drivercleaner deleted more than intended?

bluem · Jan 10, 2007, 05:59 PM

*Edit/update by bluem: DriverCleaner didn't delete more than intended. This was my mistake. Read below for details; it may help you avoid a similar problem with nvidia drivers (or similar).*

Hi - I just purchased DriverCleaner today. I used it, and now I have suddenly lost my mouse (won't move the cursor) and my Internet connection is gone (who knows what else). No change even after multiple reboots. Monitor and LCD are also NOT working - running in some sort of minimal/safe mode without full graphics. So apparently DriverCleaner has cleaned out some necessary drivers that it wasn't supposed to (besides display drivers; I assume that's the main target). I don't have any other explanation.

I am not a hardware guy, so bear with me. I *use* computers for website development but I don't build them nor do I understand the inner workings of hardware, drivers, etc, etc. I am using my old Windows 98 computer to type this since my win xp computer is now hosed.

Computer specs as best I can: Windows XP, SP 2. AMD Athlon 64; ASUS motherboard, and I think, looking inside my box, that nVidia is embedded in the motherboard. DriverCleaner said I have ForceWare 81.85.

Why I was using DriverCleaner: I recently installed an LCD (ViewSonic vp930b) but at random moments the display would crash and I'd have to restart. The exact error: "The wpfb_nv4_disp driver has stopped working normally..." and I'd have to reboot. So I was attempting to see if an nVidia driver update would solve the problem; hence using DriverCleaner.

What I did: I downloaded the latest nVidia driver (ForceWare 93.71). I first used the nVidia cleaning filter; I then used Add/Remove programs to uninstall Nvidia drivers, restarted in SafeMode and used DriverCleaner nVidia filter again. My computer locked up after I attempted to uninstall PerfectSuite (color management software for my new LCD; I didn't want it to get in the way). Upon reboot, my mouse doesn't work, internet connection gone, etc. I tried installing the downloaded nVidia driver, but it did not change anything, not even the display, after reboot. So I uninstalled it via Add/Remove. No change again.

When I intially installed DriverCleaner, I had clicked the option on DriverCleaner to backup all files and registry. I tried to restore files/reg using the backups, but I can't click the boxes without a mouse -- and tabbing to "Select All" and pressing Enter does nothing (it doesn't select all the files/checkboxes as I assume it should).

I have one disk that might possibly have basic motherboard drivers on it but it doesn't respond in the CD drive. Not sure why. But I wouldn't know what I was doing even if something did come up.

So, any ideas? I need to get my computer running ASAP. I do not want to have it in the shop for a week and/or have to do a complete system reinstall.

Please advise.

***Zardon*** · Jan 10, 2007, 06:07 PM

Im sure spike will help with this when he wakes up tomorrow. It is highly unlikely that driver cleaner caused the main issues you are having however, I know for a fact it does not touch half the reg entries that would cause these problems. But we will do our best to help !

bluem · Jan 10, 2007, 06:48 PM

OK, thanks. No doubt DC isn't designed to touch the things that would cause these problems, but there has got to be some connection with the actions I described above in attempting to use DC, as the problems occured immediately after.

I appreciate any help provided. At what time will spike be responding do you think? I'm in the US, Mountain Time.

bluem · Jan 11, 2007, 01:35 AM

An update - I found a USB Mouse and it worked, so I restored all files and full registry within the DriverCleaner interface. Rebooted. No improvement (worse, in fact: windows reverted to classic display, among other things).

I then found some nForce install files on my system that included Ethernet drivers and other hardware whose drivers were missing; decided to try it. Installed it, rebooted. Internet works! Windows styling/colors back to normal. But no PS/2 mouse and there's still a "warning" (!) by the GeForce 6150 Hardware device. And no nVidia monitors showing up in windows display settings dialog; just the "default monitor" and graphics are minimal.

I installed the nVidia display drivers (ForceWare 93.81) but still no monitors are showing up in windows display->settings dialog -- and GeForce 6150 device is still showing a driver warning.

And of course, no ps/2 mouse.

I tried installing the drivers for my LCD (viewsonic) and normal monitor (samsung) but both gave errors on install (that did not happen when I originally installed the LCD).

Anyway - I am guessing that when I uninstalled nVidia drivers via Add/Remove, it uninstalled *EVERYTHING*, including display drivers and nForce drivers (which obviously included Ethernet; but also "SMBus" among others; and apparently, the ps/2 mouse driver).

Please lend some advice as soon as you can. Many thanks in advance...

bluem · Jan 11, 2007, 01:59 AM

One last thing and then hopefully someone can reply so I can stop talking to myself :-) As I said I don't know a lot about hardware, but based on what I have seen I am guessing what my computer has is an nVidia chipset (or specifically, an "nForce Chipset" as DriverCleaner list of filters). Also as mentioned above there appears to be an nvidia device embedded into my asus motherboard.

So - I'm guessing my only hope is to find the correct nForce drivers and reinstall them. But nvidia.com gives a big list of possible nForce drivers. I have no idea which one goes with my computer. My device manager (as mentioned above) indicates the device is "NVIDIA GeForce 6150".

Assuming I'm on the right track, I'd appreciate some advice on choosing the correct drivers to hopefully restore my system. Thanks again.

