Sometimes you may notice windows display suddenly blink and get unresponsive for a second. And a pop-up will show ” Display driver stopped responding and has recovered. Especially after Windows 10 upgrade or working with heavy graphics applications like 3D Max, Photoshop, and playing games. This problem “display driver stopped working’ mostly occurs when the Timeout Detection and Recovery (TDR) feature detects that the Graphics card has not responded within the permitted time. Then the display driver is restarted to prevent the need to reboot that results:

Display driver nvlddmkm stopped responding and has successfully recovered windows 10

If you are also encountering the error “Display driver stopped responding and has recovered,” your PC may temporarily hang and become unresponsive. Here are some effective solutions you may apply.

Display driver stopped responding and has recovered

First of all, check and make sure your PC has installed the latest Windows updates, and that may contain the bug fix for this problem. To check for and install the latest updates, open Settings > Update & Security, then click Check for updates.

Temporarily disable security software (antivirus) if installed.

Perform a Windows clean boot and check if no “display driver stopped working” pop-up appears, then any third-party conflict is causing the problem for you.

  • Open the control panel
  • Then Power Options
  • on your left: Choose when to turn off the display
  • Change advanced power settings
  • PCI EXPRESS: set it to OFF (previously on Maximum power saving probably)

Reinstall Display driver

This problem is most likely related to the display driver. If the installed driver was corrupted during a Windows upgrade or is incompatible with the current Windows version, it can cause various issues. For example, the display driver may stop working. Reinstall the driver with the latest version and check if this resolves the problem.

  • Press Windows + R, type devmgmt.msc, and click OK to open the Device Manager Window.
  • Expand the Display adapters branch.
  • Right-click the display driver and click Uninstall.
  • After uninstalling the driver, restart your PC
  • Now visit the device manufacturer’s website and download the latest display driver software for your PC.
  • Install the display driver, restart Windows, and check if the problem is resolved.

Note: if the problem not resolved, try to install the drivers in compatibility mode by downloading it from the manufacturer’s website:

  1. Right click on the setup file.
  2. Click on Properties.
  3. Click on the Compatibility tab.
  4. Put a checkmark on Run this program in compatibility mode for.
  5. Select Windows 8.
  6. Put a checkmark on Run this program as an administrator under PrivilegeLevel.

Restart windows and check the problem resolved.

Increase GPU processing time

Timeout Detection and Recovery is a Windows feature that detects when the video adapter hardware or a driver on your computer takes longer than expected to complete an operation. When this occurs, Windows attempts to recover and reset the graphics hardware. If the GPU is unable to recover and reset the graphics hardware within the allotted time (two seconds), your system may become unresponsive and display the error message “Display driver stopped responding and has recovered.” Increasing the Timeout Detection and Recovery feature’s timeout to complete this operation by adjusting the registry value may resolve this issue.

To do this, follow these steps:

  1. Press Windows + R, type regedit, and ok to open the Windows Registry Editor.
  2. Backup registry database and locate the following registry subkey:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\GraphicsDrivers
  3. On the Edit menu, select New, and then select the following registry value from the drop-down menu specific to your version of Windows (32-bit, or 64-bit):

For 32 bit Windows

  1. Select DWORD (32-bit)
  2. Type TdrDelay as the Name and then select
  3. Double-click TdrDelayand add 8 for the Value data and then select

For 64 bit Windows

  1. Select QWORD (64-bit)
  2. Type TdrDelay as the Name and then select
  3. Double-click TdrDelayand add 8 for the Value data and then select OK.
  4. Close Registry Editor and then restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

 

Increase GPU processing time

Restart Windows and check if the problem is resolved.

Disable visual effects

You can also optimize your PC for better performance by disabling certain visual effects. Here’s how to adjust all visual effects for the best performance:

  1. Press the Windows Key + X key and click Control Panel.
  2. In the search box, type Performance Information and Tools, and then, in the list of results, click Performance Information and Tools.
  3. Click Adjust visual effects, if you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
  4. Click the Visual Effects tab, click Adjust for best performance, and then click OK.
    Note: For a less drastic option, select Let Windows choose what’s best for my computer.

Did these solutions help to fix the “display driver stopped responding and has successfully recovered Windows 10”? Let us know on comments below, Also read:

Steve Ballmer
With over 7 years of experience in the IT industry, I have experience in IT support, helpdesk, sysadmin, network admin, and cloud computing. Certified in Microsoft Technologies (MCTS and MCSA) and also Cisco Certified Professional in Routing and Switching.

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