HP m9040n with GeForce 8400 GS Driver Problem with SP2. Won't upgrade, won't work.

[kubiniec]

I upgraded my Vista Home Premium OS to Service Pack 2 and immediately my video card stopped recognizing it's driver(s).  Device Manager shows the Yellow Exclamation point and when I check the device properties the error message is-

Windows cannot start this hardware device because its configuration information (in the registry) is incomplete or damaged. (Code 19)

Click 'Check for solutions' to send data about this device to Microsoft and to see if there is a solution available.

 

Every help search I performed through windows, HP, and Nvidia says the solution is to reinstall (or upgrade) the Display Device Drivers.  Great.  BUT:

I downloaded a "newest" driver package from Nvidia called 191.07_desktop_win7_winvista_32bit_english_whql.exe and ran it and it didn't work.

Then I right clicked it and selected "Run as Administrator" and it didn't work.

Then I tried to uninstall all the NVidia display drivers on my machine (you know, to "start from scratch") but upon restarting it (as required by the uninstall) the OS automatically reinstalls drivers (a window pops up on the lower right saying something like "windows is installing necessary drivers for your device").  The OS probably recognizes the video card and tries to reinstall the preloaded drivers that came with the system.  But this just makes it fail again because I can't get the new driver package to install correctly unless I can remove the old one (right??).  I just want to install the new drivers completely FRESH, but my system just won't let me. Also, I went into file explorer and tried to fix the problem by deleting the driver folders directly, so that windows would allow the installation of the new package "191.07", but the old drivers"175.19" reappear upon restart.

SO I removed SP2 by doing a system restore to a point BEFORE I upgraded to SP2, and still the drivers are FUBAR.

Nothing I have done has changed the presence of the "yellow !" nor changed the automatic installation of drivers that Vista performs on it's own every time I start up the computer.

I have repeated all the above steps in SAFE MODE and still not help. It looks like I can still see my display because generic drivers in VISTA are running it, but not at it's true capacity.  (so no gaming, etc.   windows experience score dropped to 1.0 on the graphics card line)

I can't figure out how to remove all the old drivers and registry entries & keys, so that I can install the new package.  And I'm not sure that's the answer anyway.  I

I was hoping lots of GeForce / HP users would be having this problem (that doesn't sound nice, but you know what I mean) upon installation of SP2, but I can't find any other similar posts anywhere.

I'm an experience user of NVidia cards and have upgraded my other machine 3 times over the years without incident.

Please someone point me in the direction of help:  What to edit out of the registry (I can handle that kind of stuff) OR how to keep Vista from automatically trying, yet failing, to install the drivers included with my system.

[old_geekster]

You may want to try 'Driver Sweeper' to remove all of the old drivers and the remnants.  Here is a link:

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Security/Secure-cleaning/Guru3D-Driver-Sweeper.shtml

Be certain to follow the instructions.  I believe that it says to use Windows Safe Mode to remove all of the remnants.

If this doesn't work, let us know.

[kubiniec]

I am the original poster, with the problem. :

Yea ok.  I tried that today and it was no help.  I ran Driver Sweeper in regular and safe mode, as directed.  It didn't seem to do anything or report anything.  It still seems that my problem is that the HP computer's  Vista OS is recognizing my graphics card and installing the original manufacturer's driver version, before I can get to desktop and install the updated one.

New symptom:  when I "manually" install the driver by clicking through the  "Update driver software" right in Vista's Device Manager, it says my drivers are up to date.  But I can see that the version number is still listed as 7.15.11.6230 (if it updated it would be 7.15.11.6960, I think.) so how could it be up to date.  AND it still isn't recognized by device manager, so even the old driver isn't working at all.

[kubiniec]

I made a clerical mistake above.  IF the newest package of drivers from Nvidia did install, then Device manager would say version 8.16.11.9107

But I can't get that far yet...

I just did a safe mode uninstall of display drivers, reboot to Safe mode, and vista STILL self-installed display drivers of the old version.  Even in Safe Mode!   Pulling out my hair here....

[Ray513]

Yes I'm having the same problem. I've tried the driver sweeper too but nothing seems to work. I actually ran into the problem when my sister restored my compter to factory settings. I don't know what the problem can be. I can't play any of my games because when I try it says that my graphics adapter doesn't have directX 9.0

[old_geekster]

Let's go back to the beginning.  Alright, shut down your computer.  Remove the video card and connect your monitor to the VGA port in the Backplate.  Reboot and uninstall the drivers for your video card using 'Driver Sweeper' as you did previously.  Once the drivers are completely removed, shut down your computer.  Reinstall the video card.  Reconnect your monitor to it and boot.  Once it has booted, install the latest drivers and reboot.

One other thought.  Did you check in the BIOS to see if it is set for PCIE? 

[happywhpnot]

the upgrade to 7 fried my nvidia card...after going thru what you did bought new PC...it was cheaper

[kubiniec]

Yea, but when i remove the graphics card, there's no way to hook up any monitor.  I have no extra VGA way to hook up, unless it's something inside the computer.  There's no VGA on the back - I know what one looks like.

[CharlieATL]

HP put a black, screw-on cover on the vga port in the back.  It is a SECRET vga port!

I came here trying to address a problem I've recently encountered with the same video card and PC.  I bought an Acer 24" monitor, and it will turn off for about 2-3 seconds every few minutes.  I replaced the monitor with a new one, same thing.  My previous monitor, a 22" Viewsonic did not do this.

I've upgraded BIOS and Video Card from the HP website.  Any thoughts?