We’re not sure if NVIDIA’s software ever deletes them. If you haven’t reinstalled Windows or deleted these files in a while, they may still be stored in these folders.
Previous versions of the NVIDIA software stored these driver installation files at C:\Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation\Installer2, C:\ProgramData\NVIDIA Corporation\NetService, and just under the C:\NVIDIA folder. We’ve seen this folder balloon much larger in the past. However, that’s just because we cleared these files out a few months ago. In the screenshot below, these files are only using 1.4 GB of space on our test system. To see exactly how much space these files are using on your PC, open the NVIDIA Corporation directory here, right-click the “Downloader” folder, and select “Properties”. That’s why NVIDIA stores these files on your hard drive. NVIDIA also said they plan to add a “Revert to prior driver” feature in a future version of GeForce Experience. NVIDIA now only keeps installers for the current and previous version of the driver, which will be about 1 GB in total.
In GeForce Experience 3.9.0, NVIDIA added a cleanup tool that will automatically remove old driver versions. Update: NVIDIA reached out to us with some new information. And you’ll probably only notice it if you use a disk space analysis tool. I’ve seen these files use over 4 GB of space, and, while that may sound like a small amount of space to some, it’s a lot of wasted space on a smaller SSD. NVIDIA leaves old installer files buried on your hard drive until you get annoyed and manually delete them…if you even realize you need to.Īs someone who’s used NVIDIA graphics hardware for years, this has been annoying me for a very long time. To improve your PC’s performance and quickly recover from driver related issues, Download Driver Support for improved peace of mind.If you’re a gamer (or just a PC user) with NVIDIA graphics, NVIDIA’s drivers are probably wasting gigabytes of storage on your hard drive. You can also backup all your drivers, and restore a previous driver if you run into any problems with a new version.
If you download and register the software, Driver Support will create an inventory of your PC’s hardware and devices, and automatically install the updated drivers for you. Driver Support ensures you only use the latest signed drivers for your PC’s hardware. You can opt to use Driver Support to manage your NVIDIA GPU drivers and other devices. Manage Your NVIDIA GPU Drivers with Driver Support
Unfortunately, the different driver versions from NVIDIA provide varying results depending on which build of Windows and what updates you installed on your PC. Follow the steps in this guide while using different driver versions if you aren’t sure what driver you had installed previously.
Note that for the best results, you may need to try different versions. To open the application, select the top result.
You can also uninstall and disable devices using Device Manager.
Windows’ Device Manager is where you manage and update all your PC’s device drivers. Rolling Back NVIDIA Driver from Windows Device Manager This means that even if you roll back to a previous driver version, you may still face issues and it could mean you’ll need to do a clean install. While the process is simple, last year’s fall update from Windows corrupted DNS records and created a variety of problems with many different device drivers. Windows provides you with the ability to roll back a driver in the event that you experience issues after an update.