Doug Keene

Hey, thanks loads! That one worked like a champ, but was a really grueling series of tasks to accomplish.

I followed the 31 step process, exactly, using Driver Cleaner.net as the cleaning agent, as recommended. I used CCleaner to verify that the registry was in good shape before installing the nVidia drivers. It found one additional nVidia item that needed to be removed. The multiple passes of the cleaner after successive reboots was necessary, each time catching more and more items to remove. The register removals took quite a few searches to find all the items needing removed. I don't recommend this method for anyone not understanding how regedit works and what damage can be done if you screw up. The process outlined on the nVidia forum assumes a thorough knowledge of Windows files, the registry, and how they work.

Bottom line, control panel now works, and I was able to load the latest nForce drivers for my motherboard at the same time.

Thanks again for finding this process. Its a winner!

Doug
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For reference, here is the method, extracted from the nVidia Forum, member Luttiano: [bracketed items are mine]
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It turns out that driver installations have to be done "while" in safe-mode or else they won't bypass native driver support that vista offers. This occurs even if you had update drivers turned off. So, here's how I fixed my issue for all of it.

Normal Mode :

Turned off automatic driver updates (set to "never" was confirmed) [after done, reset to "ask before installing"]
Uninstalled Nvidia motherboard drivers
Uninstalled Nvidia display drivers
Ran DC.net cleaner [Driver Cleaner.NET]
--Cleaned nvidia
--Cleaned nvidia control panel
Rebooted

Safe Mode :
Ran DC.net cleaner
--Cleaned Nvidia
--Cleaned Nvidia Control Panel
Rebooted

Safe Mode :
Ran DC.net cleaner
--Cleaned Nvidia
--Cleaned Nvidia Control Panel
--Do not reboot at this time.

[for the following reg changes, use search to find all occurences]

Opened Regedit and removed the nvidia CPL registry keys
Deleted the NVCP*.* files from windows\system32
Deleted any NVC file that housed a description of Nvidia Control Panel from windows\system32 [pass mouse over file and read "description"]
Used CleanMyPc Registry cleaner [or CCleaner] and fixed all registry issues
Rebooted

Safe Mode :
Installed Nvidia Motherboard Drivers [latest]
Installed Nvidia Display Drivers [latest]
[installed nVidia System Tools]
Rebooted

Normal Mode :

Display works 100%
Control Panel works 100%
Multiple Monitor Support works 100%
Problems Fixed!