Solved BSOD possibly caused by new NVIDIA driver. Not sure what to do.

[ThisIsMadness91]

Last year in March, I installed the 314.22 drivers and everything seemed fine. A few months later, I installed the 320.18 drivers, but learned that it caused a lot of problems, such as the kernel mode driver stopping and restarting while simply using Firefox. I used System Restore and it seemed to do the trick, but I did see people talking about using third party programs to completely remove old drivers.

Yesterday, I had the problem with the kernel mode driver again for the first time since June and decided to update the driver. I think that may have only made things worse, though, because about half an hour ago, I got a blue screen. He suggested that I use System Restore, which I did, but now I'm worried that I haven't really solved the problem or that there's something else I should do as well.

Should I use a program to remove my drivers and reinstall 314.22? I've learned new things about my PC while researching problems in the past, but I still only really know the basics, and looking at the instructions for some of these programs makes me worry that I might severely mess things up when trying to use them on my own. My dad will be away for a couple of weeks starting tomorrow, so if I should use one of these programs, I'd like to do it tonight while he's here to go through it with me.

 

[TVeblen]

Try this first:

• Go to the nVidia website and download the most recent WQHL driver for your video card.
• Run the program. (I'm writing this from memory - so things may be slightly different)
• After it extracts the files you will be given the option to do a 'Custom Install'. Do that.
• Leave all the component boxes checked, but down near the bottom there will be a box that says "Perform a Clean Installation". Check that box.
• Also check the box if it asks if you want to delete all your old settings. That is the part you really want to get done here.

Then run the installer. See if that fixes it.

 

[Golden]

The Nvidia 314.22 WHQL is a very stable driver. If TVeblen's suggestion doesn't work out, please try 314.22 again.

 

[ThisIsMadness91]

Thanks to both of you. I may just do a clean installation of 314.22 for now. It's served me well so far save for that one problem Saturday night, and I don't play many games on my PC. So unless outdated drivers are a potential security risk, I think I'll keep it and try updating again another time. I'll come back and mark this problem solved at the end of the week if there are no problems before then.

 

[matts6887]

i too would tend to stay with the older driver if the newer one is causing issues. And yes you definitely want a clean install of the driver if you can.

 

[ThisIsMadness91]

Quick question - I use an HDTV as my monitor, with the resolution slightly adjusted to get rid of the thin black borders that are present when I set it to 1920x1080. When I remove the drivers to perform a clean installation, is it likely to cause a problem with the display or will it simply switch to an ideal resolution?

 

[TVeblen]

It will switch to a default resolution. You will need to make any personalized adjustments afterward.

Tip: After installing the driver, test for a day without making any changes to see if problems go away. If all is good then create a System Restore point and then start making changes.
Best in a situation like yours to make any changes one at a time, one per day. That way if a particular change causes problems you know what it is, and can undo it.

 

[ThisIsMadness91]

Sounds like good advice.

 

[ThisIsMadness91]

Just stopping by quick to say that I haven't had any problems since reverting to 314.22. I think the problem is solved. Thanks to all of you for your advice.

 

[Golden]