Problems running NVIDIA after upgrading your Windows OS? If you are one of those who gets GeForce Experience “unable to connect to NVIDIA” error, then well we both could be friends..
NVIDIA is the powerhouse for almost all the games that people play on their computers. Issues pertaining to it could break a lot of hearts of thousands of gamers around the world (probably more than love could). Last year, when I tried to replace my old video card, I myself faced this issue of GeForce Experience not being able to connect to NVIDIA. This irritated me since I couldn’t play GTA V!!
The good news is that if you are facing this error right now, you are in luck. Though NVIDIA hasn’t talked about this issue in particular or shared any exact fixes, I did research and found some working solutions. I will be sharing those and the one that worked for me so that you guys can fix the “unable to connect to NVIDIA” problem instantly.
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What is NVIDIA GeForce Experience?
Along with the NVIDIA GTX graphics card, you get the GeForce Experience on your PC which is heavily optimised for gaming. It allows you to keep your drivers up-to-date, record & share gameplay videos on YouTube, Twitch or Facebook, improves your gaming experience and optimises your game settings by tapping into the power of the NVIDIA cloud data centre to test thousands of PC hardware configurations and find the best balance of performance and image quality. There are tons of more features as well, but I will leave it at this for now.
Why do we get “Unable to Connect to NVIDIA” Error?
There is no specific reason why we face this error. It could be due to a number of reasons and they could vary from user to user.
- Your internet connection is turned OFF
- NVIDIA service is unable to start and connect to the servers
- A minor glitch in the current version of Geforce Experience
- Problems with the NVIDIA servers
- Specific NVIDIA files may be corrupted or missing
So these are the most probable reasons for this problem. Though the methods which I will be sharing to fix it won’t depend on the reasons causing the error. These solutions will work for you so let’s get down to them right away.
How to Fix GeForce Experience Unable to Connect to NVIDIA Error
I am sure you could make out from the title that I will be sharing 5 different methods which you can try out one by one to solve this issue. All the 5 methods inspect NVIDIA software from different angles and fix the exact problem which is stopping you to use it.
Fix 1: Run NVIDIA Network Services (This worked for ME!)
The problem is with the network connectivity/ unable to connect / download anything with GeForce Experience (which is due to the NVNetService being stuck in starting mode). Follow the below step by step procedure to fix this in the most simplest way.
- Go to C:\ProgramData\NVIDIA Corporation\NetService\ and find the “NSManagedTasks.xml” file which usually causes the error and delete it (Please note that this file is in the ProgramData folder, and not in the Program Files (x86) folder. You might need to show hidden folders to see it)
- Launch the task manager by pressing “Ctrl + Alt + Delete” keys all at once and search for NVNetworkService.exe process and kill it now (If you are unable to find it, tick the Show processes from all users button)
- Press “Windows Key + R” and type “services.msc” in the prompt window and hit the Enter key
- From the list in the popup that appears, find NVIDIA Network Service, right click and choose Start
- The GeForce Experience tool will run, re-run it and everything will be back to normal
Fix 2: GeForce Experience Automatic Driver Update
If your NVIDIA drivers are outdated then you are probably doing this wrong. This is the most common fix but since most people do not keep this in mind, they end up facing this error of inability to connect to the network.
- Open your Internet browser and go to http://www.geforce.com/drivers link
- Download “Automatic Driver Updates” which is the first option
- Install the software on your computer, once it gets downloaded
- Launch it and it will automatically check your current version and download the latest GeForce drivers
- You’re done!
Fix 3: GeForce Experience Manual Driver Update
- Open your Internet browser and go to http://www.geforce.com/drivers
- Head on to the second option “Manual Driver Search” and after selecting the driver you wish to download, click on “Start Search“
- Choose the desired GeForce driver from the list that comes up
- Click on “Agree & Download” on the next page
- Press “Windows key + R” and type “devmgmt.msc” and hit enter (The device manager will open)
- Expand Display Drivers by double clicking it and right click on your graphics card and select “Update Driver Software“
- Locate the driver you downloaded from the GeForce website manually and follow the on-screen instructions, that’s it
Fix 4: Changing Hosts
This is the most advanced method of all, so if you are a beginner and not a technical expert, avoid using this if you haven’t tried the other 4 solutions. If you still want to go for it, follow the below steps carefully.
- Go to C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc and open the file named “host” via Notepad
- Create a copy (for backup) of the host file before moving to the next step
- Now come back to the Notepad file opened and change “0.0.0.0” and update it to “127.0.0.1”
- Alternatively, you can even just remove “x.x.x.x” from the localhost
- Once done, save the file and try opening GeForce Experience once again and update it once it opens up
Fix 5: Re-Install GeForce Experience
If you have tried all of the above solutions and are still facing the “unable to connect to NVIDIA” issue, then you need to go back to the basics and reinstall the whole software from scratch.
- Hold “Windows key + R” keys
- Type “appwiz.cpl” and hit the Enter key
- Locate the NVIDIA GeForce Experience program, select it and follow the on-screen instructions to un-install it
- Go to this page and download the latest GeForce Experience software from there and the issue will be resolved
Final Words
That’s all I have to share in this guide. I hope you were able to follow all the methods and their procedures without facing any difficulties. If you did, please comment below and I will get back to you within 24 hours with a reply.
The GeForce Experience “unable to connect to NVIDIA” problem is quite a common one and one of the above fixes will surely work for you. Do share this guide if you think it helped you and can help others as well. Thanks for reading, until next time, cheers!
