Hello dear visitors! I decided to write a small but useful note and tell you how to remove the driver. The computer is an unpredictable thing, so anything can come in handy, even removing the driver for a specific device. For what? That different happens, perhaps the driver was installed crookedly, or not quite the one you need. And installing a new one over the old one does not always work, so you can remove the device driver and install a new one.
After uninstalling and rebooting, the system should find a new device, the driver of which you will remove, and offer to install for it new driver. Perhaps you have another reason why you need to carry out such a procedure. In fact, everything is very simple, now you will see for yourself.
We will remove the driver through the device manager, it seems to me that this is the only correct and reliable way. But still, it’s worth understanding that this is dangerous, near the “Delete” button it even says “Uninstall drivers (for experienced)”, I think that this was written for a reason. Well, it's okay, we're experienced :).First we need to launch the task manager. To do this, click right click on the icon "My computer" and select "Properties". A window will open in which on the left click "Device Manager".
In the device manager, select the device whose driver you want to remove, right-click on it, select "Properties".
You will be prompted to uninstall the driver. If some programs were installed with this driver, you can check the box next to “Uninstall the driver programs for this device” and click the “OK” button.
The longer a computer is used, the more various information accumulates on it, which, in fact, is not used at all. Drivers are installed on a PC during the operation of various equipment: flash drives, printers, headsets, etc. After this hardware is no longer used, its software components simply occupy free place on the disk, and in addition, they can even cause system conflicts. In this case, it would be useful to clean the PC from the files clogging it.
Uninstalling Drivers in Windows 7
If you decide to connect a new device to your computer, you will definitely need to install drivers on it, which may conflict with existing installed components. In order to prevent such a situation from occurring, you should periodically clean your PC from outdated information. Let's look at the techniques for removing unnecessary drivers for Windows 7.
Method 1: Device Manager
Despite the fact that the procedure is quite simple, you should be extremely careful not to accidentally remove required drivers, after which you may need to do a system rollback.
Method 2: Control Panel
There are no special tools in Windows 7 that help you uninstall drivers, but this procedure can be performed using the standard OS function for working with installed components.
Method 3: Command line
This method is much more complicated than the other driver removal options described. Most often, it is used by fairly experienced users and only when there is no way to erase components in other ways.
Method 4: Third Party Programs
If for some reason it is not possible to remove the drivers using standard PC tools, you can always install special utilities who can easily cope with such a task. There are many such applications on the Internet, one of them is Driver Sweeper.
As you can see, there is nothing difficult in removing drivers. The most important thing is not to erase those components whose purpose you do not know. This can lead to unpredictable consequences and malfunctions of the PC. You should be most careful when working with system and non-self-tuning components.
Almost every user connects a phone, tablet, reader, flash drives and external HDDs to the computer. When working with these devices, Windows installs their drivers. At the end of operation, they are not deleted from the computer (that is, they gradually accumulate) and, just like temporary files, unnecessary entries clutter up the system in the registry.
In addition, if devices are disconnected from USB port incorrectly (pulled out without software shutdown by the "Extract" function), then installed drivers not only remain in the system, but also continue to function. Because of this, they often become the cause of a software conflict in the process of connecting another USB device (the system “does not see” the device, gives errors, hangs).
This article will help you avoid all these troubles: it will tell you how to completely remove the driver of an unused USB drive or gadget from the operating system, how to automatically uninstall all USB drivers.
Removal by regular means
Surface cleaning
1. Open the Start menu.
2. Right-click on the "Computer" panel that appears. Select "Properties" from the list of commands.
3. In the column on the left, click "Device Manager".
4. In the dispatcher window, in the horizontal menu, open the "View" section and click "Show hidden devices".
5. Open the "USB Controllers" directory.
6. Remove the old or unused driver: right-click on its name → click "Delete".
Deep cleaning
1. Hold down the Win key and press the Pause/Break key. Or open: Start → right-click "Computer" → Properties.
2. In the window that opens, in the left panel, click " Extra options systems."
3. On the Advanced tab, click the Environment Variables button.
4. In the upper block, click "Create".
5. In the "New User Variable" window:
- in the line "Variable name" enter - devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices;
- in "Variable value" - 1.
