Windows 7 graphically lagging after manual driver install

AMD athlon xp 2800 2.14 GHZ
1.50 gb ram
32-bit Windows 7 ultimate (clean install)
asus a7n8x-x Nforce2 motherboard
geforce 6600gt 256mb (agp 8x)

After i clean installed windows 7 it set up drivers for me on my first boot and everything ran and looked fine, with the toolbar being transparent and all the nice GUI graphics. Just to be safe though i went and downloaded the graphics driver from the Nvidia website here

NVIDIA DRIVERS 195.62 WHQL

and installed it. Right afterwards the interface was put to some kind of basic setting, no transparencies or special effects, windows take longer to appear, and screen wipes are visible. I tried deleting my driver and rebooting, but the lagging graphics persisted after windows re-installed it. The frustrating thing is that installing the manufacturer-recommended driver has caused a severe cut in performance, whereas before everything ran near-perfect. Any suggestions would be very appreciated.

See if you can roll back the drivers under Device Manager and reboot and test. When windows updates it puts installs new graphics drivers and they cause an atikdmag error in my event viewer. I roll back the drivers and the error goes away.

The option to roll back the driver is grayed out. And also i noticed while looking at the properties that windows lists my graphics card's location as PCI bus 2, when its actually in an AGP slot. Maybe this has something to do with it not working?

Already mentioned

Originally Posted by Stumpnasty

The option to roll back the driver is grayed out. And also i noticed while looking at the properties that windows lists my graphics card's location as PCI bus 2, when its actually in an AGP slot. Maybe this has something to do with it not working?

I would definitely recommed you view the logs and run the diag program listed in the link in my tagline.

I think you should uninstall the Nvidia driver fro Programs and Features

Then restart and let Windows pick up a new driver''

It w most likely Be the WDDM driver.

Well the system restore is what fixed it, I appreciate all the solutions and help. In the future, is it generally a smart idea to have a "if it ain't broke don't fix it" approach toward drivers? Also if there is anything else i can do to prevent trouble with my graphics card I'd appreciate suggestions.

Open your start menu and in the search field, type "aero" and click the result: Troubleshoot problems with Windows Aero effects" (or something very similar to this). This checks common things to see if they are functioning.
Could just be a case of DWM gone funny.

If that doesn't help, there is also a way to "force" Windows Aero to run in Windows 7.
http://www.mydigitallife.info/2009/0...-in-windows-7/
Though discovered during beta stage, it works for RTM as well.