Patching that video card

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PATCH WATCH By Susan Bradley This month, I want you to review what else you have installed on your computer besides the operating system. Why? Because
[See the full post at: Patching that video card]

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

12 users thanked author for this post.

fisher75, abbodi86, rizzquery, jburk07, DLivesInTexas, Kathy Stevens, Phil Rabichow, satrow, mcbsys, a, lmacri, TechTango

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As for the video driver, a bit of history. In the early days of Windows NT, Microsoft had decided drivers should not be a part of the kernel. Smart move; keeping Windows from crashing due to a rogue driver. The drawback: lack of speed, especially for video. So as a compromise, the videodriver entered the kernel. See MS Windows NT Kernel-mode User and GDI White Paper | Microsoft Learn

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Well, you got my attention with “Nvidia” but I don’t think I have to do anything. I have a (Gigabyte) GeForce RTX™ 3060 Ti VISION OC 8G (rev. 2.0)
and yes, it came with software that would keep its driver current and yes I finally removed that as it was adding a lot of overhead to the system. I updated to 566.03 and left it there for now. Maybe check every few months or so.

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I hit the SSH issue on a couple servers. My solution was to adjust permissions from the GUI. The thing to keep in mind is that if you double-click on the C:\ProgramData\ssh\logs folder from Windows Explorer, you’ll be asked if you want to “permanently get access to this folder.” Of course you do, because you’re trying to read the logs! But that will add your user to the ACL and break SSH. I posted this with a screen shot here:

https://serverfault.com/a/1166891/166311

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Thank you, Susan, for this report.  I have a few questions:

I have Windows 10 Pro, version 22H2 (OS Build 19045.5011).  I have CCleaner version 6.29.11342 (64-bit).  This has a driver updater & currently shows that I have a total of 24 drivers that should be updated: a) 3 audio; b) 3 connectivity; c) 2 storage (DVDRAM & CD); d) 14 system; e) 2 US B.

So far as I know, everything works, & I’m aware of the adage “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.

1.  Outside of ccleaner, I don’t know where I’d find all these drivers.  Should I just update using ccleaner or spend hours trying to locate the websites to download & install new drivers?

2.  If I do use ccleaner to update, should I just do 1 st a time & reboot, to see if everything is OK?  My problem with this is that I may not know everything is OK until I start using different apps, etc.  This could take days.

I’d appreciate any advice that you could give!  Thank you

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Who is the manufacturer of your computer?

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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Hi Susan:

Thank you for your quick response.  There is no single manufacturer.  I had someone use the following parts & put it together in 2017:
Gigabyte GA-Z170X-GAMING 7 Intel ATX Motherboard
Intel Core i7-6700K 8M Skylake Quad-Core 4.0 GHz LGA 1151
Dynatron K987 92mm Ball CPU Cooler
Corsair 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 Memory
LG Electronics CD DVD BLU-RAY reader
Sandisk X400 2.5″ 512GB SSD
HGST 4TB Enterprise 7200RPM
EVGA GeForce GT 730 2GB
Antec NSK4100 Black SGCC steel ATX case
Seasonic 800 Watt Power Supply
4 Port USB 3.0 PCI-e Card
4 Port USB 3.1 PCI-e Card
3.5″ Drive Bay 4 Port USB 3.0 Hub

 

Moderator Edit: to remove HTML. Please use the “Text” tab in the Entry Box when you copy/paste or the menu icon “Paste as text”

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EVGA GeForce GT 730 2GB

That is an NVIDIA card and you should check for the latest drivers, per Susan’s column (top of this thread). If you have an older driver you should update the software.
After that you can post a list of the drivers here and we will advise, or just accept CCleaner’s advice and let it update everything (after making an image backup and testing booting from the recovery USB).

Before you update anything, make an image backup to an external USB disk using your preferred backup program.

cheers, Paul

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Phil Rabichow wrote:

1. Outside of ccleaner, I don’t know where I’d find all these drivers. Should I just update using ccleaner or spend hours trying to locate the websites to download & install new drivers?

Hi Phil Rabichow:

I would strongly advise that you do NOT use CCleaner’s Driver Updater (or Software Updater, for that matter) to actually install driver updates after it has scanned for out-of-date drivers. The CCleaner Driver Updater board at https://community.ccleaner.com/c/ccleaner-for-windows/driver-updater/25 is full of posts from users who borked their computer after allowing CCleaner to update their drivers, with problems ranging from loss of sound from their audio card to being left with an unbootable computer.

Since you have a custom-built computer, Alex5723’s suggestion in post # 2718598 to stick with drivers offered by the original manufacturer by starting with the NVIDIA App (also recommended in Susan Bradley’s Patching that video card article) and the Intel Driver & Support Assistant (DSA), sounds like a good place to start.

