[SOLVED] Can't install latest Nvidia drivers

Solution
Installing programs on drives other than the "C:" drive/partition is generally not wise because once you reinstall Windows all dynamic links to those applications are gone and they will no longer work properly unless they are portable applications that don't require actual installation. Even game loaders like Steam should be installed on the C: drive, although the actual games themselves can be installed on secondary drives as they don't generally use the same type of structure as regular applications and you can simply point your game loader to where they are installed after reinstalling Windows.

But for regular applications, if you try to open one that is installed on another drive after any type of Windows installation that does not...
Have you tried doing a clean install of the Nvidia drivers using the DDU in safe mode to completely remove the old ones?

 
Have you tried doing a clean install of the Nvidia drivers using the DDU in safe mode to completely remove the old ones?


I've tried using DDU already, 2 times, the update STILL won't install.
I've tried reinstalling Windows 10 too. I used the Media Creation Tool from their website: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
During the setup I selected the option to keep my apps and personal files, maybe that somehow prevented a fresh install? When I logged back in after reinstalling everything seemed the same.
 
I've tried using DDU already, 2 times, the update STILL won't install.
I've tried reinstalling Windows 10 too. I used the Media Creation Tool from their website: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
During the setup I selected the option to keep my apps and personal files, maybe that somehow prevented a fresh install? When I logged back in after reinstalling everything seemed the same.
Yes, that's not a clean install. Keeping apps and personal files keeps your Nvidia drivers, control panel and GeForce Exp files and registry settings. Fortunately you already have all your important data and personal files backed up elsewhere, right? Right?
 
Fortunately you already have all your important data and personal files backed up elsewhere, right? Right?

haha.. sort of, I have 2 drives I use. One is a 2TB SSD which is where I have Windows 10 installed and most of my generic programs, the other 8TB HDD is for my games, videos, pictures, some other programs, almost everything else. So I guess what I can do is just copy my Windows 10 C: drive to an older SSD, reinstall Windows 10, then copy all of my personal files back onto my main 2TB SSD.

Reinstalling Windows 10 on my 2TB SSD won't affect my 8TB HDD will it? It might just delete certain Windows 10 files, but it'll leave all my personal files on that drive alone right?
 
What are you classifying as "personal files"? Are you talking about the files for your installed applications, or are you talking about specific folders with saved documents, music, movie, game saves, etc.?

Do you have actual applications installed on the HDD or just saved files that you open with applications that are installed on the SSD? In truth, the HDD should be completely disconnected when you install Windows, and you would know this if you read the guide I linked you to.
 
What are you classifying as "personal files"? Are you talking about the files for your installed applications, or are you talking about specific folders with saved documents, music, movie, game saves, etc.?

Do you have actual applications installed on the HDD or just saved files that you open with applications that are installed on the SSD? In truth, the HDD should be completely disconnected when you install Windows, and you would know this if you read the guide I linked you to.

When I say personal files I mean games, pictures, videos, programs installed on the HDD, a large variety of files that are generated from the various programs installed on the HDD. I do have some programs that are installed on my HDD but some of their files have to be saved on the C: drive, which is part of why I'll just backup the whole SSD.

I guess if you don't want the installation to affect other drives you just take them out, heh.
 
Installing programs on drives other than the "C:" drive/partition is generally not wise because once you reinstall Windows all dynamic links to those applications are gone and they will no longer work properly unless they are portable applications that don't require actual installation. Even game loaders like Steam should be installed on the C: drive, although the actual games themselves can be installed on secondary drives as they don't generally use the same type of structure as regular applications and you can simply point your game loader to where they are installed after reinstalling Windows.

But for regular applications, if you try to open one that is installed on another drive after any type of Windows installation that does not include "keep personal files, folders and applications", which I never recommend doing, it would be incredibly rare (Or impossible) for it to work because even if you install to another drive it is going to create dynamic links, registry entries, file associations, etc. in Windows which is on the C: drive and once that is clean those are not there anymore. So if you have actual "applications" or "programs" installed on the HDD it might be a good idea to uninstall them before you do a clean install of Windows so you don't end up with orphaned program files on your HDD, and then reinstall them after you complete your Windows installation and reconnect your hard drive. So that would be uninstall all programs from Windows that are installed to your HDD, then shut down, disconnect your HDD, power on, install Windows and required drivers, shut down, reconnect your HDD and then reinstall the applications you had previously uninstalled from the HDD.

