Vista - nVidia Control Panel won't run in Vista 64

Hi Folks,

I have a dual boot system with Win XP on one partition and Vista 64 Ultimate on the second partition. Sometime recently, perhaps at the latest Windows Update on Vista, my nVidia Control Panel stopped working in Vista 64. I am using nVidia driver 185.85, the latest non-beta version available. I am using nVidia system tools 6.05, the latest set available. I have cleaned out my drivers with Driver Sweeper, and reloaded them with no change. I have loaded the drivers with all virus software shut down, with all unnecessary apps shut down. When I try to start up the nVidia control panel, whether in the Windows Control Panel or other shortcut, Vista tells me that "nVidia Control Panel has stopped working". I am getting the impression that the nVidia drivers are not running, since when I add them they are not defaulting to max resolution like they normally do. The system seems to be running on some default video driver instead.

CPU, GPU, MCP temperatures are nominal, no indications of problems there.

I would greatly appreciate some advice on how to trouble shoot this and get back to working properly.

My system specs are as follows:

OS Name Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Ultimate 64 bit
Version 6.0.6002 Service Pack 2 Build 6002
System Manufacturer XFX78I
System Model XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI
System Type x64-based PC
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz, 2400 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date Phoenix Technologies, LTD P08, 9/9/2008
SMBIOS Version 2.4
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "6.0.6002.18005"
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 8.00 GB
Total Physical Memory 8.00 GB
Available Physical Memory 6.12 GB
Total Virtual Memory 16.0 GB
Available Virtual Memory 14.3 GB
Page File Space 8.29 GB
GPU: XFX 8800 GT, no overclocking, only one GPU

When Vista tells me that nVidia Cont. Panel is not working it tells me the following info on the failure. I wish I knew how to interpret this.

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: nvcplui.exe
Application Version: 2.5.373.5
Application Timestamp: 49fa83cf
Fault Module Name: NMI.dll
Fault Module Version: 2.2.0.6793
Fault Module Timestamp: 48c567bc
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Offset: 0000000000028c62
OS Version: 6.0.6002.2.2.0.256.1
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: 6ee2
Additional Information 2: 9811633d2846e0fec22dbfdde637c6b1
Additional Information 3: ea72
Additional Information 4: 5df60106b0ab17add3a31e2c5c56805d

Thank you for your assistance.

Doug

Hello Doug,

Try installing the driver while in safe mode, there seems to be a lot of people having this problem and there is some success installing this way. Good luck and post your results.

I just cleaned out all the old nVidia graphics files in Safe Mode, and then re-installed the 185.85 drivers for the graphics card (8800 GT) and also removed and reinstalled the nVidia System Tools software again (6.05), while in Safe Mode. Installation went much faster than in normal mode, but nVidia Control Panel still won't run, with the same error message. Since the System Tools also use the Control Panel as their shell, obviously they don't run either. The error occurs both in Safe Mode and normal mode.

So, something is interfering with, or blocking, operation of the nVidia Control Panel software modules. Maybe also affecting graphics drivers, but not sure. The task now is to find out why my system is blocking and others don't have the problem.

Note: I did have nHancer installed, but not running. This program overides some of the nVidia Control Panel settings for a graphic card, but that software has been uninstalled prior to the re-install of drivers.

I am about ready to consider a re-install of Windows Vista 64. I only have the original (no SP1 or SP2) version, so a re-install will be a long and arduous affair. Not looking forward to that prospect at all, so if we can find another way to discover the culprit, it sure would be nice.

Thanks to all for your support and assistance.

Doug

Have you tried installing the drivers on their own ?, (without the system tools) and are you sure that all of nHancer has gone ?, i would do a full advanced search, also have you used a registry cleaner in between the driver installs, ccleaner is very good and free, if you use it be sure to backup your registry first, there is an option when using ccleaner to do this. Im just thinking out loud really, but this is what i would do in your position. Good luck and again post your results.

I cleaned the registry with CCcleaner with no improvement, and, yes, I did try just loading the graphic drivers alone first. My primary concern is the nVidia control panel since it manages the setup and features of the video driver, and if it is broken, there is no telling what the driver is doing or how it is set up. This isn't a problem with normal generic computing, but with games, simulations, graphics heavy applications, etc. it can make a very big difference.

If others are having the same problem, I'd like to know if any of them have found a solution, or if anyone has determined that some event caused the problem (like the installation of SP2?).

Hello Doug,
If you have Googled this you may well have been here, but if not it may have what your looking for, take a look and get back to me.

nvidia control panel error - NVIDIA Forums

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]
------------------------------------------------
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!

Sounds like you have earned a rest, put your feet up and take five, im glad you got it sorted.

Thank you for your wonderful support. By the way, now, for the first time, I can now get the Performance Monitor section of the Control Panel to come up (aka: nTune). Haven't seen that for a long time. I may even try SLI again, since I was never able to get it flying in Vista 64 before. I tried out the graphics engine on the new RailWorks train simulator, a very graphics intensive and touchy piece of software, and it worked perfectly. Prior to the work we just did, it would not run, most likely because it was relying on generic drivers instead of the proper nVidia drivers.

Best regards,

Doug

Im glad it's all worked out for you. Your more than welcome.