Locked Nvidia control panel without Microsoft Store

[JioFunny]

Hello everyone,

So there is a performance boost in newer GPU drivers especially for the game I am playing but, all Nvidia drivers as you know will be DCH from now on.

Is there any way I can get Nvidia control panel from somewhere else? Or any way around this? Like perhaps... Would it work installing an older standard driver to get the control panel and update without ddu and without choosing clean install to the DCH driver? Would the Nvidia control panel stay in my system this way?

Am I the only one that has an issue with this? Like... I cannot run my favourite slim builds that have no Microsoft store or are missing services required to open the app..

This is a big problem for me..
If anyone knows the way to do this.. some help would be much appreciated!!

 

[Mr Grimbahir]

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[JioFunny]

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Hey, of course first thing I did was to search for any threads with keyword Nvidia control panel.. I read it before posting.

If I read correctly, unfortunately it is only for those who have Microsoft Store. I don't have that, but even if I did.. I have read that you need to have windows updated always for the Nvidia control panel download to work. You also have to keep GPU drivers up to date. So in a system without MS, with updates paused until 2099 and minimum running services.. what should one do?

It is just sad Microsoft is forcing Nvidia to only update dch drivers from now on..

Thank you very much for the reply.

 

[Cyler]

To my knowledge, Nvidia got an exception from MS, and the control panel is included in the DCH versions and there is no need for the store, at least up to the current driver 512.29 tested on a 3070 RTX (and 521.77 I think) and 497.29 with a 1660 GTX, both on windows 10 21h2 LTSC.

Did you find a driver that doesn't have the control panel?

 

[JioFunny]

To my knowledge, Nvidia got an exception from MS, and the control panel is included in the DCH versions and there is no need for the store, at least up to the current driver 512.29 tested on a 3070 RTX (and 521.77 I think) and 497.29 with a 1660 GTX, both on windows 10 21h2 LTSC.

Did you find a driver that doesn't have the control panel?

Thank you for the info.

That is weird though because the driver I have installed is the 511.79. directly from Nvidia of course. What you are saying though makes sense. Because now that I think about it, before I go to install the driver in my windows 11 lite version, I installed it in my windows 10 64bit pro version (untouched). What I did was download driver first and ddu. Then I removed ethernet cable so no internet connection.. then I run it on safe mod.. and I used ddu, restart and installed the 511.79. To my surprise like you say control panel was installed even though I had no internet connection. I could literally redo this just to confirm..
When I went to my win11 slim version though, I got a message saying you need to download it from store.

 

[Cyler]

The issue is more likely with the windows 11 you are using and not the driver since windows 10 64 bit and win 11 driver is the exact same executable.
For example, the drivers need the .NET Framework to be installed and active (as in not disabled). If that is missing, you cant access the control panel as it cant be loaded at all. If something that the driver needs is diactivated/missing because its a lite build, it will cause issues like the ones you have.

 

[JioFunny]

The issue is more likely with the windows 11 you are using and not the driver since windows 10 64 bit and win 11 driver is the exact same executable.
For example, the drivers need the .NET Framework to be installed and active (as in not disabled). If that is missing, you cant access the control panel as it cant be loaded at all. If something that the driver needs is diactivated/missing because its a lite build, it will cause issues like the ones you have.

But if that is the case, say a service is not working or it needs different .Net Framework (it has 3.5) wouldn't that cause the control panel from the standard drivers to not work as well? Because if I roll back to an old standard driver, control panel runs flawlessly.

 

[Cyler]

Can't really tell you since I can't see it myself, but to go to the point of the original question, the DCH driver itself has the control panel. Now, why you can't see it on that specific win11 lite build, is a different subject. I tried myself with my 2nd pc and a 1660 GTX, upgraded and clean install to driver v512 and it does have the control panel as you can see in the image below.

Point is, that there is no need to search for a method to get the control panel since it's included and that the problem is likely somewhere else.

 

[lunchtime]

But if that is the case, say a service is not working or it needs different .Net Framework (it has 3.5) wouldn't that cause the control panel from the standard drivers to not work as well? Because if I roll back to an old standard driver, control panel runs flawlessly.

Standard Driver does not require the Store.
DCH Version does and is the default download from the driver's page.

Use the "Beta and Older Drivers" link on the bottom of their driver page to open a different search and then you can specify "Standard Driver" over "DCH".

 

[lunchtime]

Can't really tell you since I can't see it myself, but to go to the point of the original question, the DCH driver itself has the control panel.

Yeah, the DCH version is the one w/ the new unified driver system -- where the control panel is installed as a Store App.
Standard Version is the old non-store control panel which works on lite builds.

 

[JioFunny]

Standard Driver does not require the Store.
DCH Version does and is the default download from the driver's page.