If you don’t want Intel DSA automatically launching at every boot-up see my 19-Jun-2023 post # 2567362 in in Ed Tittle’s Working with the Intel Driver & Support Assistant. My 19-Sep-2023 post # 2588442 in Susan Bradley’s Zeroing in on zero days includes comments about some of the outdated drivers and firmware that Intel DSA may detect but not automatically update [see the support article Intel Products That Aren’t Supported by Intel Driver & Support Assistant (Intel DSA) for further details].
———–
Dell Inspiron 15 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.5131 * Intel i5-8265U CPU * Intel UHD Graphics 620 * 256 GB Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe SSD * Intel Driver & Support Assistant v24.5.40.11 * CCleaner Free Portable v6.30.11385

2 users thanked author for this post.

Deo, satrow

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Since I’ve been running some AI in Python venv that requires specific CUDA SDK I’ve been hesitant about fooling around too much with the drivers.  Have had enough trouble with a VS / CMake build environment that has certain Java runtime lib dependencies.

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I use Nvidia App (replacing GeForce Experience) and Intel’s Driver’s & Support Assistant app.
For the rest drivers I download directly from OEMs.

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wavy, lmacri

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Alex5723 wrote:

I use Nvidia App (replacing GeForce Experience)

Never knew that. Does it have lower over head than GeoF? Seems to have a lot of stuff I do not want.

🍻

Just because you don't know where you are going doesn't mean any road will get you there.

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Ah video cards, both love and hate them. Cinch to update, but always check to make sure you are updating the correct one, I have seen first hand what happens if you don’t… It ain’t pretty, and it’s heck to revert, least it seems easier now than before. Also helps I keep the previous version on hand just in case of a goof-up on the video card’s end.

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lmacri wrote:

Phil Rabichow wrote:

1. Outside of ccleaner, I don’t know where I’d find all these drivers. Should I just update using ccleaner or spend hours trying to locate the websites to download & install new drivers?

Hi Phil Rabichow:

I would strongly advise that you do NOT use CCleaner’s Driver Updater (or Software Updater, for that matter) to actually install driver updates after it has scanned for out-of-date drivers. The CCleaner Driver Updater board at https://community.ccleaner.com/c/ccleaner-for-windows/driver-updater/25 is full of posts from users who borked their computer after allowing CCleaner to update their drivers, with problems ranging from loss of sound from their audio card to being left with an unbootable computer.

Since you have a custom-built computer, Alex5723’s suggestion in post # 2718598 to stick with drivers offered by the original manufacturer by starting with the NVIDIA App (also recommended in Susan Bradley’s Patching that video card article) and the Intel Driver & Support Assistant (DSA), sounds like a good place to start.

If you don’t want Intel DSA automatically launching at every boot-up see my 19-Jun-2023 post # 2567362 in in Ed Tittle’s Working with the Intel Driver & Support Assistant. My 19-Sep-2023 post # 2588442 in Susan Bradley’s Zeroing in on zero days includes comments about some of the outdated drivers and firmware that Intel DSA may detect but not automatically update [see the support article Intel Products That Aren’t Supported by Intel Driver & Support Assistant (Intel DSA) for further details].
———–
Dell Inspiron 15 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.5131 * Intel i5-8265U CPU * Intel UHD Graphics 620 * 256 GB Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe SSD * Intel Driver & Support Assistant v24.5.40.11 * CCleaner Free Portable v6.30.11385

Thank you for your detailed advice.  It will take me a few days to foll0w all of it, but I’ll post back with the results.  I always make 2 backups daily using Macrium Reflect…one on an external drive & one on a thumb drive.  But I will also make backups before updating drivers.

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That Nvidia Security Bulletin :
https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5586

I am extremely wary of upgrading Nvidia graphics drivers once I settled on one that works properly for me, even more so than Windows patches. At this time it is the 552.22 driver. Updates to these (Game Ready) drivers are mostly concerned with new games, and since I don’t play these games AT ALL there is no point for me in updating these drivers often.

Problems with the graphics drivers can and will affect my computer use greatly. I don’t want to upgrade the drivers unless I consider it absolutely necessary (for example when I get a new graphics card which necessitates a graphics driver update since the old drivers may not support the new card).

I NEVER use the Nvidia GeForce Experience application and I always choose to NOT install it when I do update the drivers, and I am not going to use the so-called new Nvidia App either. I consider these apps bloat and unnecessary. If I am to update drivers I will download a newer version from Nvidia and then uninstall the old driver and install the new driver myself. I will also make sure to temporarily disable the internet access when I update the drivers, in order to prevent Windows from automatically downloading and installing a driver, which is often NOT the version I want to use. And by the way, it seems that Windows 10 will currently download and install the 560.94 driver if it detects you have a Nvidia graphics card, which is a “vulnerable” version.

From my past experiences it seems to me that these so-called security vulnerabilities in the Nvidia graphics drivers does NOT affect me in any significant way. So, are things different this time? I am not that convinced myself.