It would be a good idea though to perhaps make sure you save any important ACTUAL user files that you created with those programs to another folder on the HDD specifically FOR saving your user created files, so that you can import them back into the application after you reinstall it or simply open them from the new folder you saved them to.

Sound complicated, and I'll be honest, when you start installing applications to drives other than the OS drive, it can get that way, but it really isn't except if you are inexperienced with operating systems in general.
 
Solution
Installing programs on drives other than the "C:" drive/partition is generally not wise because once you reinstall Windows all dynamic links to those applications are gone and they will no longer work properly unless they are portable applications that don't require actual installation. Even game loaders like Steam should be installed on the C: drive, although the actual games themselves can be installed on secondary drives as they don't generally use the same type of structure as regular applications and you can simply point your game loader to where they are installed after reinstalling Windows.

But for regular applications, if you try to open one that is installed on another drive after any type of Windows installation that does not include "keep personal files, folders and applications", which I never recommend doing, it would be incredibly rare (Or impossible) for it to work because even if you install to another drive it is going to create dynamic links, registry entries, file associations, etc. in Windows which is on the C: drive and once that is clean those are not there anymore. So if you have actual "applications" or "programs" installed on the HDD it might be a good idea to uninstall them before you do a clean install of Windows so you don't end up with orphaned program files on your HDD, and then reinstall them after you complete your Windows installation and reconnect your hard drive. So that would be uninstall all programs from Windows that are installed to your HDD, then shut down, disconnect your HDD, power on, install Windows and required drivers, shut down, reconnect your HDD and then reinstall the applications you had previously uninstalled from the HDD.

It would be a good idea though to perhaps make sure you save any important ACTUAL user files that you created with those programs to another folder on the HDD specifically FOR saving your user created files, so that you can import them back into the application after you reinstall it or simply open them from the new folder you saved them to.

Sound complicated, and I'll be honest, when you start installing applications to drives other than the OS drive, it can get that way, but it really isn't except if you are inexperienced with operating systems in general.

After reinstalling Windows 10 the right way I was FINALLY able to install the latest Nvidia drivers. Though unfortunately it didn't solve my black screen issue.
 
Ok, so what is the black screen issue? Because there is ZERO mention of that here, in this thread.

For the sake of avoiding unnecessary additional explanations along the way, please read the following and make sure you've done any of the relevant steps that may not have already been done.

If there are any steps listed here that you have not already done, it would be advisable to do so if for no other reason than to be able to say you've already done it and eliminate that possibility.



First,

Make sure your motherboard has the MOST recent BIOS version installed. If it does not, then update. This solves a high number of issues even in cases where the release that is newer than yours makes no mention of improving graphics card or other hardware compatibility. They do not list every change they have made when they post a new BIOS release. In cases where you DO already have the latest BIOS version, simply resetting the BIOS as follows has a fairly high percentage chance of effecting a positive change in some cases so it is ALWAYS worth TRYING, at the very least.


BIOS Hard Reset procedure

Power off the unit, switch the PSU off and unplug the PSU cord from either the wall or the power supply.

Remove the motherboard CMOS battery for about three to five minutes. In some cases it may be necessary to remove the graphics card to access the CMOS battery.

During that five minutes while the CMOS battery is out of the motherboard, press the power button on the case, continuously, for 15-30 seconds, in order to deplete any residual charge that might be present in the CMOS circuit. After the five minutes is up, reinstall the CMOS battery making sure to insert it with the correct side up just as it came out.

If you had to remove the graphics card you can now reinstall it, but remember to reconnect your power cables if there were any attached to it as well as your display cable.

Now, plug the power supply cable back in, switch the PSU back on and power up the system. It should display the POST screen and the options to enter CMOS/BIOS setup. Enter the bios setup program and reconfigure the boot settings for either the Windows boot manager or for legacy systems, the drive your OS is installed on if necessary.

Save settings and exit. If the system will POST and boot then you can move forward from there including going back into the bios and configuring any other custom settings you may need to configure such as Memory XMP, A-XMP or D.O.C.P profile settings, custom fan profile settings or other specific settings you may have previously had configured that were wiped out by resetting the CMOS.

