How to Fix the NVIDIA Installer Failed Error

April 7, 2020 / Shayne Sherman

There are many reasons why an NVIDIA installation may fail, the most common being when you’re upgrading the Operating System to Windows 10. During that time, Windows Update simultaneously tries to download GPU drivers in the background, a process that takes about 10 minutes. If you attempt to install an NVIDIA driver within those 10 minutes, it’s highly likely you’ll get the error.

It also happens when an incorrect driver for the respective GPU is installed. The error shows which elements of the driver package failed the installation and it gives an option of closing that installer dialog.

The error is common with Windows 10 PCs, but thankfully, there are ways of efficiently dealing with the problem. We will outline those methods below so that you can resume your smooth Windows experience.

If your having an issue with opening Geforce experience after you’ve installed it, check out our detailed guide here.

Fix #1: Update the Graphic Drivers

If the reason for the error is incompatible drivers, the best solution would be to update the Graphics Drivers to the newest version. You can accomplish this by either updating manually or automatically.

To update manually;

Step #1

Open the “Device Manager” and locate the “Display Adapters.” Expand the tab.

Step #2

Right-click the “NVIDIA Drivers” and select “Update driver software.”

Step #3

On the window that appears, choose search automatically for updates driver software.

The system will search online for any available driver updates. If they are available, they will be installed.

For automatic installation;

Step #1

Go to the official NVIDIA website. Once there, the website will automatically begin scanning your system. After scanning is complete, any drivers available for installation will be provided, or they will automatically be installed.

Fix #2: Disable your anti-virus software

It is possible that your system’s antivirus might have interpreted the Graphic driver packages as a foreign entity. If that’s the case, the installer will be blocked. It’s a good thing to have a reliable antivirus, but if it’s sensitive enough, it will stop any action that it cannot logically comprehend. To solve this problem, close the software before beginning the installation.

Step #1

Open “Task Manager” by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+ESC.

Step #2

Under the “Process” tab, locate all the running process initiated by the antivirus and close them one by one.

Step #3

Close them by clicking End Task.

Step #4

Reboot the PC.

Fix #3: Stopping all NVIDIA processes

NVIDIA Graphic driver error can be brought on by many different factors. A DLL error could easily be the culprit, but it could also be another. Additionally, unnecessary files in the system could be the cause of the problem. Therefore a sensible solution would be to remove any redundant files and to kill all processes running in the background.

Step #1

Open “Task Manager” by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+ESC.

Step #2

Navigate to the “Processes” tab, in the task manager.

Step #3

Select all processes related to NVIDIA.

Step #4

On each, right-click and select end task.

Step #5

Go to C drive and remove the following files;

C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\nvdsp.inf file

C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\nv_lh file

C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\nvoclock file

C:\Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation\

C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\

Step #6

Restart the system, and install the driver again.

Step #7

Select “Custom” installation and click Next.

Step #8

Ensure all driver components are selected, and check “Perform a clean installation” and click on Next.

Fix #4: Clean Windows Installation

Windows reinstallation should be the last attempt you make, after all, methods have been unsuccessful. If there any damaged Windows files in the system, they could be preventing NVIDIA from installing. Be sure to backup all important data and files before reinstalling the Operating System.