
We install only the driver for the NVIDIA video card
Important! The instructions below allow you to install only the graphics driver without unnecessary components. Make sure you don't need any additional components to do the job before following these steps.
Also note that installing the driver will still add components such as the two services Nvidia Display Container LS and Nvidia Telemetry Container. After installation, you can disable or remove them.
1. Remove the old driver from the system
2. Download the latest NVIDIA driver
4. Install the driver on Windows
You need to open device Manager Windows, since driver installation will be done using the Control Panel applet. The easiest way to open Device Manager is to press the Windows key, type hdwwiz.cpl and press the Enter key.
Find your video card in the list of devices, right-click on it and select "Update Driver".
Then select the option "Browse this computer for driver software" and select the folder with the driver.
You should eventually receive a notification that says "Windows successfully updated its drivers." This means that the driver is installed and is being used by the system.
Conclusion
If you want to install only a driver for a video card without additional components, then this instruction represents one of the possible options. You can also achieve a similar effect by disabling the checkboxes in the NVIDIA installer and manually cleaning and disabling components after installation.
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This is not such a common situation, but when servicing a large fleet of user computers, sometimes it happens that for some device the manufacturer has not released drivers for the required OS version. This could be an old version of the OS, or an old device. All in all. Sometimes you need to install drivers manually. They are usually supplied in the form of several files. Most often they have the extension inf or sys, but they can also be different.
The procedure for installing a driver in Windows 10 depends on how you install it. Each method has its pros and cons. The most important advantage is that any user, from beginner to expert, can choose the most convenient one for themselves, avoiding system errors and program crashes in the future. We will look at each method in detail separately. Remember that the most important thing is to use drivers from reliable sources so as not to damage the operating system or accidentally launch a virus, the elimination of which will take much more time and effort than installing any driver.
What you need to install the driver
In order to install the driver manually, you need an installation disk or special software that will help you step by step through the entire installation procedure. Below we will look at one of these programs - Driver Easy. There are situations when, due to incompatibility, the driver from the installation disk generates an error. It is in such cases that we need programs that will help us find and update the driver. In addition, this option will be more acceptable for owners of netbooks, which often do not have a disk drive. For such cases, there is an option to install the necessary driver from a USB drive, we will also look at that today, since this method has its own characteristics.
Manual installation - instructions
Installing the driver manually using Device Manager
1. Open the Windows 10 Control Panel by pressing the Win + X key at the same time (Windows key and X key) and left-click on “Control Panel”
2. For convenience, it is advisable to set up small icons.
3. Click on “Device Manager”.
In the Device Manager window, expand the categories and find the device you need. Then right-click on the device name and select Update Driver Software. The photo shows an example of installing the Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller network adapter driver.
Installing the driver manually using Driver Easy
1. In the main window of the Driver Easy program, click on the driver of the device that needs to be updated. After this, you will see the standard task manager window, which was described above. Select the device to update.
2. You will see two options in the pop-up window. Click Browse My Computer to install the driver software.
3. Click Browse to locate the downloaded driver file.
Click the Down Triangle button in Driver Easy, then select Open File Location to open the driver folder.
For convenience, you can copy and paste the location of the downloaded files into the field.
The path to the file:
As you already understood, the update takes a lot of time and requires basic knowledge of working with a personal computer. In addition to updating manually, Driver Easy can automatically search, download and install all drivers that need updating. But, as we already said, this is not safe, since this function works in automatic mode, and in this case it is impossible to make a backup copy in case of a serious failure.
Installing the driver from a CD or DVD
Almost all computer and hardware manufacturers provide a set of drivers for various hardware devices. For example, the driver CD that comes with your printer contains drivers for many different printers, not just the one you purchased. When installing drivers, make sure that you are installing drivers for your printer model and not for another one. Also, make sure that you are installing it for the version of Windows that is installed on your computer. The process of installing a driver from a CD is no different from the standard installation process of any other program. Be sure to follow all instructions in the installer the first time you run it. In some cases, you need to remove the old driver before installing the new one.
If you have a driver CD but your computer doesn't have a drive or it doesn't work, you can also load the drivers from a USB drive.
Installing drivers from a USB drive
After copying the drivers to a USB drive, you can install the necessary software on your computer. Make sure the drive is connected to your computer, open Windows Explorer and find your device name in it. For example, if you have a USB drive that is assigned to the E: drive when connected, then you need to click on the icon named E: in order for the contents to open.
Once the drivers are found on the disk, you must determine exactly how they will be installed on your computer. If the directory contains executable files or an installation file (extension *.exe), then you can install the driver using this file. If the drivers are compressed into a ZIP file, you will need to extract the file using archivers such as 7-Zip and WinZip.
