Updating video card drivers

[Krusshyk]

I have never updated my driver (not since I bought the thing over a year ago) and I have never ever ever never had a problem with them. So I install Half-life 2 and it says my drivers are out of date (duh) and that I might have problems.

Ok fine, so I decide it is time to update. I read the instructions and I THINK I know what to do...

I have downloaded the install file for the drivers I need. I am supposed to uninstall the old ones through the control panel, restart, and then run the install on the new one...

Is that right? Or am I missing a step? I would prefer to not screw something up and have to fix it later...so...am I gonna blow my computer up if I do this?

[X'an Shin]

Welcome to the world of "Plug and Play."

Yeah, what you described sounds about right.

[Jabe Adaks]

What brand of card or chipset is it?

Jabe

[MrDooo]

You shouldn't need to remove anything with video driver updates unless you had a problem updating. Just download the current drivers from the manufacturer site and run the EXE.

http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp

https://support.ati.com/ics/support/def ... olderID=27

[Krusshyk]

It's an Nvidia GeForce 4 Ti 4200.

I figured it out. The instructions say explicitly to remove the old drivers before installing the new ones. Which I did...no problems. I was just confused about whether or not to back up my settings profile (which is irrelevent because it woulda been wiped when I uninstalled everything), but I did it without a hitch.

[Lok'i Vidaar]

The instructions say explicitly to remove the old drivers before installing the new ones.

Really???

I have never ever done that...

I've been through, a RivaTNT, TNT2, GF256, GF2. GF3, GF4, and now a GF FX 5900 Ultra, (all Nvidia cards starting from teh old skool)...

Crazy stuff man...

[Krusshyk]

Yeah, my girl friend's dad has been into computers for quite some time, and he said he never heard of it either.

But I read through the release notes for the drivers and it said that you had to remove the old ones completely. It even said that it could cause lots of problems if you DIDN'T follow the removal instructions to the letter. Not that they were complicated, but they put a little italicized warning right before the installation instructions, just to make sure.

And like I said, this is the first time I have ever downloaded new drivers for a video card, so maybe they were just yankin my chain with the removal stuff.

On a side note, Half Life 2 does look pretty bitching.