Rolling Back High Definition Audio Device Drivers

By Celeste M. Stewart (Contributed)
When it comes to updating high definition audio device drivers, it’s smart to plan for problems with the update. After all, what if the update doesn’t go as it should? What if you downloaded the wrong driver files for your device? What if your sound device no longer works after the update? What if the drivers you downloaded are corrupt? What if the newly released device drivers are buggy and cause more problems than they solve? By planning for problems with high definition audio device drivers, you won’t be left scrambling should something go terribly awry.

The best defense against bad HD sound drivers is a strong offense. Use Windows System Protection to create a restore point before you attempt updating these important audio files. This is super easy to do; it only takes a minute to complete; and you’ll have a means of rolling back the drivers if the update fails or causes problems. System Protection (and its sibling System Restore) is available in Windows XP and above. In Windows Vista and Windows 7, go to Start and type System Protection into the Start bar and type “create a restore point” into it. You’ll see a link appear. Click that link and Windows will launch the System Properties dialog box and present you with the System Protection tab (In Windows XP launch System Properties via the Control Panel and click on the System Protection tab). Find the button for creating a restore point and click it.

Once you have created your restore point, you can then update your high definition audio device drivers with confidence. This is because Windows just took a detailed snapshot of your entire system and all of its settings – including the current device drivers installed at this point in time. Should the HD driver update fail, you can simply use System Restore to return the system to its previous state. Thus, your original high definition audio device drivers will also return.

Another way to rollback HD sound files is via the Device Manager though this may be less reliable than manually creating a restore point. Use the Device Manager (it’s found in the Windows Control Panel) to update the HD device drivers by finding the Sound, Video, and Game Controllers category and double-clicking your sound device. Click the Driver tab to update the drivers and follow the prompts. Should the drivers fail, you’ll notice that the Driver tab also includes a button labeled “rollback driver.” Use this button if you are unhappy with the update. It will undo the update and rollback your original high definition audio device drivers.

DriversUpdate.org offers tools, advice, and software reviews covering driver updates such as High definition audio device drivers and drivers of all types.

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James M. Fisher (709 Posts)

James is the owner of WindowsTalk.org and has been a Microsoft Windows Consumer MVP since 2003.