bobwitkowski

Hi,

I have a Nforce 780i (evga 132-ck-nf78-tr)
Intel Q9559 2.83GHz cpu
4GB (2x2gb) G Skill DDR2 800 memory
GeForce GTX 260 Superclocked 896mb video card
Win 7 (sp1)

I purchased 4 more gigs of ram (corsair DDR2 800) Installed and works fine.
I installed a Geforce GTX 550Ti (2gb) had some artifacts and the screen would go black,  I got some error windows saying the driver stopped working.
I went through all of your install steps and I still get random artifacts, black screen, dirver failed, and sometime BSOD.
I cant nail down what triggers the failure as it happens just sitting on the desktop, or surfing the web, and playing games. sometimes it's ok for a while other time it crashes right away (never good while playing games).
Yesterday I tried cleaning drivers out and clean installing the driver and it crashed, I put my GTX 260 back in and It works fine on the same driver. So I dont think that's the problem.

Any help is welcome.
Thanks

bobwitkowski

First off, I hope you had a Happy Birthday.

I am using driver ver 301.42
I tried just the old memory, just the new memory, no change.
The power supply is a Corsair CMPSU-750TX ATX12v/EPS12v SLI ready.

The thing that I don't understand is that my older GTX 260 (896-P3-1262-AR) works fine with the new ram and the same driver.

Thanks

VagueRant

"If you do NOT login to Windows using a password on the primary account, please check the last section of this Guide"


Not seeing anything in the last section other than mention of creating a password when reinstalling.  Am I missing something or am I misunderstanding the quote in question.

maniacvvv

jjfreites

Hello!!! 

Thanks for such a wonderful guide!! :)

I have a small but annoying problem. Everytime I want to do a clean install and remove the current gfx driver my screen goes black, my monitor says there is no signal and I have to do a hard reset to be able to load again the screen with the windows 7 default drivers. I can hear sounds and everything so it is different from a hard lock or a crash.

It started to happen since the 280.xx drivers updates to my previous  2x580 SLI and now still happens with my GTX 690. 

Please mind you, that I got a new Corsair m4 512GB SSD so Windows 7 was reinstalled and still when upgrading from 301.42 to the 306 driver the same thing still happens. It is as if the default drivers aren't loaded automatically once the nvidia driver is removed. 

Actually, the only way to recover the signal is by doing the clean install directly from the Nvidia control center where the monitor will go offline and back online once the new driver is in place but, as you know, sometimes is better to remove the drivers manually and do a fresh install.

Any help greatly appreciated!! 

Thanks.

This is an interesting problem, I'm not sure I have a answer for you.

When the screen goes black after the uninstall, have you tried powering your monitor OFF/On
This could be an issue where the monitor just needs a reset to "find" the new signal...

The good news is that it now does not matter--> if your using a GTX 690
Your GTX 690 card can only use drivers that are setup correctly to use Nvidia's "Clean install option"
*(unlike older drivers for 500 series cards)

In fact you no longer even need to uninstall before putting in a newer driver.
Just shutdown Precision/Afterburner (make sure its NOT set to start at boot) before beginning the driver install.
Then launch the installer for the new driver in CUSTOM Mode and select the Nvidia components of your choice
The "key" to getting the previous drivers out correctly, is to make sure to put a check box in the "Perform a Clean Install" 

maxam66

Hi,
Great guide, I wish I had seen it a long time ago, very well written and much appreciated, thanks.

Prior to finding the guide I attempted to install driver 306.23 for my GTX 570 Superclocked 1280Mb GPU over top of the existing 301.42 driver.  I had the same issue as jjfreites... black screen.  I attempted a power reset to my LED display but I could not get the desktop to reappear.  The only thing left to do was to press the reset button on the PC which resulted in it booting into safe mode.  I rebooted and once back on the desktop I proceeded with the installation of the new driver.  Unfortunately I could not configure my application as I received an error message which stated that my video card could not support shaders.

Again, the driver would not completely uninstall without the black screen and safe mode so I made the mistake of using system restore which has probably corrupted the display driver.

Currently I have driver version 301.42 installed once again.  My applications all seem to run fine but I have this nagging feeling that the drivers are not properly installed.  The reason I say this is that when I try to uninstall from Programs and Features by right clicking and selecting uninstall the drivers remain on the list. 

