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Every time I install a NVIDIA driver the files get unzipped into C:\NVIDIA\DisplayDriver. I assume the setup copies the files to another location and this unzipped data is only useful for the installation process.

Are those files safe to delete after the installation completes?

If so, I wonder why NVIDIA doesn't delete the files automatically. I still have the files from 4 patches ago.

Hennes
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Wandang
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3 Answers3

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Yes - those are just the files extracted from the download into a temporary location. The actual Nvidia program files are located as default: C:\Program Files\ etc. The NVIDIA folder can indeed be deleted. It can sometimes be a handy feature to have giving you access to all the seperate installers and driver components of the download for a more granular install if needed.

PnP
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You can delete those files but make sure you have it backed up some where. There are a couple reasons why they aren't deleted automatically:

  1. The files are extracted using a "SFX" (Self-eXtracting Archive) which doesn't store the location where the files are extracted to
  2. There might be other software in the directory that can be installed as well
  3. If the computer drivers need to be re-installed, you don't have to worry about not having them backed up (but its always a good idea to have them backed up somewhere else just in case the hard drive dies).
SameOldNick
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I've tested this, and those files are required when updating the drivers to a newer version. The newer set-up needs to reference these files to be able to find what version you are running. To delete these files you'll have to do manual clean-up.

wonea
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