When in doubt, you should ALWAYS use DDU to wipe out all traces of the current driver before updating to the newest. NVIDIA drivers often leave behind bits and pieces of themselves that frequently cause conflict issues with newer drivers.
Download DDU, download the newest driver direct from the NVIDIA driver website, restart your PC in safe mode without networking (I just pull the ethernet cable out to be sure), then use DDU to wipe out the older driver. When the job is done, and the PC has restarted (This is why I disconnect the internet physically), simply reinstall the new driver. If you still have issues after that, then repeat the process, but instead go back to the last known stable driver you had.
