redbaronMIT Posted January 23, 2013 Report Share Posted January 23, 2013 tl;dr Device Manager stopped displaying video card when I intentionally uninstalled driver and software. Now cannot re-install driver/software because computer/NVIDIA cannot detect card.Lenovo W520, i7-2720 QM @2.20GHzOS: Windows 7, 64bitVC: NVidia Quadro 1000MRAM: 8GbI have searched the internet high and low for an answer but cannot seem to find one: I *think* I need to force-install video card drivers, but i'm calling on the experts here to help me decide if that's what I need, or something else.BACKSTORY: None of this would have happened if I wasn't such a geek and read all the release notes during Lenovo updates:Chronology of events:download update. read release notes for NVidia video driver that say "if driver version before [some_version_number], uninstall before installing this update" or something like that. (I interpreted this to mean completely uninstall the driver. How I thought it would go down: uninstall, get yellow "!" in device manager, continue with update, tada!...if only.)PROBLEM:This is what happened instead:Uninstalled driver. Then windows tried to fix it for me and re-installed the driver... hmmm, ok, let me uninstall and check the "also delete files" box. damn it's gone from the device manager, i hope it comes back when I install the update....and nope... The Display Device for my NVidia card is completely gone from the device manger. Not hidden, actually gone. Then lots of internet searching over course of a week and here's what I've come up with so far:1) Turns out, NVidia won't install their driver unless it can detect the card on your system. It must query the Device Manager to determine this, becauase it instantly returns a "The graphics driver cannot find compatible graphics hardware" message. (see attachment.)2) I was able to find the old driver in C:\DRIVERS\WIN\VIDEO but same problem as (1). 2b) Also ran the bash script I found there which was supposed to set up the drivers, no luck.3) Everything I can find on the internet regarding driver problems appears to assume a normal device manager: the common answer seems to be "go download latest drivers from NVidia and install", which doesn't work.4) Found some similar "cant get card to work" forum posts, but non with the same genesis.Any help/tips/leads would be greatly appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb Posted January 25, 2013 Report Share Posted January 25, 2013 Step 1: perform System Restore to a time before you uninstalled the driver; this will restore the driver to its previous state.Step 2: go to http://www.nvidia.com/Download/Scan.aspx and let the auto-updater install the latest Nvidia drivers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redbaronMIT Posted January 28, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2013 System Restore is not possible because Windows overwrote all the previous restore points with daily ones..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted January 28, 2013 Report Share Posted January 28, 2013 Sorry I can't help with this problem, but there is a big lesson to be learnt here. When the system is again up and running invest in a large plug in external drive and make regular mirror images using a program like ACRONIS, there are others available, but many on here prefer ACRONIS. Personally, I always insist on receiving a full installation disc with a computer, and would reinstall Windows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redbaronMIT Posted January 29, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2013 Sorry I can't help with this problem, but there is a big lesson to be learnt here. When the system is again up and running invest in a large plug in external drive and make regular mirror images using a program like ACRONIS, there are others available, but many on here prefer ACRONIS. 1) This kind of response is NOT helpful to the problem at hand, and I do not appreciate your condescending tone. 2) Windows 7 has a serious flaw if it cannot handle hardware drivers appropriately. I am extremely surprised if the only answer is "system restore or re-install windows". In fact, I do not believe "reset your OS" is ever an acceptable troubleshooting answer unless there is a virus infection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb Posted January 29, 2013 Report Share Posted January 29, 2013 Having a full backup of a working system is normal procedure. Making a System Restore Point before making any changes is normal procedure.If I were in your situation I would try if http://www.drivermax.com/ can detect your device and find the appropriate driver for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb Posted January 29, 2013 Report Share Posted January 29, 2013 Alternatively try http://www.nvidia.com/Download/Scan.aspx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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