Accidentally removed/deleted drivers

Well I can't believe the anguish this has put me through. I foolishly uninstalled my gpu drivers and also clicked the box to delete all files etc. As if that wasnt bad enough I carelessly followed advice I shouldn't have and removed my GPU after retrieving it from 'hidden devices'.

I have tried everything from checking windows updates, confirming primary graphics adaptor is selected as pcie in bios, swapping pcie lanes, scanning for hardware changes in device manager, adding legacy hardware but not sure which would be for nvidia std display/intel/ms. I then attempted DDU - 'Clean and Restart' and then running driver install app. I've also tried via creating an ISO recovery and then restarting system via windows exp with the gpu driver located on desktop which is evidently supposed to automatically locate and install.

My next approach was to downgrade back to 7 (only been on 10 for 7days) however since I did the iso restart that's no longer listed as an option in recovery. It only lists reverting to an early version of 10.

Any help with this is GREATLY appreciated!

I5 3570
Gtx 670
Asrock Z77 oc formula
Win 10 pro 64

If you've deleted the GPU driver from Device Manager, it should've appeared as "Microsoft Basic Display Adapter" instead then here do a restart and start re-installing the driver.

Assuming your GTX 670 is still on your system, just download the driver from NVIDIA's website. Then install like you usually do.

Why not just download the driver from geforce.com and reinstall?

NavyLCDR said:

Why not just download the driver from geforce.com and reinstall?

That doesn't work as it wont even install because it cant find supported hardware.

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RoasterMen said:

If you've deleted the GPU driver from Device Manager, it should've appeared as "Microsoft Basic Display Adapter" instead then here do a restart and start re-installing the driver.

Assuming your GTX 670 is still on your system, just download the driver from NVIDIA's website. Then install like you usually do.

I've tried the driver install tool but it fails on system compatibility stating driver could not find compatible hardware. I was able to add Microsoft basic display adaptor via 'adding legacy hardware' but was unsuccessful when attempting automatic driver update also was unable to locate the driver I have on my desktop as it wasnt listed in the available/selectable folders.

Stupid question of the day:

It appears that you're getting video. Do you have the monitor connected to the 670, or the motherboard's graphics port?

RoasterMen said:

If you've deleted the GPU driver from Device Manager, it should've appeared as "Microsoft Basic Display Adapter" instead then here do a restart and start re-installing the driver.

Assuming your GTX 670 is still on your system, just download the driver from NVIDIA's website. Then install like you usually do.

NavyLCDR said:

Why not just download the driver from geforce.com and reinstall?

vgchat said:

Hi there, I suggest you follow this guide that will show you how to restore the nvidia gpu to showing up again in the device manager.


Next: Fix NVIDIA Graphics Card Not Showing Up in Device Manager - Driver Easy

In Command Prompt, type set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1, and then press Enter.
3. At the same Command Prompt, type start devmgmt.msc, and then press Enter. This is to open Device Manager window.
4. Once Device Manager windows opens, click the View menu and select Show hidden devices from the drop-down menu. After that, Any devices that are not connected to the computer will be shown, including the NVIDIA Graphics card.
5. Uninstall each instance of the NVIDIA card and unknown device (The unknown device will be listed under category Other devices. ).
To uninstall the device, right-click on the device name and select Uninstall from the context menu. Following screen shot is for your reference.
Note: NVIDIA graphics card may not be shown as its own device name. It could be unknown device, video controllers, etc. If you are not sure how to identify it, just uninstall the device that has a yellow mark on it.
6. After uninstall, restart your computer then Windows will reinstall the driver automatically.

Here are some other things you can try.
Nvidia graphics card not detected on Windows 10 [EASY SOLUTIONS]

If that fails, you may have to do a clean installation of Windows 10.

Yeah that's the exact source that got me in this situation to begine with. As you can tell by the comments it worked for absolutely no one. Next step in their tutorial should be - delete sys32.. I guess I have no choice now but to do fresh install. At wich point I'd have nothing to lose might as well start familiarizing myself with linux and say goodbye to windows. Something as simple as this should not be this difficult or infuriating.

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bobkn said:

Stupid question of the day:

It appears that you're getting video. Do you have the monitor connected to the 670, or the motherboard's graphics port?

I'm using motherboard gpu.

Mopar said:

(snip)

I'm using motherboard gpu.

Stupid question number two: what happens when you connect the monitor to the 670, and try to boot into Windows? Any display at all?