{"id":379,"date":"2009-12-04T19:59:47","date_gmt":"2009-12-04T14:59:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.devicedriverfinder.com\/blog\/?p=379"},"modified":"2022-02-10T16:39:52","modified_gmt":"2022-02-10T11:39:52","slug":"how-to-roll-back-a-driver-in-windows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.devicedriverfinder.com\/blog\/device-drivers\/how-to-roll-back-a-driver-in-windows","title":{"rendered":"How to Roll Back a Driver in Windows"},"content":{"rendered":"

Regularly checking for computer driver updates<\/a> is a good practice. It will keep your hardware running at maximum performance, make sure all hardware functionality is enabled, and it can help prevent device-related errors, which are known to often cause blue screen errors!<\/p>\n

But of course, a driver update can occasionally also cause a problem in your system. A conflict with another hardware device can be the result, or the device suddenly can not be used in some programs anymore. Beta drivers can have this effect since they need to be tested more.<\/p>\n

Roll Back a Driver to the Previous Version<\/h2>\n

Luckily Windows offers the possibility to restore the previous version of a device driver in most cases. Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, and later all have the functionality that a driver backup is taken whenever a new driver is installed, so it is possible to restore that driver from the backup. This is called a rollback in Windows.<\/p>\n

To roll back a driver, open up the Windows Device Manager<\/strong>. You can access it in the Control Panel, or type it in the search field of the Start <\/strong>menu for “device manager”\u009d and click the resulting program.<\/p>\n

In the device manager, you need to right-click the device for which you want to restore the previous driver version. In the popup menu, select Properties<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"Windows<\/p>\n

This will bring up the Properties<\/strong> window for the selected hardware device. In the device properties window, select the Driver <\/strong>tab. Now you will see the driver details and several buttons with driver functions.<\/p>\n

\"Vista<\/p>\n

The next step is to click the Roll Back Driver<\/strong> button.Please note that it is possible that the button is disabled. That means that the driver was never updated in the first place. Typically you will see this when a Microsoft driver that comes with the operating system is installed.<\/p>\n

\"Roll<\/picture><\/a><\/p>\n

After clicking the Roll Back Driver<\/strong> button, you will see a confirmation message, where you need to click the Yes <\/strong>button.<\/p>\n

Some notes on this procedure:<\/p>\n