Windows computer freezes while installing Graphics driver

If your Windows 11/10 computer freezes while installing the Graphics driver, this post may help you fix the issue. Compatibility issues are one of the causes of this problem. Your computer may freeze if the Graphics driver that you are installing is not compatible with it.

A driver is a software that establishes a communication link between the hardware and the operating system. Talking about the Graphics driver, it allows a computer operating system or a program to use the computer’s graphics hardware.

Windows computer freezes while installing Graphics driver

We have listed here some solutions that may help you fix the freezing issue of your Windows computer while installing the Graphics driver.

1. Install the Graphics driver in compatibility mode.
2. Switch to the earlier version of the Graphics driver.
3. Perform a System Restore and then install the Graphics driver.
4. Update your system BIOS.
5. Check your hardware.

1] Install the Graphics driver in compatibility mode

We have explained earlier in this article that you may experience this problem due to compatibility issues. Hence, you can try to install the Graphics driver in compatibility mode and check if it solves the issue.

The steps to do this are listed below:

1. Download the latest driver from the manufacturer’s website.
2. Right-click on the driver installation file and select Properties.
3. Click on the Compatibility tab.
4. Click on the checkbox adjacent to the option Run this program in Compatibility mode.
5. Select the previous version of the operating system from the list.
6. Click Apply and then OK.

Now, install the driver and check its functionality after the installation gets completed.

2] Install the earlier version of the Graphics driver

You can try to download the earlier version of the Graphics driver from the manufacturer’s website and see if it solves the issue or not. To do this, you first have to uninstall the current version of the graphics driver from your computer. The following steps will help you with that:

1. Launch the Device Manager.
2. Expand the Display adapters node.
3. Select your Graphics driver.
4. Right-click on the driver and select the Uninstall device option.
5. Follow the on-screen instructions.

When the uninstallation process gets completed, visit the manufacturer’s website and search for the earlier version of the Graphics driver. Download it and install it on your system.

If you are experiencing a problem with the AMD Graphics driver, you can use the AMD Cleanup Utility to completely remove the driver from your system. After uninstalling the driver, you can download its earlier version from the AMD website and install it on your system.

Many users have found this solution helpful.

Read: Computer freezes or crashes when closing Programs or Games.

3] Perform a System Restore and then install the Graphics driver

Some users have installed the Graphics driver after performing the System Restore. You can also try this method. System Restore is a tool developed by Microsoft that repairs the corrupted software. In case of data corruption or installation failure, the System Restore takes the system to a previous working condition without reinstalling the operating system.

The following steps will help you restore your system to a previous state:

1. Press the Win + R keys and type Control Panel. After that hit Enter. This will launch the Control Panel.
2. Now, in the Control Panel, click on the search box at the top right side and type Recovery.
3. Click Recovery from the results.
4. Now, click Open System Restore.
5. In the System Restore Window, select either the Recommended restore or Choose a different restore point option. The latter option will be available only if you have created a system restore point previously.
6. Click Next and follow the on-screen instructions.

It will take time to restore the system to the previous state. Therefore, you have to keep patience.

After the System Restore is completed, check if you can install the driver or not.

4] Update your system BIOS

Update your system BIOS if none of the above solutions fixed your problem.

5] Check your hardware

If you have tried all the solutions but your Windows computer still freezes while installing the Graphics driver, the GPU of your computer may be damaged or there may be another hardware issue. In this case, we advise you to take professional support to repair your computer. This will also let you know whether there is any hardware issue with your computer or not.

I hope this helps.

Related: Where to download drivers for Windows systems.

Computer crashes when installing Graphics driver

This issue is also closely related to the problem that we have covered in this article “Windows computer freezes while installing Graphics driver.” Some users have complained that their computer crashes when installing the Graphics driver. To fix this issue, we recommend you follow the troubleshooting methods that we have explained above.

Earlier in this article, we have explained that compatibility issue is one of the causes of this problem. Hence, if your computer has an AMD Graphics card, you can do one more thing; visit AMD’s official website and download the AMD Driver Auto-detect tool. The tool automatically detects the model of AMD Radeon Graphics card or AMD Ryzen chipset installed on your Windows machine. After detecting the model of the Graphics card or chipset, it displays the compatible drivers for the same. From the list of compatible drivers, you just have to select the drivers that you want and click on the Install button.

Read: Windows freezing or rebooting due to Hardware problems.

NVIDIA driver keeps crashing on Windows 11

You can try the following solution to fix this problem:

1. Uninstall the NVIDIA driver completely from your system and clean install it again.
2. Now, launch the Device Manager and expand the Display adaptors node.
3. After that, right-click on the NVIDIA Graphics driver and select the Update driver option.
4. In the pop-up window, click on the Browse my computer for drivers option.
5. Now, select the Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer option.
6. You have to select the Microsoft Basic Display Adapter from the list of drivers displayed. After that, click Next and follow the on-screen instructions.
7. Restart your device when the installation of the driver gets completed.
8. After restarting the computer, launch the Device Manager and expand the Display adaptors node. After that, right-click on the display driver available there and select the Update driver option.
9. Repeat steps 4 and 5 above and select the right driver this time, i.e., NVIDIA driver.
10. Click Next and follow the on-screen instructions
11. Restart your system.

This will eliminate the issue.

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• Bad GPU Driver Update causing problems in Windows.
• Fix You need a WIA driver to use this device error on Windows.