Display driver failed to start error when playing games

Question

My patience with this error is at breaking point. Ever since that bloody Fall Creator update my PC has had nothing but problems. Every fix i have done seems to only be temporary because out of the blue, this stupid error springs up on me. I have reinstalled windows god knows how many times, I've reinstalled my graphics card drivers even more. Initially I dialled back to a previous build where my pc worked and that was successful for many months. Then version 1804 came out and messed everything up again. Even when rolling back the previous build, the problem followed me. Bad or corrupt coding (maybe both) I assume because these problems only started with these stupid updates.

Like i said after that I tried reinstalling windows, nothing. I tried to do clean installations of my graphics card and nothing still. Then I learned that it was actually the inbuilt windows gaming bar tool that apparently can cause crashes. So I unticked every single box in the gaming setting and once more it worked perfectly for a while. At least it did until I came back from holiday and turned my pc back on only to have it crash after an hour (but this time i wasn't playing a game) and become trapped in an infinite boot cycle. I managed to get rid of it but having to reinstall windows again from a USB and supposedly it worked for like a day. I was playing Dragon Age Inquisition all of yesterday evening just fine until about 10pm or so when my pc randomly restarted. Today though back to the old error of Display driver failed to start.

So I've come full circle and this problem is still around. I really have no idea what more I can do. These forced updates have ruined my gaming pc and I'm 100% certain this is purely a software issue because I've seen so many posts online about others having these problems since these updates. I can think of no other workarounds. 

My specs are this:

Operating System: Windows 10 Home 64-bit (10.0, Build 17134) (17134.rs4_release.180410-1804)

System Manufacturer: MSI

System Model: MS-7681

Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2310 CPU @ 2.90GHz (4 CPUs), ~2.9GHz

RAM: 8GB

Card name: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 (Driver version: 398.36)

Answer 1

Did you actually boot from the install disc? Because, when you do, you have to select the drive.

Review the following guide for instructions and details about configuring your BIOS or UEFI boot settings for DVD, CD, USB or SD Card.

BIOS/UEFI Setup Guide: Boot from a CD, DVD, USB Drive or SD Card

https://www.groovypost.com/howto/bios-uefi-setu...

Once your computer is set to boot from the DVD or USB, you should see this option.

The Windows logo will appear on screen, this might be here for a while, as long as you see the indicater, everything should be ok.

Select your Language, Time and Keyboard method then click Next.

Click Install now

Wait while Setup starts.

Accept the license terms and click Next

Click Custom

Select the Primary Partition then click Next

You will receive the following warning:

The partition you selected might contain files from a previous Windows Installation. If it does, these files and folders will be moved to a folder named Windows.old. You will be able to access the information in Windows.old, but you will be able to use your previous version of Windows.

Click OK

Wait while Windows installs

When this phase of setup is complete, Windows will automatically restart and reboot into setup again.

Windows is detecting and installing your hardware. After this is complete, Windows will restart one last time.

Out of Box Experience

The Out of Box Experience page is where you get to configure detailed settings in Windows, which includes creating a user account, privacy, sync PC settings and install modern applications.

Windows will check if there is an active Internet connection. If it does not find one, you will be presented with the following screen.

Create a Local Account and click Next

Wait while Windows finalizes your settings

Continue to wait while Windows installs modern applications.

When setup is complete you can retrieve any personal files from the Windows.old

Browse to C:\ Local Disk and open the Windows.old folder

Answer 2

On the setup thing it says it will delete all my files. It wont let me select the option to retain all my documents and stuff because it's an older version of windows.

Answer 3

Keep us updated with your progress. I do understand where you are coming from. Upgrade Fatigue is starting to set in.

Answer 4

Thanks for the quick reply. I face-palmed the moment you said downgrade to 1703. That was the version I was using just fine before all this nonsense. Although I don't know if it will work this time but I suppose its worth a shot. It can't be good to keep reinstalling windows like this. Its not that I want the latest version of windows, I don't even use the features that are introduced because I don't need them. Whenever I've tried to dial back it just downloads the latest version again and sometimes I might slip up and accidentally trigger the update. I just want to watch stuff and play games. I wish they had an opt out button so we didn't get all this additional stuff that ends up being incompatible.

Anyway I guess I have no other options so I'll give it a go and see if that works. Thank you.

Answer 5

I am going to recommend you downgrade to Windows 10 1703.

Yes, not the best news you want to hear. These feature updates are not thoroughly engineered and are rushed mostly to meet deadlines. They have become highly unnecessary in some instances. My opinion, focus on the apps and less on having the latest version of Windows. If your apps are working fine and you are getting your work done, minimize your need to jump on the latest release.

Now, get ready to go back to your previous version. I recommend Windows 10 1703 because its the most stable and efficient release to date.

Step 1: Go to another working computer with Internet access, download Windows 10 1703 from the following link:

https://tb.rg-adguard.net/index.php?sid=74a7cf5...

Choose the following:

• Windows Final
• Windows 10, version 1703
• Windows 10 Pro + Home
• English
• x64 (64 bit) x32 (32 bit)

Step 2: create a bootable copy

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wik...

Step 3: perform a custom install

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/wiki...

Step 4: how to recover your files from Windows.old:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/for...

Windows Update might attempt to upgrade to Windows 10 1803 again. See instructions how to block it:

https://www.groovypost.com/howto/block-windows-...

Note: This is a non-Microsoft website. The page appears to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the site that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the site before you decide to download and install it.