CPU and GRAPHICS card driver update problem

[12padams]

A month ago I tried updating my graphic drivers for my Quadro 3800 Fx. I am running Windows 7 64-bit without service Pack 1. It was a complete disaster as during the installation my theme switched over to basic and I was unable to activate the transparent theme. Not only this but the desktop icons were misaligned and the mouse disappeared when putting it to the far left of the screen. I was even able to drag windows out of view all the way to the left of the screen. A system restore corrected my issue.

I tried installing Quadro/Tesla Driver Release 275 version 276.28 WHQL today and the same thing happened. I then attempted to do a clean install of the graphics driver which is available in the custom options. Doing this however produced are even worse result as it simply uninstalled my current driver which made my screen go black and then my computer reboot. Once my computer rebooted I saw the Windows 7 boot screen and heard the Windows 7 login screen sound however I continue to see the Windows 7 boot screen.

This made my computer completely unusable as I was unable to see what I was doing. I finally managed to fix my computer by pressing the start button on my keyboard and typed in system restore and pressing enter a few times. My computer finally booted from the previous restore point and I was able to see everything again.

I have also tried updating to a older driver yet the same problem occurs!!!

How am I supposed update my graphics driver when it stuffs up every time?

I have tried rebooting
Rolling back drivers
Using older versions of driver updates

NOTHING WORKS!!!!!

Computer is one year old and was $7300 from lenovo... specs are below

LENOVO: LEN S20 W3680/12GB/500GB/FX3800/XP/W7 Pro + LG: W2286L
22"W LED/2MS/DVI-D/HDMI
Form Factor: Tower
Chipset: Intel X58
Processor: Intel Xeon W3680 Processor (3.33GHz 1333MHz 12MB) - 130W
Memory: 12GB (6x2GB)1333-UDIMM. 0 Memory Slots Empty
ThinkStation S20 supports UDIMM only
Raid Config: No Raid (Requires 3rd Party Raid Controller)
Hard Drive: 500GB SATA 3.5" 7200 rpm. + 1 X LENOVO 1000GB 7200RPM SATA
HDD 1 Hard Drive Bay Empty
Card Reader/Slot: Memory Card Reader
PRODUCT : Lenovo Blu-ray Burner COLOR : Business black INTERFACE : SATA
AVERAGE ACCESS TIME : 150 ms OPTICAL DEVICE : Blu-ray Recordable
OPTICAL DEVICE SPEED : 40X Max RECORDABLE : Yes REMOVABLE DRIVE : Yes
Graphics Card: nVidia FX3800(1GB)
Ethernet: Single Gigabit Ethernet
Warranty: 3/3 Year Warranty
Operating System: Windows XP Pro 32 (W7 Pro 64bit Recovery Media)
BAY 1: 5.25", 1.6" high, access, std optical
BAY 2: 5.25", 1.6" high, access, open
BAY 3: 3.5", 1" high, access, media reader
BAY 4: 3.5", 1" high, internal, std disk
BAY 5: 3.5", 1" high, internal, opt disk
Slot 1: half-length, full-height, PCIe 2.0 x16 (75w max)
Slot 2: half-length, full-height, PCIe 2.0 x1
Slot 3: half-length, full-height, 32-bit PCI 2.3
Slot 4: half-length, full-height, 32-bit PCI 2.3
1 $ 6650.00 $ 6650.00
Total (Ex GST) $ 6650.00
Total (Inc GST) $ 7315.00

Thanks in advance for help

[truenorth]

Welcome to the CH forums. Where are you getting this "update" from? Why have you determined that an update is required on a 1 year old computer? If there is indeed some essential reason to be doing this update are you absolutely certain that you are choosing the correct driver/filmware update for the operating system? truenorth

[12padams]

My computer seems to no longer run new games such as "Need for speed: The Run" and "Achron". Both games rufuse to run And say that a graphics card update is required...

I get the update from: http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us using the auto detect feature

And trust me it's the right one... Guitar_man from CP chat even found an older driver which I tested however produced the same result...

The updated CPU driver from Intels website also produces the same result as the graphics driver update and causes the screen display to stuff up.

What can I do to either bypass the required driver update when running these games or update the drivers successfully?

[truenorth]

Well it certainly does look like you are going to the right source for the drivers and given the requirements of the "game" it does seem one is necessary. Have you tried the tech support link within the NVidia site to explain your issue and see what they say? It sounds to me as if there is a compatibility issue with some other software on the computer or a lack of resources of some description that are not getting along with the driver update.I have done a cursory look through the NVIDIA site to try and find you a telephone contact if they offer one it does not jump out at you. If you can find a telephone contact for them it could save a lot of toing and frowing that would probably occur with e-mails. I do note that they have a forum dedicated to their products. truenorth

[12padams]

Sadly they offer no support... Thats what makes them a terrible company.

Their forums have weak support and just involve people generally boasting about the graphics cards and doing benchmark/stress tests. I tried posting there once about this issue and my topic got unnoticed and removed.

Looks like theres no hope... I wonder if getting a new graphics card would fix this??? would that "fit" and be compatible with my computer?

[truenorth]

You have spent a fair chunk of change to buy a pretty high end computer. It is difficult to comprehend that on a computer using the latest O/S and very current graphics technology should be giving you the trouble it is re these games. Given that you appear to be prepared to install an alternative graphics card to resolve this issue (though personally i would not give up on trying to update the drivers yet). Have you tried to contact any of the game manufactures re your issue and see if 1st they can assist you with the driver update issue or alternatively suggest what graphics cards will do the job. I would also try and talk to Leveno and tell them of the problem. You should still have access to tech support with them.I certainly would not be putting out any money on a replacement graphics card until i was absolutely certain that it is compatible with the computer and would absolutely work. I am also thinking along the lines of resolution changes  but i cannot see that becoming a factor if and until you can get the updated drivers properly installed. It would be nice if some serious gamers (which i an not) would come onboard this thread that are familiar with either your graphics card or the games you are trying to use.truenorth