![](\"http:\/\/i.dell.com\/images\/global\/products\/xpsnb\/xpsnb_highlights\/xpsnb_m1530_design3.jpg\")
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There is a know problem with NVIDIA and ATI graphics cards and Vista and the position of the planets and goodness knows what else. No-one seems to know (=take responsibility) for the problem. People attribute it to badly written driver, overclocked machines, Vista bloat, overheating PCs, not enough RAM – who knows.<\/p>\n
THE PROBLEM<\/strong><\/p>\n High intensity graphics use causes the individual program to freeze, flicker and then the screen to go black … and the dreaded error:<\/p>\n DISPLAY DRIVER NVLDDMKM STOPPED RESPONDING AND HAS SUCCESSFULLY RECOVERED<\/strong><\/p>\n Googling “nvlddmkm” brings back 63800 results – waaaaay back to the advent of Vista, and still no solution. It seems that some fixes work for some people some of the time. Sometimes replacing the graphics card works, sometimes not. Sometimes it just appears and sometimes it goes away.<\/p>\n WHAT COULD HAVE WORKED BUT DIDN’T<\/strong><\/p>\n 1.Upgrading the graphics drivers and the bios<\/p>\n 2. Administrative tools > Task Scheduler > Scroll to the bottom, in the bottom box, scroll down till you see ‘TMM’. Double click ‘TMM’. Right click it and select disable.<\/p>\n WHAT DELL SAID:<\/strong><\/p>\n Dell didn’t really have any solutions but suggested:<\/p>\n 3. Going to control panel > personalise and turning off AERO (That thing in Vista that lets you see blurry windows under the current one)<\/p>\n 4. Going to the Second Life icon, right clicking on it and selecting “properties”, then running it in XP SP2 compatibility mode (yes, *turn off* DirectX10 – which is why I wanted Vista in the first place )<\/p>\n 5. Installing this Vista update: http:\/\/support.microsoft.com\/?kbid=938194<\/a><\/p>\n 6. That they send out a technician to replace the video card in my laptop.<\/p>\n WHAT I DID IN DESPERATION<\/strong><\/p>\n More goolging. Came to this post on the SteveX Compiled<\/a> blog: Display driver stopped responding and has recovered <\/a>– from 15 months ago. Among the 115 comments, I found the comment from klasu that *I hope* provided the fix for me<\/a> . It involves tweaking the settings on the NVIDIA control panel. Reproduced below:<\/p>\n My fix is here: anisotropic filtering = 4x I’ve been running Second Life for the last three hours or so with no crashes. I haven’t switched DirectX10 back on, but it seems fine without. I’m crossing my fingers.<\/p>\n I note, however, that today UnliscensedFish left a comment on the post indicating that no solution is working for her<\/a> and that she thinks it’s time for class legal action.<\/p>\n UPDATE 4 hours later: Aaaaand … I took a screenshot in Second Life using Jing<\/a> ….. and I had the same problem.\u00a0 I hate the idea of asking Dell to replace the video card when it may not fix it … and of being deprived of my PC …. any ideas anyone ?<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/blog.stevex.net\/files\/Displaydriverstoppedrespondingandhasrec_126E7\/image0_thumb14.png\")
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\n1 unninstall nvidia drivers
\n2 Let Vista install display driver itself. Now display driver is 11.9.2007 \/ 7.15.11.6369 (check device manager\/display adapter)
\n3 Use following settings in nvidia control panel<\/p>\n
\nantialiasing gamma correction = ON
\nantialiasing mode = override \u2026.
\nantialiasing seting 4x
\nantialiasing transparency = OFF
\nconformat texture damp = OFF
\nerror reporting = ON
\nextension limit = OFF
\nforce mipmaps = none
\nmulti display\u2026= SINGLE\u2026
\ntexture filtering anisotropic sample optimization = OFF
\nTexture filtering negative lod bias = ALLOW
\ntexture filtering quality = HIGH QUALITY
\ntexture filtering trilinear optimization = OFF
\ntriple buffering = OFF
\nVertical sync = use 3d application settings<\/p><\/blockquote>\n