6. Click OK in the variable panel and in the Environment Variables window.
7. Return to the system properties window (Win + Break) and click "Device Manager".
8. In the manager, open: View → Show hidden…
9. Click the "Update configuration ..." button (the last one in the panel).
10. The icons of unused drivers in the manager are grayed out (that is, you can delete this driver). Open the following directories one by one and remove unnecessary elements (right-click on the name → Delete):
Non Plug and Play Device Drivers
Advice! In this directory you can also remove old drivers, installed by programs that are already uninstalled from Windows (for example, the Comodo firewall package).
This section of devices displays installed drivers for flash drives, readers, hard drives. Transparent object icons indicate that they are not used (not connected). So, you can safely get rid of them.
11. When cleaning is complete, restart your PC.
Automatic removal by USBDeview utility
1. Copy this link into the address bar of your browser - http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/usb_devices_view.html#DownloadLinks (official website of the utility). And then press "ENTER".
2. On the opened page:
- if you have a 32-bit system, click the first link "Download USBDeview";
- if 64-x, the second is "... for x64 systems".
3. Unpack the downloaded archive: right-click on it → select "Extract all ..." → in the "Unpacking ..." window, click "Extract".
4. Open the unzipped folder. Run the USBDeview executable with administrator rights.
5. The utility window displays a list of all drivers installed in the system. Disabled elements are marked with red "chips".
To remove a driver from Windows, select it with a mouse click, and then click the Trash icon in the USBDeview panel. Or right-click on it and select "Uninstall Selected Devices" from the context menu.
Note. In addition to the removal function, USBDeview provides the user with the ability to disable / enable the driver, view its properties.
Removing all USB device drivers
Global cleaning of drivers can be done with the DriveCleanup utility (download link - http://uwe-sieber.de/files/drivecleanup.zip).
1. Unzip the archive downloaded to your computer.
2. If you have 32-bit Windows, open the "Win32" folder, if 64, respectively, "x64".
3. Run the "DriveCleanup" file as an administrator.
Once launched, the utility will automatically clean up. At the end of the procedure (when the message “Press any key” appears in the console window), press any key.
Good luck with your system setup!
For modern Windows operating systems, it is often not necessary to install video card drivers separately, since they are already included in the system. This is especially true for users who do not want to install the numerous additional components that come with the driver.
If you are an avid gamer or you just need some auxiliary utilities, it is recommended to install updated versions NVIDIA drivers, AMD, or Intel to get performance, stability, and new features improvements.
Sometimes you may run into problems after installing drivers. There is always a possibility that a new version may conflict with installed game or some application using the driver will start behaving incorrectly.
That is why very often it may be necessary to completely remove the driver from the system. In most cases, it helps to remove standard means system, however, in some cases, the driver removal process may not complete or be interrupted due to a failure, the cause of which is difficult to fix on your own. To do this, you can use our separate instructions.
In these cases it will be useful third party application Display Driver Uninstaller to remove drivers NVIDIA graphics cards, AMD and Intel. The program is compatible with all the latest Windows versions. The developer suggests running the utility in safe mode, but this is optional. The user is asked if they want to boot in safe mode or not. If you answer yes, then make sure to save the progress of all changes, because the computer will immediately begin to automatically restart.
The program can also enable / disable automatic driver updates through the Center windows updates. You will receive information about this when you start the program.
All the main functions of the program are displayed on one screen. At the top, the user can select graphics driver to be removed. This function come in handy when you change your graphics card and want to remove all driver components installed on the system.
Display Driver Uninstaller supports three modes of operation:
- Uninstall and reboot (highly recommended)
- Uninstall without reboot (may lead to black screen issue)
- Uninstall and shutdown (to install a new graphics card)
Several additional operations are also available: uninstall NVIDIA GeForce Experience and enable driver installation via windows update default. In the "Options" window, you can enable the removal of 3DTV and Physx, as well as the removal of temporary folders C:\NVIDIA And C:\AMD, which are used when installing drivers
Before choosing any of the options, make sure you have downloaded the graphics card driver package from the manufacturer's website, you will need it once you have finished uninstalling the existing drivers.
