I had successfully installed NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-302.07.run from the nVidia website. That got me nothing but an unalterable 640x480 screen. purge and autoremove didn't seem to undo it.
I attempted, via Ubuntu Software Center, to reinstall nvidia-common(295.40-0ubuntu1.1), but that doesn't get me anywhere either. unity --reset doesn't help (Compiz errs).
Is there anything, short of wipe/reinstall of 12.04, that I could try?
THIS semi-related "fix" resolved my stuck-in-640x480 problem: Messed up my 12.04 graphics: Falsely installed NVidia drivers on HD Graphics ("apt-get remove" intel, reboot). I'm still scanning the forum seas for a definitively helpful resolution to "Nvidia Can't Do Unity 3D" situation (which lead me to a bunch of Nvidia driver fixes that not only didn't work, but they broke my display).
Since you installed the driver manually, you have to follow instructions on how to uninstall the driver, when installed manually.
For re-installing the proprietary driver from the repositories you probably have to remove and re-install the packages as described here.
