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.

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

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

0 comments

58 additional answers

Anonymous

2013-11-25T13:41:34+00:00

I hope this helps anyone with this problem.

i have had this problem for a couple years now, I gave up and built a second computer.

i have replaced everything on the machine with different parts except the RAM,

I will replace that soon, I have ran memtest86, and it says the ram is fine but I will try anyway.

I have used OS

Windows 7 Home 32 bit

Windows 8.1 64 bit

Linux Pear OS 8

Ubuntu 10-13

Fedora 12

OpenSUSE latest

Windows Xp 32

Only Windows 7 and 8.1 had any problem.

I noticed one thing that added to the amount of time it happened was when using Firefox with the advanced settings defaulted to use hardware acceleration. I uninstalled Firefox and now use Chrome with hardware acceleration turned off.

I have also set windows performance to maximize performance(default is let windows choose)

I dont know if these 2 changes will help yet i just changed them yesterday, but i do know Firefox made it alot worse. for me.

My system is overkill for any issues

Phenom X4 3.4 Quad Core Black Edition

4 gig RAM

800 watt power supply

Geforce 650 Ti 2 gig

I have swapped

every hardware part so far except the memory, will change it , and let you know.
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments
Anonymous

2013-11-25T13:47:00+00:00

Also i dont remember where but Windows has a fix page that didnt help, that said that there is a timing issue where if the display driver or adapter doesnt give a response in a certain time it resets the driver, and you can increase this time in your registry, but i couldnt find on the site where in the registry this was located to change it, they had a fix me automatic tool but it didnt work on my Win 8.1 it was for Windows 7
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments
Anonymous

2013-11-25T21:16:53+00:00

My solution was pretty simple ...

Uninstall windows 8.

Fixed it perfectly ... windows 7 still runs like a dream on all versions of the drivers.

No swapping out hardware or not running other apps or reinstalling drivers all day ... simply remove the cause of the problem ... Windows 8.

Shame really ... i was kinda warming up to it.

That said I am looking at a shiney new GeForce 780 Ti soon so might have to retry windows 8 with that.
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments
Anonymous

2013-11-26T00:29:59+00:00

Actually i have had this problem for 2 years with Windows7, So sorry thats not the problem, you just lucked out. my other system at home works fine with Windows 8 no problems, and My system at work with Windows 7 Pro works fine no problem. Its not the video card or drivers either, i have tried my old 9800gt, and my new 650Ti same issue.

here is the fix.

I havent tried it yet but Micro$oft says its the "Time out Detection", this was added as of Windows 7.

Ill try tonight, wish me luck.

here is the link to the fix.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2665946/en-us
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments