Rolling Back Device Drivers

One of the several system recovery features that Windows XP includes, is the ability to 'roll back' device drivers. Simply put, that means you can restore the previous device driver that you had installed on your system by pressing a button.

Now why would you want to do this? There are a few reasons. For example, if your system has been working properly for a long time, and then you decide to install a new device driver to take advantage of a new feature. If that device driver conflicts with something, or is just buggy then by pressing the roll back button, you can restore your previous driver.

Note: This feature can be accessed in Safe Mode.

To roll back a device driver to a previous version:

• Right-click on 'My Computer' and select 'Manage.'
• Click the Hardware tab.
• Press the 'Device Manager' and double-click on the device whose drivers you want to roll back.
• Click the Driver tab
• Press the 'Roll Back Driver' button.

Windows will revert to the most recent saved driver after you restart your system.