Dell XPS8300 Graphics Driver Uninstall & Update

I purchased this system in November of 2012. This is going to be a shortened version of my problem. I am a consulting mech engineer and I have lost about three hours typing this in as a post in IE9 because the online editor froze half way through my typing on Friday and again this morning. So I am using Word 2010 now and pasting. On Friday, I assumed it was a glitch in bandwidth or IE9 froze (as it does constantly on a daily basis) so I just went back to working on consulting projects and decided to give it another try this morning. It froze again this morning, so it must be the internal editor or it relationship with IE9. Obviously, I should have saved as I was typing. I have included my system info below. Talk as technically as you like when you respond because I have built or repaired around 1000 to 1500 PC’s in my spare time over the last 20 years or so. This, however, is the first time I have experienced the following problem (even on Dell computers with proprietary items such as graphics cards and PSU’s). The problem: I was going to update my graphics card drivers (nVidia GTX 560 Ti (which is a Dell proprietary card and not the same as the nVidia marketed version). The installed drivers, however, do not show up under “any” uninstall program (including the “Add/Remove Programs” list in Windows 7. I have a few tech packages since I repair a lot of system (and build a few occasionally). These programs allow me to go in under the kernel of the OS (to remove things hidden in Windows by default, which I often need to do when removing viruses or virus-like products such as “malware”). I can’t find the installed drivers, even with these programs. They are there but then they are not. I can uninstall manually via the registry and then use a “sweeper” program to remove leftover items. I know you know the importance of “complete” removal of graphics card drivers since the cards are so picky when it comes to a clean install of their driver package. The only conclusion I can make is that since this a Dell proprietary card, Dell is telling me (especially since there no graphics card driver updates via my personalized Dell update site) that this is a proprietary driver that never needs updating. If I am wrong, let me know if a manual uninstall is the only way or if Dell has “hidden the uninstall feature on the root drive in the Windows folder or perhaps the Drivers folder. I have looked in every possible location on the hard drive (even by booting from a USB drive from within a tech program that uses Linux as an OS so I can find anything that windows would hide under normal  cases). If the feature is on the hard drive, Dell must have used the Blowfish algorithm to encrypt and hide it.

You also may be interested to know something I discovered the first time I disassembled the computer which was two weeks or so after purchasing it. I tear all computers I work on down to each individual basic part and dust and clean them thoroughly whenever I work on one. I tear mine down once a month to clean all contacts and remove all dust (I use a ground mat and wrist strap to avoid electrostatic damage). As I was saying, the first time I took it apart to clean it was because I noticed the graphics card temps and voltage curves were indicating that dust was starting to build up but more importantly the fan speed started to deviate from the norm. I found, and I know this is going to be hard for you to believe but I have photos, that the graphics card was still in its original plastic shrink wrapping. The shrink wrapping had started to warp and deform from the high temps and a portion of it had gotten pulled in to the fan. As it was getting buffeted about by the air flow, it was intermittingly hitting the fan blade which was why the fan speed curve had developed the saw tooth pattern over the previous 24 hours. It is a good thing that I monitor such things because I immediately knew something was wrong, shut it down and took it apart during the middle of my work day. I have no idea how anyone could even install a graphics card before removing the shrink wrapping. It is so noticeable that no one and I mean no one could miss it. It almost has to be done on purpose to be done at all. I am not upset by any means because it is really just pitiful when you think about it. It is like buying an electronic product which comes with AA batteries but has the plastic insert installed to prevent the batteries from making a complete connection during shipping. Obviously, anyone would figure out, even if they did not read the instructions and did not speak or read English, that the tab has to be removed or it will not operate. Part of the plastic had even been damaged when they were inserting it into the PCIe slot which they had to force because of the plastic still being attached. I am here to tell you that this is a true story and did happen. Let me know if you would like and I’ll send you the pictures.

Sorry for the long message. I look forward to hearing from you concerning whether or not to update the graphics driver.

Thanks,

Joel Smith

OS Name Microsoft Windows 7 Professional
Version 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 Build 7601
Other OS Description  Not Available
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name XPS8300
System Manufacturer Dell Inc.
System Model XPS 8300
System Type x64-based PC
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2600 CPU @ 3.40GHz, 3401 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date Dell Inc. A06, 10/17/2011
SMBIOS Version 2.6
Windows Directory C:\Windows
System Directory C:\Windows\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume2
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "6.1.7601.17514"
User Name XPS8300\Joel
Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 16.0 GB
Total Physical Memory 16.0 GB
Available Physical Memory 12.6 GB
Total Virtual Memory 40.0 GB
Available Virtual Memory 36.2 GB
Page File Space 24.0 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys

Name NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti
PNP Device ID PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_1082&SUBSYS_087310DE&REV_A1\4&DDE86B&0&0008
Adapter Type GeForce GTX 560 Ti, NVIDIA compatible
Adapter Description NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti
Adapter RAM 1.25 GB (1,342,177,280 bytes)
Installed Drivers nvd3dumx.dll,nvwgf2umx.dll,nvwgf2umx.dll,nvd3dum,nvwgf2um,nvwgf2um
Driver Version 8.17.12.7057
INF File oem70.inf (Section012 section)
Color Planes Not Available
Color Table Entries 4294967296
Resolution 1920 x 1080 x 59 hertz
Bits/Pixel 32
Memory Address 0xFA000000-0xFB0FFFFF
Memory Address 0xD0000000-0xFFFFFFFF
Memory Address 0xD8000000-0xD9FFFFFF
I/O Port 0x0000E000-0x0000EFFF
IRQ Channel IRQ 16
I/O Port 0x000003B0-0x000003BB
I/O Port 0x000003C0-0x000003DF
Memory Address 0xA0000-0xBFFFF
Driver c:\windows\system32\drivers\nvlddmkm.sys (8.17.12.7057, 12.65 MB (13,261,928 bytes), 11/18/2011 8:42 PM)