Guide

How to do a clean install of the graphics driver, and when

Installing driver over driver can leave old settings or broken files behind. A clean install wipes the driver's old settings before installing again. NVIDIA and AMD both have this option in their own installers, so there is no need for strange extra tools.

Updated 24 Oct 2026

When to do it

A game crashes and the crash text names a graphics driver file, like nvgpucomp64.dll.
The screen goes black for a moment and Windows says display driver stopped responding and has recovered.
Games stutter and a check showed the graphics driver holds the CPU too long.
NVIDIA App will not open because NVIDIA's services were deleted.
You moved from one graphics card brand to another.

NVIDIA

Download the newest driver for your card from nvidia.com.
Start the installer and pick Custom.
Tick Perform a clean installation.
Let it finish, then restart the PC.

A clean install puts NVIDIA Control Panel back to its defaults. Write down your settings first, or use profiles with a backup.

AMD

Download the newest AMD Software for your card from amd.com.
During the install tick Factory Reset. It removes AMD's old driver and settings before installing.
Let it finish, then restart the PC.

Intel

Download the newest Intel graphics driver from intel.com and install it over the old one. If problems stay, uninstall the old driver in Settings, Apps first, then install again.

Watch out for this

Only download drivers from the graphics card maker's site. The screen turns off or flickers a few times while installing, that is normal. Don't turn the PC off halfway. On a fresh Windows, let Windows Update finish first, or it may put an older driver back on top.

Let Savenz Optimizer help

Savenz Optimizer tells you when a reinstall is due. Home warns when the graphics driver is too old, DRIVER LATENCY on the Fixes page says whether the graphics driver causes stutter, the crash helper on the FiveM page says whether a crash was in the driver, and the Fixes page has NVIDIA App won't open. Still having trouble after the install? Ask in the Discord.

When to do it

NVIDIA

AMD

Intel

Watch out for this

Let Savenz Optimizer help

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