Vista Home Addition
HP PC
A while back I began getting a BSOD about a nVidia graphics card driver.
Finally (kinda) resolved that by going to the nVidia web page and
Dling/installing the latest driver. However, two problems persist.

minor - I can not use any Direct3D screensaver - keep getting "The
screen saver can't run because it requires a newer video card or one
that's compatible with Direct3D."

major - my PC is MUCH slower - that is, for example, when I open
Explorer, it takes ~ 45 sec. to a minute to open as opposed to nearly
instantly before the BSOD. on startup, icons on the desktop show up as
white objects and slowly change to the actual icon image a few at a
time. Before this, icons initially (instantly) appeared as the actual icon.

HP had me reomve the video card and wait for a beep - none - and remove
the RAM cards and wait for a beep - one short, one long.
Now they want me to do a System Restore. I am not at all interested in
this. Previous attempts have resulted in reinstalling programs/settings
over several days - time I do not have.
Any ideas on troubleshooting/resolving this? Can I confirm a good nVidia
card? Could it be a driver problem?