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[kitz]

Do you actually need to load any nVidia software? Is it possible to use the hardware in purely basic VESA mode?

If the answers to the above are unfortunately "yes & no",

That is a.....  Yes and No 

Without it my monitor doesnt run at the correct resolution, and without the nVidia CP I cant run dual monitors.   I 'think' the basic I can get away with is the nvidia control panel.  Which is what I intend to try after a clean windows install.

This afternoons experiment seems to point the blame at GeForce Experience - or at least something that is installed with it such as NvStream
Something is seriously wrong atm with nvidia and since this has been ongoing for hundreds of people since last Nov, I cant understand why they cant get to the bottom of it.   Theres also people on here such as Newtron Star [1 and ronski in his post above who admitted that the update causes them issues too, but not serious enough to cause a long term problem.   

Touch wood without the GeForce bulk its now running fine again so this afternoons work hasnt been fruitless, in that I know if I can just use drivers without other rubbish then at least the network is 100% fine, and touch wood its not frozen if GeForce is added.

then maybe time has come to replace the nVidia graphics controller with something completely different? 

This has seriously put me - and many others judging by the state of their forum - off nvidia.  Unfortunately theres not that many other options though, we seem to have a rather limited choice of nvidia or amd.   How many people wont bother visiting the forums and just think their PC is broken.  The average bod would just take it to PCworld, who would say "broken graphics card you need a new one", and present them with a bill for £150. 
I know this isnt a top of the range card, but it still cost me iirc @£120...  it worked fine for over a year until I stupidly updated the drivers..  and thats why I was looking for an old version of the drivers again.   

From this afernoons experiment, I 'think' that as long as I use one of their downloads and am VERY careful about what I let it install then I may be ok.     In future, I must not let wupdate install or update anything hardware related, because that appears to silently install the GeForce experience without giving you any option.

Looking back now.  The network issues I had last year with slow speeds which were Rwin related (was that really something to do with nvStreamSvc? ) the bluescreening when I thought my graphics card was knacked and the PC wouldnt reboot link, then the failure of my SDD so soon.     The past few months its been one PC niggle after another.  I cant recall EVER having had so many issues with my own PC and now everything seems to be pointing at one possible same source.    I guess I will never know re the OCZ drive, but without doubt the amount of blue/black screens Ive had over the past few months will not have done any drive any good, regardless of make.

I guess its my own fault for making this post in October. Ye gawds has that  bit me on the butt big time 

I think the answer is to do a custom install, and only install the graphics driver and physX, and make sure Windows Update is not set to automatically install drivers.

Yep thats the next plan of action..   Just wanted to make sure its stable atm with just those 2.
Bit hard to tell for sure on such a bare system though.  Once I start installing all the programs then it becomes a work-horse again.
I dont want to spend a week putting everything back on and then it crash again, so I'll leave it bare for the next few days.   

[sheddyian]

This might be a bit wide of the mark, but if you completely uninstall the drivers and other supporting software (perhaps even removing the card if the PC also has built in graphics?) and then booting cleanly with a "new" nVidia card, does it install Microsoft drivers rather than nVidia drivers?  If so, are these good enough?

In days gone past, many an unstable Windows system was blamed on Microsoft, but was invariably 3rd party drivers - only using Microsoft drivers would result in a very stable system (although sometimes lacking features/speed!)

Not sure if this is also relevant :

Some months ago I was given a load of old PC bits.  One was an Nividia 9800GT card.  It produced a display with lots of lines on it, tried to boot then blue screened.

Some googling revealed that a serious overheat problem on some older nVidia chips caused the GPU solder balls to fracture.  A "fix" is to bake it in the oven.

So, the other day, I put the failing 9800GT card in a reheated oven at 200C for 10 minutes, then let it cool in the oven for several hours before removing.

Put back in PC, switched on and...

works perfectly!

Cooking in oven reflows the solder enough without (so far) damaging anything 

Ian

[HPsauce]

if you completely uninstall the drivers and other supporting software (perhaps even removing the card if the PC also has built in graphics?) and then booting cleanly with a "new" nVidia card, does it install Microsoft drivers rather than nVidia drivers?  If so, are these good enough?

I've learned over the years to do this as the default, avoiding all the "bloatware" that usually arrived with the manufacturers driver install package.
Sometimes you can pick the drivers up by requesting an update in Device Manager, other times (I've no idea why) this doesn't find anything but a full run of Windows Update does. 

I've also noticed some installers do give you the option of a "drivers only" install (no tools or utilities) and again I choose that if available when forced down that route.

Finally I note Kitz comment about multiple monitors. Surely that is standard Windows functionality if supported by the drivers?

[kitz]

>> does it install Microsoft drivers rather than nVidia drivers?

That is what I was hoping for when I did the fresh install.  But unfortunately the MS version also silently included all the unwanted parts such as NVStreamSvc and 3D vision etc and theres no option to choose what bits are added at all.. it more or less installs the same as 'express install' from invidia.

It took me about 10 mins to reinstall windows, then about an hour and a half to install the updates.  I'd still not found a suitable graphics driver so I installed the suggested windows certified version.

