Black Screen - Driver issues

Hi all,



I'm not particularly experienced in dealing with errors like this. Yesterday I had some issues involving my Nvidia drivers (the repeating 'display driver nvlddmkm has stopped working and has recovered' errors), so tried reinstalling them. That failed to resolve the issue, so I rebooted in safe mode and did a system restore to earlier this week.



Now, when I restart, I get a KSOD (black screen with cursor) after the windows logo. This occurs in both normal and safe mode.



At the moment, I've managed to run the my Vista Installation disk, but my attempts to system restore from here come up with the error 'system restore failed due to an unspecified error. The device is not ready (0x80070015).'



I get the feeling I'm missing something obvious here. Can anyone shed some light on where I've gone wrong?



Thanks

Hi Greg147,
To start with I would like to know what is model and make of both computer and video card.
Also, you can try the follow steps to see if that help:

Disconnect any external device from the computer then try to turn on the computer and check if you are able to go in safe mode with networking.

1. If yes, try to uninstall the nVidia drivers from safe mode with networking.
2. Restart the computer and go in safe mode with networking.
3. Then download the latest drivers for nVidia card which is present in the computer using nVidia website.
4. Install the driver in safe mode with networking.
5. Restart the computer in normal mode and check if the computer is working fine.

If no, then run the diagnostics on the computer and check if the hardware is working fine.

Though you have uninstalled and reinstall video drivers would request you do the same in safe mode with networking.

Please post back with the results.

1) Did you try the other System Recovery options?
2) Have you made any other changes on the computer?


Method-


I would have you try the other System Recovery options.

Refer the articles-

Startup Repair: frequently asked questions

What are the system recovery options in Windows Vista?

Make system repairs from the Windows Recovery Environment




Note: Make sure you get the computer back to Normal Mode after performing all the troubleshooting steps.

Performing a System Restore will undo any changes made on your computer earlier. You may also lose unsaved information as well. Proceed at your own risk.

Performing a re-installation of Window will erase all the data on the computer. Back up the data and proceed at your own risk.


Additionally, perform the steps in the article only if, you are able to boot to the desktop-

Note: Important this section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Back up the registry - How to back up Registry.




Hope this helps!!!