In some cases it may be necessary when you go into the BIOS after a reset, to load the Optimal default or Default values and then save settings, to actually get the hardware tables to reset in the boot manager.

It is probably also worth mentioning that for anything that might require an attempt to DO a hard reset in the first place, IF the problem is related to a lack of video signal, it is a GOOD IDEA to try a different type of display as many systems will not work properly for some reason with displayport configurations. It is worth trying HDMI if you are having no display or lack of visual ability to enter the BIOS, or no signal messages.

Trying a different monitor as well, if possible, is also a good idea if there is a lack of display. It happens.


Second,

Go to the product page for your motherboard on the manufacturer website. Download and install the latest driver versions for the chipset, audio and network adapters. Do not skip installing a newer driver just because you think it is not relevant to the problem you are having. The drivers for one device can often affect ALL other devices and a questionable driver release can cause instability in the OS itself. They don't release new drivers just for fun. If there is a new driver release for a component, there is a good reason for it. The same goes for BIOS updates. When it comes to the chipset drivers, if your motherboard manufacturer lists a chipset driver that is newer than what the chipset developer (Intel or AMD, for our purposes) lists, then use that one. If Intel (Or AMD) shows a chipset driver version that is newer than what is available from the motherboard product page, then use that one. Always use the newest chipset driver that you can get and always use ONLY the chipset drivers available from either the motherboard manufacturer, AMD or Intel.


IF you have other hardware installed or attached to the system that are not a part of the systems covered by the motherboard drivers, then go to the support page for THAT component and check to see if there are newer drivers available for that as well. If there are, install them.


Third,

Make sure your memory is running at the correct advertised speed in the BIOS. This may require that you set the memory to run at the XMP profile settings. Also, make sure you have the memory installed in the correct slots and that they are running in dual channel which you can check by installing CPU-Z and checking the Memory and SPD tabs. For all modern motherboards that are dual channel memory architectures, from the last ten years at least, if you have two sticks installed they should be in the A2 (Called DDR4_1 on some boards) or B2 (Called DDR4_2 on some boards) which are ALWAYS the SECOND and FOURTH slots over from the CPU socket, counting TOWARDS the edge of the motherboard EXCEPT on boards that only have two memory slots total. In that case, if you have two modules it's not rocket science, but if you have only one, then install it in the A1 or DDR4_1 slot.



 
Ok, so what is the black screen issue? Because there is ZERO mention of that here, in this thread.

For the sake of avoiding unnecessary additional explanations along the way, please read the following and make sure you've done any of the relevant steps that may not have already been done.

If there are any steps listed here that you have not already done, it would be advisable to do so if for no other reason than to be able to say you've already done it and eliminate that possibility.



First,

Make sure your motherboard has the MOST recent BIOS version installed. If it does not, then update. This solves a high number of issues even in cases where the release that is newer than yours makes no mention of improving graphics card or other hardware compatibility. They do not list every change they have made when they post a new BIOS release. In cases where you DO already have the latest BIOS version, simply resetting the BIOS as follows has a fairly high percentage chance of effecting a positive change in some cases so it is ALWAYS worth TRYING, at the very least.


BIOS Hard Reset procedure

Power off the unit, switch the PSU off and unplug the PSU cord from either the wall or the power supply.

Remove the motherboard CMOS battery for about three to five minutes. In some cases it may be necessary to remove the graphics card to access the CMOS battery.

During that five minutes while the CMOS battery is out of the motherboard, press the power button on the case, continuously, for 15-30 seconds, in order to deplete any residual charge that might be present in the CMOS circuit. After the five minutes is up, reinstall the CMOS battery making sure to insert it with the correct side up just as it came out.

If you had to remove the graphics card you can now reinstall it, but remember to reconnect your power cables if there were any attached to it as well as your display cable.

Now, plug the power supply cable back in, switch the PSU back on and power up the system. It should display the POST screen and the options to enter CMOS/BIOS setup. Enter the bios setup program and reconfigure the boot settings for either the Windows boot manager or for legacy systems, the drive your OS is installed on if necessary.

Save settings and exit. If the system will POST and boot then you can move forward from there including going back into the bios and configuring any other custom settings you may need to configure such as Memory XMP, A-XMP or D.O.C.P profile settings, custom fan profile settings or other specific settings you may have previously had configured that were wiped out by resetting the CMOS.

