Some PC users are reporting encountering the HRESULT E_FAIL error whenever they attempt to launch GeForce Experience from NVIDIA on their Windows 11 or Windows 10 computer. If you are affected by a similar issue, then this post is intended to help you with the most suitable solutions to the issue.
When you encounter this issue, you’ll receive the following full error message-
GeForce Experience
Unable to start NVIDIA Update Service due to “Error HRESULT E_FAIL has been returned from a call to a COM component.” GeForce Experience must close.
What is Error HRESULT E_Fail?
The Error HRESULT E_FAIL has been returned from a call to a COM component. There are some required fields in the Target database. The source data does not have all the data. You need to update the source to have the required fields for the target database.
NVIDIA GeForce Experience Error HRESULT E_FAIL
If you’re faced with this issue, you can try our recommended solutions below in no particular order and see if that helps to resolve the NVIDIA GeForce Experience Error HRESULT E_FAIL issue on your Windows 11/10 device.
- Run SFC scan
- Troubleshoot in Clean Boot state
- Reinstall GeForce Experience
- Clean Install NVIDIA graphics driver
- Perform System Restore
Let’s take a look at the description of the process involved concerning each of the listed solutions.
1] Run SFC scan
The first troubleshooting to fix the NVIDIA GeForce Experience Error HRESULT E_FAIL issue on your Windows 11/10 device is to run SFC scan and see if that helps. Otherwise, try the next solution.
2] Troubleshoot in Clean Boot state
This solution requires you to perform a Clean Boot to start Windows by using a minimal set of drivers and startup programs. This helps eliminate software conflicts that occur when you install a program or an update or when you run a program on your Windows PC.
3] Reinstall GeForce Experience
This solution requires you to uninstall the GeForce Experience app via the Settings app, and then download and reinstall the latest version of the app on your device.
If after this, the issue at hand is still unresolved, try the next solution.
4] Clean Install NVIDIA graphics driver
To clean install the NVIDIA graphics driver on your Windows 11/10 computer to fix the NVIDIA GeForce Experience Scanning Failed Error, you first need to uninstall the graphics driver via Device Manager or alternatively use the Display Driver Uninstaller tool. Once done, you can then proceed with the clean install of the NVIDIA graphics driver as follows:
- Open the Download page for NVIDIA drivers.
- Enter the required information including the NVIDIA driver and operating system in the boxes.
- Click on Search to see a list of NViDIA drivers.
- Scroll down the list until you find the required driver.
- Select its name and click on the Download button.
- Open the downloaded driver on your computer and follow the on-screen instructions to install.
- Once you reach the Installation options screen, select the Custom (Advanced) option.
- Click on Next to see a list of installed components.
- Check the option to Perform a clean installation.
- Click Next button to install the driver.
Once the driver installation completes, check to see if the error still appears. If so, try the next solution.
5] Perform System Restore
If you noticed that the error started to occur recently, it’s entirely possible that the issue was facilitated by a change that your system has gone through recently.
If you have no idea what changed that might have ended up breaking the GeForce Experience app, you can use System Restore (any changes like application installs, user preferences and anything else made after the restore point will be lost) to revert to a date where you’re certain that the printer was working properly.
To perform System Restore on your Windows 11/10 PC, do the following:
- Press Windows key + R.
- In the Run dialog box, type rstrui and hit Enter to open up the System Restore Wizard.
- Once you arrive at the initial screen of System Restore, click Next to advance to the next window.
- At the next screen, start by checking the box associated with Show more restore points.
- After you’ve done this, select a point which has an older date than the one in which you first started to notice the error.
- Click Next to advance to the next menu.
- Click Finish and confirm at the final prompt.
At the next system startup, your older computer state will be enforced.
Any of these solutions should work for you!
What is HRESULT code?
HRESULTs are numerical error codes. Various bits within an HRESULT encode information about the nature of the error code, and where it came from. HRESULT error codes are most commonly encountered in COM programming, where they form the basis for a standardized COM error handling convention.
What does HRESULT stand for?
The return value of COM functions and methods is an HRESULT, which is not a handle to an object, but is a 32-bit value with several fields encoded in a single 32-bit ULONG variable. Which seems to indicate that it stands for “handle”, but is misused in this case.
