Vista - BSOD - nvlddmkm.sys, replace graphics card for laptop?

Yesterday I was playing Supreme Commander Forged Alliance when in the middle of a game I had to quickly check my emails, and when I remaximised the game window, my entire laptop froze and I had to do a hard reboot.

When I rebooted, as soon as I got to the desktop I got a BSOD because one of the drivers for my nvidia GeForce 8400M GS, nvlddmkm.sys, stopped working.

After the second reboot I managed to load my desktop fine, but every time I went on a 3D game I would get the same blue screen.

Today, the computer won't even load the desktop, it automatically goes into Startup Repair.

After searching on the Internet I find that thousands of other people have the same problem for years, and nobody has found a proper fix, so I will not be surprised if it can't be fixed.


I was wondering, if I am unable to fix this problem, which I expect is the case, would if be possible to replace the graphics card on my laptop? I have heard that in some laptops this is not possible, and if so, would I be able to get a refund for a faulty graphics card?

I'm using an Advent 5401, with NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS, vista home premium 32 bit.
Bought the laptop from PC World 10~11 months ago.


Help would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance!

Hello a9gould,
If you have only had the laptop for that short period of time, take it back to PC World and let them sort it, after all, it is still under guarantee.
This fault is a real killer to fix, so let them have the headache.
Keep us posted and good luck.

Thanks for the reply.

I've tried reinstalling Vista, same problem.
Windows 7 worked fine until I installed the nvidia drivers.
I am now typing from the faulty laptop in windows 7 but I uninstalled all the nvidia drivers using safe mode. I think it's the graphics card.

When I take it to PC World, do I need to bring with me the receipt and other documents to show when I bought it? Having trouble finding them.

I would think you would need to, if you bought it on a credit card take the card receipt if you cant find PC World's receipt.

They took it in last Monday, got a phone call saying they fixed it on Friday, came in to collect it today.

What happens now is when it has been turned off for a while, when you turn it on you get BSOD after a minute, but after it restarts from that, it loads to desktop.

Of course, when I turned it on in PC World, nobody saw the blue screen, and when it restarted and I tried to show them, it loaded normally

Someone from PC World should be coming to pick it up soon and hopefully finally replace graphics card.. if they see the blue screen and are 100% sure it's hardware issues.

Problem is now solved.
Motherboard and hdd have been replaced under warranty.

Thanks!

Glad you got it fixed. A good result.

I have recently suffered the same fate. This files is associated with Nvidia, but occurs just as well with ATI. In my instance, it was a bad video card. The possible reasons for this problem are numerous, but I'm glad you are up and running.