How to use Driver Roll Back to Restore Old Drivers
If you use your Windows XP computer long enough, you’ll likely run into a situation where you need to install a new device driver. Device drivers are software pieces that control how hardware talks to the Windows XP operating system. Most device drivers are written very well, but some of them can create havoc after they’re installed! One very cool feature included with Windows XP is driver roll back. Windows XP saves copies of old device drivers when you install a new one. If the new driver “drives” your Windows XP computer crazy, you can easily roll back to the old one. Here’s how you do it:
Click Start and then click on Control Panel.
Make sure you’re in Classic View and then open the System applet.
In the System Properties dialog box, click on the Hardware tab. On the Hardware tab, click on the Device Manager button.
In the Device Manager window, expand the device that’s giving you problems.
Right click on the device and click the Properties command. In the device’s Properties dialog box, click on the driver tab. On the driver tab, click the Roll Back Driver button.
You may need to restart the computer. Restart the computer if instructed to do so.
That’s all there is to it. Now your device will work again using the old driver. Make sure to let the vendor know that their new driver didn’t work!