G
GTX_SlotCar
..... Installing over the top should
Ben, I think you're giving the OS too much credit. It runs what's there.
Yes, it can make sure all the old, unused files are deleted and clean up the
registry (to a certain extent), pretty much all that you're talking about,
but it doesn't do it automatically. You have to tell it to do it through
"Add/Remove Programs"
Very good question - long answer. I'll try to answer it to a general,
non-technical reader (not necessarily Ben) .
I suppose, because it would be such an enormous task. It would have to
delete every registry entry and file from all previous driver versions, and
there are so many of them. It would have to assume you stored the files in
the default folders. And then, if they actually could do it, it could only
works backwards. There's no way for Cat 4.2 to know which files it should
delete in Cat 5.9 which isnt' even out yet (but that's pretty much what you
are expecting Cat 3.7 to do when you install it over Cat 4.1).
It could take a heuristic or global approach. Delete all ATI registry
entries and files that are not part of the current driver. But, there are
big problems with this. For one, it could start deleting registry entries
and files installed by your games, telling the game which video card you're
using. You could end up having to reinstall games that won't start, or at
the very least, setting up the video parameters again.
The biggest problem , though, is that sometimes a driver or program will
replace a standard Windows file. This file may work better for that driver
or program, but may not work at all without it. If you just delete it,
Windows may not run properly of may not even start.(something similar to
this is what I believe happened to me when I used the Cat Uninstaller) The
only way to put the standard Windows file back in, is to run the driver's
uninstall program. It keeps track of these things. Problems of this nature
happen all the time. It becomes an even bigger problem when 2 programs are
trying to change the same file. How many times have you heard people
complain about problems like this: "I was running XYZ program fine until I
upgraded my video drivers. Now it won't run." Or, "My video was fine until I
installed XYZ program. Now my video is screwed up on everything." Probably
what happened is both programs were changing the same standard Windows file.
At some point, while installing drivers (or any program), you must have seen
a pop up dialog box that said something like: "The file you are installing
<filename> is older than the file you are trying to replace. Do you want to
keep this file?" If you don't know what the file does, how do you answer?
Here's an example of the right way and the wrong way of putting things "back
in order".
Let's say that in order for a particular driver file to run, it must change
all the P's to O's.
'people' becomes 'oeoole'
Now we fix it the right way with uninstall:
"oeoole"
change made was: 1st and 4th character to O
change needed is: 1st and 4th character to P
"people"
corrections made.
Now the wrong way, without the uninstaller:
"oeoole"
change made was: changed all the P's to O's
change needed is: change all the O's to P's
"pepple"
corrections made.
I know this is a very simplistic example, but it's similar to how an
uninstall program works. Sometimes you can run the program's uninstall.exe,
or just use Add/Remove Programs.
There's a reason why there's an uninstaller included in each driver version.
If you're happy with the way you change drivers, that's great. But, you're
going to have remnants all over your drive and registry and you'll never
know if your drivers are performing as well as they could. We're only
talking about an extra 2 minutes.
I'm not surprised at how many people, in general, install drivers over
existing ones. I see it everywhere. I'm surprised at how many intellegent,
insightful people in this newsgroup do it.
Gary
Ben, I think you're giving the OS too much credit. It runs what's there.
Yes, it can make sure all the old, unused files are deleted and clean up the
registry (to a certain extent), pretty much all that you're talking about,
but it doesn't do it automatically. You have to tell it to do it through
"Add/Remove Programs"
Very good question - long answer. I'll try to answer it to a general,
non-technical reader (not necessarily Ben) .
I suppose, because it would be such an enormous task. It would have to
delete every registry entry and file from all previous driver versions, and
there are so many of them. It would have to assume you stored the files in
the default folders. And then, if they actually could do it, it could only
works backwards. There's no way for Cat 4.2 to know which files it should
delete in Cat 5.9 which isnt' even out yet (but that's pretty much what you
are expecting Cat 3.7 to do when you install it over Cat 4.1).
It could take a heuristic or global approach. Delete all ATI registry
entries and files that are not part of the current driver. But, there are
big problems with this. For one, it could start deleting registry entries
and files installed by your games, telling the game which video card you're
using. You could end up having to reinstall games that won't start, or at
the very least, setting up the video parameters again.
The biggest problem , though, is that sometimes a driver or program will
replace a standard Windows file. This file may work better for that driver
or program, but may not work at all without it. If you just delete it,
Windows may not run properly of may not even start.(something similar to
this is what I believe happened to me when I used the Cat Uninstaller) The
only way to put the standard Windows file back in, is to run the driver's
uninstall program. It keeps track of these things. Problems of this nature
happen all the time. It becomes an even bigger problem when 2 programs are
trying to change the same file. How many times have you heard people
complain about problems like this: "I was running XYZ program fine until I
upgraded my video drivers. Now it won't run." Or, "My video was fine until I
installed XYZ program. Now my video is screwed up on everything." Probably
what happened is both programs were changing the same standard Windows file.
At some point, while installing drivers (or any program), you must have seen
a pop up dialog box that said something like: "The file you are installing
<filename> is older than the file you are trying to replace. Do you want to
keep this file?" If you don't know what the file does, how do you answer?
Here's an example of the right way and the wrong way of putting things "back
in order".
Let's say that in order for a particular driver file to run, it must change
all the P's to O's.
'people' becomes 'oeoole'
Now we fix it the right way with uninstall:
"oeoole"
change made was: 1st and 4th character to O
change needed is: 1st and 4th character to P
"people"
corrections made.
Now the wrong way, without the uninstaller:
"oeoole"
change made was: changed all the P's to O's
change needed is: change all the O's to P's
"pepple"
corrections made.
I know this is a very simplistic example, but it's similar to how an
uninstall program works. Sometimes you can run the program's uninstall.exe,
or just use Add/Remove Programs.
There's a reason why there's an uninstaller included in each driver version.
If you're happy with the way you change drivers, that's great. But, you're
going to have remnants all over your drive and registry and you'll never
know if your drivers are performing as well as they could. We're only
talking about an extra 2 minutes.
I'm not surprised at how many people, in general, install drivers over
existing ones. I see it everywhere. I'm surprised at how many intellegent,
insightful people in this newsgroup do it.
Gary