nVidia BSOD nvlddmkm.sys

For those who still need help with this problem; here is a step-by-step

solution for one suggestion that has already been posted on this thread

that could potentially solve the problem.

HAVE AN EXTERNAL DRIVE ON HAND IF YOU WANT TO KEEP YOUR IMPORTANT FILES

AS THE PROBLEM CAN REOCCUR IN A MATTER OF HOURS AFTER IT HAS BEEN

"FIXED".

1: If you have a black screen, but your computer STILL turns on, you may

be able to fix this problem. All you have to do is plug an external

monitor into your laptop to get a display up. IF you connect an external

monitor and that fails to work, you're probably out of luck (because

your graphics card might really be dead) as you need a display to help

you navigate through command prompt later on, or if you're feeling

lucky, you can just blindly follow the instructions (assuming you're

viewing this answer on another computer, go through the pictures I

provide, IE pic of the System Recovery Options) then you still might be

able to fix your computer without a monitor.

2: Once you're able to get the display up and you're still getting the

BSOD, try to get into command prompt when given a choice. However, if

you're not given a choice to do so, press F8 before the splash screen

comes up with the loading bar. This will bring up Advanced Boot Options,

giving you the option to go to 3 different types of Safe Mode. It is

advisable to go to Safe Mode with Command Prompt. IF however, you're not

given the option to go into Safe Mode, DO NOT press F8 after a restart,

instead wait for the System Recovery Options to appear- Example:

http://img.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/vista-repair-options/advanced-recovery-options.jpg

I know how this goes, most of the options given here on the System

Recovery Options will not work, as you WILL get BSOD. Choose Command

Prompt.

3: You'll now start off with some directory line in command prompt,

something similar to this: C:\User\(Your Account). If for some reason,

you're not on the C drive, type "cd\" without the quotes, press enter

then type "c:". If you're already on the C drive, type cd\ anyway, you

need to go through some other directories in the next step.

4: Type "cd windows\system32\drivers" without the quotes, hit enter. Now

type "dir /p" go through the list of drivers and look for nvlddmkm.sys

(Notice: this is nvL not nvi), note the date to the left, keep in mind

that you'll need a driver that is prior to this date (one that you know

will work). Type "ren nvlddmkm.sys nvlddmkm.sys.old" this will put the

current driver out of use and get you ready to inject and older version

of the driver (one that will hopefully work).

5: Type "cd\" you should now be back to "C:\>". Type "cd nvidia" then

"dir". Now I've only fixed a Windows Vista using this method, so I'm not

sure if this is the same case for Windows 7, but there should be another

folder in C:\Nvidia. For Windows Vista, the folder is called winvista,

type in "cd winvista" to access it (now your directory should be

C:\Nvidia\winvista>). Type "dir /p" again to view the files in this

folder, you should see many files with just numbers (IE 1 . , the

symbolizing the version number for the driver, so it could be 100.65 or

179.48 etc., depend on what you have). Look to the left at the date,

find one that has a date prior to the date listed on the nvlddmkm.sys

file in the windows\system32\drivers folder. Once you have chosen which

file you want to use, lets say for example 179.48, type "cd 179.48" (you

should now be in C:\Nvidia\winvista\179.48).

6: Type "expand nvlddmkm.sy_ c:\windows\system32\drivers\nvlddmkm.sys".

This will install the version of the driver you've chosen. Your computer

may reset automatically.

Congratulations, you've made it this far. You're now able to get to the

log in screen, if you have set up any accounts for your laptop. It is

advisable that you get an external drive and move important/personal

files onto there before you attempt to use your laptop on a full time

basis. There have been some reports that the problem came back about 49

hours later.

Comments: As of now, 179.48 works, the update after that is what seems

to kill my friend's computer.

Hope that helps.

Update

After using the above method to access the graphical interface of

Windows, click Start, go to Control Panel, then get to Device Manager.

You will probably see that your graphics card has a big yellow ! next to

it in Display Adapters. Right click the device, click the Driver tab and

try to choose Roll Back Driver. This will most likely fix your card and

return it to it's original factory state (way before the crash).

--

Strider Ryu

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Strider Ryu's Profile: http://forums.techarena.in/members/220085.htm

View this thread: http://forums.techarena.in/vista-hardware-devices/689444.htm

http://forums.techarena.in