Installing inf file
If the above recommendations did not help you, then all instructions for installing drivers and hardware devices are always contained in a file with the .inf extension, which is located in the C: Windowsinf folder. The folder containing the information files is protected and hidden. To make it appear, in the folder view settings, check the “Hidden items” checkbox. To find the information file for the device you need, follow these instructions:
Open Device Manager;
Right-click on the selected device and select “Properties” from the menu
After that, go to the “Details” tab. Expand the list and select “INF Name”. The file name will be displayed in the "Value" field.
Once you know the file name, go back to the Task Manager, select the device, click "Update Driver" and specify the path to the *.inf file (in this example it will be C:Windowsinfoem3.inf)
This is not such a common situation, but when servicing a large fleet of user computers, sometimes it happens that for some device the manufacturer has not released drivers for the required OS version. This could be an old version of the OS, or an old device. All in all. Sometimes you need to install drivers manually. They are usually supplied in the form of several files. Most often they have the extension inf or sys, but they can also be different.
The procedure for installing a driver in Windows 10 depends on how you install it. Each method has its pros and cons. The most important advantage is that any user, from beginner to expert, can choose the most convenient one for themselves, avoiding system errors and program crashes in the future. We will look at each method in detail separately. Remember that the most important thing is to use drivers from reliable sources so as not to damage the operating system or accidentally launch a virus, the elimination of which will take much more time and effort than installing any driver.
What you need to install the driver
In order to install the driver manually, you need an installation disk or special software that will help you step by step through the entire installation procedure. Below we will look at one of these programs - Driver Easy. There are situations when, due to incompatibility, the driver from the installation disk generates an error. It is in such cases that we need programs that will help us find and update the driver. In addition, this option will be more acceptable for owners of netbooks, which often do not have a disk drive. For such cases, there is an option to install the necessary driver from a USB drive, we will also look at that today, since this method has its own characteristics.
Manual installation - instructions
Installing the driver manually using Device Manager
1. Open the Windows 10 Control Panel by pressing the Win + X key at the same time (Windows key and X key) and left-click on “Control Panel”
2. For convenience, it is advisable to set up small icons.
3. Click on “Device Manager”.
In the Device Manager window, expand the categories and find the device you need. Then right-click on the device name and select Update Driver Software. The photo shows an example of installing the Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller network adapter driver.
Installing the driver manually using Driver Easy
1. In the main window of the Driver Easy program, click on the driver of the device that needs to be updated. After this, you will see the standard task manager window, which was described above. Select the device to update.
2. You will see two options in the pop-up window. Click Browse My Computer to install the driver software.
3. Click Browse to locate the downloaded driver file.
Click the Down Triangle button in Driver Easy, then select Open File Location to open the driver folder.
For convenience, you can copy and paste the location of the downloaded files into the field.
The path to the file:
As you already understood, the update takes a lot of time and requires basic knowledge of working with a personal computer. In addition to updating manually, Driver Easy can automatically search, download and install all drivers that need updating. But, as we already said, this is not safe, since this function works in automatic mode, and in this case it is impossible to make a backup copy in case of a serious failure.
Installing the driver from a CD or DVD
Almost all computer and hardware manufacturers provide a set of drivers for various hardware devices. For example, the driver CD that comes with your printer contains drivers for many different printers, not just the one you purchased. When installing drivers, make sure that you are installing drivers for your printer model and not for another one. Also, make sure that you are installing it for the version of Windows that is installed on your computer. The process of installing a driver from a CD is no different from the standard installation process of any other program. Be sure to follow all instructions in the installer the first time you run it. In some cases, you need to remove the old driver before installing the new one.
If you have a driver CD but your computer doesn't have a drive or it doesn't work, you can also load the drivers from a USB drive.
Installing drivers from a USB drive
After copying the drivers to a USB drive, you can install the necessary software on your computer. Make sure the drive is connected to your computer, open Windows Explorer and find your device name in it. For example, if you have a USB drive that is assigned to the E: drive when connected, then you need to click on the icon named E: in order for the contents to open.
Once the drivers are found on the disk, you must determine exactly how they will be installed on your computer. If the directory contains executable files or an installation file (extension *.exe), then you can install the driver using this file. If the drivers are compressed into a ZIP file, you will need to extract the file using archivers such as 7-Zip and WinZip.
Installing inf file
If the above recommendations did not help you, then all instructions for installing drivers and hardware devices are always contained in a file with the .inf extension, which is located in the C: Windowsinf folder. The folder containing the information files is protected and hidden. To make it appear, in the folder view settings, check the “Hidden items” checkbox. To find the information file for the device you need, follow these instructions:
Once you know the file name, go back to Task Manager, select the device, click Update Driver and specify the path to the *.inf file (in this example it will be C:Windowsinfoem3.inf).