when I upgrade my video driver do I need to remove the old one first?

[narcotic]

just installing new nVidia drivers over older one... so?

 

[cirrhosis]

Install Driver Cleaner Pro from Guru3D.com, remove only the nVidia drivers (the only one solely named nVidia) and none of the others. Reboot. Then install new drivers. Reboot.

Profit.

 

[narcotic]

Originally posted by: cirrhosis
Install Driver Cleaner Pro from Guru3D.com, remove only the nVidia drivers (the only one solely named nVidia) and none of the others. Reboot. Then install new drivers. Reboot.

Profit.

ok, but just out of curiousity, won't a simple add/remove program do?
I mean, is nVidia unaware of the fact that most people that install new drivers are just upgrading?
do I really need to install driver cleaner first?

Edit: in this page it says it's enough a simple uninstall...

 

[KoolDrew]

Maybe this will help.
http://www.tweakguides.com/NVFORCE_4.html

 

[AntiStatic]

i only use the driver cleaner if i have problems or if i'm switching from ati to nvidia or vice versa. you can uninstall your nvidia drivers, reboot and install the new ones, i do it all the time.

 

[cirrhosis]

Ehm. ::shrug::

I do it this way all the time, just for the fact that I don't run into potential problems. Whatever works for you.

 

[VIAN]

Well, you can just install the new one over the old one.

But, to eliminate any type of problems it is recommended that you uninstall the old ones first. Add/remove programs, restart, install new ones.

To be even more anal about it, you can install drivercleaner pro. Restart into safe mode, clean cab and then clean drivers.

I would just do the first one installing ontop of the old ones. If you have problems with the current ones or if you have problems with the new installation, then drivercleaner may help you.

NOTE: installing new drivers over the old drivers is not a common practice, and are only to be done to Nvidia display drivers. All others must be uinstalled before installing new ones as traditionally done.

 

[narcotic]

well, thanks for all the info guys.
just to wrap this issue up, I did the common add/remove to the old driver, rebooted, installed the new one, rebooted, and all seems to be working fine...
Now I can play BF2, without the shadows looking like the crap they used to...