First ...
- If the crash is generating mini-dumps posting them may get you help from one of the people here who deal regularly with dmp files (see ZigZag's article -
Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) - Microsoft Community )
- An Event Viewer report may also be useful ( see - Gerry C's info request)
- As an insider you may know what follows, but ... (*Begins waffling on forever...*)
"Did test without Nvidia or MS drivers "
- So you were running on your Intel HD graphics ?
If you did not switch to the Intel HD graphics, and were able to play games it may indicate that Win10
reinstalled an Nvidia driver on reboot (the gpu is disabled with no drivers installed, and the card only acts
as a pass though for basic VGA graphics).
When Win10 does this there is no listing in Programs and Features ( sneaky eh! ).
- You can prevent Windows updates installing graphics drivers by using the Show/hide tool
in the article below to block Windows Updates from installing Nvidia drivers.
However, using DDU (or Driver Fusion) is also a must as Win10 keeps a secret driver stash and will use
this to reinstall it's driver of choice on reboot if you uninstall the drivers via Programs and Features.
DDU deletes the registry keys (possibly another files as well) and helps prevent this. I also go off line before uninstalling my driver, just in case the Show/hide tool fails.
How to temporarily prevent a Windows or driver update from reinstalling in Windows 10
- Another age old rule is don't install Nvidia driver components you don't use. If you use the 'Experience' try
installing only the main driver and PhysX to verify the Experience is not causing issues, as it has been known to do.
- Drivers dealt with... There have been a good number of people posting here who have also had a
issue after an anniversary update, but the problem is not universal, so I have to assume the update corrupts
Windows on a fairly regular basis.
Having said that. A whole lot of people have problems even doing the anniversary updates, so yes they can
be a problem, but again, this is not a universal problem.
- I've had no problems with random black screen crashes running general release Win10 Home v1607 on two machines, using a 770 and 980, but Win10 Pro and Insider versions may have issues I'm not aware of.
[ This is with a Win10 that is an 'upgrade' from the Win7 I installed in 2010, and cloned to two other machines
over time, with new activation keys, and with completely different hardware
( AMD > Intel cpu and Nvidia> AMD > Nvidia gpu ), so obviously a clean install is not a panacea either.]
- The TDR error you are getting has been a problem since MS invented it for Win7. It was meant to prevent premature BSOD when there is lag in the graphics, and always points the finger at the driver, but the source of
the issue is more often something else, either a software conflict or hardware fault that leads to that lag.
The Nvidia driver is just the last man standing in a chain of events that leads to the TDR.
On those rare occasions that TDR functions properly - a brief hang, and return to the game - it can be a good
thing, but most of the time it is just another name for BSOD.
- As with BSOD you need to do the drill and (if nothing useful comes from the dmp file analysis )
run a long memtest on each RAM stick and also run check disk on your HDD and SSD.
- Have you monitored the cpu and gpu temps under load ?
- Tried the gpu in another slot.
- Verified the power connection (the two pin part especially ) is tight.
- How old is your psu ?
- On the software conflict front, the Event Viewer report may help, but meanwhile also try running in
Clean Boot
to verify there are no Services or Startup programs conflicting.
How to troubleshoot a problem by performing a clean boot in Windows Vista or in Windows 7
- Some of the more common software that has been known to cause TDR are Daemon Tools, all types of
system 'optimising' software, and the OC/tweaking tools that come with motherboards, such as Afterburner.
- Yes, there may well be 500+ posts on the Nvidia forums, but that's what forums are all about - problems.
Blaming a Win10 anniversary update (not saying I am at all happy about having my Windows basically overwritten two time a year) is the new black on forums.
It used to be the Nvidia forums tended to blame just about every driver release for all the worlds ills.
The drivers are only very rarely the real issue. I think there may have been maybe two or three genuinely
bad drivers in the past seven or so years.
- Due to the nature of these 'anniversary' updates, I make a fresh clone of my Win10 before any 'anniversary'
update. They are just too big and risky not to have a full backup of my Windows to go back to.
.
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