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Hey guys,

I've got an NVidia GeForce 8500 GT that has up until this point worked just fine. I had to run some windows setup bits and pieces, and dong so messed up my driver setup. No worries, I think and go to reinstall them.

I do so, and the driver has that nasty little yellow icon next to it in the device manager, displaying code 10 error. I update everything to the latest versions, and the icon remains.

Here's where it starts to get weird - if I disable and then enable the device in device manager, it starts to work properly. While I can't edit the resolution, dual monitor setup and so on via the Display settings area in the Control Panel, if I open the Nvidia software I can edit it just fine there. I can set up dual monitors, 3D rendering, the works.

However, it seems like to the rest of the computer the card doesn't exist. Games won't boot because it can't detect the card, and like I said I can't edit anything BUT my visual style from the display settings window.

I've tried disconnecting and reconnecting the card physically, and I've reinstalled, rolled back and generally messed with the drivers to no end. Lots of restarts, lots of trouble - same situation with each install, no matter how fresh it is.

Any ideas? I'm imagining this is a windows problem since within the nvidia software the card works fine.

Thanks a lot.

Code 10:
Device failed to start. Click Update Driver to update the drivers for this device. On the General Properties tab of the device, click Troubleshoot to start the Troubleshooting Wizard.

Hi APZonerunner.

Re-installing video drivers is very tricky.

How to properly update your video cards drivers

Edited slightly from How to properly update your video cards drivers

For ATI users

1) Through Add/Remove Programs proceed to uninstall the ATI Control Panel, Display Driver, and finally the Uninstaller itself.....in this order.

2) Boot up into Safe Mode and run Driver Cleaner. Select ATI from the drop down menu and click on Clean. Do the cleaning twice to make sure that everything is cleared out.

3) Restart your computer (normally this time) and wait for Windows to go through it's stupid auto detection of your hardware before continuing. Install your new drivers and restart your computer.

For nVidia users

1) Through Add/Remove Programs proceed to uninstall the nVidia Display Driver.

2) Boot up into Safe Mode and run Driver Cleaner. Select nVidia from the drop down menu (separate from nForce2 drivers) and click on Clean. Do the cleaning twice to make sure that everything is cleared out.

3) Restart your computer (normally this time) and wait for Windows to go through it's stupid auto detection of your hardware before continuing. Install your new drivers and restart your computer.

For users switching from ATI to nVidia, or vise versa

1) Through Add/Remove Programs proceed to uninstall the nVidia display driver if you're currently using an nVidia product.....or uninstall the ATI Control Panel, Display Driver, and finally the Uninstaller itself if your current video card is an ATI Radeon.


2) Boot up into safe mode and run Driver Cleaner. Select ATI or nVidia from the drop down menu (whichever applies to your current hardware) and click on Clean. Do the cleaning twice to make sure that everything is cleared out.

Note: Selecting nVidia if you have an nForce2 motherboard will not have any negative effects, they are separate options.

3) Shut down your computer and swap the cards, remembering to plug in the 4-pin Molex power connector if your new card requires one.

4)Turn on your computer and wait for windows to go through it's stupid auto detection of your hardware before continuing. Install your new drivers and restart your computer.



Q & A

Q1: Why all the extra work?

A1: This is mainly an issue with Windows XP and its integrated file protection. When a person installs their video card drivers, some files are naturally stored in system folders. Any time Windows XP detects any of these files missing, it will automatically replace them. As you can see, by simply uninstalling the drivers in windows you are NEVER completely getting rid of the old drivers. By starting in Safe Mode you are bypassing XP's file protection and allowing full, uninterrupted access to those files. Driver Cleaner is just more or less there for convenience as it knows what files to look for and saves you the trouble of doing the job manually.

Q2: Why would you do this if you're just switching to another version of your drivers?

A2: I have found through personal experience that some files left behind after an install (due to XP's file protection) are basically meant for THAT driver set, as stupid as that might sound. Here's an example: From time to time I will load up the good old Doom3 alpha to kill a few minutes. The shadows in the game are spectacular, but not ALL the time. Using anything newer then the v3.9 Catalyst drivers the shadows begin to flicker sporadically, really ruining the experience.

I'm sure that you have all at one time or another run into or heard of a bug in a game due to video card drivers. Truth be told, simply uninstalling the "bad" drivers will NOT always clear things up. I tried this originally, and going from the v4.3's back to the v3.9's the "quick" way caused the flickering to remain. Running Driver Cleaner in Safe Mode made it good as new -- go figure.

Q3: Why not just format?

A3: Look at this realistically, what are you essentially doing when you format? Cleaning out every file from your hard drive, including any trace of your display drivers. Taking a few extra minutes to follow the above process does EXACTLY the same thing, and is no worse an option then formatting. Wouldn't you like to get the exact same job done in a few minutes that would normally take an hour or more? To have to restore your entire system to it's previous state manually just to install different video drivers just isn't practical to me.

Q4: Then why have I never had a problem just uninstalling my drivers in windows?

A4: This is a very valid point that a lot of people make and use to support their actions. Again, think of this in black and white -- not EVERYONE has issues with certain/all games. I for one have NEVER had a problem with any retail game on the market using my ATI hardware, even when many horror stories were running rampant throughout our forums. Other people however are not so lucky.


When I installed the v4.3 Catalyst drivers to test Doom alpha and do some benchmarking it was ONLY one thing that had changed, everything else remained, stability intact. Again, I know that I'm using the same example a number of times here, but it's the truth., and a very easy picture to paint. Wouldn't you rather just not EVER have to worry about driver conflicts? Just because you've never run into anything, doesn't mean it won't happen. I hadn't ever seen anything like I did with Doom until that day, and now I understand that it's quite worth it to spend a few extra minutes dong something the "long way" if it means eliminating one more thing from the list of things that COULD go wrong with my computer.

Q5: Why are you taking the time to write this out?

A5: All to often I see people having problems or running into hiccups with their system that could have been easily avoided . In addition to that, there are a number of people who just aren't sure what to do. I don't think I'd be alone if I said it'd be a nice thing if we could "clean" some of these posts from our forums.




Thank you for taking the time to read my guide. I hope that some of you will get something out of this, and if not, then at least you know there's someone out there as crazy about this stuff as you.