restoring the correct video driver after MS update reset to defaultVGA driver

I am trying to figure out if there is a way to determine what video
adapter driver was installed after windows reset the driver to a
default VGA driver. We were able to determine it was a nvidia 440MX
and I installed the driver although there were a bunch to choose from,
some were nvidia and some were Microsoft. However one of his graphics
programs is not displaying his drawings correctly.

I am helping out a friend remotely who contacted me after he was
having problems with the video on his computer. He said he started
having problems after his MS automatic updates ran. I tried to going
to a previous day's restore point but it did not work. I am going to
try turning off my AV since some post suggested that could be a
problem.

But is there some kind of log or history that might list the previous
driver I was using.

thanks, David

Have you tried to "roll back" the driver in Device manager?

"vbDavidC" wrote in message
...
I am trying to figure out if there is a way to determine what video
adapter driver was installed after windows reset the driver to a
default VGA driver. We were able to determine it was a nvidia 440MX
and I installed the driver although there were a bunch to choose from,
some were nvidia and some were Microsoft. However one of his graphics
programs is not displaying his drawings correctly.

I am helping out a friend remotely who contacted me after he was
having problems with the video on his computer. He said he started
having problems after his MS automatic updates ran. I tried to going
to a previous day's restore point but it did not work. I am going to
try turning off my AV since some post suggested that could be a
problem.

But is there some kind of log or history that might list the previous
driver I was using.

thanks, David

vbDavidC wrote:
I am trying to figure out if there is a way to determine what video
adapter driver was installed after windows reset the driver to a
default VGA driver. We were able to determine it was a nvidia 440MX
and I installed the driver although there were a bunch to choose from,
some were nvidia and some were Microsoft. However one of his graphics
programs is not displaying his drawings correctly.

I am helping out a friend remotely who contacted me after he was
having problems with the video on his computer. He said he started
having problems after his MS automatic updates ran. I tried to going
to a previous day's restore point but it did not work. I am going to
try turning off my AV since some post suggested that could be a
problem.

But is there some kind of log or history that might list the previous
driver I was using.

thanks, David

Alert to all! DO NOT (REPEAT: DO NOT) ever download and install
hardware driver updates from the Microsoft web site. I do not know why
they can't get it right, but all too many hardware drivers from their
web site fail to work properly or muck up a system. On the other hand,
the drivers from the hardware mfrs web sites work just fine. So much
for the great and wonderful Windows Hardware Qualification Labs!

.... Ben Myers

Ben Myers wrote:
vbDavidC wrote:
I am trying to figure out if there is a way to determine what video
adapter driver was installed after windows reset the driver to a
default VGA driver. We were able to determine it was a nvidia 440MX
and I installed the driver although there were a bunch to choose from,
some were nvidia and some were Microsoft. However one of his graphics
programs is not displaying his drawings correctly.

I am helping out a friend remotely who contacted me after he was
having problems with the video on his computer. He said he started
having problems after his MS automatic updates ran. I tried to going
to a previous day's restore point but it did not work. I am going to
try turning off my AV since some post suggested that could be a
problem.

But is there some kind of log or history that might list the previous
driver I was using.

thanks, David

Alert to all! DO NOT (REPEAT: DO NOT) ever download and install
hardware driver updates from the Microsoft web site. I do not know why
they can't get it right, but all too many hardware drivers from their
web site fail to work properly or muck up a system. On the other hand,
the drivers from the hardware mfrs web sites work just fine. So much
for the great and wonderful Windows Hardware Qualification Labs!

... Ben Myers

Does Microsoft write those drivers?

Daddy

Daddy wrote:
Ben Myers wrote:
vbDavidC wrote:
I am trying to figure out if there is a way to determine what video
adapter driver was installed after windows reset the driver to a
default VGA driver. We were able to determine it was a nvidia 440MX
and I installed the driver although there were a bunch to choose from,
some were nvidia and some were Microsoft. However one of his graphics
programs is not displaying his drawings correctly.

I am helping out a friend remotely who contacted me after he was
having problems with the video on his computer. He said he started
having problems after his MS automatic updates ran. I tried to going
to a previous day's restore point but it did not work. I am going to
try turning off my AV since some post suggested that could be a
problem.

But is there some kind of log or history that might list the previous
driver I was using.

thanks, David

Alert to all! DO NOT (REPEAT: DO NOT) ever download and install
hardware driver updates from the Microsoft web site. I do not know
why they can't get it right, but all too many hardware drivers from
their web site fail to work properly or muck up a system. On the
other hand, the drivers from the hardware mfrs web sites work just
fine. So much for the great and wonderful Windows Hardware
Qualification Labs!

