You can surely easily uninstall any device driver using the built-in Windows tools; the problem is that the Windows device manager only shows the currently connected ones and not the old or hidden ones, so you have to remember to do this before removing any component from the PC to install a new one. Next, we’ll show you what you can do about it.
How to remove old graphics card drivers
Probably, the graphics card is one of the components that we all tend to change sooner or later, not to mention the constant updates of the drivers that they receive that always leave residue of the old ones. Additionally, the graphics card is a component that tends to cause driver issues and conflicts, so doing a clean install of these is never a bad idea.
Por fortuna para los usuarios de PC, there is la herramienta gratuita llamada Display Driver Uninstaller, también conocida como DDU, creada por Guru3D específicamente para eliminar todos los controladores gráficos antiguos que pudiéramos tener en el PC, independientemente de qué marca or marcas hayam Graphic card.
To make it work, first download DDU and extract the contents to the folder of your choice on your computer. Then, it is recommended to restart the computer and start in safe mode to avoid driver conflicts; open DDU, select the type of chart you had before from the drop-down list and click the button that best suits you for each case. The program will take care of removing any old drivers you have and, if you have selected it, will automatically restart the computer.
Keep in mind that this will also remove the drivers for the current graphics you have from your computer, so you will have to download and install them again (this is precisely the most recommended when you have changed the graphics, in fact, c this is how you have what is called a clean install).
And what about the drivers for other devices?
Removing old graphics card drivers is extremely easy thanks to the fact that we have a tool specifically designed for it, but when we also had other types of peripherals (especially peripherals) things were not that simple. , because as we indicated at the beginning the Windows Device Manager (from which we can uninstall any driver) only shows the devices that are currently connected, and not those that we have already disconnected and, precisely, whose we want to uninstall the drivers.
However, don’t worry as there is a way to “force” the operating system to show hidden or disconnected devices, so that we can access the removal of their drivers. To do this, you need to open a command prompt as administrator (right click on the start button and select “Command Prompt (administrator)” and type the following command:
SET DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES = 1
With this we will precisely force the operating system to show the devices disconnected and not present in the device manager, so to eliminate these old drivers, what we have to do next is, precisely, to open the Device Manager ( for this right – click the Start button and select Device Manager).
In the window that opens, click on the View menu and select the option “Show hidden devices”.
You will now see that the list is updating, and as you scroll through the different categories, your old devices will appear in a “fuzzy” color, indicating that the device is no longer present. To uninstall the corresponding driver, just right-click on each of the devices and click Uninstall device.
With this, you will eliminate both the device driver and its registry, which is very helpful in avoiding potential driver conflict issues.
You’ve seen it before, removing old drivers is that easy, but keep in mind that it also comes with some danger if you make a mistake and remove a driver from a device in use at that time. In this case, as a general rule, you won’t have to worry too much because just by restarting the computer, the operating system will detect that the device has no driver and install it automatically.