If you select the “Delete and Reboot” option, you will notice that the system automatically reboots after a short period of uninstallation. If you didn't choose automatic installation driver, Windows will use the generic video card driver, which can run at a lower resolution.
Note: source The Display Driver Uninstaller application is available for inspection on the GitHub service.
Conclusion
Display Driver Uninstaller is a useful application for reliable and complete removal drivers in cases where you encounter problems with their operation. The utility effectively performs its task, even if the driver does not work correctly or is not updated.
The program ensures that all traces of NVIDIA, AMD or Intel drivers are completely removed from the system.
Found a typo? Press Ctrl+Enter
As you know, quite often many users computer systems face the problem of removing old or unused device drivers. This can be due to many reasons, including hardware conflicts, incorrect device operation. This also includes the installation of more recent versions of the drivers. This is where the logical question arises: how to remove the driver of a device?
What is a driver
Before you start the process of uninstalling a driver or updating it, you need to know what it is. Essentially, this small program, which provides communication between the "iron" component and the operating system, without which the device itself will not work, the system may not even recognize it.
In some cases (especially when automatic system updates are enabled), it becomes necessary to change the driver version to a newer one.
Viewing Driver Version and File Information
Now a few words about what needs to be done before proceeding with the delete operation. First you need to find out the version of the driver (especially when it is downloaded from the official website of the hardware manufacturer). It is very likely that the system has the latest version, and the cause of the conflict or inoperability of the equipment is not at all in this. Then the problem of how to remove the driver will disappear by itself. This can be done in several ways.
For example, for Plug & Play devices or standard system components, you can use the DirectX dialog call (dxdiag command in the Run menu). True, here you can see the versions of the screen drivers, audio equipment and I/O devices (unless otherwise installed).
However, in the question of how to view information and how to remove the driver, it is better to use the standard tools of Windows OS. In addition, this is the easiest and most proven way.
Removing drivers using standard Windows tools
In this case, you must use the Control Panel menu, in which the "Device Manager" item is selected. The name may change, depending on the version of the installed operating system. Now just select the device you are interested in and call the context menu, then use the "Properties" command. There will be Full description driver version (Driver tab, Properties menu).
Now consider an example, say how to uninstall an audio driver (or how to uninstall a printer driver). Fundamentally, the formulation of the question does not matter, the scheme is the same. We perform the above procedures, but instead of the "Properties" button, we use the "Delete" button. The system will ask you to confirm the deletion, after which you can restart your computer.
If the printer drivers are standard and included in the Windows installation package, they will be installed automatically after a reboot. Otherwise, you will have to install them either from the original disk, or download from the official website of the manufacturer.
By the way, this way of viewing information about drivers is also convenient because here you can even find out the location of the files themselves. If for some reason the system cannot remove such programs, you can begin to resolve the issue of how to completely remove the driver manually. To do this, you just need to delete the files from the location indicated by the system, as well as the corresponding registry keys. However, it is highly discouraged for inexperienced users to do this.
Third party software
Today, there are quite a few programs that can solve the problem of how to remove old drivers, in automatic mode. One of these is Driver Sweeper.
This software has a lot of customization options, for example, filtering by equipment manufacturer, etc. But it is better to check the names of all manufacturers at startup, and then begin the process of analysis and cleaning. It will take a few minutes, after which it will report on outdated or unused (redundant) drivers in the system. The latter, by the way, are capable of causing conflicts in the operation of the equipment, since the system itself alternately refers to one or the other driver.
Do not be surprised if the program even finds drivers for integrated video cards or sound chips. Next, you need to click the "Clean" button, after which everything that the application has found will be deleted.
Of course, an inexperienced user can do such things only at their own peril and risk, but, as practice shows, this program works absolutely correctly, does not cause failures in operating system and does not disrupt the operation of software and hardware components.
Automatic update
Among programs of this type, one can single out special utilities designed for automatic update all drivers available in the system. The question of how to remove the driver is not worth it for one simple reason. The fact is that many programs are capable of removing old ones automatically before installing new versions of drivers. But for the most part, such software packages are paid. But the advantage of their work is that they apply directly to the websites of equipment manufacturers for updates, so that absolutely all drivers will have correct digital signatures after the installation or update.
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