This instructable will show you known ways of fixing the dreaded "display driver nvlddmkm stopped responding and has successfully recovered" error. It's been found on operating systems XP, Vista, and Windows 7. I've searched hours and tried many solutions, finally #1 worked for me.
Please note that this also works for other forms "display driver__________ stopped responding and has recovered," however this is the most common. I personally had that, until getting a GTX 260, in which case I got "Display driver nvidia windows kernel mode driver has stopped..."
What is this error? This error occurs when your computer thinks that you graphics card has stopped responding, mainly due to a low frame rate. The program that controls this is called "Timeout detection and recovery." The error is very vague, and doesn't correlate to one problem. Getting this error is like your computer saying "something went wrong with your graphics card, and we're not sure what." It could be you're power supply, ram, temperature, or just the card in general. It happens on all types of cards, and even built in ones, with your motherboard. You will know you have it if your monitor goes black for a few seconds, and comes back, with the popup from the intro picture. If you have only gotten it one time, just ignore it, but if you get it again, you should try the solutions.
Forms of the error
There are a few known forms of this error. Sometimes it will just happen once, normally while watching a video or playing a game, other times it will go berserk, right when you login you will get it every 10 seconds, and may even get the blue screen of death!
Now that you know a little about it, lets continue to the solutions, I'll start with the easiest first, and move up to the more drastic.
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Signing UpStep 1: Solution 1: Power Supply
Make sure that you are on High Performance, in the power options section of the control panel. More specifically, make sure that the PCI express setting is turned OFF. This would fix any issues caused by low power to the video card.
If you are still getting the error, proceed to the next step, this applies to all solutions.
Step 2: Solution 2: Changing the Theme
Just right click while on the desktop, and go to properties, it's hard to miss where to change the theme.
Step 3: Solution 3: New drivers
www.guru3d.com/category/driversweeper/
Step 4: Solution 4: Windows Update
Especially important if you are running Vista, and haven't gotten Service Pack 1!
Step 5: Before getting into the big stuff...
Downclock your video clock speeds and/or ram speeds.
Run memory tests overnight
Administrative tools > Task Scheduler > Scroll down till you see TMM. Double click ‘TMM’. Right click it and select disable. - Known to work, defiantly try this
(If it only happens during a game) Right click a shortcut to whatever game you are running -> properties -> compatibility mode -> set it for Windows XP. Then run the game.
Step 6: Solution 5: Changing the time before it resets.
1. Goto registry editor (start -> run -> regedit)
2. Navigate yourself to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESystemCurrentControlSetControlGraphicsDrivers (make sure GraphicsDrivers is highlighted).
3. Right click -> New -> DWORD (32-bit) value -> Name it: TdrDelay -> double click it -> Set it to A (hexadecimal) or 10 (decimal).
If that doesn't work, try disabling it, by adding the following DWORD: TdrLevel and setting the value to 0, then rebooting.
Step 7: Solution 6:Take out RAM
If this solution works for you, the RAM stick is no longer usable (without the error, at least), just throw it away, give it to a friend as a joke, or sell it on Ebay.*
*joke *Try it!
Step 8: Solution 7: Better cooling
Step 9: Solution 8: New Card
If you have an extra graphics card, or a friend, use it/theirs on your computer. If the problem goes away, it is the card, and you will need a new one.














































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I really don't know what to say ... Just thank you
Confirmed 4 days non stop Battlefield 4 on high to ultra settings.
So i did the windows update, and driver update first, but one thing with driver updates is that I manually combed through the system and uninstalled/deleted anything NVIDIA related.
I proceeded to install the latest driver 344.11 i believe, and didnt install GEFORCE EXPERIENCE, for i hear it is glitchy with updates.
I was good, but then proceded to get a blue screen BUT was after a short power outage. So i tried option 1 setting PCIE to OFF. and was able to play Battlefield 4, Modern Warfare 2 and Fable, on high settings with no issue.
For me i think in the end it was a power supply issue, for a few times while my computer would boot up i would get a message stating that my supply wasnt recognized, i think it is just failing on me, im stationed overseas and get power outages every now and then ( invested in a surge protector now and new supply is on the way).
So i believe my computer was blue screening due to the PCIE option being on max and when my supply wasnt putting through the right power the card was being treated as insufficient power or something, and shuting itself off to prevent damage. I can somewhat confirm this due to it happening literally right after the short brown-out I had.
If the OP could confirm this, and if i can last through the weekend playing games constantly, it should be a fix. At least for people with power issues like myself.
Because nvlddmkm.sys is really just a compuers way of saying "hey something happened, we dont know what, so we shut down to be safe"
I will post a reply in a few days and give an update.
I have a i7 4770K CPU and a NvidiaGeForce GTX 680.
The major problem seems to be in overheating, so changing the voltage should help, at least for CPU temperature. I'm curious if there is much performance loss which lowering the voltage. Thanks for the advice! Amazing that this bug still happens after almost 5 years and 4 lines of new cards.
Thank god I discovered an automatic system restore point (My OS drive is a very small 64GB SSD, and I only had 2 restore points) before I installed that game, named "Installed DirectX". I was able to successfully revert back to the old configuration and the nvlddmkm error went away, for now at least.
This can be worth a try before buying new RAM if the RAM itself is fine and you don't have other problems.
Warning: Do not Flash your bios if your system is very unstable. Take RAM modules which are not functioning properly out of your system before attempting to flash your bios (provided that you have atleast 1 RAM module left of course). Broken or incompatible RAM increases the changes of Flashing going wrong significantly!
Test your memory with MemTest86 to find memory issues.
Note: Flashing your BIOS is always a little risky. If you make a mistake, the system crashes or you lose power during the Flashing process your motherboard might end up bricked. Make sure you know what you are about to do and try the first 7 or 8 'safe' options above first.
Some BIOS Flashing tips:
-Disable any overclocking before attempting this.
-Clear CMOS after Flashing (check mb manual or google). This is not always required. Do make sure you note any specific bios settings since this will reset them. You might for example want to write down your memory voltages and other specific things you or your computer vendor may have changed for specific hardware.
-After resetting your MB settings bij clearing CMOS you might want to reload the 'optimized defaults' or something similar in your BIOS configuration if this option is available.
-Run Memtest86 before attemting this and afterwards to check if you're memory is working properly. The tests 5 and 7 are best suited to check for stability by running them about 20 times.
-Find a good guide if you are not sure how Flashing works. Preferably one specific to your MB brand.
My PSU has split rails. I was using a 6pin PCI-E adaptor, connected to 2x HDD power leads. This was coming from the same converter as all my other hardware, but when I used the proper PCI-E lead, it could draw enough power from the second converter and there have been no problems since. You might not have this problem, so your PSU might need to be upgraded to provide more power.
Here your trackback: http://forums.adobe.com/message/2987437
and: http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=179747
Thanks!!!.
I replaced the chip and the monitor "squigglies" stopped, it stopped freezing on videos and I stopped getting the Nvlddmkm Error!
My problem was with a Compaq Perserio. Thanks so much for your help. I have been fighting this problem for 6 months!
I had done all steps till step 6 without any luck.
I had a look at the CPU and Video Card fans and grills and they had dust collected. I cleaned them and whoola, no more Nvlddmkm Error!
On a side note my laptop (Dell XPS M1730) was also popping up the blue screen of death twice a day and occasionally the screen would just go blank as well as the Nvlddmkm Error.