**Spike** · Jan 11, 2007, 03:34 AM

Hi,

from your story i notice that if you only selected nVidia filter then DC could not have caused this. But you say you uninstalled nVidia drivers through add/remove programs and that is causing the problem. Nvidia then uninstalls all nvidia drivers on the system sp also the internet drivers. When you select that nvidia drivers you should get a new window where you can select nvidia display drivers to uninstall.

I am sure the nForce drivers are also on the CD that came with the pc or motherboard. Make sure to uninstall all the nvidia drivers again and then install the nforce drivers and then after the nforce drivers reinstall the videocard. That should fix the problems.

Can you send me the Driver Cleaner log files they are in the Driver Cleaner folder\Log please mail those to info@drivercleaner.net

So Driver Cleaner.NET did not delete more then it should.

bluem · Jan 11, 2007, 12:28 PM

Thank you for the reply. I just emailed the log files to you.

Yeah, I pretty much figured that the problem was uninstalling nForce drivers via add/remove. It was unclear what to do - I didn't see just a display adapter uninstall option, and I had no idea nvidia had other crucial drivers - I thought it was just for the display.

I don't think I have the motherboard CD. The motherboard was replaced by a repair shop maybe 6 months ago and I'm pretty sure the CD I have is for the older motherboard - which could explain why it wasn't helping me (won't autostart or run directly; and windows didn't ever find any drivers on it).

Do you know how I can find the exact model of my motherboard or other hardware?
(So I can find the correct drivers online.) Is it in the Device Manager in windows?

Quote:

Make sure to uninstall all the nvidia drivers again and then install the nforce drivers and then after the nforce drivers reinstall the videocard.

Should I use DriverCleaner in this process? (in safemode, after nvidia uninstall via add/remove?). Should I clean using the "nForce Chipset" filter?

***Zardon*** · Jan 11, 2007, 01:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluem

I don't think I have the motherboard CD. The motherboard was replaced by a repair shop maybe 6 months ago and I'm pretty sure the CD I have is for the older motherboard - which could explain why it wasn't helping me (won't autostart or run directly; and windows didn't ever find any drivers on it).

You aren't entirely out of luck, if you can get the model name and number there is a high chance the company will have drivers for it on their support site. im not sure if apps like everest show the model model - but have you tried something like CPUz?

**Spike** · Jan 11, 2007, 01:48 PM

Yes you can run Driver Cleaner in safe mode to remove the remainings. First uninstall all nvidia drivers through add/remove.

CPU-Z gives indeed motherboard info if it can find it. So download that program and it should display that info. Also if oyu have the manual from the motherboard it should also list the motherboard type and chipset.

bluem · Jan 11, 2007, 01:57 PM

So just to make sure: The DC filters I should use are: "nForce Chipset" and "nVidia", right?

The motherboard manuals I have are for the old/replaced one as well, so no help there.

I'll try CPU-Z, thanks for the tip.

**Spike** · Jan 11, 2007, 01:59 PM

Yep use nVidia and nForce Chipset. Run the program in safe mode, and don't forget to uininstall those drivers first.

bluem · Jan 11, 2007, 02:52 PM

Hmm - I'm not sure I'm getting the right drivers... I ran CPU-Z and it says:
Chipset: NVIDIA GeForce 6150
Southbridge: nForce 410/430 MCP

But at nvidia.com, I choose Platform/nForce drivers->NForce 430/410, the only OS shown is Windows XP Media Center Edition. I have XP Pro. There is another driver called nForce 430/410/405/400 that shows XP/2000 and XP Pro x64. I don't have 64-bit Pro so I'd choose the XP/2000 except that the driver name isn't exactly the same. The download page implies 430/410/405/400 contains drivers for two possible motherboards so I think it's OK.

Also, the GeForce 6150 drivers listed on nvidia.com are under "Graphics Drivers" -- nothing indicating 'chipset' as CPU-Z labels it.

I'm hoping, then, that the 6150 graphic driver and the 430/410/405/400 driver will do the trick.

Any expert opinion on this?

**Spike** · Jan 11, 2007, 03:24 PM

Hi,

yep it is possible that nvidia bundles drivers for more then 1 chipset in 1 installer. Because chipsets sometimes use a lot of the same components. So those drivers look the right ones for you. I hope they will also fix your problem.

So first do the uninstall and cleaning steps and then reboot to normal windows and install the chipset first and then the display driver.

bluem · Jan 11, 2007, 03:34 PM

I just did a system restore using XP's built-in feature (went back to the day before all this happened). It worked! So far my computer seems back to normal. I should have done this before, but I didn't know XP had the feature. I also should have created a restore point before messing with the drivers in the first place.

Anyway, if I dare try all this again, I'll know more what I'm doing and I'm sure DriverCleaner will be of assistance.

On that note, back to my original LCD monitor problem - by chance do you know what the "wpfb_nv4_disp" driver is? That's the one that stops working at occasional random moments and crashes my computer. Originally I was assuming it was associated with nvidia so that's why I was attempting a driver update. But perhaps it was installed by my LCD software, and isn't part of the original nvidia motherboard drivers??

**Spike** · Jan 11, 2007, 05:06 PM

I remember in the past someone told me that file was part of the nvidia display driver. So i think your display driver is casuing this problem.