Admin Tips
- Windows Server 2008/2003/2000/XP/NT Administrator Knowledge Base
  - Windows XP
    - Admin Tips
      - TroubleShooting
        Rolling Back Drivers

Section(s): TroubleShooting
Published on Dec 20, 2006.
Last Modified on Dec 20, 2006.
Last Modified by Mitch Tulloch.
Rated 2.5 out of 5 based on 2 votes.

How to roll back device drivers

Rolling back a device driver may be necessary if you've just installed updated the driver for some device on your system and it's behaving erratically as a result. To roll back a device driver in XP/2003, open System in Control Panel, select the Hardware tab, and open Device Manager from there. Then expand the device category for your device and double-click on the icon representing the device. Switch to the Driver tab and click the Roll Back Driver button. This will cause the new driver to be overwritten by the previous one (if there was one).

Mitch Tulloch is President of MTIT Enterprises, an IT content development company based in Winnipeg, Canada. Prior to starting his own company in 1998, Mitch worked as a Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) for Productivity Point International. Mitch is a widely recognized expert on Windows administration, networking and security and has written 14 books and over a hundred articles on various topics. He has been repeatedly awarded Most Valuable Professional (MVP) status by Microsoft for his outstanding contributions in supporting users who deploy Microsoft platforms, products and solutions. Mitch is also a professor at Jones International University (JIU) where he teaches graduate-level courses in Information Security Management (ISM) for their Masters of Business Administration (MBA) program. For more information see http://www.mtit.com.

About Mitch Tulloch

Mitch Tulloch was lead author for the Windows Vista Resource Kit from Microsoft Press, which is the book for IT pros who want to deploy, maintain and support Windows Vista in mid- and large-sized network environments. Mitch was also the author of Introducing Windows Server 2008 and technical project lead for the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Resource Kit, both books also from Microsoft Press. For more information on these and other books by Mitch, see www.mtit.com .