In some cases it may be necessary when you go into the BIOS after a reset, to load the Optimal default or Default values and then save settings, to actually get the hardware tables to reset in the boot manager.

It is probably also worth mentioning that for anything that might require an attempt to DO a hard reset in the first place, IF the problem is related to a lack of video signal, it is a GOOD IDEA to try a different type of display as many systems will not work properly for some reason with displayport configurations. It is worth trying HDMI if you are having no display or lack of visual ability to enter the BIOS, or no signal messages.

Trying a different monitor as well, if possible, is also a good idea if there is a lack of display. It happens.


Second,

Go to the product page for your motherboard on the manufacturer website. Download and install the latest driver versions for the chipset, audio and network adapters. Do not skip installing a newer driver just because you think it is not relevant to the problem you are having. The drivers for one device can often affect ALL other devices and a questionable driver release can cause instability in the OS itself. They don't release new drivers just for fun. If there is a new driver release for a component, there is a good reason for it. The same goes for BIOS updates. When it comes to the chipset drivers, if your motherboard manufacturer lists a chipset driver that is newer than what the chipset developer (Intel or AMD, for our purposes) lists, then use that one. If Intel (Or AMD) shows a chipset driver version that is newer than what is available from the motherboard product page, then use that one. Always use the newest chipset driver that you can get and always use ONLY the chipset drivers available from either the motherboard manufacturer, AMD or Intel.


IF you have other hardware installed or attached to the system that are not a part of the systems covered by the motherboard drivers, then go to the support page for THAT component and check to see if there are newer drivers available for that as well. If there are, install them.


Third,

Make sure your memory is running at the correct advertised speed in the BIOS. This may require that you set the memory to run at the XMP profile settings. Also, make sure you have the memory installed in the correct slots and that they are running in dual channel which you can check by installing CPU-Z and checking the Memory and SPD tabs. For all modern motherboards that are dual channel memory architectures, from the last ten years at least, if you have two sticks installed they should be in the A2 (Called DDR4_1 on some boards) or B2 (Called DDR4_2 on some boards) which are ALWAYS the SECOND and FOURTH slots over from the CPU socket, counting TOWARDS the edge of the motherboard EXCEPT on boards that only have two memory slots total. In that case, if you have two modules it's not rocket science, but if you have only one, then install it in the A1 or DDR4_1 slot.




The reason I was trying to update my GPU drivers is because of an issue where if I used certain applications that seemed to heavily use my CPU, my screen would go black and my audio cuts off, but my PC is still running. My driver issue has been solved so I guess we can move this to my other thread where I talk about it in more detail: https://forums.tomshardware.com/thr...creens-after-upgrading.3782594/#post-22838526

So, I've tried all the things you suggested. I updated all of my Drivers for all the devices that needed updating and my Motherboard BIOS. I reset my CMOS again and just used the defaults settings because enabling XMP keeps making me Blue-screen. I switched to HDMI instead of Display Port.
I know for certain that my RAM is in the right slots, although when I checked in CPU-Z to see if Dual Channel was enabled, next to where it says "Channels #" it said "2 x 64-bit" and not Dual Channel. I don't know if "2 x 64-bit" is just another way to mean Dual Channel.
 
The reason I was trying to update my GPU drivers is because of an issue where if I used certain applications that seemed to heavily use my CPU, my screen would go black and my audio cuts off, but my PC is still running. My driver issue has been solved so I guess we can move this to my other thread where I talk about it in more detail: https://forums.tomshardware.com/thr...creens-after-upgrading.3782594/#post-22838526

So, I've tried all the things you suggested. I updated all of my Drivers for all the devices that needed updating and my Motherboard BIOS. I reset my CMOS again and just used the defaults settings because enabling XMP keeps making me Blue-screen. I switched to HDMI instead of Display Port.
I know for certain that my RAM is in the right slots, although when I checked in CPU-Z to see if Dual Channel was enabled, next to where it says "Channels #" it said "2 x 64-bit" and not Dual Channel. I don't know if "2 x 64-bit" is just another way to mean Dual Channel.
You had another thread with memory issues, which I posted in, and which you were going to get different memory since you had memory problems as well as having two sticks that did not come together in one kit. Until you do that, it's pointless to continue trying to figure this out AND creating new threads isn't going to find you new answers. It's going to find you the SAME answers.