... Ben Myers

Does Microsoft write those drivers?

Daddy

No. They are written by the independent hardware vendors (IHV's) to
meet published Microsoft specs and submitted to WHQL for testing,
qualification and certification, blah, blah, blah, and to get the Good
Microsoft Seal of Approval. For some number of dollars paid to billg.

It is ironic that the Windows Update site regularly screws up systems
that download the hardware drivers. Then the "uncertified" and often
updated drivers from the IHV install perfectly, except for the complaint
by XP that the drivers aren't certified, of course... Ben Myers

Ben Myers wrote:
Daddy wrote:
Ben Myers wrote:
vbDavidC wrote:
I am trying to figure out if there is a way to determine what video
adapter driver was installed after windows reset the driver to a
default VGA driver. We were able to determine it was a nvidia 440MX
and I installed the driver although there were a bunch to choose from,
some were nvidia and some were Microsoft. However one of his graphics
programs is not displaying his drawings correctly.

I am helping out a friend remotely who contacted me after he was
having problems with the video on his computer. He said he started
having problems after his MS automatic updates ran. I tried to going
to a previous day's restore point but it did not work. I am going to
try turning off my AV since some post suggested that could be a
problem.

But is there some kind of log or history that might list the previous
driver I was using.

thanks, David

Alert to all! DO NOT (REPEAT: DO NOT) ever download and install
hardware driver updates from the Microsoft web site. I do not know
why they can't get it right, but all too many hardware drivers from
their web site fail to work properly or muck up a system. On the
other hand, the drivers from the hardware mfrs web sites work just
fine. So much for the great and wonderful Windows Hardware
Qualification Labs!

... Ben Myers

Does Microsoft write those drivers?

Daddy

No. They are written by the independent hardware vendors (IHV's) to
meet published Microsoft specs and submitted to WHQL for testing,
qualification and certification, blah, blah, blah, and to get the Good
Microsoft Seal of Approval. For some number of dollars paid to billg.

It is ironic that the Windows Update site regularly screws up systems
that download the hardware drivers. Then the "uncertified" and often
updated drivers from the IHV install perfectly, except for the complaint
by XP that the drivers aren't certified, of course... Ben Myers

So it's the hardware vendors who provide the software, not Microsoft. In
other words, you can't blame Microsoft for software it didn't write.

And what about those "published Microsoft specs"? According to
Microsoft's documentation (for XP), the logo certifies nothing more than
"a baseline definition of platform features and quality goals" like
assurance that "all components install and uninstall properly" on a
clean install of the OS. The logo says nothing about how well the driver
actually works.

Do hardware providers ever try to cheat the logo program?
http://blogs.msdn.com/oldnewthing/ar.../05/84469.aspx

There's a good reason for avoiding drivers from Windows Update, but your
rant didn't mention it: These drivers offer no more than baseline
features and baseline stability, which is all that certification means
in the first place. If you want the best possible performance, features
and reliability, get your drivers directly from the hardware manufacturer.

Problem is, too many users have no idea how to get good drivers, how to
install them or even what a driver is. For them, Microsoft - or rather,
the hardware vendor - offers a workable solution. It's no surprise that
a an 'uncertified' driver performs better than something you get from WinUp.

You can say the same for other parts of Windows: Does Windows' built-in
backup, file searching, CD burning, etc. stink against almost anything
you can get from a third party? You bet. But for the great unwashed,
they get the job done.

Daddy

Daddy wrote:
Ben Myers wrote:
Daddy wrote:
Ben Myers wrote:
vbDavidC wrote:
I am trying to figure out if there is a way to determine what video
adapter driver was installed after windows reset the driver to a
default VGA driver. We were able to determine it was a nvidia 440MX
and I installed the driver although there were a bunch to choose from,
some were nvidia and some were Microsoft. However one of his graphics
programs is not displaying his drawings correctly.

I am helping out a friend remotely who contacted me after he was
having problems with the video on his computer. He said he started
having problems after his MS automatic updates ran. I tried to going
to a previous day's restore point but it did not work. I am going to
try turning off my AV since some post suggested that could be a
problem.

But is there some kind of log or history that might list the previous
driver I was using.

thanks, David

Alert to all! DO NOT (REPEAT: DO NOT) ever download and install
hardware driver updates from the Microsoft web site. I do not know
why they can't get it right, but all too many hardware drivers from
their web site fail to work properly or muck up a system. On the
other hand, the drivers from the hardware mfrs web sites work just
fine. So much for the great and wonderful Windows Hardware
Qualification Labs!

