Windows Vista Blue Screen 0x0000116 nvlddmkm.sys

Mark L. Ferguson said:

Lot's of folks are running those nVidia drivers on Vista without that error. Those other users you have found having this trouble are probably all running some other device or driver causing a conflict. My approach would be to disable all unneeded devices temporarily in device manager, and restart. Then add back in one device and driver at a time till I spotted the conflicting device driver.

Mark L. Ferguson MS-MVP

Maarten61 said:

Disableling devices? Why? I bought a pc, switched it on and it worked. For more then a year. What devices should I disable?

Hi, Maarten61

I think what Mark was trying to say is that you can disable some devices and turn them back on one at a time to try and pinpoint a particular device(s) and/or driver(s) that may be conflicting with your nVidia drivers. That way you can at least know the cause of the problem and it would be at your own discretion on what to do from that point, whether it be uninstalling it or w/e you decide is best. A great way to do this sort of thing would be to perform a clean boot. This will allow you to start Windows Vista using a minimal set of drivers and startup programs. So basically by doing this we can use the process of elimination, turning off certain drivers and startup programs to not start with Windows Vista until we can hopefully hone in on one(s) that may be causing this issue. I’ve listed the steps to do a clean boot below:

First Step: Perform a Clean Boot

1.       Log on to your computer with an administrative account.

2.       Click Start.

3.       Type msconfig.exe in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER to start the System Configuration Utility.

4.       If you are prompted for an administrator password or for confirmation, type your password, or click Continue.

5.       In the General tab, click Selective Startup, and then click to uncheck the Load startup items check box.

6.       On the Services tab, click to select the Hide all Microsoft services check box, and then click Disable all.

*NOTE: Following this step lets Microsoft services continue to run. These services include Networking, Plug and Play, Event Logging, Error Reporting, and other services. If you disable these services, you may permanently delete all restore points. Do not do this if you want to use the System Restore utility together with existing restore points.

7.       Click OK, and then click Restart.

Second Step: Enable Half of the Services

1. Start the System Configuration Utility. Refer to the steps above if you need to see how to do this.

2. Click the Services tab, and then click to select the Hide all Microsoft services check box.

3. Click to select half of the check boxes in the Service list.

4. Click OK, and then click Restart.

Third Step: Determine whether the problem returns

If the problem still occurs, repeat the First Step and the Second Step. In the Second Step, click to clear half of the check boxes that you originally selected in the Service list.

If the problem does not occur, repeat the First Step and the Second Step. In the Second Step, select only half of the remaining check boxes that are cleared in the Service list. Repeat these steps until you have selected all the check boxes.

If only one service is selected in the Service list, and you still experience the problem, the selected service causes the problem. Go to the Sixth Step. If no service causes this problem, go to the Fourth Step.

Fourth Step: Enable Half of the Startup Items

1. Perform a clean boot by repeating step 1.
2. Click the Startup tab, and then click to select half of the check boxes in the Startup Item list.
3. Click OK, and then click Restart.

Fifth Step: Determine Whether the Problem Returns

If the problem still occurs, repeat the First Step and the Fourth Step. In the Fourth Step, click to clear half of the check boxes that you originally selected in the Startup Item list.

If the problem does not occur, repeat the First Step and the Fourth Step. In the Fourth Step, select only half of the remaining check boxes that are cleared in the Startup Item list. Repeat these steps until you have selected all the check boxes.

If only one startup item is selected in the Startup Item list, and you still experience the problem, the startup item that is selected in the list is the service that is causing the problem. Go to the Sixth Step.

If no startup item causes this problem, a Microsoft service most likely causes the problem. To determine which Microsoft service may be causing the problem, repeat the First Step and the Second Step without selecting the Hide all Microsoft services check box in either step.

Sixth Step: Resolve the Problem

After you determine the startup item or the service that causes the problem, contact the program manufacturer to determine whether the problem can be resolved. Or, run the System Configuration Utility, and then click to clear the check box for the problem item.

Seventh Step: Resolve the Problem

After you have finished troubleshooting, follow these steps to reset the computer to start as usual:

1.       Click Start

2.       Type msconfig.exe in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.

3.       If you are prompted for an administrator password or for confirmation, type your password, or click Continue.

4.       On the General tab, click the Normal Startup option, and then click OK.

5.       When you are prompted to restart the computer, click Restart.

Here is the KB article these steps came from:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/929135

Brian

Microsoft Answers Support Engineer

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thx for the tip, Kelex. There was indeed a more recent version (181.00). But, to my regret, it did not resolve the problem. The new version of nvddmkm also crashes into a BSOD...

This problem stems from a driver conflict caused by the Nvidia display driver (it's not a Vista problem, its a problem with your drivers), if the one your OEM provided you is not working properly, you can try to install some from LaptopVideo2Go.com website.  They provide ways to install the newest Nvidia drivers on laptop systems, which may fix your BSOD issue.