Windivert Driver Cannot Be Installed You Must Restart Your Computer Top 【Linux】

Run the software as Administrator:

If you have tried all 8 solutions and the error persists, the problem may be specific to the application you are using. Gather the following and contact their support team:

WinDivert installation requires administrative privileges to load a kernel driver. Even if your user account is an administrator, UAC (User Account Control) may block the driver silently. Run the software as Administrator : If you

The message explicitly asks for a restart. That often clears file locks and pending driver operations.

If you are reading this, you have likely been stopped mid-task by a frustrating pop-up error: "WinDivert driver cannot be installed

"WinDivert driver cannot be installed. You must restart your computer."

This message typically appears when launching network manipulation tools—such as VPN clients (ProtonVPN, Windscribe), packet sniffers (Wireshark with WinDivert), proxy tools (mitmproxy, SocksEscort), or gaming VPNs (ExitLag, NoPing). The error halts the driver installation, preventing the application from functioning. packet sniffers (Wireshark with WinDivert)

Why does this happen, and more importantly, how do you fix it without going in circles?

This article provides a complete, step-by-step guide to diagnosing and resolving the "WinDivert driver cannot be installed" error. We will cover permissions, pending updates, antivirus interference, and the infamous "pending restart" state. Follow these solutions in order—the first one resolves 70% of cases.

Note: This setting resets after normal reboot. For permanent signing issues, download the latest official WinDivert from GitHub (see Solution 7).

Very old builds of WinDivert (pre-1.4) may not support Windows 11 22H2+ or ARM64 devices.