How to Fix "Application has been Blocked from Accessing Graphics Hardware" on Windows 10?

Are you facing ‘Application has been blocked from accessing Graphics hardware’ error on Windows 10? Than this article is just for you!

One great way to boost your Windows 10 PC’s performance is to have a dedicated graphics card as well as the necessary hardware.

Unfortunately some people have attempted to install a new graphics card only to discover the application they wanted to use is blocked from accessing graphics hardware.

What causes “Application has been blocked from accessing Graphics hardware” error?

This annoying error saying ‘Application has been blocked from accessing Graphics hardware’ can appear when you try to use a graphic design, editing or video rendering program, or when you attempt to play a visually demanding game.

If the app is new, you might see this error if your graphics drivers are outdated.

This isn’t the only cause of the issue however. There are various ways to solve this problem, which we will take a closer look at now.

Before starting with the solutions, ensure your PC is up to date, since outdated OS software or security updates are often the cause of the problem.

Go to your “Settings” then navigate to the “Update and Security” menu.

If there are any updates which haven’t been installed yet, run them and then reboot the computer.

This might solve your ‘The Application has been Blocked from Accessing Graphics Hardware’ error.

If not, read on for 7 more possible solutions.

Solution #1: Run Graphics Drivers as an Administrator

A program might need you to tell the PC that it’s safe to run. If this occurs, you should run the program as an administrator.

This lets the PC know that it’s safe and also gives you administrator privileges to be able to execute the run. This might not solve the error but it is quick and easy and it might work.

Locate the program in the search menu or right-click the shortcut on the desktop.
From the pop-up menu, select “Run as Administrator“.
Try to open the program without the graphics error appearing.

Solution #2: Use the SFC & DISM Tool

The program you are attempting to run might have corrupted system files.

You will need to run a system file check (SFC) to find out whether this is behind the error message.

Type “Command Prompt” in the search bar, right-click it and choose “Run as Administrator“.
Select “Yes” when prompted for permission.
Type this into the command prompt: “slf /scannow“, press Enter and wait until the scan is finished.

If no problems are reported, close the window and restart the PC.

If the scan does find a problem, you will need to run several DISM (Deployment Image Servicing Management) command lines to fix them.

Reopen the command prompt if you already closed it and repeat the scan.
Else directly type in these commands, pressing Enter after each one and waiting between each one until the scan has taken place:

DISM/Online/Cleanup-Image/CheckHealth
DISM/Online/Cleanup-Image/ScanHealth
DISM/Online/Cleanup-Image/RestoreHealth

Solution #3: Run System Maintenance with the Troubleshooter Utility

Sometimes ‘Application has been Blocked from Accessing Graphics Hardware’ error can’t be fixed by the system checker or DISM if they aren’t actually Windows 10 imaging errors.

The next method will be locating the error with the troubleshooter utility tool and then using a passkey to repair it.

Press the “Windows key + R” to bring up the Run program and type-in “msdt.exe” (this will detect any issues, so wait for the scan to finish)

If errors are discovered, follow the instructions on the screen to fix them, else move on to the following solution.

Solution #4: Update Drivers or Reinstall Them

Graphics drivers can sometimes get damaged or corrupted or they might not install correctly.

This is how to update them:

Find “Device Manager” in the Control Panel or locate it using the search bar.

Locate “Dedicated graphics card” under “Display Adapters” and right-click it.
Select “Update Driver” and “Search Automatically for Updated Driver“.

You can reinstall your drivers automatically if you see the option to uninstall the drivers on the list.

Do this by selecting “Uninstall“, waiting for the process to finish, and then rebooting. This will uninstall and reinstall them in one go.

Updating the drivers should be enough because it’s usually outdated drivers causing the error.

Another option is to download the graphics drivers from the graphics card website manually. This will probably be Nvidia or AMD since they’re by far the most common graphics card manufacturers.

Rather than automatically looking for the updated driver, you can use the Browse option to find it.

Solution #5: Run the Program with Compatibility Settings

You might be able to stop the error ‘Application has been blocked from accessing Graphics hardware’ happening by running the program using compatibility settings.

This is how to run the software in compatibility mode:

Right-click the program shortcut on your desktop then select “Properties” (alternatively locate the .exe file where the program is installed and right-click it and select “Properties“).
Click “Compatibility” at the top of the window, select “Run this Program in Compatibility Mode” and choose either Windows 7 or 8 in the drop-down menu.
Click “Apply” and run your program.

This is not a direct fix, but it will get you into the program quickly.

You will need to return to the issue and solve it later.

Solution #6: Edit the Registry

This solution is only recommended if you have some knowledge of how the registry works. Make a backup of the registry before you attempt to edit it.

This solution will delay the operating system response to the error with the graphics driver. After this delay, it will reset the graphics card.

Press the “Windows key + R“, type in: “regedit” and press Enter.
Locate the folder named “Hkey_Local_Machine” and click it to get the drop-down menu.
Find the “System” folder, click on it and locate “ControlSet001“.
Now locate the “GraphicsDrivers” folder, click it and right-click in the empty area.
Create a “QWORD (64-bit)” value or a “DWORD (32-bit)” value (depending on your system).
Name it “TdrDelay“, then double-click it and make the value 8.
Close the registry and restart the PC.

Solution #7: Try Using a System Restore Point

The error can sometimes be solved by using a system restore point if the problem is related to an update of the Windows 10 operating system.

Updating the system can cause new drivers to be installed which might still have bugs or stability issues.

Reverting to a previous point in time might solve the issue while you wait for a patch for the new update.

Open File Explorer and find “My PC” in the menu on the left side, right-click on it and select “Properties“.
Locate “System Protection” in the system window, click on it and then click on “System Restore“.
Pick a date and time before the PC experienced the error.

Follow the instructions on the screen.

This will only work if you have created a system restore point before you got the ‘Application has been Blocked from Accessing Graphics Hardware’ error.

Also bear in mind that when the system rolls back, any updates or apps installed after that date will be uninstalled.

Your personal folders and files will stay intact.

In Conclusion

This error might not pose much of a threat to your PC but it can still be frustrating if it stops you from running your program.

Try the first 5 methods in order and then, if they didn’t work, try the system restore point before trying to edit the registry.

Fortunately, updating the drivers to the newest version is often all you need to do to get rid of this error.

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