By that I meant the Microsoft ones in this post where I list the order of installation.

I ran it for appx 2 hours on the basic windows drivers that came with the windows dvd, but it was incorrect resolution and I only had one monitor.   I then installed the drivers that were recommended in w-update.  As soon as I installed them, I encountered problems again, the network issue kicked in straight away. Admittedly I didnt have any blue screening, but I did get a few frozen screens where the only way out was to power-down...  and cases of weirdness, like when the mouse gets stuck or shows the wrong pointer/icon, or weird artifacts that shouldnt be there.


>> I've also noticed some installers do give you the option of a "drivers only" install (no tools or utilities)

I can absolutely guarantee 100% there is no option if the upgrade comes via windows, whilst it may not install everything in the full nvidia package, it does seem to include some of the unwanted add on items such as 3D and nvstream and HD sound drivers.

Touch wood Ive not had any problems since I removed NVstream, 3D and GExperience yesterday afternoon.    There are still LOTS of unwanted nvidea stuff scattered across the drive and I intend doing another clean install when I get time.

I intend to use the nvidia package which at least gives you some sort of custom install option - unlike the windows one -  I know I mustnt use express install because that also installs some of the unwanted bulk - as found out by yesterday afternoons experiment. 

[NewtronStar]

Kitz this is all Deja Vu from your last issue that NVStream seemed to be cause, I guess your going to have to set the Windows Update to Download updates but but let me choose whether to install them that way you can untick the NVidia driver, I never use the windows update for graphic drivers as I use the Nvidia Web site http://www.nvidia.co.uk/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-uk

lets hope this is the last issue with NV drivers.

[Berrick]

Kitz,

I'm still running Nvidia driver version 9.18.13.1106.

The problem is I cant find the installer at the mo (so based on your experience I hope I don't need to re install anytime soon) BUT I have in the past installed drivers the loooooong way; one file at a time pointing or searching for the next file on a computer.

If I can't find the installer I can zip up all the files listed in devmgmt and send them to you?

[Black Sheep]

I remember the pain ........ 

[Ronski]

I remember the pain ........ 

Would that be the pain that stopped you upgrading to Mavericks  Not all is rosy in the Apple camp.

[burakkucat]

Me doest sense Kitz preparing the sheep dip . . . 

[Black Sheep]

I remember the pain ........ 

Would that be the pain that stopped you upgrading to Mavericks  Not all is rosy in the Apple camp.

Ha ha, the difference being ........ I probably get one software update every 5/6 weeks, if that ??!!.
'Mavericks' was offered (it didn't install itself like Kitz's NVidia did), and I decided not to perform the update after taking Kitz's advice and looking into it myself a wee bit.

All is incredibly quiet and update-free in the Apple camp. 

[Black Sheep]

Me doest sense Kitz preparing the sheep dip . . . 

Ha ha, looks like a week or two of fleas then, Cat. 

[kitz]

I remember the pain ........ 

@ BS..   

This is an nvidia issue not windows.  

Before I updated the drivers last year Ive not had a black or blue screen issues since installing WinXP in 2001.  Windows 7 is also very stable - you can see my audit figures here which were taken just before I encountered all the driver issues.

I thought Id turned the hardware part of wupdate off after I installed the new drive, but obviously not, and having just reinstalled windows again I think I know where I went wrong and accidentally turned it back on again (Amber nag in Action Centre).

Incidentally whilst looking for old drivers the other day,  I stumbled across an informative blog by someone in a similar situation as me,  with the GTX 500 series card which also started at exactly the same time.

He has been doing some digging on the problem, His post is actually very informative, but the conclusion says it all

BSOD reports that point straight at Nvidia? Yes, it's not my problem, and it's not hardware, which worked perfectly until I foolishly updated the drivers.

i've been a loyal user of Nvidia since 1999, with GeForce 2 and such. I have probably spent at least USD2,500 on different graphics cards over the last decade. So extrapolate over the next four or five decades, how much more money I could have spent on Nvidia. But no more. I've had enough.

-----

Blacksheep - I wouldnt laugh too long or hard, nor can Apple feel smug - Lion users plagued by black screen bug - that was caused by the nvidia drivers too - so apple users arent imune   

PS. It can also affect linux too

[HPsauce]

I think I know where I went wrong and accidentally turned it back on again (Amber nag in Action Centre).

It's also worth looking at the Settings in Windows Update.
Most hardware driver updates come through as at most Recommended (or even just Optional), not Important so uncheck the option to treat them the same.

[kitz]

Cheers HP

I have just completed another fresh install and this is how Ive currently set it.   Because I have (or will soon have installed again) Office 2007, I'd like for it to show me other MS Updates.

This is what I currently have set - wupdate1.png
Which shows in Action Center as this - actioncenter.png

Im now in the land of 'nag circle', the only way out seems to be 'turn off messages about Windows update'.

If I do that will it still advise me if theres updates waiting to install?   

[NewtronStar]

Kitz as HP said the Nvidia drivers come in as optional and once it comes in you should untick it and windows should remember this and the next NVidia update that comes will be shown but not selected.

on Vista I don't get the Nag, here is my setup.