Tutorials

NVIDIA Driver Fails with NVIDIA Installer Error

When trying to install the drivers for an NVIDIA GPU, either for the first time or to update the drivers already on the computer, if driver installation fails, user faces screen “NVIDIA Installer Failed” which shows which of the components is included in the driver package was not installed and offers the option to close the installer. A computer will not be able to make use of its GPU until or unless the correct drivers for the respective GPU are installed, what makes this problem extremely serious.

People who have seen the problem “NVIDIA Installer Failed” are Windows users 10, since Windows 10 seems to have quite a shaky relationship with NVIDIA GPU drivers. However, Fortunately, much can be done to try to solve the problem “NVIDIA Installer Failure” and get the drivers to install properly. The following are the most effective methods that you can use to try to get rid of the problem “NVIDIA installer error” and correctly install the drivers for an NVIDIA GPU.

Nvidia installer error

What to do to fix an NVIDIA installer error?

Method 1: perform a custom installation of the drivers
Method 2: temporarily turn off all third-party security programs
Method 3: remove some files from NVIDIA and kill all processes from NVIDIA
Method 4: reinstall Windows 10 right from the start
Method 5: perform driver self-installation

Method 1: perform a custom installation of the drivers

First, we will do a custom install of the Nvidia drivers to fix this issue. For that:

Run the NVIDIA installer.
Go through the installer until you reach the Installation Options screen and you will be asked to choose between a quick installation (recommended) and a personalized (advanced)
Select the Custom installation option (Advanced) and click Next.
On the next screen, make sure all controller components from the list provided are selected, select Perform a clean install option by checking the checkbox next to it and then click Next.
Continue with the rest of the installer and it should correctly install the drivers for your NVIDIA GPU.

This method has proven to be especially effective for users who encounter the problem. “NVIDIA Installer Failure” when starting your computers for the first time after an upgrade to Windows 10. What happens in cases like this is that when Windows 10 starts first time, pass 5 a 15 minutes trying to download and install the correct drivers for the GPU, and trying to install NVIDIA drivers during this period fails, which results in the “NVIDIA installer failed”. In such cases, NVIDIA drivers can be installed successfully simply by restarting the Windows computer 10 and performing a custom driver installation as described in the previous steps.

Method 2: temporarily turn off all third-party security programs

If you use third-party security programs (like antivirus programs, antimalware programs or firewall programs), NVIDIA installer may be blocked, what will make the screen appear “NVIDIA Installer Failed” every time i run it. Therefore, in this step, we will disable third-party antivirus.

Turn off each and every third-party security program you have on your computer.
To do this, presione Ctrl + Shift + Esc to start Task Manager, navigate to the Processes tab and, one by one, locate each and every running process associated with a third-party security program on your computer.
Click on it to select it and click End Task to disable it.
Run the NVIDIA installer. Make sure to do a custom driver installation (as described in the Method 1), and the NVIDIA drivers should install correctly.

Method 3: remove some files from NVIDIA and kill all processes from NVIDIA

Find and delete as many of the following NVIDIA files as they are on the computer:

The nvdsp.inf file in C:WindowsSystem32DriverStoreN- Archive Repository
The nv_lh file in C:NWindowsN-System32N-DriverStoreN-File Repository
 The nvoclock file in C:WindowsSystem32DriverStoreFileRepository
 All files in C:N- Program files N- NVIDIA Corporation
 All files in C:N- Program files (x86)N- NVIDIA Corporation
 All files in C:N- Program files (x64)N-NVIDIAN Corporation

Restart the computer.
When the computer starts up and is connected to it, presione Ctrl + Alt + Del to start Task Manager. Open Task Manager
Navigate to processes
One by one, locate each of the processes that belong to the NVIDIA software, click it to select it and then click End Task to force close it.
Run the NVIDIA installer. Make sure to do a custom install (as described in the Method 1) and the installation is expected to be successful.

Method 4: reinstall Windows 10 right from the start

If all else fails, your only remaining option is to reinstall Windows 10 and wait for the problem “NVIDIA Installer Failure” disappear with your current Windows installation 10 and do not affect the next. If you don't know how to clean your Windows installation 10, you can use this guide. However, before cleaning your Windows installation 10, make sure you do your best to backup all data / important files on the affected computer.

Method 5: perform driver self-installation

If the installer did not install the drivers on your computer, we can try to install them ourselves. First, it is important that you completely uninstall previous driver installations. Thereafter, follow the guide given below.

Navigate to this website and configure the options to select the exact make and model of your GPU controller.
After download, run the installer and select the location to extract the drivers.
Copy the selected location to your clipboard and remember it.
After extraction, let the installer run in the background and navigate to the location we selected earlier.
After that, copy and paste the extracted folder to the desktop.
Now, press “Windows” + “R” to open the run prompt and type “devmgmt.msc” and press “Enter”. Run Device Manager
In Device Manager, expand the display adapter tab and right click on the default display driver.
Select option “Update driver” to start the driver update process.
Click on the option “Search my computer for driver software” and select the option “Let me choose myself from a list” then. Browser to controller manually
Select option “Have disk” and paste the copied folder address into the toolbar “navigation”.
Click on “To accept” and wait for the driver to install.
In the next window, select the make and model of your device and click install.
After it is installed, open the folder we copied first and navigate to the following location.
```
NVIDIA>DisplayDriver>"number">Win10_64>International>Display.Driver
```
Now, you will need to find the manufacturer information file. Some common vendor inf files are listed below.
```
Acer = nvaci.inf
Apple = nvaoi.inf
Asus = nvami.inf
Dell = nvdmi.inf
HP = nvbli.inf or nvhmi.inf
```
Open this file with Notepad and scroll down to the set of lines below the option “Maker”.
The header above the row should look like » [Nvidia_Devices.NTamd64.10.0…14310] «.
Copy the part »% Nvidia_Dev …… .Section002» from the first row and create a new line below the first row.
Paste the row here and go back to device manager without closing this file.
Right-click on the Nvidia driver under the display adapter header and select the option “Properties”. Property selection
Click on the tab “Details” and select the “Dropdown menu”.
Click on the drop-down menu “ID de hardware” in the “Properties” and copy the entry containing “SUBSYS” but it does not contain “REV”. Copy the correct hardware ID
Paste this hardware identifier in front of the new row that we created in a format similar to the previous and next rows.
Now copy the same number that we are copying from the ID of our hardware in the image below. Copying the GPUID number
Paste the number instead of the GPUID number as indicated in the image below. Paste the GPUID number
Now navigate to the last entry in the same column we are editing and look at the section number there.
Replace the section number of the new entry we are making by a number next to the last section number we have written down. For example, if the last section number was “Section052”, we will replace it with “Section053”.
Now copy the indicated part of our post and scroll down to the section “Chain” of the notepad.
Navigate to the bottom of the list in the chain section and create a new line to paste the part that we have copied.
Add your Nvidia GPU model in the same format as above and save the changes to the file.
Now go back to the main folder and double click on the file “Setup.exe”.
The driver should install fine now.