How to Download the Nvidia Control Panel Without the ...

Starting from that date, the Nvidia Control Panel is no longer distributed ... e.g. “445.87-desktop-win10-64bit-international-dch-whql.exe”. Home Gaming HowtoDownloadtheNvidiaControlPanelWithouttheMicrosoftStore Thissitemayearnaffiliatecommissionsfromthelinksonthispage.Termsofuse. Ifyouhaven’tupdatedyourgraphicsdriversrecently,youmaynotbeawareofachangeNvidiainstitutedinDecemberof2019.Startingfromthatdate,theNvidiaControlPanelisnolongerdistributedintheversionofNvidiadriversavailablefordefaultoffthemainwebsite.IfyounavigatetoNvidia.comandcheckthe“GeForceDrivers”page,thedriveryou’llbeofferediswhatMicrosoftcallsa“DCH”(DeclarativeComponentizedHardware)driver,anditdoesn’tincludeNvidia’sControlPanel.Asofnow,ifyouwanttheNvidiaControlPanel—andyouprobablydo—youhavetogetitfromtheMicrosoftStore.AccordingtoNvidia,thesechangeswereduetonewrequirementsfromMicrosoft.DCHdriversalwayshavethe“DCH”stringinthefilename,e.g.“445.87-desktop-win10-64bit-international-dch-whql.exe”Whileit’spossibletodownloadapplicationsfromtheMicrosoftStorewithoutusingaMicrosoftaccount,thecompanyusesanyinteractionwiththeStoreasanexcusetopushyoutowardscreatingone.WhenyouattempttodownloadtheNvidiaControlPanelwithoutlogginginfirst,theWindowsStoreshovesaloginwindowinfrontofyoutoimplyyoumustcreateanaccountinordertoinstallthesoftware.Youdon’tactuallyneedtosignin,butMicrosoftmakeseveryefforttoconvinceyouthatyoudo.Whenyouclickon“Install”thiswindowappears.Notethatthere’snoactualinstallationhappeningyet,emphasizingtheideathatyoumustenterinformationintheseboxesinordertoproceed.Ifyou“X”outofthiswindow,theNvidiaControlPanelwillinstallnormally.Ifyou’rehappyallowingMicrosofttomanageyourdrivers,youmaynotmindgoingthisroute.Speakingstrictlyformyself,I do mind.Justkidding!Microsoftwasn’t serious aboutthat.Thisisknownasadarkpattern.IfindMicrosoft’songoingattemptstomisrepresenttheneedforanonlineWindowsaccountortrickusersintocreatingoneextremelydistasteful.EvenifIdidn’t,I’vehadfartoomanybadexperienceswithallowingWindowstoupdatedriverstoevergivetheOScarteblanchetodoso.AllowingtheOStostealth-updatethedriversonatestbedwithoutrequiringexplicitpermissionisagreatwaytowinduptestingtwodifferentGPUdriverswithoutevenbeingawareofit.Insomecases,enthusiastsmayneedtoretainspecificdriverversionstosolvebugsintroducedinlaterversions.Ihadtomanuallyuninstallthedriversforafriend’sAMDGPUearlierthisyearafterWindowsupdatedhimtoadriverafflictedwiththeblackscreenproblemsthathitRadeoncardsearlierin2020.WhileAMD’sdriverissuesinthatinstancewerenotMicrosoft’sfault,thefactremains,itwasMicrosoftthatupdatedmyfriend’sGPUtoanincompatibledriver—nothim.Also,underthisnewdistributionscheme,it’spossibleforyourControlPaneltobeincompatiblewithyourcurrentlyinstalleddriver.Nvidiahasatutorialforhowtoresolvethisproblemifithappenstoyou,butMicrosofthasnobusinessmandatingcustomersjumpthroughthesehoopsinthefirstplace.HowtoDownloadStandardNvidiaDriversLuckily,there’sstillanalternativeavailablefromNvidiaitself,asmentionedinthecompany’sHelppageforthesedriverdistributionchanges.GamersandcomputecustomerscandownloadastandardNvidiadriverdistributionusingtheAdvancedDriverSearchpage.Notethatthispageisdifferentfromthe“AllDrivers”searchpage.Nvidia’sAdvancedDriverSearchPage.OneoftheexplicitoptionsontheAdvancedSearchpageistosearchfortheStandardNvidiadriverdownloadasopposedtotheDCHversion.We’vespokentoNvidiaabouttheStandardversusDCHquestionandwhilethecompanyassuresusthatthetwodriversetsarefunctionallyequivalent,italsohasnoplanstostopofferingaStandarddriver.IfyouwanttousetheStandarddriver,werecommendinstallingDisplayDriverUninstaller(DDU)andsettingtheoptiontopreventWindowsfromsearchingforupdateddriverswhenWindowsUpdateruns:DisplayDriverUninstallerTheorderofeventsI’drecommendfollowingtoensureasmoothuninstallation/reinstallationprocessis:1).DownloadDDUandtheStandardNvidiadriveryouwanttoinstall.2).RunNvidia’sdefaultuninstaller.Donotimmediatelyrebootafteruninstallingyourexistingdriver.3).LaunchDDUandallowtheapplicationtorebootyouintoSafeMode.4).WhenDDUrebootsyouintoSafeMode,makecertainyouusethe“Options”menutosettheflagshownabove.SelectyourNvidiaGPUfromthedrop-downlistofoptionsDDUoffersandchoosetheappropriateoutcomeyoudesire(Cleansystemandreboot,cleansystemanddon’treboot,cleansystemandshutdown).5).Onceyoursystemreboots,installtheStandardNvidiadriveryoupreviouslydownloaded.ObviouslysomepeoplemaynothaveevennoticedthechangeintheNvidiadriverdistributionmodel,ormaynotcareaboutusingthenew,Microsoftsystem.Ifyoudocare,however,there’sstillawaytodownloadtheNvidiaControlPanelfromNvidiaandtoretainmanualcontroloverhowandwhenyourdriversareupdated.NowRead:Nvidia’sMinecraftRTXBetaLaunchesApril16NvidiaJoinsWarAgainstCOVID-19WithAI,GPUSupercomputingNvidiaUnveilsMax-QGPUs:OptimusG-SyncSupport,BetterPowerSharing TaggedIn microsoftgamingnvidiagpuswindows 10windows storeDeclarative Componentized HardwareGame Ready DriversNvidia DCH DriverNvidia Standard Driver Thissitemayearnaffiliatecommissionsfromthelinksonthispage.Termsofuse. 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