Mid-2012 MacBook Pro: Windows 10 install loop, NVIDIA card

I have a Mid-2012 Macbook Pro with a broken NVIDIA graphics card that I'm trying to install Windows 10 on.


First I tried using Bootcamp Assistant with a Seagate hard drive, but when the assistant restarted to the Windows Installer, all it gave me was a black screen.

Then I created my own bootable "usb" using the hard drive, and that worked. I clicked on the "EFI boot" icon(clicking on the "Windows" icon led to another black screen) and followed the installer's instructions. But when Windows Installer rebooted into Windows 10, it went into a reset loop where it would give me the error

"The computer restarted unexpectedly or encountered an unexpected error. Windows installation cannot proceed. To install Windows, click "OK" to restart the computer, and then restart the installation."

and then reset really fast.


Apparently it's a problem with the NVIDIA graphics card. However, I tried disabling it by changing nvram variables and by moving the drivers, but nothing changed the reset loop. I was able to access some blue-screen menu by installing two copies of Windows 10 onto the same partition, and got to Safe Mode that way. But even Safe Mode threw an error. I was able to access Device Manger using Terminal during the error screen I got when I tried to boot into Safe Mode, but neither the NVIDIA or Intel GPU showed up.


I'm wondering if this is a problem with the GPU or something else. If it is the GPU, I'm wondering how I can disable it for Windows 10 so it doesn't go into that reset loop.


Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Earlier Mac models

Posted on May 8, 2026 8:22 PM

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Mid-2012 MacBook Pro: Windows 10 install loop, NVIDIA card

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