Microsoft Nvidia updates

[aeromed202]

I get these once or twice a year but always opt out. A Nvidia software/hardware update will drop in with the usual MS ones and I was wondering if there is any reason to install them. Seems odd to get those kinds of things from MS and I hate messing up the ole vid card. Am I too paranoid?

[mfitch]

Avoiding driver updates when the hardware is working fine is wisdom. Whatever bug they fix isn't affecting you.

The Nvidia driver shows up on Microsoft after a particular driver makes its way through the Microsoft certification process. It is usually a few versions behind what is available directly from Nvidia.

[pfflyers]

When it comes to video drivers I adopt the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" rule. I've seen lots of posts from people looking for instructions for rolling back drivers after an update messed them up. Of course the only "game" I run is way old FS9, if I ran cutting edge games I might have a different attitude.

[huub vink]

When you don't want Microsoft to inform you about updates from non-Microsoft products you can select this by a clicking a check-box somewhere in preferences. Personally I think it is a good practice to read first and make a decision on this information.

Normally you can find a describtion of what has been solved in the new version. When it would contain a description like "to improve anti-alias capabilities" I most likely would install it. When the new version is just to prevent a crash in one paticular game in a particular situation, I most probably wouldn't.

Some new drivers improve general performance of you video card. It is always difficult to filter these.

Cheers,
Huub

[stansdds]

I let my laptop with Vista install updated Nvidia drivers from the MicroSoft update site once. Took me a couple of weeks to figure out how to undo the update and restore the older drivers that actually worked. Since then, I've not updated my laptop's video drivers, they work just fine and I don't see the need to mess with it again. Just my dos centavos.