How to update your video drivers the RIGHT way  

Guide for Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7




A.) Download the driver you prefer (from any source) and save it to a location that you can remember (such as your desktop).
B.) Buy, Download and Install Driver Cleaner .NET. It's $10 and well worth the money

• As an alternative, you can use DriverSweeper. It's free, but it's not nearly as feature-rich, and I can't personally attest to its ability.

C.) Download and Install CCleaner (CrapCleaner).
D.) Run the Live Update for Driver Cleaner .NET to make sure you have the latest cleaning definitions and updates.



1.) Unplug your ethernet cable or turn off your wireless adapter to disconnect from the internet.

2.) Disable any Anti-Virus Software. If you don't disable it, it could give you trouble.

3.) Uninstall current Video driver, called "NVIDIA Drivers" by navigating to Add/Remove Programs (for Windows XP) or Programs and Features (for Windows Vista and Windows 7) in the Windows Control Panel. If you have an NVIDIA motherboard chipset and an NVIDIA videocard, MAKE SURE YOU ONLY UNINSTALL THE VIDEO DRIVER, not all NVIDIA drivers or your motherboard will lose its drivers also.

4.) Reboot.

5.) As you reboot, after the quick memory test and hard drives have been recognized, hit F8 and enter "SAFE MODE". On some systems, if you hit F8 too early you will enter other utilities.

6.) Once you reboot into Safe Mode, Windows *MAY* auto detect your videocard and ask you to install drivers. You should be able to cancel out of the auto install hardware wizard. In that case, move to step #7. If you can NOT cancel out of the auto detect wizard, then:

• -For Windows XP-

• Navigate to Device Manager by right clicking My Computer (on the Desktop) --> Properties --> Hardware Tab --> Display Adapters --> NVIDIA (Your Video Adapter) --> Properties --> Driver --> click Uninstall, DO NOT REBOOT!

• -For Windows Vista and Windows 7-

• Navigate to Device Manager by right clicking on Computer (on the Desktop or from the Start Menu) --> Device Manager --> Display Adapters --> NVIDIA (Your Video Adapter) --> Properties --> Driver --> click Uninstall, and check "Delete the driver software for this device". DO NOT REBOOT!

7.) Run Driver Cleaner using the "nVidia" filter. Optionally, you can also select "Multiple Filters", and run Driver Cleaner using the "nVidia", "nVidia Control Panel", "nVidia Stereo" and "nVidia WDM" filters for the most thorough cleaning.

8.) Run CCleaner in it's Cleaner mode as well as the Issue Scanning mode to remove any files that Driver Cleaner could have missed, as well as all registry entries regarding the NVIDIA Display Drivers from within the system (there are usually a few remaining after a Driver Cleaner run).

• Make sure you check only the options you want to clean out. If you don't want to clean out your Temporary Internet Files for instance, make sure you uncheck it. Only check those items that you WANT to clean. If you don't know what it is, be safe, and uncheck it.

9.) Restart Windows into "Normal Mode".

10.) Install the new video driver.

11.) Empty the Recycle Bin (IF NEEDED) and Reboot.

12.) Restart your Anti-Virus software if it didn't automatically restart on reboot. You can also plug in your internet cable as well.

13.) Enjoy!

Consolidated the guides, and removed Driver Cleaner Pro. It's very ancient now, and is giving people issues with newer drivers.

Driver Cleaner .NET is now the preferred method. It costs $10, but it's well worth it. I also added the freebie option of DriverSweeper, though I can't personally vouch for it, I've heard it's not as thorough as Driver Cleaner.

Updated instructions to include Windows 7.