Fix GoPro Quik for Desktop Won’t Install on Windows 10

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I just bought my first GoPro ever, the GoPro Hero7 Black. My experience with GoPro was not the best start you could have with a customer.

First, after unpacking and turning on the camera for the first time, I got greeted in Chinese (maybe something similar, but for sure I couldn’t read anything). With a couple of lucky guesses, I was able to change the interface language to English within a few seconds.

After pairing the camera with my smartphone, I encountered more issues and the GoPro support recommended updating the firmware.

So I got working on updating the firmware.

There are three ways to update the firmware

  1. Manually via SD Card
  2. Using GoPro Quik for Desktop
  3. Using the GoPro App on the smartphone

Logically I wanted to go with the Quik for Desktop solution. First of all, I wanted to try the software out to edit videos and see how intuitive it is and it would make future updates even easier. After I got Quik finally installed, it recognized my GoPro but it was unable to determine my Firmware version and just showed Unknown Firmware (up to date).

My next step was to update the firmware manually, which didn’t work on the first try either. The instructions on how to do the manual update were missing a step or the firmware which can be downloaded was not packed right. I followed the instructions and extracted the zip-archive to the root of my SD-card, however, the downloaded firmware was missing the “Update” folder, which I had to create manually and then copy the files from the zip-archive to that on the SD-card.

I downloaded GoPro Quik for Desktop onto my Windows 10 Laptop and was ready to install it.

After running the installer, a new window opened but it was just all white and I couldn’t click anything to start the installation. Look at the screenshots below. Drag the slider left and right to see the difference what it looked like before the fix and after.

 

The problem here is Windows. My Laptop is 2 years old but hardware-wise fully loaded. I have an onboard Intel graphics chip and a dedicated Nvidia Graphic card.

For some reason, the Intel graphic chip and Window’s Hardware Acceleration doesn’t work together well. Depending on your setup you have two options.

  1. Deactivate Hardware Acceleration in Windows
  2. Assign the installer process to the dedicated graphics card, in my case my NVIDIA

If you have only one graphics card in your machine, you will have to stick with option 1.

1. Deactivate Hardware Acceleration in Windows

To do this, you need Admin rights on your Windows Account and have to launch the registry editor. To do so, click on the Windows symbol on the left lower corner and type “regedit”. Run the program and allow it to make changes.

In the new window navigate to

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Avalon.Graphics\DisableHWAcceleration

If you don’t see “DisableHWAcceleration“, click first on “Avalon.Graphics” and then make a right click inside the right half of the Registry Editor window.

Select: NewDWORD (32-bit) Value and enter “DisableHWAcceleration” and enter 1 as Value Data.

If you already have the DWORD, just double click it and change it from 0 to 1. To enable hardware acceleration again, just change it back to 0.

You can do so after you installed Quik For Desktop.

 

2. Assign the installer process to the dedicated graphics card, in my case my NVIDIA

This step depends on what kind of graphics card you use. If you have issues finding it, drop a comment below and I will help you. If you are using a Nvidia graphics card, right-click on an empty spot on the desktop and select “Nvidia Control Panel”.

In the menu on the left of the Nvidia Control Panel, select “Manage 3D settings“. Click now on “Program Settings” and either select the installer in the drop-down menu or add it manually by pressing the “Add” button. Browse to the directory where you saved the installer and click on “Add Selected Program“.

The file will now appear under “1. Select a program to customize“. In “2. Select the preferred graphics processor for this program:” select “High-performance NVIDIA Processor“.

Click on the apply button at the right lower corner and run the installer again. Now it should show up just fine.

 

Additionally, you could also try to see if there are new drivers for your integrated graphics card available. Since my Laptop is already two years old, I haven’t seen an update in ages for my onboard graphics card. However, its worth a try and might save you some of the hassles.

Did you have the same issue? If so, report it to GoPro to have it ranked higher on their priority list.

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