Windivert Driver Cannot Be Installed You Must Restart Your Computer Verified Jun 2026

Here is a deep dive into why this happens and how to fix it for good. 1. Clear Stuck Services (The Primary Fix)

Then install WinDivert before re-enabling others. Here is a deep dive into why this

If you've previously attempted to install Windivert, remnants of those installations might be causing issues. Clean up any leftover files or registry entries. Delete the WinDivert entry and restart your computer

Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WinDivert . Delete the WinDivert entry and restart your computer. Here is a deep dive into why this

: If a restart doesn't work, manually stop and delete the existing service using the Command Prompt (run as Admin): sc stop windivert sc delete windivert

: An existing WinDivert service may be pointing to a file path that no longer exists, preventing the new driver from installing.

Graceful Driver State Manager Target Scenario: Handling the "System Restart Pending" error (ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED / 0x5) during WinDivert installation.