Notice: this article is a spontaneous recommendation. We did not receive any kind of incentive from Driver Booster or its parent company to recommend this program. We are publishing it because we believe it can be useful to our readers.
When you install a new video driver – when updating the driver to a newer version or when you are replacing your old card for a new one from another manufacturer – remains of the older driver can be left behind, which can cause conflicts, instability, or loss of performance.
The objective of the Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) program is to assure that all the files and registry entries are removed before installing a new video driver.
The program has no “Pro” paid version, so it really is freeware. Its main competitor is Driver Cleaner, which we successfully used in our lab for some years, but it is a paid program.
To download the program is a little confusing, because it is available in a forum. You must open the link and find the pinned topic that informs about the last version, and inside it is a link to download the program. We will not give the direct link to download the program because, as you know, this kind of program is often updated.
After downloading the self-extracting file, move it to a new folder, because when you double-click it, the executable and other files needed to run it will be extracted. Run the unzipped executable file to run the program, since it will not be installed on your computer start menu.
In order to run the program properly, the operating system must be in Safe Mode, so the program can securely remove all the files and registry entries. But when you run it normally, the program offers the option to reboot in Safe Mode and run it automatically, so then you can simply close all your applications, run the executable, and let it to reboot Windows in Safe Mode.
The program is extremely simple and it is available in several languages that you can select in the bottom right box.
On the only screen of the program, choose the manufacturer of the video drivers you want to remove on “Select Graphic Driver.” The program allows you to remove NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel video drivers; the log window below the options list all the video drivers already installed on your computer. Then, click “Clean and restart” (if you will update the video driver for a newer version) or “Clean and Shutdown” (if you will replace the video card) and it’s done! You are ready to install the new video driver with your computer “clean” from any remains of the older driver.
Figure 1: Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU)
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