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Display adapter blue screen problem

tinpanalley

Golden Member
Alright, I've exhausted my knowledge on this one.
Let me start by saying my system runs very organised, clean, and efficient. So absolutely nothing was wrong before this problem. You can assume I run a very well oiled machine
Here are the events of the last few hours...

I installed a game, I allowed it to install/update directx drivers and something else, very irresponsible of me to not have payed attention. It was one of those, "Continue...OK....Continue...OK...3 things, we've all been there. Then during the game, it froze, I rebooted the system and got this bluescreen: [url=http://postimage.org/][/URL]

I've tried going into safe mode to restore to a previous restore point and that didn't zork. I tried reinstalling the graphics card drivers, no luck. I am currently able to run Windows in safe mode with networking so I can go online. I also have a laptop and Win8 hybrid tablet, point being, I can go online to download fix applications and post to this forum.

So, can anyone help me. I have NO idea what to do. Thanks 🙂
 
Thank you SO MUCH for those suggestions...
I would suggest going to control panel and uninstalling anything that is related to your Nvidia and Physx drivers
This, I couldn't do yet because I could only boot into safe mode. So I went ahead and did the other operation first. That worked perfectly, I was in Windows just with basic video display, I suppose that's normal.

So I proceded to uninstall all the nvidia programs. But on one of them, I was forced to restart to continue. When it restarted, blue screen again. So I got back in again in safe mode, did the operation you linked me to for a second time and now here I am. But now, I'm afraid to continue and get the blue screen a third time. At what point should I reinstall the drivers? Only when EVERYthing is uninstalled?
 
These are frustrating when one doesn't even know what caused the problem in the first place. I would unistall everything, and cancel the nvidia services, before rebooting.
 
try this from bubbaleone.and uninstall all gpu ghost drivers.
Open Notepad and copy/paste the following:

set DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES=1
start devmgmt.msc

Name the file "setdev.bat", and save it to the Desktop as "All files" (not text document [*.txt]). Double-click setdev.bat and it opens an advanced MSC version of Device Manager. Select; View>>Devices by type>>Show hidden devices. You will now be able to see every single device that has ever been installed on your current Windows installation.

This view includes all currently installed devices, and all devices no longer installed or connected (non-existent). All the icons for non-existent devices will be "ghosted" (semi-translucent, pale gray color).

Starting at the top and working your way down the list ( click every + sign to expand each device), right-click each installed device icon, and each ghosted device icon and select "Uninstall".

Ignore any prompts to reboot the PC. When you're completely finished uninstalling all currently installed devices, as well as all non-existent devices, shutdown the computer, then remove the hard drive. It's now ready to install onto new hardware.
 
try this from bubbaleone.and uninstall all gpu ghost drivers...
Ok, but you don't think I need to do this for EVERY single device plugged into my computer do you? I wouldn't even know how to identify some of them.

Right now, I have everything nvidia OFF this system, I've rebooted, it doesn't crash anymore. Can I now just install my graphics drivers?
 
Ok, but you don't think I need to do this for EVERY single device plugged into my computer do you? I wouldn't even know how to identify some of them.

Right now, I have everything nvidia OFF this system, I've rebooted, it doesn't crash anymore. Can I now just install my graphics drivers?

Cross fingers and hit the install button!
 
Ok, the system was fine as I had said, but I rebooted after installing the nvidia drivers, and the system won't boot again. I can boot into safe mode.

So, to me that is saying that whatever crashed the card is still in there somewhere. I haven't used it, but I have heard about software similar to this being effective:
http://www.guru3d.com/content-page/guru3d-driver-sweeper.html

I would hate for you to have to re-install Windows for what seems to be such a silly thing, but it may come down to that.
 
I would hate for you to have to re-install Windows for what seems to be such a silly thing, but it may come down to that.
I know, me too. I'm gonna try what denis280 suggested first and then maybe that program you suggested.
I'll keep you posted, guys. Thank you!
 
try this from bubbaleone.and uninstall all gpu ghost drivers.
Ok, tried this. Other than some old USB flash drives, there are no bad ghost devices and definitely no other GPUs. I'll try that guru3d program now but since I don't expect it to help, does anyone know how I can save a list of everything that's installed on my C drive right now? So that I can go through the process of reinstalling everything later tonight when everything else probably fails?

UPDATE:
Ok, quick thing... as soon as I posted this, something happened. I kept looking at the advanced device manager and noticed that the nvidia card had a yellow warning icon on it. It said that it wouldn't be properly installed until I rebooted Windows. So, I did it thinking, oh well, what's another crash. I've been crashign so often anyway. And now, here I am in full res mode with everything seemingly working fine. So strange.

How do I test this to see if it's really fine?
 
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Just wondering! when you install your driver.do you make a clean install.and by the way if all device are ok it perfect.
 
Oh the fun of nVidia drivers! Great when they work, a pain when something goes wrong (well, more pain than they could be IMO).

Time to play a game or run a bench like 3DMark and see what happens.
 
Ok, so the drama continues. Everything seemed fine last night for an hour or so before going to bed, and this morning as well (I was downloading something over night) the display seemed fine. About 10 minutes ago, I started getting weird images on the screen and repeated Windows notifications about some kind of Kernel error with the nvidia display. It kept retrying to load the display adapter and eventually crashed out to a bluescreen again. Similar, if not the exact same bluescreen from before.

Some questions...
1. Can anyone explain what they think is happening? Did I install something directx or physX related when I installed this game that caused this?
2. Is there any chance this is a virus?
3. I installed a graphics mod on this game, could smething that simple that only installed to the game directory have caused this problem? (I had already uninstalled the whole game last night)
4. If I in fact, do need to reinstall Windows, is there a program that can track all the things I have installed on C to do it all again?

Thanks!
 
It could still be software. It could be your card overheating. Have you looked at the GPU temperature under load?

What card do you have?

If you don't have any monitoring you are using now, I would suggest CPUID Hardware Monitor. With the program running play a game for a couple minutes, then exit and see what the video card temps are up to.
 
Have you looked at the GPU temperature under load?...With the program running play a game for a couple minutes, then exit and see what the video card temps are up to.
I can only get into safe mode so that's not possible right now, but I'm fairly confident the card isn't overheating.
what are the system spec.psu gpu
Specs...
Windows 7 Professional (6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 Build 7601)
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z68A-D3-B3
Intel i5-2400 CPU @ 3.10GHz, 3109 Mhz, quad-core
BIOS Version/Date: Award Software International, Inc. F2, 02-05-11
RAM: 16.0 GB
Available Physical Memory: 13.6 GB
Total Virtual Memory: 32.0 GB
Available Virtual Memory: 29.7 GB
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 470
 
Power supply?
Sorry, the PSU I put in this build was an Antec TP-650
Some specs:
- NVIDIA™ SLI™- Ready certified
- DC to DC voltage regulator modules for greater system stability
- Supports dual GPUs and dual/quad core CPUs
- 4 +12V output circuits provide stable power
- ATX 12V v2.3 and EPS 12V v2.91
- 2 x 8 (6+2) pin PCI-E graphics card connectors
 
ok. as i mention before.when you install the driver.do you choose the recommended install or custom.use custom the bottom one and if you don't need the nvidia hd audio don't install it.if you don't need 3D.don't install.and on the bottom in the check box perform a clean install.is this what your doing
Also in the search box type in dxdiag and look for all drivers if no conflict
 
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