So I decided to install Nvidia nTune (v5.05) on my Windows 7 x64 install.
REALLY bad idea !
The install process went fine but launching the shortcuts did nothing
and loading the control panel applet via the desktop context menu
would cause a BSOD and an automatic reboot.
So obviously the next task at hand was to remove the crap from my PC.
Turns out this is a fairly common problem.
I've seen people online saying use the uninstall option from the
"Programs and Features" section in the control panel, BUT
there is NO entry listed for nTune after installing to remove !
Next thing i tried was searching for a newer version and installing
that over top of the v5.05 ntune installation..
What i found was that 5.05 is the newest version (Oct 30th 2007)
But there is a replacement for ntune from nvidia that is designed
to offer the same functionality plus more as the older ntune.
So.. I tried to install over the old ntune "Nvidia System Tools"
It would fail with some message about a previous version being
installed and saying that it would need to be removed first etc..
This may all seem a bit long winded so far,
but I did figure out a way to properly remove the old nTune software
AND installed the newer version "Nvidia System Tools"
Which like nTune adds more options into the nvidia control panel.
Tested on 64bit Windows 7 with the 296.10 nvidia graphics driver.
OK so back to the nTune uninstall issue..
I had a look at removing the package manually but the idea is dumb.
It leaves crap scattered on every conceivable place on your OS.
I wouldn't advise doing that unless its a last resort..
So this is what i did..
I reinstalled nTune v5.05 in compatibility mode for Windows XP SP3
There should now be a visible entry in the "Programs and Features" menu.
Run the remove option from the "nTune" entry.
Note: no reboot was needed.
I checked around my machine and everything was removed except
a few installer related registry entries which is no big deal.
So the next thing is integration with the current GPU driver.
Its worth pointing out i never install the extra stuff.
For example the last few gpu driver releases have been bundled with
an Nvidia system updater component, this may conflict with nTune ?
I did some comparisons with "Nvidia System Tools" 6.06 and 6.08
And almost every file was a binary exact match the only real difference
between the two packages is the older v6.06 installs its own update tool.
Inside the 6.06 package is a directory called "SystemUpdate"
with an installer etc.. This was removed in version 6.08.
I'm guessing it was removed because of the updater being integrated
into the graphics card driver releases ?
Anyway, if people use the updater and want to experiment with things
here is the link to the OLD version 6.06 "Nvidia System Tools"
I'm not using that one and it may cause problems with the current GPU drivers.
Nvidia System Tools with ESA Support v6.06 (2010.04.09)
This a link to the official driver wizard page (English)
To get the current graphics card driver (or check for updates)
Nvidia Drivers
Here is the nTune / System Tools package i used
Nvidia System Tools with ESA Support v6.08 (2011.12.19)
I posted this topic hoping other people out there may see what i did
to fix my remove ntune on windows 7 uninstall problem.
I noticed there is a lot of topics posted on the net about this
and i found ALL of them to be useless.
People may think I'm a noob overclocker or something but
I've had my current PC oc'd 24hrs a day for like 7/8 years or so..
And I ALWAYS do my work in the BIOS.
So my advice to people is yeah go ahead and play with the program
but do your overclocking in the bios ;)
The main reason i wanted to install nTune is i knew it could show me
a lot more motherboard voltages than Aida64 does.
Its also good for other info such as a list of your current memory timings.
The main feature nvidia advertises is overclocking without having to reboot into the bios. Note: it also overclocks your supported graphics card. And has many other features such as fan control and profile support.
I usually use the (now deprecated) 2.xx version EVGA Precision
to overclock my graphics card. Which has been redesigned / rebuilt
and is now called "EVGA Precision X" and has a v3.xx build #
I've heard a lot of good things about MSI Afterburner
which has gpu overclocking abilities as well as better voltage
modification support compared to Precision. Havn't used it it though..
Also my favorite stress testing application for testing an overclock
is LinX a GUI for the Intel(R) Math Kernel Library Linpack Benchmark.
