Fix: Display Driver Stopped Responding and Has Recovered on Windows 10

Jun. 24, 2022 / Updated by Helia to Windows 10

Display driver stopped responding and has recovered” issue often appears on Windows systems like Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10, including the Windows 10 Anniversary Update and the Creators Update. The display problem commonly annoys you when you’re playing games, watching videos, or doing others on computer shipping with mainstream graphics cards like AMD, ATI, NVIDIA, Intel, etc. And you may get stuck on the black screen, flickering screen or ghost screen.

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Generally, the “Display driver stopped responding and has recovered” error occurs when the Timeout Detection and Recovery (TDR) feature detects the GPU doesn’t respond within a period of time and reinitializes it with the Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM). And many factors can result in the error:

  • Hardware: The incompatibility between the motherboard and the graphics card, overheated hardware (the GPU), insufficient power supply, etc.

  • Drivers: Incompatible, outdated or missing video/display/graphics drivers

  • System: Incorrectly GPU configuration, overloaded system working, OS update like Windows 10, and others

The reasons have your attention, and you need to go through multiple checks or changes with the workarounds below to fix the display driver stopped responding problem.

Top 5 Ways to Fix “Display Driver Stopped Responding and Has Recovered” Issue on Windows 10

If you encounter “Display driver stopped responding and has recovered” after the Windows 10 upgrade or Windows 10 Anniversary/Creators Update, here we’ve had top 5 methods for you to solve the display problem on your Windows 10 computer.

Way 1. Check Graphics Card-related Hardware

1. Check the display devices. Make sure your display devices status shows "This device is working properly." in the Device Manager.

2. Go to the DirectX Diagnostic Tool to check the display tab. Make sure there’s “No problems found” in the Note.

3. If the graphics card comes loose, you can re-seat it by removing the card from the slot and then plug it firmly back in. If you have an old graphics card, it is better to change to another one that is compatible with the computer.

4. Cool down the GPU. You can remove the dust buildup to keep the graphics card cool. Also, clean the dust from the GPU fans.

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Way 2. Fix the “Display Driver Stopped Responding and Has Recovered” Issue by Ending Background-running Programs

You may allow some applications to startup automatically on the computer the first time you install them. Then the programs will run at the same time, which can result in the computer freezing, cause 100% disk usage, slow down the PC boot and more. So it is better to end those applications you are not using or stop them from the automated startup.

Also, you can perform a clean boot on your Windows 10 computer to exclude the programs that cause the “Display stopped responding and has recovered” error.

Way 3. Update or Repair the Display/Graphics/Video Drivers on Your Windows 10 Computer

Incorrectly configured, outdated, missing or broken display drivers can prevent the communication between the Windows OS and the display hardware, and then you’ll come across problems like blue screen of death on Windows, graphics error 43, display/graphics drivers not showing up, etc. So you can check if there are yellow exclamation marks beside the display devices in the Device Manager. Or you can use a professional driver troubleshooter, Driver Talent, to help fix the graphics card driver with just one-click.

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It can detect all the faulty drivers on your Windows 10 and provide the best-matched official and WHQL video driver downloads to help fix the “Display driver stopped responding and has recovered” problem. Click the button above to get it. Here’s how to make it:

1. Click Scan to detect the problematic display/graphics/video drivers.

scan-display-driver

2. Click Update if there are updatable drivers. Or click the Repair to fix the issue instantly.

3. Restart the computer to make the changes take effects.

Note: Don’t forget to backup drivers before the driver changes in case other system issues happen.

Way 4. Adjust Display Performance on Windows 10

One of the workable methods to fix the “display driver stopped responding” problem is to adjust the visual effect on Windows 10. You can make it via the steps below:

1. Use Windows shortcut keysWin + PauseBreak.

2. Click Advanced system settings.

3. Choose the Advanced tab.

4. Click the Settings button of the Performance.

5. Choose the Visual Effects tab.

6. Choose the Adjust for best performance.

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Way 5. Fix the Display/Video/Graphics Problem by Increasing the GPU Processing Time

When the Timeout Detection and Recovery feature receives no response of the GPU and fails to reinitialize it, you’ll see the “Display stopped responding and has recovered” error message. You can delay the GPU responding time by adjusting the TDR value in the Registry to solve the problem.

1. Use Win + R to launch the Run.

2. Type regedit into the box.

3. Hit the Enter.

4. Navigate to the subkey GraphicsDrivers via the path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\GraphicsDrivers. (Note: For Windows 10 Creators Update users, you can paste it directly into the bar and press the Enter.)

5. On the right side, right click the blank area and select New.

6. Select the DWORD (32-bit) Value or the QWORD (64-bit) Value. (Note: Make sure your system type via shortcuts Win + PauseBreak and choose the corresponding one.)

7. Rename the New Value #1 you created to TdrDelay.

8. Double click the TdrDelay.

9. Change the Value data to 8.

10. Click OK.

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Note: You can’t be more careful when modifying the Registry incorrectly because it is a sensitive Windows database and if there are issues with the registry, you may encounter other serious system problems. So it is better to back up the Registry before you modify it.

That’s it. Hope this article can be a reference for you to resolve the error “Display stopped responding and has recovered” on your Windows 10 computer. If you have any other questions on the display problem, please comment below for more information.

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