Windows Update

[Ishi]

I was wondering which of the recent updates you get from Windows Update are the most important. I have only chosen to install 3 updates from numerous others.

 

There is this Microsoft Software Removal Tool that can be obtained via Windows Update and based from my experience in the past this tool should appear if you type mrt on the search box of the Start Menu and its goal is to look for malicious programs but claims to be not a replacement for antivirus programs. A new version of this is released every few months.

 

There is also a driver update for my video card from NVIDIA although my current driver is working fine so I decided not to install it. The full specification of the current video card driver is NVIDIA GeForce 7300 SE/ 7200 GS (Microsoft Corporation -WDDM). That driver was probably installed when Windows 7 was installed although I wasn't the one who happened to install Windows 7 in my PC. I was wondering what is this (Microsoft Corporation -WDDM) that takes part in the name of my video driver although when I install the driver from the installation disk, it doesn't have that.

[Andavari]

There is also a driver update for my video card from NVIDIA although my current driver is working fine so I decided not to install it.

What came pre-installed on your system is probably the WQHL driver supplied to Microsoft by NVIDIA for the OS setup. I'd personally never install a graphics driver from the Microsoft Update website unless I was having serious issues using the drivers from the manufacturer website. The newest NVIDIA drivers are here. Every few months they release a new version.

[Ishi]

The problem with downloading specific drivers from the website is that some drivers have features that your video card model does not support. Those drivers are compatible with the video card but certain features were really meant for other models that support such features.

 

However, the driver update you see on Windows Update is probably meant for your video card model but its always Optional rather than recommended.

 

Most of the Recommended updates from Windows Update are usually related to security more that anything else. But I personally think they are not that useful at all. They also have reliability and program compatibility updates but the update I want from Microsoft is something that would heal the system from errors that are causing sluggish performance so you would not need to install the operating system as often cause it could not handle the errors anymore.

[MikeW]

Makes me wonder why you asked the question; if you think you already know the answer.

[Ishi]

Well I don't know the whole story so I would like to learn from other guys as well and maybe they can share some knowledge based from their experience with this.

[hazelnut]

lshi I would never miss the MSRT tool in windows updates. It helps keep the better known nasties under control worldwide. It is especially valuable in cleaning the systems of people who's av softwares are out of date.

 

Some info here on it's success rate

 

http://blogs.technet.com/mmpc/archive/2009...on-reports.aspx

 

Like Andavari I don't do the driver updates from them but do all the critical and important ones.

[Ishi]

Thanks for the link hazel but still, I have little plans to install MRT.

 

With regards to Windows Updates and drivers, here is my little story which puzzles me at this point.

 

My NVIDIA video card has mysteriously failed a few days ago. Nothing would show up when I turned on the PC and the monitor was of course turned on as well.

 

I decided to open the CPU and clean the video card which I did just maybe a week before that but still it fails. I had to plug the monitor to the old video adapter. When I turned on my PC, as expected, Aero display did not work and the game Quake III Arena Demo won't start. I checked for updates from Windows Updates and I got SiS Driver Update for Accelerated Graphics Port andSilicon Integrated System Corp. Display- SiS Mirage 3 Graphics but those two did not appear in the updates list when my video card was still working fine. I installed them along with a Cumulative Update for Windows Media Center and those three are the only updates I chose to install at that moment. I restarted the PC, the Aero is still impossible for my video adapter but at least I can play Quake III Arena again.

 

A few reboots later, even the default video adapter does not work only to realize that the NVIDIA video card started working again. When I plugged the monitor back to the NVIDIA video card, the display suddenly worked again, everything was fine, Aero interface was back and everything to normal. But I do not feel that the updates I installed were connected with the video card issue as they were probably meant for the default video adapter not the NVIDIA video card.

 

 

This is the strangest experience I had when handling drivers.

[Andavari]

You may want to test the newest drivers directly from NVIDIA by:

1. Making a System Restore Point.

2. Backup your whole C: drive with something like Macrium Reflect (remember to make and test the Rescue CD), or use some other drive imaging software.

3. Remove the preinstalled Windows NVIDIA drivers (you may need to use Driver Sweeper to really get rid of them).

4. Install the NVIDIA drivers from here which may or will have various bug fixes, etc., to fix your issues.

If all that fixes nothing after testing your system for several hours you can of course undo all changes by uninstalling the NVIDIA drivers then using your Macrium Reflect backup or System Restore point.

 

From my experience NVIDIA drivers have been rather buggy, however:

Starting with NVIDIA Display Drivers v190.38 (WinXP) tearing/display corruption in some applications has been partially fixed for some applications, and completely fixed for others.

[Aethec]

I updated my NVIDIA drivers only once - and had a BSOD on next reboot.

[Andavari]

I updated my NVIDIA drivers only once - and had a BSOD on next reboot.

That's why I gave Ishi backup instructions first in my post above yours because sometimes when messing around with display drivers can cause a format to take place.

[Ishi]

Andavari, I did say my NVIDIA video driver is working fine. Although I had another problem last night cause my Internet is not working, I keep rebooting the system and the video card fails at one point again, I plugged the monitor to the standard graphics port, and before my computer starts, it asked me for a disk check which I did. And after rebooting it again, the video card worked.

 

I did a system restore after that cause I suspect my system has been a bit buggy although it has never slowed down but doing that removed the updates I recently installed, good thing I had a backup of those drivers that were deleted. I also saved a backup of my current NVIDIA driver and that is all thanks to a free program I use that can make driver backups but how to restore them actually is still a bit of a question, I guess I have to do it from the device manager if it does not automatically search for preconfigured folders containing the backed up driver.

[Andavari]

Something that I always forgot, although I don't know if this will fix your issue:

During shipping hardware can become loose inside of a PC with all the bumping and knocking around, and if your PC is new it's worth a try to unplug the display card and to re-insert it.

 

Of course use all the proper safely precautions by unplugging your PC and pressing the power button for several seconds to dissipate the electrical buildup before touching any components on the inside of the PC.

[Ishi]

During shipping hardware can become loose inside of a PC with all the bumping and knocking around, and if your PC is new it's worth a try to unplug the display card and to re-insert it.

My PC isn't that new actually but the NVIDIA did not come preinstalled with it. The PC is 22 months old but I got the video card just 2-3 months after the PC set.

 

And yes, I tried to unplug then reinserted the video card when it was failing a few days ago which is in my story above but it did not start working normally again immediately after that.

 

 

Of course use all the proper safely precautions by unplugging your PC and pressing the power button for several seconds to dissipate the electrical buildup before touching any components on the inside of the PC.

 

I do recall from last week that we had sudden power outages for repeated times that might have impacted some errors on the PC. But it seems to be working fine at the moment with everything even the video card working as they should be.