Is there a workaround such as using driver sweeper as mentioned in the guide or should that only be used to clean the remnants of uninstalled drivers?  I am really at a loss as to what to do with this situation.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Max

maxam66

maniacvvv

maxam66

Hi,
Great guide, I wish I had seen it a long time ago, very well written and much appreciated, thanks.

Prior to finding the guide I attempted to install driver 306.23 for my GTX 570 Superclocked 1280Mb GPU over top of the existing 301.42 driver.  I had the same issue as jjfreites... black screen.  I attempted a power reset to my LED display but I could not get the desktop to reappear.  The only thing left to do was to press the reset button on the PC which resulted in it booting into safe mode.  I rebooted and once back on the desktop I proceeded with the installation of the new driver.  Unfortunately I could not configure my application as I received an error message which stated that my video card could not support shaders.

Again, the driver would not completely uninstall without the black screen and safe mode so I made the mistake of using system restore which has probably corrupted the display driver.

Currently I have driver version 301.42 installed once again.  My applications all seem to run fine but I have this nagging feeling that the drivers are not properly installed.  The reason I say this is that when I try to uninstall from Programs and Features by right clicking and selecting uninstall the drivers remain on the list. 

Is there a workaround such as using driver sweeper as mentioned in the guide or should that only be used to clean the remnants of uninstalled drivers?  I am really at a loss as to what to do with this situation.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Max

Welcome to the EVGA forums

What "application" gave a error saying "shaders" were not supported?
Any chance that was from program that uses PhysX...

Anyway I dont think your in alot of trouble here

I think all you need to do is get a fresh copy of the 301.42 installer (the same 301.42 you are running now) onto the desktop
*Remember to SHUT DOWN -and- uninstall Precision/Afterburner -before- starting to work with the drivers.
Then (without uninstalling) simply launch the installer in Custom mode with just the Graphics driver and PhysX checked and super Important, with the "Perform a Clean install" checked!
This should fix your issues right up. Your just overinstalling the "same" 301.42 driver and uninstalling any broken files/registry info....  

Do a reboot and make sure everything is working. (do NOT reinstall Precision/Afterburner yet)

Now download a fresh copy of 306.23 and get it on the desktop
-again- do not attempt to uninstall 301.42 in any way.   
Simply launch the installer in Custom mode (as you did before) with "Perform a clean install" checked

I really think that will completely fix you right up

Please post back if you continue to have issues

Thanks for the quick reply.  The application is Flight Simulator X.
I will give your suggestions a try.  As far as fan control, is it possible that the temps are controlled via the BIOS?  The only other fan control I can think of is that I saw a setting in NVIDIA Inspector.

I appreciate the help.

Max

Subliminal9

Hello and thanks for the guide ... It's just what I needed

After reading the Guide I just have what I think is an easily answered (possibly noob) question.  Okay first a little info ...

current mobo::     EVGA nForce 780i SLI FTW  132-YW-E178-A1
current gpu::        EVGA e-GeForce 9800GTX+  01G-P3-N880-AR
OS::                      Windows XP SP3

I'm going to be upgrading to the EVGA GeForce GTX 570 Superclocked 1280 MB
012-P3-1572-AR and have found that the driver update for my current card and
the new card  are the same.  So why not get the drivers installed then drop in the new card.  As the guide says, you must uninstall the current  drivers ..."but NOT the nVidia chipset drivers".  Here lies the problem.  In Add / Remove Programs I have a list of Nvidia software as follows:

NVIDIA Drivers
NVIDIA ForceWare Network Access Manager
NVIDIA PhysX v8.10.13

You would think it should be plain, but no "graphics driver" listing is there. I
would like to make sure that by uninstalling NVIDIA Drivers it won't remove all
including the chipset drivers.

Excerpt : "*Important note: Users of older motherboards with Nvidia chipsets
may see Nvidia listings that are unreleated to the Display Drivers. Before
proceeding as noted below, you MUST know what the chipset listings are, and
AVOID uninstalling them. If you uninstall Nvidia Chipset drivers, your system
could become non functional and require a OS reinstall. "

I would really not like to reinstall the OS.  So can you tell me if it is correct to:

uninstall Physx > ForceWare > Drivers

or

uninstall Physx > Drivers

or perhaps none of the above. 

Thank you in advance for the information.  Really looking forward to a smooth
video experience with the upgraded graphics.