Nevertheless, I have performed the upgrade to 566.14 on one of my rarely used Windows 10 installations (Simplified Chinese version of Windows 10 1809 LTSC) and I will test it in the next few days to see if the updated driver presents any significant problems. Only when I am satisfied that there are no visible problems will I consider updating the rest of my Windows installations.

Hope for the best. Prepare for the worst.

3 users thanked author for this post.

Phil Rabichow, n0ads, satrow

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As a home user with the emphasis on gaming, I have a simple rule on all driver and firmware updates: If it ain’t broke, I don’t fix it.

While I appreciate the theoretical security implications with e.g. graphics card drivers, the threat in that respect is very small and one of several factors to consider including the effect of any new driver on temperature, fan speeds and noise, not to mention the risk of borking the machine when applying any update or adversely impacting performance generally.

 

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James Bond 007 wrote:

Updates to these (Game Ready) drivers are mostly concerned with new games, and since I don’t play these games AT ALL there is no point for me in updating these drivers often.

This why Nvidia also releases Studio drivers which are not optimized for games!

Studio Drivers provide the best possible experience for key creative applications. NVIDIA does extensive testing across the top creative applications to ensure the highest levels of performance, stability, and functionality.

The current Studio version with fixes for all those vulnerabilities shown in the link you provided is NVIDIA Studio Driver 566.14.

2 users thanked author for this post.

wavy, windbg

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Well, I must have done something wrong.  I went to https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3473/ & then downloaded the app at https://us.download.nvidia.com/nvapp/client/11.0.1.163/NVIDIA_app_v11.0.1.163.exe

However, I got this message, so I’m not sure that I can update the video card:

 

 

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Your post #2718490 indicates your graphics card is a Geforce GT 730.

According to the What are the system requirements for the NVIDIA App? section of the NVIDIA app FAQ page, the GT 730 is not one of the supported cards.

GPU:
GeForce RTX 20, 30, and 40 Series GPUs
GeForce GTX 800, 900, 1000, 1600 Series GPUs
GeForce MX100, MX200, MX300, 800M, and 900M GPUs

Which explains why you got that message and means you’ll have to continue using Geforce Experience.

The NVIDIA Geforce Drivers page indicates the most current update for your GT 730 is the Jul 9 2024 GeForce Security Update Driver 475.14 for desktop Kepler-series GeForce GPUs which are no longer supported by Game Ready Drivers.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Phil Rabichow

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Thank you n0ads. However, when I use that link, the Nvidia website keeps reloading, so that I can’t download anything. Does it keep reloading for you?

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Phil Rabichow wrote:

Does it keep reloading for you?

No, it doesn’t keep reloading for me using SeaMonkey 2.53.19 (based on FireFox ESR 91.)

Anyway, here’s the direct download link for the 475.14 driver.

https://in.download.nvidia.com/Windows/475.14/475.14-desktop-win10-win11-64bit-international-dch-whql.exe

If that still doesn’t work, try a different browser.

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n0ads wrote:

The NVIDIA Geforce Drivers page indicates the most current update for your GT 730 is the Jul 9 2024 GeForce Security Update Driver 475.14 for desktop Kepler-series GeForce GPUs which are no longer supported by Game Ready Drivers.

Thank you again.  I was able to download, install, & reboot with the new driver.  I was using Chrome, which still causes the Nvidia website to refresh continually.  However, I also took your advice & used Brave to go to their website & it did so without refreshing.  Strange.

Thank you to everyone for all your advice & thank you Susan for publishing this article.

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Phil, please bear in mind that 475.14 is probably the final driver that will be released for your video card. Nvidia stopped all support for your generation of chip (Kepler, as pointed out by @n0ads a few posts above. Although he said they won’t receive Game Ready drivers, a note from Nvidia on this page says that they only supported them until the end of September of this year. Here’s a screenshot from that page to help:
Your GPU is listed on this page on Nvidia’s site that lists all of the Kepler series GPUs. I didn’t post the actual link because the page’s URL is REALLY long. Sorry ’bout that.

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Phil Rabichow

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Thanks again to everyone who replied.  It has really helped me.  Since I’ve downloaded & installed card Nvidia GeForce GT 730 driver 475.14 & everything is working fine, I’ll keep it & not update again.  I tend to keep the Windows versions that I have for a long time (I not only have Win10, but also Win XP Pro (which is still my favorite).

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Phil Rabichow wrote:

However, I got this message, so I’m not sure that I can update the video card:

What Nvidia GPU do you have ?

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What Nvidia GPU do you have ?

Geforce GT 730.

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Alex5723

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lmacri wrote:

I would strongly advise that you do NOT use CCleaner’s Driver Updater

I just checked for Intel updates & everything is up to date.  I already have the Intel® Driver & Support Assistant, so it checks automatically & the last update was on 8/24/24. Thank you for advising me.

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