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A few days ago Nvidia released the v2.41 nForce mainboard driver, later a newer driver came which was supposed to fix problems in the original release.

But now Nvidia has concluded that there are so many problems with the v2.4x drivers that they have been removed from their site, and Nvidia recommends you to revert to their previous v2.03 driver release instead.

Instructions on how to revert to the old driver are here.

This is the word file that is included in the archive above; if you wish to look at the pictures which are referred to you will need to download the file above.

Case 1
If you installed nForce 2.03 driver kits and then installed 2.41 & the NVIDIA SW IDE without uninstalling 2.03 and want to go back to 2.03 driver kit, please follow these steps

Option 1: Auto Roll Back Using Windows System Restore
1. Browse to the Start Menu > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore (See option1.1.bmp)
2. Select “Restore my computer to an earlier time”. Click Next (See option1.2.bmp)
3. Pick a highlighted date on the calendar that is some date before the 2.41 driver package was installed.
4. Click “Next”
5. When you are sure that you have the right selection, click “Next” again. (See otpion1.5.bmp)
6. Windows will roll back to an earlier date and then reboot.
7. When Windows returns your system should be running with the 2.03 drivers again.

Option 2: Manual Roll Back
1. Download the nForce 2.03 driver kit.
2. Browse to the Start Menu and select “Search”
3. Do a search on \windows for *.nvu (See option2.3.bmp)
4. Delete the “nvide.nvu” file (Option2.3.bmp)
5. Go to Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs
6. Remove the option “NVIDIA nForce Drivers” (See option2.6.bmp)

NOTE: You must select the option with the exact text above

7. Reboot.
8. When the system restarts, hit “Cancel” when all devices are detected
9. Re-install the nForce 2.03 driver kit.
10. Click “Yes to all” when asked to overwriting old files
11. Reboot when install is complete
12. Upon system restart, right mouse click on My Computer and select Properties
13. Select the “Hardware” tab
14. Click on the “Device Manager” button
15. Expand the section labeled “IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers”
16. Left mouse click on the option labeled “NVIDIA NForce(TM) MCP2 IDE Controller” or “NVIDIA® nForce(TM) IDE Controller” (your system will only have one of the above options) (See option2.16.bmp)
17. Right mouse click and select “Update Driver” (See option2.17.bmp)
18. Select “Install from a list of specific location (Advanced)”
19. Select “Don’t search, I will choose the driver to install”
20. Select the driver “Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller”
21. Reboot.
22. After reboot allow device detection.
23. Reboot again.
24. Everything should now be working correctly.

Case 2:
If you installed nForce 2.03 driver kits and then installed 2.42 & without uninstalling 2.03 and want to go back to 2.03 driver kit, please follow these steps

Manual Roll Back
1. Browse to the Start Menu and select “Control Panel”
2. Select “Add/Remove Programs”
3. Remove the option labeled “NVIDIA nForce Drivers”

NOTE: You must select the option with the exact text above.

4. Reboot.
5. When the system restarts, hit “Cancel” when all devices are detected
6. Re-install the nForce 2.03 driver kit.
7. Reboot.
8. After reboot allow any additional devices to be detected (if applicable)
9. Reboot.
10. Everything should now be working correctly.

Case 3
Your system is unbootable because you tried to use Add/Remove programs on the nForce 2.42 driver kit

Recovering Windows
1. Copy the “nvatabus.sys” file to a floppy disk. This file is included in the zip file that include these instructions.
2. Boot system to Windows XP installation CD.
3. At the Setup screen, press ”R”.
4. This will bring up the repair console.

Which Windows installation would you like to log onto
<To cancel, press ENTER>?

Hit “1” and <ENTER> or the number that represent your Windows XP installation.

Type the Administrator password:

Type password and hit <ENTER>

Insert the floppy disk with the "nvatabus.sys” file into the floppy drive. At the command prompt, type “copy a:\nvatabus.sys c:\windows\system32\drivers” and hit <ENTER>. Once file has been copied, type “EXIT” and hit <ENTER>. This will reboot your system. Remove floppy from system.

5. When the system restarts, hit “Cancel” when all devices are detected
6. Re-install the nForce 2.03 driver kit.
7. Click “Yes to all” when asked to overwriting old files
8. Reboot when install is complete
9. Upon system restart, right mouse click on My Computer and select Properties
10. Select the “Hardware” tab
11. Click on the “Device Manager” button
12. Expand the section labeled “IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers”
13. Left mouse click on the option labeled “NVIDIA NForce(TM) MCP2 IDE Controller” or “NVIDIA® nForce(TM) IDE Controller” (your system will only have one of the above options) (See option2.16.bmp)
14. Right mouse click and select “Update Driver” (See option2.17.bmp)
15. Select “Install from a list of specific location (Advanced)”
16. Select “Don’t search, I will choose the driver to install”
17. Select the driver “Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller”
18. Reboot.
19. After reboot allow device detection.
20. Reboot again.
21. Everything should now be working correctly.

Heh, NVIDIA seem to be having a lot of Driver problems these days.

Yea...

Improper registers in their reference BIOS causing data corruption on nForce mobos...

And cheating twice in 3DMark, doesn't look good at all IMO...

If they really had problems with 3DMark they could just prevent it from starting all together... That would be understandable, but spending time on cheating in benchmarks instead of optimizing games is just plain silly...

Agreed


And thank you for the info on nforce drivers...

I'm just about to install win2k on one, and had downloaded the 2.41... very glad I haven't had time to install them yet