Have a great day

Subliminal9

Thanks for the quick response ... entirely too quick

The drivers currently say::
NVIDIA
02/09/2012
version 6.14.12.9573

I have begun to cross my fingers.  The system was built in 2009.  So here's hoping and thanks again... in advance.

maniacvvv

Ok I found an old pic of that Nvidia panel

First off, uninstall the PhysX listing. Just highlight it and uninstall

Next open the "Nvidia drivers" and the panel (shown below) will appear


Put the "GREEN DOT" in --->"Remove ONLY the following" (as shown)
Next put a "checkmark" in "Nvidia display driver"(as shown)   
*Make 100% sure that there are -no- other entries checked!! Those are all chipset related and must not be removed 
Now Uninstall

*IMPORTANT
-Before- you start any of this, have a nice fresh copy of the driver you want to install downloaded and on your desktop.

After removing the PhysX and then (as shown) the Nvida display driver, the system will ask for a restart.
It will reboot to the desktop without a driver
Once there, simply launch the Nvidia driver installer you downloaded in CUSTOM mode, just the Graphics driver and PhysX. Also put a check in the "Clean" install option.

Should get you fixed up perfectly

maniacvvv

maxam66

maniacvvv

maxam66

Hi,
Great guide, I wish I had seen it a long time ago, very well written and much appreciated, thanks.

Prior to finding the guide I attempted to install driver 306.23 for my GTX 570 Superclocked 1280Mb GPU over top of the existing 301.42 driver.  I had the same issue as jjfreites... black screen.  I attempted a power reset to my LED display but I could not get the desktop to reappear.  The only thing left to do was to press the reset button on the PC which resulted in it booting into safe mode.  I rebooted and once back on the desktop I proceeded with the installation of the new driver.  Unfortunately I could not configure my application as I received an error message which stated that my video card could not support shaders.

Again, the driver would not completely uninstall without the black screen and safe mode so I made the mistake of using system restore which has probably corrupted the display driver.

Currently I have driver version 301.42 installed once again.  My applications all seem to run fine but I have this nagging feeling that the drivers are not properly installed.  The reason I say this is that when I try to uninstall from Programs and Features by right clicking and selecting uninstall the drivers remain on the list. 

Is there a workaround such as using driver sweeper as mentioned in the guide or should that only be used to clean the remnants of uninstalled drivers?  I am really at a loss as to what to do with this situation.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Max

Welcome to the EVGA forums

What "application" gave a error saying "shaders" were not supported?
Any chance that was from program that uses PhysX...

Anyway I dont think your in alot of trouble here

I think all you need to do is get a fresh copy of the 301.42 installer (the same 301.42 you are running now) onto the desktop
*Remember to SHUT DOWN -and- uninstall Precision/Afterburner -before- starting to work with the drivers.
Then (without uninstalling) simply launch the installer in Custom mode with just the Graphics driver and PhysX checked and super Important, with the "Perform a Clean install" checked!
This should fix your issues right up. Your just overinstalling the "same" 301.42 driver and uninstalling any broken files/registry info....  

Do a reboot and make sure everything is working. (do NOT reinstall Precision/Afterburner yet)

Now download a fresh copy of 306.23 and get it on the desktop
-again- do not attempt to uninstall 301.42 in any way.   
Simply launch the installer in Custom mode (as you did before) with "Perform a clean install" checked

I really think that will completely fix you right up

Please post back if you continue to have issues

Thanks for the quick reply.  The application is Flight Simulator X.
I will give your suggestions a try.  As far as fan control, is it possible that the temps are controlled via the BIOS?  The only other fan control I can think of is that I saw a setting in NVIDIA Inspector.

I appreciate the help.

Max

We were NOT talking about Fan control and what on earth are you doing using Nvidia inspector with 300 series drivers?
I highly suggest that you not use Nvidia inspector with 306.23, unless you feel like having serious problems is fun.
Completely remove Nvidia inspector from your system before doing anything further, and dont bother putting it back in, its not going to work correctly. Probably one of your problems in the first place.

Just get your drivers in correctly and when thats done and -tested-, put in Precision or Afterburner (latest versions -only-) for fan control.

dskudra

Hey. I recently bought BF3 for my computer but I am having trouble. I can run other games like max payne 3 and Guild Wars 2 on max graphics with no problems, but BF3 seems to give me trouble. 

