Resolved Video card keeps losing it's driver

A few day ago when I started my machine the Nvidia Geforce 9500 GT video driver was lost. I reinstalled it, rebooted and all was good. Then the next time I booted, it was gone again. When I tried to reinstall it failed with "access denied ". I went to Nvidia's site , downloaded the latest driver with the same result. I can however install Microsoft's driver...once. The second time I reboot, it's gone again. CHKDSK, SFC, and registery cleans don't help it any. Any ideas on how to correct this?

 

There must be a driver involved some how or you would see nothing. My suggestion would be a new video card. Is this onboard or a add on video card?

 

It's an add on card that hasn't been used much. The machine loads the standard VGA compatible driver at start up.

 

Pull the card out. Reboot the machine. Shut it down and then put the card back in and see what happens.

 

No difference. It couldn't install the Nvidia driver automatically, so it loaded a basic. I manually installed the Microsoft supplied driver again. What I don't understand is the "access denied" when I attempt the Nvidia drivers, but not the MS driver.

 

Hi, 'Make older programs run in this version of Windows'
:http://windows.microsoft.com/en-NZ/windows-vista/Make-older-programs-run-in-this-version-of-Windows

Don't know whether this will help, but I thought Compatibility might be a problem. Neil.

 

Thanks Arie, I use Registry Clean Expert and Regseeker. I'll get back with event log later
retiredlearner, I'll try that later but it's always worked fine before.

 

I have not had to do this with Windows 7, but many times with previous versions of Windows. Still, it might be worth a try here.

In some cases (at least with XP) Windows refuses to let go of some settings. So the only way I found to fix this (besides a total reinstall - to be avoided if possible) is to swap out the offender with a totally different brand product to force a total rewrite of all the settings.

For example, this is a NVIDIA card. NVIDIA uses the same (or much of the same) driver set for all its cards. So uninstalling NVIDIA and installing an AMD/ATI card forces a complete rewrite to the AMD driver set - hopefully freeing up whatever was "stuck ".

In most cases, uninstalling the AMD and installing the NVIDIA again worked. I have had to do this same thing with sound cards too.

As for Registry cleaners, frankly I really like CCleaner's Registry cleaner feature primarily because it always prompts to backup the Registry before making changes and equally important, it is NOT very aggressive.

HOWEVER, I never - as in never-ever use or recommend the use of a Registry cleaner to "fix" a broken computer - only to maintain a computer that is running well already. This is, in part, because cleaners may see some broken entries as orphaned entries and delete them, instead of correcting them. Not good.

So while Aire and I have has gone round and round a few times about the use and benefits of Registry cleaners, I agree 100% with him on this one and fear more damage was done. Regseeker is very aggressive, suggesting "fixes" for many things that just are not broken. I have never heard of Registry Clean Expert until now and frankly, I don't like what I read about it.

Note this review where it has little good to say about Registry Clean Expert and in fact reports,

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I don't see the running with older version solution working here - not with drivers.

Have you scanned for malware?

 

Bill, I've already done that. It happens the on-board video is an ATI. I removed the Nvidia card and booted a few times before replacing it. It keeps doing the same. I'm thinking of fresh install of windows since I've had a few other weird things happen in the recent past.
thanks for help and suggestions.

 

Well, a fresh install should be a last ditch effort because so much is lost. All your installed programs will need to be reinstalled - not to mention you need to round up all your drivers, anti-malware programs, etc.

Plus, starting with a fresh install puts you potentially years behind in critical updates.

But, since your problem may have been complicated by too aggressive cleaning of the Registry, and this is just the latest of problems, a fresh install may be your only option - but I would certainly try a repair install before a full fresh install.

 

I've done repair installs before that didn't work. I like a fresh install. For some reason this OS on this computer seems to degrade over time like XP did, only much faster. I use Windows post installer on a USB stick for most of my programs. Makes quick work of installing all my programs.
Now that it's done, all is fine again.

 

I like fresh installs too - because they don't leave a bunch of straggling files laying about. But note W7 is not XP. So if you are basing your experiences on XP, don't. Windows 7 repair install is pretty good. But, of course, it cannot perform miracles.

Well, I hate to point fingers but the reality is that is most likely due to something you (and/or other users of that machine) are doing, or not doing - likely in terms of regular "preventative maintenance ".

That said, with the Registry being a big part of the issue here, a fresh install may still be the best option.