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Chapter 1

Installing Windows Vista Client

Removing a Driver

In some situations, it is impossible to roll back a driver. This often happens when you have

installed a vendor’s driver manually for a device because Windows Vista and Windows

Update have failed to locate one. If this manually installed driver is causing system instability

and you cannot roll it back, you need to uninstall it. You should remove a driver only when you

are unable to roll the driver back.

1. In the Start menu, click Control Panel. If the Device Manager icon is not displayed, click

Classic View in the left side taskbar.

2. In Control Panel, double-click Device Manager. Click Continue to close the User

Account Control dialog box.

3. Locate the device for which you will roll back the driver.

4. Right-click the device, and select Properties.

5. In the device’s Properties dialog box, click the Driver tab.

6. Click Uninstall. A warning, like the one in Figure 1-22, is shown. Click OK.

Figure 1-22

Warning presented when uninstalling a driver

7. The device driver is removed from the system. If you refresh Device Manager, you will see

the yellow warning icon next to the device you removed the driver from. Windows

attempts to reinstall the driver when it detects the device, but because the driver has

been uninstalled, it will be unable to do so.

Practice: Managing Windows Vista Device Drivers

In these two practices, you will perform two tasks that are integral to managing and trouble-

shooting Windows Vista device drivers. The first practice task involves configuring Windows

Update Driver Settings. These settings control Windows Vista’s behavior in looking for new

drivers when a new hardware device is detected. The second practice involves configuring

Windows Vista’s system failure settings.