Clean Boot Your System

A clean boot is a way to start Windows with a minimal set of startup programs and services. This will help you determine if any third-party programs or services are interfering with Afterburner’s ability to detect your GPU.

To clean boot your system, follow these steps:

1. Press the Windows + R keys on your keyboard to bring up the Run utility in a new window.
2. Type in “msconfig” without the quotation marks and press the Enter key on your keyboard. This will launch the System Configuration window.
3. Switch over to the Services tab. Make sure that you check the Hide all Microsoft services box. This is going to ensure that you only see third-party services.
4. After hiding all system services, click the Disable all button to disable every third-party service on your device.
5. Click the Apply button and restart your PC. When you boot next, your system will only initiate essential services.
6. Restart your computer. You’ll be in a clean boot state with only official Microsoft services running.

Update Graphics Drivers

The first thing you’ll want to do is uninstall your existing graphics drivers and then reinstall them from scratch. This will ensure that all of the files and settings are correctly configured for MSI Afterburner, and it may fix any corrupted files that could be causing the issue.

How To Automatically Update Display Drivers on Windows

Windows update has a feature that allows you to automatically update outdated drivers. This can help you quickly find and get some of your components up-to-date without having to individually check for new versions.

1. To access the Start menu, click the Windows symbol in the lower-left corner of your screen, and then choose Settings. Alternatively, press Windows + I to bring up the menu.
2. Select the Update & Security tile from the drop-down menu. The majority of your Windows Update settings can be found here.
3. Go to the Windows Update section, and then click on the View optional updates link if it’s available.
4. Expand the Driver Updates section to see which components need to be updated right now. Simply check the boxes next to the drivers you want to update, then click the Download and Install button.
5. Allow Windows to download and update your outdated drivers before restarting your machine.

How To Manually Update Drivers on Windows

Use the steps below to manually update a driver that may be out of date. Keep in mind that only legitimate sites should be used to download drivers! Some fraudulent websites may try to trick you into downloading malware-infected files.

1. To access the needed utility, press the Windows + X keys on your keyboard and choose Device Manager from the context menu.
2. Select Update driver from the context menu after right-clicking on the graphics card you wish to update.
3. Choose how you want to update. You may either let Windows find a driver for you automatically or manually seek a fresh driver file on your machine.

Uninstall Vanguard (If Applicable)

f you have the anti-cheat program Vanguard installed on your PC, then it’s likely that this is causing the issue with MSI Afterburner not finding your graphics card. Vanguard is known to interfere with a variety of other programs and can cause all sorts of problems, so it’s always best to uninstall it if you don’t need it.

1. Click on the Start menu in your taskbar.
2. Select Settings, indicated by a gear. Alternatively, you can use the Windows + I keyboard shortcut to reach this application quicker.
3. Click on the Apps tile.
4. Switch to Apps & features from the left-side panel. You should see a list of applications currently installed on your PC that are detectable by Windows.
5. Select the Vanguard application by clicking on it once. Now, you can click on the Uninstall button.
6. Click the Uninstall button again to confirm your choice and open the helper wizard. This will open up in a new window.
7. If prompted by the UAC (User Account Control), click Yes to allow the uninstaller to make changes on your device. If your account doesn’t have permissions,  convert a local account into an administrator.
8. Follow the on-screen instructions provided by the developer. In some cases, you have the option to save configuration files on your device in case you plan to reinstall the same application in the future.
9. Wait for the uninstallation to complete. This might take several minutes depending on the application you’re removing and your device. When done, restart your computer and see if the problem was solved.

Disable Low-Level IO Driver

If you’re using an AMD graphics card, then you can try disabling low-level IO driver access. This is a known issue with some AMD drivers and can cause problems with a variety of programs.

1. Open MSI Afterburner.
2. To access the Settings, click on the gear icon.
3. Under Compatibility properties, clear the checkbox for Enable low-level IO driver.
4. Click Apply. Finally, click OK to store the modifications.

Reinstall the Latest Version

If you’ve tried all of the methods above and still can’t get the software to detect your GPU, then the issue might be with the software itself. In this case, you’ll need to uninstall and reinstall it to see if that fixes the problem.

Download the latest version of the software from the official website, and follow the instructions in the installer to update your program.