How to Fix This DCH Driver Package is Not Compatible Nvidia Error?

Updating GPU drivers in Windows is a mostly hassle-free process. Still, sometimes some unexpected issues or bugs may appear during the update. One of such confusing errors is “This DCH Driver Package is not compatible…” When users try to install the latest Nvidia drivers, the installer says “Nvidia installer cannot continue” with the following message:

“This DCH driver package is not compatible with the currently installed version of Windows. This system is configured to require a Standard driver package.”

If that is the case with your system and you cannot update the Nvidia driver due to the “Nvidia installer cannot continue” error, here is what you need to do.

Fix This DCH Driver Package is Not Compatible Error Nvidia Driver

To fix the “This DCH Driver Package is not compatible” error, you need to understand Nvidia driver types. There are two types of drivers:

• Standard;
• DCH (Declarative Componentized Hardware supported apps).

There is almost no difference between NVIDIA Standard and DCH Display Drivers since the basic core components remain the same. The main difference is how the DCH drivers are packaged and installed. Also, the DCH Driver Pack does not include the Nvidia Control Panel.

The DCH driver package has a smaller size and faster installation time compared to the standard drive package. Moreover, you can install the NVIDIA DCH Display Drivers on top of NVIDIA Standard Display Drivers.

Windows 10 automatically installs standard drivers using Windows Update. Also, manufacturers preinstall this type of driver “out of the box.” If you bought a gaming laptop with Windows 10 preinstalled, chances are high you are using standard drivers.

DCH drivers are more modern. They work with the latest Windows 10 builds (Windows 10 x64 1803 and later) and do not support older releases.

In a nutshell, the “this DCH Driver Package is not compatible” error means you have the wrong type of driver. There is nothing wrong with your hardware, and no need to reinstall Windows. Here is how you can fix the “this DCH Driver Package is not compatible” error.

First, check your driver type.

1. On your desktop, press the right mouse button and select Nvidia Control Panel.
2. Find and click the System Information link in the bottom-left corner.
   
3. Nvidia Control Panel will open a new window with all the details about your current driver.
   
4. Look for the Driver Type field in the Details section. Note what driver type you have.

Now it is time to download a proper driver with the correct type.

1. Go to the official Nvidia drivers page and select your product. For example, Geforce MX250.
2. Select your drive type in the Windows Driver Type field. That can be either DCH or Standard.
   
3. Press the Search button and select the driver you need (make sure you select the correct version and bitness of Windows);
4. Download the installer and run it.
5. Wait for the process to finish.

If the Windows Driver Type drop-down list is missing on the advanced driver search page it means that only standard drivers are available for your Nvidia hardware model.

According to the Nvidia Drive FAQ, when installing the Standard Display Driver, the installer completely uninstalls the previous DCH driver. Therefore, it is recommended to manually uninstall the previous DCH driver before starting the installation of the standard display driver.

Installing Nvidia Control Panel from Microsoft Store on Windows 10 and 11

We previously stated that the NVIDIA Control Panel is not installed during the installation of the NVIDIA DCH display driver.

If you don’t have Nvidia Control Panel installed on your computer, you can install it through the Microsoft Store.

You can run the MS-Store app with the command ms-windows-store: and search for NVIDIA Control Panel app manually.

Or go directly to the link https://www.microsoft.com/store/apps/9NF8H0H7WMLT.

Click the “Install” button (you must be signed in with a Microsoft account).

Note that the NVIDIA Control Panel must be installed in the (C:) drive to install the NVIDIA DCH display driver. If you have changed the default paths or locations where the Windows Store app is installed, you may encounter an error when you try to open the NVIDIA Control Panel.

In some cases, when you launch the NVIDIA Control Panel app from the Microsoft Store, you may receive an error:

Supported NVIDIA Driver is not installed on your system.
To use the NVIDIA Control Panel, install the latest NVIDIA driver.

You can fix this issue with a little registry trick. Open the Registry Editor, go to the Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\nvlddmkm\FTS registry key, and create a Dword value called EnableRID69527 with a value of 1.

You can create this registry parameter with the command prompt:

reg add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\nvlddmkm\FTS" /v "EnableRID69527" /d 1 /t REG_DWORD /f

Now you can launch the Nvidia Store app.