does installing wrong software cause hardware failure

the wrong driver would cause the OS to not respond to the hardware correctly, but it shouldn't damage the hardware... Unless it was an overclocking utility, inturn causing your system to speed up the core clock and memory clock speeds... Overheating the card and causing it to crap out, b/c the thermal temps go to high...

I highly doubt that is the cause, reboot the machine, after POST, but before Win loading screen hit F8, choose "safe mode" w/ or w/out networking (doesn't matter), once in safe mode, uninstall the drivers you installed and reinstall the known "stable" drivers, and reboot.

Edited: b/c I can't spell.