... Ben Myers

Does Microsoft write those drivers?

Daddy

No. They are written by the independent hardware vendors (IHV's) to
meet published Microsoft specs and submitted to WHQL for testing,
qualification and certification, blah, blah, blah, and to get the Good
Microsoft Seal of Approval. For some number of dollars paid to billg.

It is ironic that the Windows Update site regularly screws up systems
that download the hardware drivers. Then the "uncertified" and often
updated drivers from the IHV install perfectly, except for the
complaint by XP that the drivers aren't certified, of course... Ben Myers

So it's the hardware vendors who provide the software, not Microsoft. In
other words, you can't blame Microsoft for software it didn't write.

And what about those "published Microsoft specs"? According to
Microsoft's documentation (for XP), the logo certifies nothing more than
"a baseline definition of platform features and quality goals" like
assurance that "all components install and uninstall properly" on a
clean install of the OS. The logo says nothing about how well the driver
actually works.

Do hardware providers ever try to cheat the logo program?
http://blogs.msdn.com/oldnewthing/ar.../05/84469.aspx

There's a good reason for avoiding drivers from Windows Update, but your
rant didn't mention it: These drivers offer no more than baseline
features and baseline stability, which is all that certification means
in the first place. If you want the best possible performance, features
and reliability, get your drivers directly from the hardware manufacturer.

Problem is, too many users have no idea how to get good drivers, how to
install them or even what a driver is. For them, Microsoft - or rather,
the hardware vendor - offers a workable solution. It's no surprise that
a an 'uncertified' driver performs better than something you get from
WinUp.

You can say the same for other parts of Windows: Does Windows' built-in
backup, file searching, CD burning, etc. stink against almost anything
you can get from a third party? You bet. But for the great unwashed,
they get the job done.

Daddy

Yes, I can blame Microsoft for the failure of hardware drivers. It is
the MICROSOFT update web site. The drivers have supposedly been blessed
by MICROOSFT'S WHQL. Who in hell at MICROSOFT bothers to test the
download and install of the drivers before foisting them off on the
general public. Who stands behind the Microsoft update web site?

Oops! I forgot. This is Microsoft, isn't it? A lot like the parody of
the ad slogan some years ago: "You're in good hands with Allstate."
Except that the parody showed, oops!, something slipping out of the hands.

You are absolutely right. Whether WHQL certified or not, drivers from
the mfr's web site are generally newer, may run a bit faster, and often
offer more features. I failed to mention this because I considered it
to be off-topic... Ben Myers

On Fri, 14 Aug 2009 00:49:14 -0400, Ben Myers
wrote:

Daddy wrote:
Ben Myers wrote:
Daddy wrote:
Ben Myers wrote:
vbDavidC wrote:
I am trying to figure out if there is a way to determine what video
adapter driver was installed after windows reset the driver to a
default VGA driver. We were able to determine it was a nvidia 440MX
and I installed the driver although there were a bunch to choose from,
some were nvidia and some were Microsoft. However one of his graphics
programs is not displaying his drawings correctly.

I am helping out a friend remotely who contacted me after he was
having problems with the video on his computer. He said he started
having problems after his MS automatic updates ran. I tried to going
to a previous day's restore point but it did not work. I am going to
try turning off my AV since some post suggested that could be a
problem.

But is there some kind of log or history that might list the previous
driver I was using.

thanks, David

Alert to all! DO NOT (REPEAT: DO NOT) ever download and install
hardware driver updates from the Microsoft web site. I do not know
why they can't get it right, but all too many hardware drivers from
their web site fail to work properly or muck up a system. On the
other hand, the drivers from the hardware mfrs web sites work just
fine. So much for the great and wonderful Windows Hardware
Qualification Labs!

... Ben Myers

Does Microsoft write those drivers?

Daddy

No. They are written by the independent hardware vendors (IHV's) to
meet published Microsoft specs and submitted to WHQL for testing,
qualification and certification, blah, blah, blah, and to get the Good
Microsoft Seal of Approval. For some number of dollars paid to billg.

It is ironic that the Windows Update site regularly screws up systems
that download the hardware drivers. Then the "uncertified" and often
updated drivers from the IHV install perfectly, except for the
complaint by XP that the drivers aren't certified, of course... Ben Myers

So it's the hardware vendors who provide the software, not Microsoft. In
other words, you can't blame Microsoft for software it didn't write.

