Changing Drivers screws my machine

I have a weird problem with my nVidia drivers.

I needed to downgrade my drivers to an earlier version in order to play S.T.A.L.K.E.R, specifically 81.33. This got the game working, but for some reason, I now have a problem running video files of any kind.

I've tried VLC, Media Player, RealPlayer and Quicktime, none work. As soon as the file is opened the computer slows down to slower than a crawl. I can't even open the task manager without waiting an hour or two (And that isn't an exaggeration). I can still hear audio in the background and it seems to go on with pauses and skips here and there.

I decided enough was enough and uninstalled the drivers to go back to the newer ones and the problem persists.

I've used Driver Cleaner and Cab Cleaner according to the instructions in safe mode, but the problem still persists. I've no idea what to do anymore.

Under normal circumstances, I would have used System Restore, but another utility wiped out all the System restores except for one made while the older drivers were still installed so that's useless.

Can anyone suggest a possible cause to this? And possible solutions?

 

It could be that the driver uninstall/reinstall caused a codec and/or Direct X problem. Go to the MultiMedia section here at Major Geeks and grab a good codec pack and install it.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...4E-7A8D-4F0A-B199-6A740D8F27BB&displaylang=en
That's a link to a 'full' version of Direct X 9.0c that will completely re-install all the DirectX files. It's not the 'RunTime' which only updates older DX's to 9.0c; and if you have 9.0c installed, the RunTime will not repair it, the SDK at the link above will.... good luck!

hopperdave2000

 

Thank, I tried that DirectX SDK but it didn't change anything. I also gave some of the codec packs on the Multimedia page a try and nothing happened. Thanks anyway.

I can watch videos fine when I turn hardware acceleration right down to basic, but then I can't play games(Some of them, anyway). I suppose I should crank it up when I want to play games and back down when I want to watch videos.

Are there any other suggestions?