Anyone still use "Driver Cleaner", etc. when installing new drivers...?

[Caveman]

Per subject...

Been out of the loop for a loooong time... Back in the day ~5-7 years ago, I recall people advising use of utilities such as "Driver Cleaner" (or similar) to clean up the goop Windows leaves behind on a video driver uninstall...

Here's the situation:

My Dad has an old PC that I built for him... He's going to install a "new" GeForce 5200 in place of the Geforce 3 Ti 500 thats dying...

What is the correct order of operations to remove the old card and install the new. AND... Do we need Driver Cleaner? OS is Win XP. Wondering if the newest version of Driver Cleaner, or similar program would do more harm than good...

Goal is to get the new card installe/working with as little an issue as possible. Any ideas/tips appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Aquila76]

I wouldn't bother running Driver Cleaner (actually, I don't think they're even around anymore). The cards are the same manufacturer, so you shouldn't hit any weird issues. Just uninstall the driver, install new(er) card, and then upgrade to the latest drivers that support your card.
If you were going from nVidia to ATi, then you might need spmething to remove all the stragglers.

 

[Zargon]

you cant get it anymore...

 

[raasco]

you cant get it anymore...

http://download.cnet.com/Driver-Sweeper/3000-2094_4-12174474.html

 

[Stuka87]

I have never bothered using any sort of driver cleaner. If changing cards I just uninstall the card first from device manager, then shutdown. Install new card, and drivers. Never had an issue.

 

[IlllI]

alternative http://www.guru3d.com/category/driversweeper/

 

[TidusZ]

Atiman Uninstaller fixed issues I had with CCC crashing constantly, so I'd say such programs have their uses.

 

[hclarkjr]

i just go to device manager and uninstall the hardware, it ask you if you want to delete the drivers when you do that.

 

[Jacky60]

I use driver sweeper-it still picks up left over bits when I've done a uninstall and recently I had an annoying evening trying to install more recent drivers because traces of last ones were still there (I didn't use driver sweeper that time) its still available from guru3d.

 

[MrK6]

It's easy enough to delete the entries yourself, that's what I do. I thought Driver Sweeper was also discontinued, but it seems it's been kept up now, odd.

 

[Chiropteran]

No, it's not needed. At least with AMD cards, you don't even need to uninstall the previous driver, you can just install the new driver over top and it will remove the old for you.

 

[kalrith]

I still use driver cleaner (have a copy from years ago), but driver sweeper seems to be a good alternative.

When not using driver cleaner, I've had problems with my overscan settings being saved in ATI CCC. I had to change them every reboot. After using driver cleaner and reinstalling the driver, the overscan settings would save. That's the only difference I've actually noticed by using driver cleaner.

 

[Golgatha]

I use Driver Sweeper when changing over manufacturers (realistically going between nVidia and AMD hardware). I also make a full disc image of my system before switching manufacturers.

 

[Golgatha]

It's easy enough to delete the entries yourself, that's what I do. I thought Driver Sweeper was also discontinued, but it seems it's been kept up now, odd.

They aren't still developing Driver Sweeper, but thankfully it still works very well, especially so if you run it from safe mode.

 

[Muskelmads]

If I experience problems with a new set of drivers, I usually uninstall them, run driver sweeper and then reinstall the drivers.

 

[Red Storm]

Never have, and probably never will.

 

[nitromullet]

Guru3D stopped hosting the Driver Sweeper download and support forums because they disagreed with the addition of some adware that was added by the author.

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=331125

The author continued the project on his own here:

http://phyxion.net/item/driver-sweeper.html

I believe it still contains adware.

 

[Leyawiin]

Nvidia drivers have the option for a clean install now, so I don't bother with Driver Cleaner (although I have access to the paid version from buying it years ago).

 

[Will Robinson]

CCleaner's registry cleaner always picks up stray ATI/AMD .dlls and remnants of previous Catalyst Control center installs.
Seems good to me.
http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner

 

[grimpr]

For Catalyst drivers nothing beats Atimans Uninstaller.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1130717/new-version-uninstaller-by-atiman/10

 

[kalrith]

For Catalyst drivers nothing beats Atimans Uninstaller.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1130717/new-version-uninstaller-by-atiman/10

Thanks for posting. I'll have to check it out when I get home.

 

[Imp]

Yep... I use Phyxion's Driver _____er.

Totally regretting it.

Turns out it wipes some built-in drivers in Windows. Now I can't install Win 7 Service Pack 1 without doing a repair install, or selectively restoring (hit & miss) a bunch of files.

Too lazy to do that, so I'm just going to wait until I get an SSD, and do a total reinstall.

 

[gramboh]

Seems impossible to find an install for the last version of Driver Sweeper before Phyxion added the stupid spyware. Oh well, I'll just try Nvidia's "Clean install" option next time.

 

[Cerb]

Assuming Windows XP, I would check the driver version for FX series support. If it has it, I would try just popping the new card in, and only if it screws up, bother with even updating drivers.

If the drivers are in fact ancient, I would update them, doing a clean install (it's a check box in the Forceware), then put in the new card.

 

[Nintendesert]

For Catalyst drivers nothing beats Atimans Uninstaller.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1130717/new-version-uninstaller-by-atiman/10

I'll have to try it. everytime I update my 5870s drivers I have to use driver sweeper or my CCC will simply crash.