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The NVIDIA graphics driver on this PC is several versions out of date, so I went to upgrade it due to an unrelated issue. I went to the NVIDIA website, downloaded the 64-bit Windows 10 driver for the GT 720 GPU. I ran the installation as you normally would only to be met with the error "NVIDIA Installer Failed", and it told me the "Graphics Driver" failed to install.

Now I only have one usable monitor, the other is not detected, yet it turns on briefly as Windows initially loads the desktop.

What I Have Tried

Clean Installation

This is the first thing I tried, I restarted the computer, waited a while, and then I ran the NVIDIA driver installer, I selected "Custom Install", and then I ticked the "Clean Install" checkbox. This failed in the same way as before. Note, I also tried "Run[ning the updater] As Administrator".

Windows Update

I opened Windows Update to check for updates, since this can often fix failed driver installs. It said there was a NVIDIA driver update available, so began the update process. This failed with the error "0x80070003". I tried again, it failed again.

Manual Driver Install

From device manager, I right clicked on the GPU, and clicked "Update Driver Software", I opted to browse for driver files, with "Check subfolders" checked, and navigated to C:\NVIDIA\DisplayDriver\368.39\ and clicked "OK". This failed with "Code 28".

Manual Driver Install (Automatic)

Same as before, except I let Windows find the driver online automatically, I presume it found the same files I had already downloaded, and downloaded them again. This failed.

I am still stuck with one working monitor, reduced graphical performance, and am unable to install the NVIDIA driver.

This is my work PC, so I don't have a huge amount of time to reinstall Windows, so I'd rather not do that, as I have various customisations in place, and lots of programs installed. It'd take a long time for me to do all of that again.


EDIT: More Info

There are no NVIDIA listings under "Uninstall a Program" in the Control Panel. Yet the "NVIDIA Control Panel" app is still in the start menu, but does not start. I believe that is because there are just three DLL files in C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\coprocmanager, and no other files/directories in coprocmanager's parent directory.

When the driver is installing, my second monitor starts working, and then stops when the installation fails.

When the driver is installing, it briefly appears as "NVIDIA GeForce GT 720" in Device manager, after it fails, it goes back to being labeled, quite simply, "Display".

Tried running...

PsExec.exe -i -s "C:\NVIDIA\DisplayDriver\368.39\Win10_64\International\setup.exe"

..to no avail.

PC Specs (from Speccy):

  • Custom build
  • NVIDIA GeForce GT720 (not from Speccy, since it just lists the monitor under Graphics).
  • Intel Core i5 4460 @ 3.20GHz
  • 16.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 799MHz (11-11-11-28)
  • ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. H81M-PLUS (SOCKET 1150)
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  • That Windows update error may be totally unrelated. Have you tried installing driver from computer manufacturers website ?
    – clhy
    Jun 23, 2016 at 13:26
  • That wouldn't make a difference, it would be the same driver software. The PC is custom built, anyway.
    – thephpdev
    Jun 23, 2016 at 13:28
  • Ok, but If you are saying the driver from Manufacturer doesn't make a difference because they list the same driver than you are wrong. Computer manufacturers do customize driver at times.
    – clhy
    Jun 23, 2016 at 13:31
  • OK, well it's custom anyway so it doesn't matter. I'll note that in my question.
    – thephpdev
    Jun 23, 2016 at 13:35
  • I have a similar problem and wonder if what you learned can help me? superuser.com/questions/1156317/…
    – Ryan
    Dec 14, 2016 at 4:49

4 Answers 4

9

Use Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU)

Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) is a tool precisely for situations like this - where there are existing drivers that have not or cannot be cleanly removed which prevent you from updating or installing new graphics drivers.

DDU solves issues with unclean or incomplete driver installs/uninstalls by using its own, "brute force" method and directly removes all known registry entries, installer records, files, folders, and other tidbits of previous graphics drivers, leaving your PC in a clean state as if you had never installed any graphics drivers before. DDU supports NVidia, AMD (ATI), and Intel graphics drivers.

DDU is free software and can be downloaded from here.

Usage

It's fairly simple and self-explanatory.

1. Download the latest version of the tool from the link above

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  1. (Optional, but recommended) Restart in Safe Mode.

enter image description here

  1. Open the zip file you downloaded then run the self-extracting zip file DDU <version>.exe inside the other zip file (zipception!) taking note of the location the self-unzipping zip archive inside the zip archive is unzipping itself into

enter image description here

enter image description here

  1. Run Display Driver Uninstaller.exe.

enter image description here

4.b. If you haven't already restarted in safe mode, you will be prompted with the option to do so.

enter image description here

  1. Select the graphics driver brand you want to remove (in your case, NVidia) from the drop down box and then click "Clean and restart"

enter image description here

  1. Wait for it to complete, then try installing the new driver again.

enter image description here

If DDU doesn't resolve the problem, then it's highly likely there's a fault with your Windows install or your Windows Installer install, rather than the graphics driver itself.

(Note: Screenshots were taken on a Windows 7 machine not in Safe Mode and may not match exactly what you see)

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  • I appreciated you telling me about this tool. I still have this problem and wonder if you have any other suggestions (thanks!): superuser.com/questions/1156317/…
    – Ryan
    Dec 14, 2016 at 4:50
  • 1
    I've set this as accepted solution, since this happened again and using DDU solved the issue completely.
    – thephpdev
    Apr 10, 2017 at 14:09
0

I managed to install the driver only, which is OK for me.

Running the setup.exe in Safe-Mode didn't work.

So, I followed these steps:

  1. Restart into safe mode
  2. Open device manager
  3. Find your GPU and right-click it, then select "Update Driver Software"
  4. Click "Browse my computer for driver software"
  5. Tick "Include Sub-Folders"
  6. Navigate to the directory where the NVIDIA download extracted the setup files to, and click OK.
  7. If it was successful, restart normally, and enjoy using a proper graphics driver.
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BEFORE you Reinstall in Windows 10, You have to Uninstall Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 201x Versions using files vcredist_x64_13.exe (64 bits) AND vcredist_x86_13.exe (32 bits). Do a searching for these files. NVidia Setup fail at this moment because another process is using same installation. Nvidia Setup will reinstall Microsoft Visual C++ 201x again for you. Do a clean installation too. It Worked for me. Nvidia Setup will reinstall Microsoft Visual C++ 201x again for you. Do a clean installation too. It Works for me.

-1

Can't comment yet...

Probably just uninstall the Nvidia drivers again, restart, run the updater (GeForce Experience?) as administrator, and update again.

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  • "There are no NVIDIA listings under "Uninstall a Program" in the Control Panel."
    – thephpdev
    Jun 23, 2016 at 13:28
  • Then just do the running as administrator part
    – pay
    Jun 23, 2016 at 13:30
  • GeForce Experience is not installed. Also, I tried running it as Admin, no no diff.
    – thephpdev
    Jun 23, 2016 at 13:32
  • There's usually Nvidia software that performs the update. That might work for you. Otherwise if you just have the installer, you might want to try safe mode.
    – pay
    Jun 23, 2016 at 13:34

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