Use the "Beta and Older Drivers" link on the bottom of their driver page to open a different search and then you can specify "Standard Driver" over "DCH".

Unfortunately I only want to install 511.79 driver because it has a big performance boost to one specific game and that driver like I said earlier only comes as DCH.

 

[JioFunny]

Can't really tell you since I can't see it myself, but to go to the point of the original question, the DCH driver itself has the control panel. Now, why you can't see it on that specific win11 lite build, is a different subject. I tried myself with my 2nd pc and a 1660 GTX, upgraded and clean install to driver v512 and it does have the control panel as you can see in the image below.

Point is, that there is no need to search for a method to get the control panel since it's included and that the problem is likely somewhere else.

I see. Well all I can do is search and test then.. see what is missing.. might try a fresh install and take everything step by step again..
If you leave this thread open I will come back to report.
Anyway thank you very much everyone!!


UPDATE:
Oh wow.. ok.. everyone.. I am done. This can't be happening..
I don't know why... Yesterday I did everything. Set all disabled services to automatic.. restarted multiple times.. and when I pressed to launch Nvidia control panel nothing happened. There was no response in task manager either. And just now.. I booted into my win 11.. and control panel works.

I will make sure to disable my services one by one then I know which ones it needs for it to launch.

Again thank you very much. You can close this thread.

Problem solved. ✅

 

[Cyler]

UPDATE:
Oh wow.. ok.. everyone.. I am done. This can't be happening..
I don't know why... Yesterday I did everything. Set all disabled services to automatic.. restarted multiple times.. and when I pressed to launch Nvidia control panel nothing happened. There was no response in task manager either. And just now.. I booted into my win 11.. and control panel works.

Sometimes services need a restart to fully get enabled (or disabled).

Yeah, the DCH version is the one w/ the new unified driver system -- where the control panel is installed as a Store App.
Standard Version is the old non-store control panel which works on lite builds.

That is not accurate. If you look at the posts above but also at the end, DCH Nvidia drives have an exception from MS for the time being, and they do include the control panel. No need for the store version at all.

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Glad you have your solution and a big thank you to all that helped. The thread will close and if there is a need for a follow-up, contact a mod or admin to reopen.

 

[JioFunny]

Here for a last update to add some details.

Please excuse me for going into unnecessary detail and making it extra long. I try to explain in a way everyone can understand because I am a noob myself.

In a clean slim Windows installation without Microsoft Store, wether you install latest or slightly older Nvidia driver (511.79), Control panel does indeed get installed. But. It won't open unless all necessary services are running. And what I mean by open, I talk about the very first time. Because it asks that you agree in terms of use etc, before you can actually use the control panel, something that was not happening in the old standard Nvidia drivers because I guess you had accepted those terms of use during driver installation, so control panel was opening directly without asking for anything. Also maybe now it has to do with the fact that it is treated as an app.. I don't know.
Point is, for it to initially open {or for it to be downloaded successfully in Microsoft store without having the download fail midway or not even start, (I tried it in an other clean slim installation of windows that includes Microsoft store)} , it doesn't have to do with wether some specific services are running or not. Windows for some reason wants other services that have nothing to do with it to be set to automatic. Especially the services that if you want to disable through "view local services" is not possible and it says "parameters incorrect" or something and you can only do it through reggedit, ALL of those need to be enabled even if they have nothing to do with the apps or anything. Proof? I went one by one to enable those services until I was able to fully open/install Nvidia control panel. After spending more than an hour enabling services that I thought was the cause, I enabled windows defender (restarted of course).. still would not open. Then, I enabled the last services that could only be enabled through reggedit that had NOTHING to do with Control panel.. Like Bluetooth ones and some.. DevicePicker and Device Flow... Those were the last ones. Then I could finally open/install nvidia control panel. So just to test, make sure whether it was one of those last 3-4 services that I enabled the cause of the problem, I restarted my pc. Uninstalled Nvidia control panel again, and ONLY disabled Windows defender through reggedit which was not one of the last services I enabled. I restarted my pc. Went in microsoft store and tried to install control panel and it was failing. Just like it did before when windows defender was enabled but the last 3-4 services that had nothing to do with it were disabled. After that, I simply enabled defender again, restarted and I could download control panel successfully again. And open it of course.

So. After you have successfully installed and opened Nvidia control panel and accepted terms of use, You don't need any of the services you enabled for it to be downloaded/opened, to run/function flawlessly. It functions perfectly with the bare minimum services needed for Windows to operate. So again I spent more than 30 minutes disabling services.

I understand sometimes people experience different things in their own systems... This was my accurate experience of how things worked.. and just want to leave it here for the record in case someone has an identical experience.

Again, thank you very much.