And what about those "published Microsoft specs"? According to
Microsoft's documentation (for XP), the logo certifies nothing more than
"a baseline definition of platform features and quality goals" like
assurance that "all components install and uninstall properly" on a
clean install of the OS. The logo says nothing about how well the driver
actually works.

Do hardware providers ever try to cheat the logo program?
http://blogs.msdn.com/oldnewthing/ar.../05/84469.aspx

There's a good reason for avoiding drivers from Windows Update, but your
rant didn't mention it: These drivers offer no more than baseline
features and baseline stability, which is all that certification means
in the first place. If you want the best possible performance, features
and reliability, get your drivers directly from the hardware manufacturer.

Problem is, too many users have no idea how to get good drivers, how to
install them or even what a driver is. For them, Microsoft - or rather,
the hardware vendor - offers a workable solution. It's no surprise that
a an 'uncertified' driver performs better than something you get from
WinUp.

You can say the same for other parts of Windows: Does Windows' built-in
backup, file searching, CD burning, etc. stink against almost anything
you can get from a third party? You bet. But for the great unwashed,
they get the job done.

Daddy

Yes, I can blame Microsoft for the failure of hardware drivers. It is
the MICROSOFT update web site. The drivers have supposedly been blessed
by MICROOSFT'S WHQL. Who in hell at MICROSOFT bothers to test the
download and install of the drivers before foisting them off on the
general public. Who stands behind the Microsoft update web site?

Oops! I forgot. This is Microsoft, isn't it? A lot like the parody of
the ad slogan some years ago: "You're in good hands with Allstate."
Except that the parody showed, oops!, something slipping out of the hands.

You are absolutely right. Whether WHQL certified or not, drivers from
the mfr's web site are generally newer, may run a bit faster, and often
offer more features. I failed to mention this because I considered it
to be off-topic... Ben Myers


Thanks. Just another reason why I don't bother with MS updates and my
system is happier for it g.

I tried the rollback (after seeing your post) but the driver showed
something like VGA controller and when I selected 'Roll back' it says
there was nothing to roll back to.

I was able to go back to a restore point after I read a post to try it
in SAFE mode after it did not work in normal mode. But the video
driver was back to the point where it had the VGA controller but the
good thing was that my installation of my Nvidia driver. I went into
the registry and did a search for nvidia and there was a liting for
'NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 440 (Microsoft Corporation) which was different
then the one I used which I downloaded from Nvidia. So I thought I
was good to go but I am still having problems. For some reason XP
does not appear to be installing it gracefully. It says something
like the video driver is stopped- could not be started. When I reboot
the computer the driver is listed and appears to be working. But when
the user runs opens a design file he gets a 'driver components mis-
match. Exit is the only option. The window title is nVidia OpenGL
driver.

I may call the software vendor of the graphics program to see if what
our options are if we change the video driver to something that
works. The driver I installed from nVidia did not give me the error
but apparently it was different enough for the drawings not to appear
right to the user. If nothing else I have a disk image from several
months ago that I may just restore back to.

Regarding later posts the enduser did not do a update to his drivers.
The restore points calendar shows 'software distribution service 3.0'
was installed August 12. And I would agree that I have had bad luck
installing those hardware driver updates when you go to the Windows
Update website.

David

Ben,
I've been at this with multiple PCs for many years (was an online tech at
Compaq for 6 years) and can count only 2-3 driver issues with MS update out
of literally hundreds of installs. And those 2-3 were easily corrected with
driver rollback in Device Mangler. I cannot agree with your advice as my
experience is just the opposite.


HH


"Ben Myers" wrote in message
...
vbDavidC wrote:
I am trying to figure out if there is a way to determine what video
adapter driver was installed after windows reset the driver to a
default VGA driver. We were able to determine it was a nvidia 440MX
and I installed the driver although there were a bunch to choose from,
some were nvidia and some were Microsoft. However one of his graphics
programs is not displaying his drawings correctly.

I am helping out a friend remotely who contacted me after he was
having problems with the video on his computer. He said he started
having problems after his MS automatic updates ran. I tried to going
to a previous day's restore point but it did not work. I am going to
try turning off my AV since some post suggested that could be a
problem.

But is there some kind of log or history that might list the previous
driver I was using.

thanks, David

Alert to all! DO NOT (REPEAT: DO NOT) ever download and install hardware
driver updates from the Microsoft web site. I do not know why they can't
get it right, but all too many hardware drivers from their web site fail
to work properly or muck up a system. On the other hand, the drivers from
the hardware mfrs web sites work just fine. So much for the great and
wonderful Windows Hardware Qualification Labs!

... Ben Myers