Nvida Geforce2 Driver

Hey,
When I go to windows update site it say's I need the video driver from nvida from 2003 ver. 4.5.2.3. The latest nvida driver update is 2004 ver. 6.6.9.3. as of the last time I checked. If I use the older driver (4523) I can use 3d screensavers and they work correctly. If I update the driver to the newest ver. (6693) when I try and preview or when my system trys to load any 3d screensavers my computer reboots? And the screensaver does not work. Does anybody know whats going on with this? I tried emailing Nvida and have not recieved a responce. I'm not for sure of all the details of the video card since it was given to me about a year ago. I do know that device manager say's its a geforce2 with 64mb of ram.

Any Help will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Rockit

 

Hi Rockit,

Only a few suggestions.

Check what the nVidia users are saying about the latest drivers. Put 66.93 with SP2 into a Google search and see what you get.

Reinstall or update DirectX.

Install the 66.93 drivers then rerun SP2.

See if there are any updates to the 3D engine at Microsoft.

You do not say if they are M$ screensavers or 3rd party. 3rd party...try uninstalling and reinstalling, but they may not be made for SP2 (or SP2 has designated them a security risk when run with the new drivers?).

Check if there is any info at knowledgebase regarding screensavers.

Matt
Edit: Find out the manufacturer of the video card (take it out and find out the details...always good to know), see what drivers they recommend.

 

Matt,
Here's what I got so far.
The video card is a Creative Tech Model: CT5830
I went to Creatives website and they provide a driver package even older than Microsofts update site.

Ver. Creative: 4404
Ver. Microsoft: 4523
Ver. Nvida: 6693

I've updated directx with the just released (dec.) version.
I've rerun SP2

So far rolling the driver back seems to be the cure but this old computer still has trouble running the screensaver. It is jerky and doesn't run smoothy.

Thanks Allot
Rockit

 

Rockit,

I would recommend that you download ,unzip and have a look at the drivers from Creative. Lots of cards from that era had special features added and you may need the Creative drivers to run them. If they are just a set of nVidia drivers then the updated ones MAY be better. You won't get much improved performance with the drivers available today, because the technology of the drivers for that model would have peaked a long time ago. There is an improvement of performance up to a certain point, you won't get an old card to perform beyond it's capacity. The Microsoft update drivers may be a good set for that card.

Matt
PS: Be cautious with the Creative drivers. If they run an automatic setup (.exe) it may cause a "mish-mash" of new and old files on your system.

 

Did you just get these screensavers or were they working fine at some point?

 

Hey All,
Thanks for the all your help. It looks like this old computer just doesn't have what it takes to run the screensavers correctly. No biggie .. will be shoppin for a new one soon (I Hope). Till then the newest Nvida drivers seem to perform the best. The screensavers worked ok when I had Win98 on this beast but not with WinXP.

Happy Holiday's
Rockit