“Display driver stopped responding and has recovered” error.

Anonymous
2009-10-13T16:38:34+00:00
  • Running Windows 7, 32-bi,t on a Lenovo W500. Display Driver: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650.
  • The error message (“display driver stopped responding & has recovered”) follows a system freeze, a short blackout. Then everything works fine.
  • Downloaded the most current driver from the company's Web site.
  • Seeemd to work for a day, but now I'm getting the same behavior.

Crabby Office Lady

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2012-01-27T00:10:30+00:00

Hello Crabby Office Lady,

This error can happen because of an outdated video driver, to many programs running at one time or even high CPU activity. There is a link to a KB article on the following post that gives more info on the issue and helps to fix it, see:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-performance/error-display-driver-stopped-responding-and-has/1b6c2b8b-b0a7-49d9-bc3b-e9cc98d51004

L.D.

Was this answer helpful?

40+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments

334 additional answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2012-04-17T03:43:53+00:00

    Well I have had this problem with a 1 Gb ATI Radeon HD 4870 and thought it was not a Windows problem as it only ocurred when I played 3D games - 2D games were fine.  The screen would dissolve into pixelated blocks, then lines would appear across the screen, then it would crash and recover, although a reboot was required to fully fix it.  Then, about nine months ago I had to put my computer into storage for six weeks.  I didn't change anything and when I finished moving house I switched my computer on and to my amazement found that the problem had completely vanished.  At the time the only difference I could think of was that I had no connection to the internet or that I was using a different power point.  Now, after seven months or so, the problem has returned.  I have a cooler case and have cleaned the air filters and gone through the cyle of updating all the drivers again but I think I will try disconnecting the computer from the power for a few days and see what that does - maybe the capacitors on the motherboard need to completely discharge or something. it's wierd that it could suddenly return when I haven't made any hardware changes or changes to the video setup. 

    I did get a complete gaming session going last night when I overclocked the CPU a bit but the computer was back to the same behaviour as before after I rebooted.  Now 2D games are affected, too, so I can't even play "Hearts of Iron III" without losing some pop-up screens.  Fortunately Windows, internet browsing, and Office are not affected.  I've read every post in this list and many others and these are all the possible fixes appart from the obvious cleanup and update ones:

    1.  Install a third party tool like ATI tools and change the timings on the memory 

    2.  Install a more powerful power supply.  It must supply 30 Amps from its 12 watt rails and should be one recommended by ATI - all are at least 550 watts, though 650-750 watts seems best

    1. pull out one of my memory chips, as I am using 32 bit Windows 7 I can't use 4 Gb of RAM anyway.  I have tried re
    2. try the TDR fix (I have Windows 7 and I have yet to try this)
    3. Change the idle speed using Catalyst
    4. install a third party utility and check for heat issues, although Catalyst reports 55 degrees Centigrade for the card - nobody seems to know what a safe temperature is though
    5. Disable hardware acceleration in Flash (though flash works fine)
    6. Change the power settings from Balanced to High Performance
    7. Change the CPU and memory speeds
    8. change the RAM voltage
    9. Turn off Windows Desktop Manager

    12.  Disable Windows Aero

    1. Turn off Power Play in Catalyst ( I think I've tried every Catalyst setting, they do make a difference but not 100% !!!)
    2. Change Display Colour to 16 bit (that will make photographs look awful though)
    3. Uninstall and reinstall Direct X
    4. Uninstall and reinstall Catalyst

    So, anyway, that's a list of the possible fixes suggested so far, to which I can add, disconnect your computer from everything and put it in a shed for a while (at least it will work properly for a few months)!!!

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2012-04-14T14:48:17+00:00

    I too have a Toshiba Satellite (A355-S6931).  For all those on this thread, here are the facts that may be pertinent:

    1. My PC had Windows Vista when I bought it, and I later upgraded to Windows 7.  But the problem with the display driver did not start until just recently.
    2.  Several months ago, I started getting the pop up in the lower right corner of my PC indicating high CPU usage.  But this was still before the display driver issue.
    3. The display drive issue seems to have begun after I started playing Zynga Slingo.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2012-04-14T14:19:13+00:00

    This happened to me when I played a video with Media Player Classic. Just had to untick "Reinitialize when changing display" from "Options → Playback → Output". I think it's related to DXVA.

    Hope this helps.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2012-04-06T21:18:57+00:00

    You have provided me with a link that may have solved a problem that I have had for three years. I thank you very much!!!

    LisaDawn

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments