Rolling Back Drivers in Windows XP and Vista

Back in the day, it was extremely hard to repair or update problematic drivers in early versions of Windows. Thankfully, Windows XP and Windows Vista are much more user-friendly when it comes to troubleshooting drivers, mainly due to a new feature baked into Windows called Roll Back Driver. Drivers are small applications that enable hardware devices to talk to your PC's Windows operating system. Usually, you'll find a driver disk included in the box with whatever peripheral you're trying to use. In addition, most vendor's websites contain a download repository of new and archived driver files.

Windows Roll Back Driver is a lot like Windows System Restore utility. Both Roll Back Driver and System Restore help you by taking your computer 'back in time' to a state where things were working correctly on your PC. Now, System Restore is for going back to a time prior to the installation of a new application or a big system change; Roll Back Driver is only for taking you back to a point before a driver became corrupt or was incorrectly installed. One important note: if you choose to use Windows System Restore feature rather than Roll Back Driver you could see a lot of old changes come back and may even lose files installed or created since the most recent restore date, so be careful if you choose that route - back up your important files first!

With Roll Back Driver your system's current state is preserved, the only change being that the problematic driver is wiped out and is completely replaced by an older version you've had installed in the past. The most typical use for this feature is when you've installed a new driver update and start having problems or your device stops working. This can often be traced back to the new driver you've just installed. In these cases the Roll Back Driver feature can be a life-saver.

If you're running a version of Windows older than XP or Vista you're out of luck on this feature. You're going to have to try and troubleshoot your driver problems the old fashioned way - with lots of time and patience. We always recommend at least upgrading to Windows XP rather than trying to jerry-rig old version of Windows as drivers that old are rarely available anymore.

It's important to note that Roll Back Driver isn't the perfect fix for all driver issues. It's certainly not a replacement for regularly backing up your computer on a regular basis, especially when you're about to install a new driver or application. Of note too is the fact that even after you use the Roll Back Driver feature you may still need to keep troubleshooting your system if that doesn't happen to fix your issue. Roll Back Driver is really only for issues caused by a new driver vs. deeper problems your system may also be suffering from.

Using The Roll Back Driver Feature

Using the Roll Back Driver feature is a snap. To begin with, you need to navigate to the Device Manager that lists all of the hardware components installed in your computer, as well as connected peripherals such as printers, webcams, scanners etc...

Here's how to use the Roll Back Driver feature in Windows XP and Vista respectively:

Select Start, Settings, Control Panel.
Double-click System and select the Hardware tab at the top.
Select the 'Device Manager' option. The Device Manager will appear.

For Vista, click Start, Control Panel, System And Maintenance, Device Manager.
Select the 'Continue' option on the UAC dialog box.
The Device Manager will then appear.

Now, find the device that isn't working correctly in the Device Manager list of devices. Select the plus sign to expand a category of devices to dig deeper if needed.
Now that you've found the problematic device (or the device you think is the root of other problems on your PC), double-click it to open its Properties.
Select the Driver tab at the top.
Here you'll find all the info on your current driver installation.
You can also get more information about the driver, and other files in the driver package but selecting Driver Details

One quick note at this point: rather than use the Roll Back Driver function at this stage, you could also try updating the driver to a newer edition by selecting Update Driver. This may solve your problem as well.

It could turn out that Windows doesn't have the old driver on hand, in which case the Roll Back Driver button will be grayed-out. If the Roll Back Driver button is showing, select the Roll Back Driver option. Windows will ask you if you're sure you want to roll back, and if you are, select Yes.

Windows will then go back in time and reset the driver version to a previously installed edition. In some cases this could be an earlier version of the driver you have installed right now, or it may be a version that came with Windows. If the updated driver you're rolling back from had new features or functionality be prepared that this functionality will be gone when you roll back.

Once the roll back process completes, select Close. You can now close all windows you've opened and may have to restart your computer if prompted by Windows.

Roll Back Driver is a great help in newer versions of windows - best of luck in using it to solve those common driver headaches!