The problem is, when I start playing the game it works fine for 10 seconds to 2 minutes, and then the game will crash and display this message:


Anyways, I tried running the game on minimum graphics out of curiosity and it still happens. Here is some of the parts in my PC, if it helps to solve the problem.

nVidia GeForce GTX 660Ti by EVGA
8.00 GB RAM G.Skill
Intel Core i5-3550 CPU 3.30GHz
650w NZXT Hale PSU
Z77X UD3H Gigabyte MOBO

I'm pretty sure the problem doesn't lie within my computers components because it can run extremely demanding games with no hassle. I have upgraded to the most recent drivers for my video card and made sure they were the most up to date twice. I also tried doing the repair install of the game through origins. Any ideas? Thanks. I tried asking this to some people on the EA help forums, but all I got was 10 answers that didn't change anything sadly. :(

maniacvvv

jjfreites

Hello!!! 

Thanks for such a wonderful guide!! :)

I have a small but annoying problem. Everytime I want to do a clean install and remove the current gfx driver my screen goes black, my monitor says there is no signal and I have to do a hard reset to be able to load again the screen with the windows 7 default drivers. I can hear sounds and everything so it is different from a hard lock or a crash.

It started to happen since the 280.xx drivers updates to my previous  2x580 SLI and now still happens with my GTX 690. 

Please mind you, that I got a new Corsair m4 512GB SSD so Windows 7 was reinstalled and still when upgrading from 301.42 to the 306 driver the same thing still happens. It is as if the default drivers aren't loaded automatically once the nvidia driver is removed. 

Actually, the only way to recover the signal is by doing the clean install directly from the Nvidia control center where the monitor will go offline and back online once the new driver is in place but, as you know, sometimes is better to remove the drivers manually and do a fresh install.

Any help greatly appreciated!! 

Thanks.

This is an interesting problem, I'm not sure I have a answer for you.

When the screen goes black after the uninstall, have you tried powering your monitor OFF/On
This could be an issue where the monitor just needs a reset to "find" the new signal...

The good news is that it now does not matter--> if your using a GTX 690
Your GTX 690 card can only use drivers that are setup correctly to use Nvidia's "Clean install option"
*(unlike older drivers for 500 series cards)

In fact you no longer even need to uninstall before putting in a newer driver.
Just shutdown Precision/Afterburner (make sure its NOT set to start at boot) before beginning the driver install.
Then launch the installer for the new driver in CUSTOM Mode and select the Nvidia components of your choice
The "key" to getting the previous drivers out correctly, is to make sure to put a check box in the "Perform a Clean Install" 

ManusDei

maniacvvv

jjfreites

Hello!!! 

Thanks for such a wonderful guide!! :)

I have a small but annoying problem. Everytime I want to do a clean install and remove the current gfx driver my screen goes black, my monitor says there is no signal and I have to do a hard reset to be able to load again the screen with the windows 7 default drivers. I can hear sounds and everything so it is different from a hard lock or a crash.

It started to happen since the 280.xx drivers updates to my previous  2x580 SLI and now still happens with my GTX 690. 

Please mind you, that I got a new Corsair m4 512GB SSD so Windows 7 was reinstalled and still when upgrading from 301.42 to the 306 driver the same thing still happens. It is as if the default drivers aren't loaded automatically once the nvidia driver is removed. 

Actually, the only way to recover the signal is by doing the clean install directly from the Nvidia control center where the monitor will go offline and back online once the new driver is in place but, as you know, sometimes is better to remove the drivers manually and do a fresh install.

Any help greatly appreciated!! 

Thanks.

This is an interesting problem, I'm not sure I have a answer for you.

When the screen goes black after the uninstall, have you tried powering your monitor OFF/On
This could be an issue where the monitor just needs a reset to "find" the new signal...

The good news is that it now does not matter--> if your using a GTX 690
Your GTX 690 card can only use drivers that are setup correctly to use Nvidia's "Clean install option"
*(unlike older drivers for 500 series cards)

In fact you no longer even need to uninstall before putting in a newer driver.
Just shutdown Precision/Afterburner (make sure its NOT set to start at boot) before beginning the driver install.
Then launch the installer for the new driver in CUSTOM Mode and select the Nvidia components of your choice
The "key" to getting the previous drivers out correctly, is to make sure to put a check box in the "Perform a Clean Install" 

Thanks for the great guide first off.

Just ordered my GTX 670 FTW and am currently running a GTX 570 with driver version 306.97 installed. So once i get my GTX 670, i only need to follow what you instructed above for the GTX 690 and use the "clean install option". This will remove all my old GTX 570 drivers and i am good to go from there and don't need to use your excellent guide for my new 670? Just want to make sure i'm reading that correctly before i get my new card. Thanks in advance...