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GeForce Experience Preparing to Install: 7 Ways to Unstuck It
Install driver updates in a jiffy with our solutions
6 min. read
Updated onAugust 30, 2024
updated onAugust 30, 2024
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The GeForce Experience app is a dedicated control panel to manage the NVIDIA GPUs. It helps change graphics settings throughout the system and make app-specific changes. Of late, many users reported that GeForce Experience is stuck on thePreparing to installscreen.
When this happens, userscan’t update the NVIDIA drivers, which greatly affects the Windows experience and might lead topoor gaming performance. So, let’s find out all about the GeForce ExperiencePreparing to installerror and the solutions for it.
Why does GeForce Experience take so long to install drivers?
Here are a few reasons the GeForce driver is taking forever to install:
What can I do if GeForce Experience is stuck on preparing to install?
Before we start with the complex changes, here are a few quick tricks that might help:
If none of these work, move to the solutions listed next.
1. Terminate programs running the driver
Many users managed to fix things when GeForce Driver was stuck onPreparing to installby terminating the processes that were engaging the driver and stopping theCryptographic Services. Also, if you have Steam orgame clientsrunning in the background, terminate them.
2. Modify Windows Security settings
3. Uninstall conflicting applications
It may take a while to identify the conflicting application, and you may end up removing a few others in the process. Don’t worry! You can always reinstall these once the problematicapp is uninstalled.
A few users found out thatZoneAlarm Firewallwas the underlying cause when GeForce Experience was stuck atPreparing to install. Look for it and other similar apps.
4. Reconfigure the NVIDIA 3D settings
5. Reinstall GeForce Experience
After you have reinstalled GeForce Experience, the driver update shouldn’t be stuck on thePreparing to installscreen anymore.
6. Manually install the driver
If the previous solutions didn’t work, you couldmanually install the driversfrom the official website. The process, though a bit intricate initially, shouldn’t be much of a hassle and will allow you to update the drivers seamlessly.
As an alternative, you can use an automatic tool that will successfully install or update any drivers on your PC much faster and completely securely.
Outbyte Driver Updater
7. Create a new user account
As a last resort, you cancreate a new user accountto fix things if GeForce Experience is stuck on thePreparing to installscreen due to acorrupt user profile. To transfer data between the previous and new account, you can use areliable backup toolor USB storage device.
Once you have fixed the problem, check thebest graphics settings for improved gamingin Windows.
This isn’t the only issue, and many reported thatGeForce Experience driver download is stuck at 100%, but we have a guide that addresses that.
Tell us which fix worked for you in the comments section below.
More about the topics:GeForce Experience
Matthew Adams
Windows Hardware Expert
Matthew is a freelancer who has produced a variety of articles on various topics related to technology. His main focus is the Windows OS and all the things surrounding it.
He is passionate about the tech world, always staying up-to-date with the latest and greatest. With an analytical view, he likes problem-solving, focusing on errors and their causes.
In his free time, he likes to read and write about history and tries to always develop new skills.
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Matthew Adams
Windows Hardware Expert
He is passionate about everything surrounding Microsoft’s OS, focusing on troubleshooting guides & tips for everyday problems.
