[UPDATED] Latest Nvidia Drivers Will NOT Damage Your PC Hardware But Still Problematic

Khalid Moammer

If you have an Nvidia graphics cards it's recommended that you avoid installing the latest 364.47 and 364.51 drivers for the time being. As reports have been pouring via Nvidia's official GeForce forumsreddit users, neogaf forums and various sites of the 364.47 GeForce drivers causing a wide range of serious issues and the subsequently released 364.51 drivers having not effectively resolved them as of yet.
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[UPDATE1 03/09/2016 08:16 AM] Users are reporting that NVIDIA has officially rolled back to 362.00 as the default last stable driver version. GeForce experience now lists this driver as the last stable release and the subsequent 364.51 update as BETA. It's highly recommended that if you have run into any of the issues being reported that you uninstall your Nvidia GeForce drivers in  Windows safe mode and roll back to the 362.00 release.
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[UPDATE2 03/09/2016 04:50 PM]
Nvidia's Sean Pelletier has reached out to clarify. The 362.00 driver is still the latest WHQL certified and will remain so while the latest 364.51 driver is pending certification.  The 364.51 is a Beta driver and has been submitted to Microsoft for WHQL certification. It's expected to be back and posted by tomorrow.
Under GeForce Experience, users have the option to show "ALL" drivers which will include the latest 364.51 Beta. Those who are not seeing the 364.51 driver version as an option do not have "show Beta" selected as an option.

Finally, Sean is adamant that no PCs have been damaged by 364.47 or 364.51. The main issue is related to black screens showing up during installation but there has been no component harm.

Sean Pelletier - Nvidia
An installation issue was found within the 364.47 WHQL driver we posted Monday. That issue was resolved with a new driver (364.51) launched Tuesday. Since we were not able to get WHQL-certification right away, we posted the driver as a Beta.

GeForce Experience has an option to either show WHQL-only drivers or to show all drivers (including Beta). Since 364.51 is currently a Beta, gamers who have GeForce Experience configured to only show WHQL Game Ready drivers will not currently see 364.51

We are expecting the WHQL-certified package for the 364.51 Game Ready driver within the next 24hrs and will replace the Beta version with the WHQL version accordingly. As expected, the WHQL-certified version of 364.51 will show up for all gamers with GeForce Experience.

Editorial note : it seems the fears of "PC damage" from user reports are stemming mainly from software installation failure and some reports of potential cases of corrupted driver installations which led to system restart loops and other issues. However, it is highly unlikely that any actual hardware component harm has resulted from this. Users also reported reversibility after removing the corrupted driver installation in safe mode which is a good sign that no hardware damage has taken effect.
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Nvidia released new game-drivers for GeForce GPU owners last night. The new set of drivers, version 364.47, bring performance optimisations for The Division and Need for Speed. However, as soon as users started downloading them the internet has been flooded with users reporting all kinds of issues. Ranging from the system failing to boot, crashes, blue screens, infinite restart loops, freezes, losing audio, visual corruption to damaging and burning out graphics cards.

Reddit Users Nvidia DriversUsers on the Nvidia subreddit reporting issues.

The cause of the issues is still unknown. The reports are still coming in from a variety of users with a wide range of Nvidia GeForce graphics card generations and models.

Nvidia Users Beware, Latest Drivers May Damage Your PC

Nvidia issued several statements following the driver release stating that it's "actively investigating the issue". It's also recommending that users avoid choosing the "Express" option when installing the drivers. Additionally, the company recommends to users who are experiencing issues to log into windows via safe mode and uninstall the drivers.

NOTE: Best way to make sure your issue is addressed is to provide sufficient feedback so that we can reproduce your issue. If you are not sure what information you should provide, please fill out the driver feedback form below as best you can:

http://surveys.nvidia.com/index.jsp?pi=6e7ea6bb4a02641fa8f07694a40f8ac6

Issues and Updates

7:30AM 3/8/16
After finding a critical installation issue, the team has replaced yesterday’s driver (364.47) with today’s new driver (364.51). This driver has been submitted to Microsoft for WHQL-approval and we will update the driver package online as soon as we have the certified package.

4:00PM PST
We have reproduced the issue and our engineers continue to debug it. Initial investigation suggests the issue is related to doing an "Express" installation. We suggest those willing to try this driver use a Custom -> Clean Install installation.

9:30AM PST
We have received reports of some users having issues installing today’s Game Ready Driver. Initial investigation suggests the issue is isolated to multiple-monitor configurations.
Should you experience issues, you can either disconnect one monitor during the driver installation (and reconnect once completed) or you can uninstall the driver through Windows Safe-Mode and revert to a previous version. Our driver team is actively investigating the issue and we will have more information shortly.

Nvidia users reporting driver issuesNvidia users on GeForce.com reporting issues after installing the latest drivers.

Nvidia has also subsequently released the 364.51 driver but the reception has been mixed on reddit as well as Nvidia's GeForce forums. Some users report that the drivers have resolved their issues while others are reporting running into the same issues and even new ones.

Nvidia users reporting 364.51 driver issues geforce forumsNvidia users on the GeForce forums reporting issues after installing the latest 363.51 drivers.

If you've already downloaded and installed the drivers and you're having issues you could try using driver removal tools such as Display Driver Uninstaller from Safe Mode. If you haven't it's recommended that you stay on the last stable version you have installed until the issues are resolved.

 

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