Display driver keeps crashing on the computer and receive error message "Display driver NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver Version 306.97 has stopped working and recovered".

Anonymous

Original Title: Display driver NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver Version 306.97 has stopped working and recovered.

Hiya,

I recently installed Windows 8 Pro, installed all my usual apps etc.

The problem I've encountered is the display driver keeps crashing. Or having time outs. The exact error message reads;

"Display driver NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver Version 306.97 has stopped working and recovered."

So far it randomly times out even when the computer is idle, and more frequently when I'm watching videos online. Also, viewing videos fullscreen on certain sites like YouTube is ok, but on others it's very laggy (image updates maybe once a second) and the audio is out of sync.

I can't find a way to properly uninstall the graphics driver.

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Anonymous

At least yours is semi working.. I have the GTS 450 ( uses the same drivers ) and mine doesn't work at all.. Stuck with the regular on-board driver atm and cant play any games... Microsoft tells me to wait a couple of weeks and to call back and Nvida says 10 ways to uninstall and re-install the same drivers. Hopefully someone with get a fix for this soon.

Hi guys,

Seems like it's not just me.

Just an update, I can't confirm it as a fix, but I haven't run into any problems (apart from a little screenlag) since installing the beta drivers. For me, the beta driver version is 310.33, R130. The only other change made to my system is updating the Adobe Flash version packaged with Google Chrome from 11.4.31X to 11.4.402 to eliminate severe problems when watching video in fullscreen.

System Info;

**Operating System:**Windows 8 Pro with Media Center 64-bit, Build 9200

CPU: AMD FX-8150 Eight physical cores

GPU: ASUS NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 TI

Primary hard disk: OCZ Vertex 3 120GB

Hope it helps

Edit: Still no crashes, 02/11/12, 4 days

Further edit;

If you still receive the error message, try the following steps;

A. Try performing a clean install of the driver.

Download the latest drivers for your graphics card. Run the downloaded file and select 'Custom Installation'. On the next screen you'll see a tick box or similar labelled 'Clean Install'.

You can do this by visiting nVidia Driver Downloads (www.nvidia.com/Drivers). Either automatically detect the correct driver or download using the form. The best way in my opinion is to use GeForce Experience, which will do everything for you with two clicks and a restart.

B. Close all other programs

It's possible that the error was caused by too many programs needing to use the resources provided by the graphics card/chip. It is also possible that a certain program caused a conflict which crashed the drivers.

You can either try closing some currently open programs one by one and see if the error persists or reboot your system with startup programs disabled and enable them one by one to find the culprit. If the error is too persistent to do the above, an easier option would be to boot into safe mode.

More information can be found below

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2665946/en-us

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58 additional answers

Anonymous

2013-07-28T21:53:07+00:00

Ok everyone, here is what i have tried, full system swap, i swapped CPU, motherboard, harddrives, i have used a AMD video card and a nvidia video card, installed reinstalled, drivers erased.... only commonalities i have left are the RAM chips and Windows 7, and the monitor. here is the only good response too all of this, i have also installed a tri boot installation on this machine, i have ubuntu(linux), and Window XP. my kids play A LOT of games on this system, and get a lot of this display driver crashing and recovering ****. But it doesnt happen on the XP installation, NOT AT ALL!! i dont use ubunut much anymore, but never seen it there also. It is definitely a Windows 7 or 8 problem, Not to say it is the OS, but it is the OS with the Divers and Direct X with the OS. Obviously I have XP with XP display drivers and a older Direct X version ( 9 or 10 I believe). One problem could be the mixture, Windows 7+Direct X 11( new as of Windows 7)+Display Drivers from Nvidia or AMD When I run the Older XP-32 bit Direct X 9 or 10 (Old) and XP -32 bit Drivers from AMD or Nvidia Either one, i have no problems. Thinking it might be a Direct X 11 + non Direct X 11 Compliant card, I have purchased a newer Nvidia GTX 650 Ti ( Direct X 11 compatible)and installed numerous drivers, went the full rounds of driver BS. Still same issues. So it is not the driver to card, but seems more like Diver to OS, or driver to Direct X 11. Hope my 2 cents and mass of changes has helped, i have dwindled it down.
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Anonymous

2013-07-19T19:20:31+00:00

so im having the same issue with drivers 314 and newer. Windows 8 Enterprise x64. I assure you this has nothing to do with uninstalling and reinstalling the driver. My computer is a CLEAN install of the OS with absolutely nothing else installed yet.

this started happening the moment I rebooted from the Nvidia install.

Dual GTS 450 running SLI

Sabertooth x58 MB

12GB Ram

20 TB SATA 3 HDD

Core i7 950

current Nvidia drivers 320.49

100% clean windows install.
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Anonymous

2013-03-17T09:51:00+00:00

So, as quick as this problem arrived on my machine, it has gone as quick. First, IE explorer started getting more stable, down to 2-3 crashes a day, and then Chrome. which was crashing every 20 minutes became more stable. All that has happened , was that both of these were updated , some standard MS Security patches were applied by Windows Update, and I re-installed Java from Oracle using the latest release., and I ticked the IE option to use Software rendering instead of GPU rendering, but this had nothing to do with Chrome becoming more stable.

My machine has been stable for 5 days. All I can say is, update your Java and Browsers, and ensure all Windows patches are up to date. Hope this works for you.
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Anonymous

2013-03-17T04:15:35+00:00

i keep having this problem none of the suggested solutions work, tried many different drivers and my pciexpress power saving setting is set to off.

this is annoying, is it a bad card? i had this for a year and it's only been happening since last week. if so I should RMA it. i installed an app called speedfan and it detects my GPU temp to be at the 45-55 Celsius range. which i think is normal.

this problem happens most often when im on IE and Google Chrome. weirdly it doens't crash when im playing a game like Tomb Raider on high setting with 1920x1080
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