[Solved] NVIDIA Installer Cannot Continue

You can get the “NVIDIA Installer cannot continue” error message while trying to run the .exe installer. You may also get a similar error while installing the driver from GeForce Engine. It also comes with different additional messages that indicate the exact nature of the error.

The first two solutions below correspond to the initial two error messages in the list above. If you have any other errors, it’s best to skip straight to the third solution.

Check Some Windows Services

If the error message includes Windows task scheduler service should be running to continue, you need to start this service as the message says.

However, this service will stop as soon as it starts if the Time Broker service doesn’t run, so you need to check both these services.

The underlying reason why this happens is likely related to their startup type. You can’t change this parameter from the Windows Services utility, so you need to use the Registry Editor for this purpose.

1. Open Run by pressing Win + R.
2. Type regedit and press Enter to open the Registry Editor.
3. Navigate to Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Schedule
4. Make sure the Value data of Start is 2. If not, double-click on it, change the value, and then click OK.
   
5. Then, go to Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\TimeBrokerSvc
6. Here, the value of Start should be 3, not 4. Change it accordingly if necessary.
7. Close the Registry Editor and restart your computer.

Now, the Task Scheduler service should start automatically, so you should be able to install the NVIDIA driver.

Uninstall NVIDIA Frameview SDK

If the additional error message is You already have a newer version of the NVIDIA Frameview SDK installed, you can uninstall your current Frameview SDK. 

This way, you can install the driver update as well as the Frameview SDK provided by the installer. 

1. Open Run.
2. Type appwiz.cpl and press Enter to open Programs and Features.
3. Look for and select NVIDIA Frameview SDK.
4. Click on Uninstall and follow the on-screen instructions.
   

In rare scenarios, you will need to uninstall NVIDIA PhysX as well.

Install From ProgramData Folder

The GeForce Experience Program will first download the driver update before allowing you to install it. So, if you encounter the above error while using this program, you can go to the downloaded location and manually run the installer.

1. Check the driver version in GeForce Experience.
2. Open Run.
3. Type %programdata%\NVIDIA Corporation\Downloader and press Enter to get to NVIDIA Corporation\Downloader inside the hidden C:\ProgramData folder.
4. Open each folder here and look for an executable file that starts with the driver version number.
   
5. Double-click on this installer to run it. Then, follow the on-screen instructions.

Run GeForce Experience as Admin and Install

If you are getting this error while running a driver installer or just from the normal GeForce Experience program, you can try running this application as admin instead.

It may not help in most cases, but few users were able to resolve the issue through this method. So, it’s better to try it just in case.

1. Open Windows Search Bar by pressing Win + S.
2. Search for Geforce. Right-click on GeForce Experience and select Run as administrator.
   
3. Then, detect (if necessary) and install the graphics driver update through this process.

Update Windows and Install Driver From NVIDIA Website

The recent drivers are better compatible with the most updated Operating System. So, it’s best to fully update your Windows build to the latest stable version whenever you encounter any compatibility errors.

1. Open Windows Settings by pressing the Windows key + I.
2. Go to Windows Update or Update & Security > Windows Update.
3. Click Check for updates to look for available updates and Install now to install them.
   
4. Restart your computer as necessary.

After that, try using the driver installer from NVIDIA’s website directly to prevent any other processes from affecting the GeForce Experience program.

1. Open a web browser and go to NVIDIA’s driver download page.
2. Enter your driver and OS details.
   
3. Click on the latest version of the driver type you want. Studio drivers are more stable but Game Ready drivers have the latest features.
4. Click on Download > Download.
5. After downloading, temporarily disable your antivirus application.
6. Then, right-click on the downloaded installer and select Run as administrator.
   
7. Confirm any prompts and follow the on-screen instructions.

Clean Install Driver

Another way you can resolve the error in some situations is by removing all the previous driver components before the installation. GeForce Experience also allows this process via Custom Installation.

1. On GeForce Experience, click on Custom Installation.
   
2. Check all components as well as Perform a clean installation.
3. Click Install and follow the on-screen instructions.
   

If the Custom Installation fails as well, you can try running Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) to remove all the driver components.

1. Download the latest version of the driver from the official website.
2. Then, download DDU from its official forum if you haven’t done so already. Extract the file in any location you want.
3. Disconnect from the internet and open the DDU folder.
4. Run Display Driver Uninstaller.
5. On the Launch option window, set the Launch option to Safe mode and select Reboot to Safe Mode.
   
6. If the window doesn’t show up, go to Options and check Enable Safe Mode dialog. Hit Close. Close the program and open it again to get the Launch option window. Then, perform the above step to reboot in safe mode.
7. After the reboot, open the app again and click Options.
8. Check all NVIDIA Specific Options as well as recommended General Options.
9. Check Create a system restore point as well.
   
