latest Nvidia drivers causing problems with Windowblinds

please help

from WinCustomize Forums
Hello, I have recently upgraded my CPU to one of the new AMD X2 processors. In doing this, I had to reformat my hard drive, and reinstall Windows and such. I have a copy of Windowblinds 4.6 which I have been using. I might consider purchasing v5 later, but that's a different story. Anyways, after installing Windowblinds I've noticed some small glitches here and there. These problems are hard to describe. I think they're called "artifacts" that are left on my screen. I might be wrong on that though. Anyways, when I open up my start menu, some sections will have some glitchy graphics on top. However, if I hover over an item and a tooltip pops up (and covers the glitched area) then the glitch goes away (when I move the mouse, and tooltip goes away), but comes up next time I bring up the start menu. Also, refreshing or changing my display frequency will temporarily fix the problem, but it always comes back.

Now, I have to use the latest Nvidia drivers because of my X2 processor. When I tried to roll back the driver to an older version, the Windowblinds problems went away... however, I notice a significant performance drop especially in 3D apps (heck, some are barely usable). On the Nvidia site, one of the documented changes in the newer driver is better support for X2 processors, which explains why I need the new driver, and why the old one functioned poorly.

Anyways, I considered upgrading to v5 to see if it had better driver support, and the problem went away. So, I installed the shareware version, and no luck. The glitch was still there... well, that and explorer started crashing spontaneously. So, I went back to 4.6 and the problem is still bothering me.

Windows XP Pro
AMD X2 3800+
Nvidia Geforce 6600

Thanks for all of your help.
windowblinds
4,453 views 5 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I have no problems what so ever with WB.
However I'm using WB 5 and I don't know if that's any different.
So maybe you should try to uninstall and than install it again, just to make sure everythings about WB:s installation is OK.
Hope it will be OK for you cause WB is a wonderful thing!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!


Windows Home
AMD 64x2 4400+ 2,2HT 1000 2x1M 939
NvidiaGeForce 7800GTX
Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
There have been a number of minor problems reported with the GeForce 6600 and 81.98 drivers. Which drivers did you roll back to? Try rolling back to 77.77, they were the last known good.
SoundPackager - Customize the Windows sound scheme
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I am currently using the 81.98 drivers. I'm not sure how the 77.77 drivers will run with my dual-core processor, but I'll give it a try.

Also, yeah, I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling multiple times, and haven't been able to fix anything.
Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I'm using Nvidia GeForce 440MX...driver version 81.87...and everything is working fine. Don't know if this helps or not.
Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top
ok, before trying the 77.77 drivers, I tried some of the drivers in-between 81.98 and 77.77. All of those worked fine on the system, but the Windowblinds problem was still present. When trying the 77.77 drivers, the system was screwed up. I couldn't display 24-bit color and everything was sluggish.... I'm not even sure if the WB problem was there or not. I do know that the last set of 7x.xx drivers I tried fixed the problem, but screwed up the system. I'm now back to my 81.98 drivers. The computer runs quickly, however, the WB problem is still present. I suppose performance is more important and appearance, and this isn't a big problem, but it sure is annoying.