10. Uncheck all choices inside AMD Specific Options and Intel Specific Options.
11. Select Close.
12. Choose GPU in the drop-down box to the right and set the next option to NVIDIA.
13. Click Clean and restart to initiate the process.
    
14. Wait till it completes. Then, install the driver you downloaded from the official website.

Download Driver From Laptop Manufacturer

Some Laptop manufacturers provide custom NVIDIA drivers for their laptops. In such cases, if you try running the driver installer provided by NVIDIA, it will give the “NVIDIA Installer cannot continue. The graphics driver could not find compatible graphics hardware” error.

You should go to the support platform of your laptop model and download the driver hosted on this platform in such cases.

To find your laptop’s model name, enter msinfo32 on Run and check the value of the System Model.

Modify Setup’s INF File

Sometimes, you can encounter the “The graphics driver could not find compatible graphics hardware” error and the necessary driver may not be available on the laptop manufacturer’s website. In such cases, you can trick the installer into believing you have the proper hardware by modifying one of its .inf files.

1. First, you need to access the .inf file.
   • After you encounter the error message, don’t click on Close. The installer needs to keep running as we need to access a temporary file.
   • Open the File Explorer.
   • Click on View > Show > File name extensions from the menu bar to show the extensions.
     
   • Head over to C:\NVIDIA\DisplayDriver\
   • Go inside the folder with the driver version number and then inside the Windows OS version folder.
   • Get inside International\Display.Driver
   • Look for a .inf file with the name nv_disp… It can be nv_disp.inf or nv_dispi.inf or nv_dispig.inf or nv_dispwi.inf.
     
   • Copy the file somewhere else on your computer and open it. It should open as a text file in Notepad.
2. Now, you need to edit it.
   • Open your Device Manager (devmgmt.msc on Run) and expand Display adapters.
   • Right-click on the NVIDIA graphics card and select Properties. If the NVIDIA graphics card doesn’t show up there, open the Properties of the Microsoft Basic Display Adapter or Intel Graphics Card.
     
   • Go to the Details tab and set the Property to Device instance path.
   • Now, place the notepad window opening the .inf file as well as the driver properties windows side by side.
   • On the notepad, set the keyboard cursor to the top and press Ctrl + F to open the Find window.
   • Type your graphics card name (for instance RTX A2000) in the text box and click Find Next. Click Find Next until you find your exact graphics card.
     I have used a different graphics device in the example as compared to the image to account for all cases. On my computer, I have an RTX 3060 which only shows one number in the notepad.
     
   • The Device instance path on the Device Manager should be something like
     PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_2560&SUBSYS_3A8017AA&REV_C8\4&2F2E69BD&0&0041
     and the highlighted line in the notepad should be something like
     NVIDIA.DEV.2487.129C.17AA = “NVIDIA RTX A2000”
   • Here, you need to replace the numbers in the line appropriately. In this example,
     2487 to 2560 and
     129C to 3A80
     The last number should be the same, but if not change it to the four digits right before &REV. Make sure to use the numbers in your system, here I have used some random numbers to give an example.
   • If only the first number is in the line, you can simply replace this number.
     
   • Click Find Next on the notepad’s Find window again to see if there are any other similar entries. If so, you need to change them similarly.
   • Then, close the Find window and get back to the top of the list.
   • Press Ctrl + F to open the Find window so that you can search from top to bottom.
   • Type the old number you replaced right after DEV, in this example, 2487, and click Find Next.
     
   • The highlighted line should be something like
     %NVIDIA_DEV.2487.129C.17AA% = Section052, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_1B65&SUBSYS_129C17AA
   • Here, you need to change the numbers on both right and left sides of the equals sign. So, the new line will become
     %NVIDIA_DEV.2560.3A80.17AA% = Section052, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_2560&SUBSYS_3A8017AA if we consider our example.
     
   • Keep clicking Find Next again and replace all the values appropriately.
   • After you are done press Ctrl + Shift + S to save the file as another type.
   • Set the Save as type to All files and the name should remain as the original .inf file. Click Save.
     
3. Then, you have to replace the file in the location where the installer temporarily creates the .inf file before the installation begins properly. You only have a limited time between the installer extracting the files and then running them, so you need to be quick.
   • Select the modified .inf file and press Ctrl + C to copy it.
   • Run the driver installer but don’t click OK yet.
   • Get to This PC in the file explorer. Keep the file explorer as a small window and keep it side by side with the setup.
   • Hit OK on the setup and while it’s extracting, quickly get to C:\NVIDIA\DisplayDriver\“Driver Version”\“Windows Version”\International\Display.Driver by navigating the File Explorer. Don’t copy anything as the .inf file needs to remain on the clipboard.
   • After the extraction reaches like 50-60%, paste the .inf file there and click Continue > Replace the file in the destination > Continue.
   • The setup file should not show the error if you do everything properly.