Vista - Display Driver error message during solitaire games

When playing reg. or spider solitaire, the screen goes black, then I get a
message,
"Display driver stopped responding and has recovered. Display driver
nvlddmkm". It is a new HP computer running Vista. Any suggestions?

Hi JB,

My husband and I spent 29 days of HE-L getting the nvlddmkm message and
watching the games crash. Unfortunately, we installed Vista and NVidia at the
same time. After all the frustration of trying to download updates, talking
to thousands who had this problem, this is what we found and how we fixed our
computer:

1. NVidia is not compatible with Vista at this time. They are working on
drivers. The more updates Windows installed, the worse the problem got. We
changed our Windows Update settings so that we can pick and chose them,
rather than have all the new ones installed. It only further confuses the
problem.
2. In order to run games, movies, etc. with Vista you MUST have at least
1-2 gb of RAM for anything to run and not stall out on you... no black
screens.

It's worth the money to get as much RAM as you can. We were told that unless
you have the RAM, the programs constantly "borrow" from each other when
things are running. It even makes our screens look nicer. If you're running
NVidia, take it back to the store and get VisionTek X1550. It's awesome!! If
the store gives you problems, tell them you KNOW NVidia won't work with Vista.

Hope this helps,
Sarah

"JB" wrote:

> When playing reg. or spider solitaire, the screen goes black, then I get a
> message,
> "Display driver stopped responding and has recovered. Display driver
> nvlddmkm". It is a new HP computer running Vista. Any suggestions?

Which nVidia card did you have?
I have a GeForce 7800 GTX, which works fine.


"Sarah" <Sarah@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:AD81EF1B-C6DD-4D40-A7CF-719B1AA5332D@microsoft.com...
> Hi JB,
>
> My husband and I spent 29 days of HE-L getting the nvlddmkm message and
> watching the games crash. Unfortunately, we installed Vista and NVidia at
> the
> same time. After all the frustration of trying to download updates,
> talking
> to thousands who had this problem, this is what we found and how we fixed
> our
> computer:
>
> 1. NVidia is not compatible with Vista at this time. They are working on
> drivers. The more updates Windows installed, the worse the problem got. We
> changed our Windows Update settings so that we can pick and chose them,
> rather than have all the new ones installed. It only further confuses the
> problem.
> 2. In order to run games, movies, etc. with Vista you MUST have at least
> 1-2 gb of RAM for anything to run and not stall out on you... no black
> screens.
>
> It's worth the money to get as much RAM as you can. We were told that
> unless
> you have the RAM, the programs constantly "borrow" from each other when
> things are running. It even makes our screens look nicer. If you're
> running
> NVidia, take it back to the store and get VisionTek X1550. It's awesome!!
> If
> the store gives you problems, tell them you KNOW NVidia won't work with
> Vista.
>
> Hope this helps,
> Sarah
>
> "JB" wrote:
>
>> When playing reg. or spider solitaire, the screen goes black, then I get
>> a
>> message,
>> "Display driver stopped responding and has recovered. Display driver
>> nvlddmkm". It is a new HP computer running Vista. Any suggestions?

"JB" <JB@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:51577FB5-B131-47A5-82AB-0F096663AC48@microsoft.com...
> When playing reg. or spider solitaire, the screen goes black, then I get a
> message,
> "Display driver stopped responding and has recovered. Display driver
> nvlddmkm". It is a new HP computer running Vista. Any suggestions?

Hello JB.

This is probably caused by a bug in the nVidia graphics drivers. It is
certainly disappointing that HP choose to sell a product with such a blatant
flaw.

However I suspect the drivers on your machine are at least a couple of
months behind the latest release. So I'd recommend heading over to:

http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp

And downloading the latest graphics drivers, if you're not sure what model
card you have (GeForce 8 series for example) if you follow the directions on
this webpage:

http://www.windowsresource.net/vista...s/hardware.php

There's a walkthrough on how to get up all your computers hardware details.

You're probably running Windows Vista 32-bit so select that in the final box
and download the driver. Once its downloaded try installing it and seeing
if that clears the problem up.

--
Paul Smith,
Yeovil, UK.
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User.
http://www.dasmirnov.net/blog/
http://www.windowsresource.net/

*Remove nospam. to reply by e-mail*

"Sarah" <Sarah@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:AD81EF1B-C6DD-4D40-A7CF-719B1AA5332D@microsoft.com...
> Hi JB,
>
> My husband and I spent 29 days of HE-L getting the nvlddmkm message and
> watching the games crash. Unfortunately, we installed Vista and NVidia at
> the
> same time. After all the frustration of trying to download updates,
> talking
> to thousands who had this problem, this is what we found and how we fixed
> our
> computer:
>
> 1. NVidia is not compatible with Vista at this time. They are working on
> drivers. The more updates Windows installed, the worse the problem got. We
> changed our Windows Update settings so that we can pick and chose them,
> rather than have all the new ones installed. It only further confuses the
> problem.
> 2. In order to run games, movies, etc. with Vista you MUST have at least
> 1-2 gb of RAM for anything to run and not stall out on you... no black
> screens.
>
> It's worth the money to get as much RAM as you can. We were told that
> unless
> you have the RAM, the programs constantly "borrow" from each other when
> things are running. It even makes our screens look nicer. If you're
> running
> NVidia, take it back to the store and get VisionTek X1550. It's awesome!!
> If
> the store gives you problems, tell them you KNOW NVidia won't work with
> Vista.

Jeeeeeez what a total load of crap..Vista and Nvidia work
perfectly...always have, who gave you this information?
--
VRG Scotty©

www.vistareadygames.com
Register (it's free) and Use the Search for solution button to find the
answer.

"VRG Scotty©" <scotty@scottyk1.com> wrote in message
news:OHgzgwN4HHA.1208@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>
> "Sarah" <Sarah@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:AD81EF1B-C6DD-4D40-A7CF-719B1AA5332D@microsoft.com...
>> Hi JB,
>>
>> My husband and I spent 29 days of HE-L getting the nvlddmkm message and
>> watching the games crash. Unfortunately, we installed Vista and NVidia at
>> the
>> same time. After all the frustration of trying to download updates,
>> talking
>> to thousands who had this problem, this is what we found and how we fixed
>> our
>> computer:
>>
>> 1. NVidia is not compatible with Vista at this time. They are working on
>> drivers. The more updates Windows installed, the worse the problem got.
>> We
>> changed our Windows Update settings so that we can pick and chose them,
>> rather than have all the new ones installed. It only further confuses the
>> problem.
>> 2. In order to run games, movies, etc. with Vista you MUST have at least
>> 1-2 gb of RAM for anything to run and not stall out on you... no black
>> screens.
>>
>> It's worth the money to get as much RAM as you can. We were told that
>> unless
>> you have the RAM, the programs constantly "borrow" from each other when
>> things are running. It even makes our screens look nicer. If you're
>> running
>> NVidia, take it back to the store and get VisionTek X1550. It's awesome!!
>> If
>> the store gives you problems, tell them you KNOW NVidia won't work with
>> Vista.
>
> Jeeeeeez what a total load of crap..Vista and Nvidia work
> perfectly...always have, who gave you this information?

I DID, nVidia SUX! (Joking...)

It's not a load of crap nVidia has some issues, but usually on the SLI
front, (and most of that stuff is fixed now) but not with SOLITARE. nVidia
cards and chipsets are on a "vast" majority of PCs (I don't know exact
numbers, that's why I said "vast".) If nVidia was really having problems
we'd hear about it. Not to mention I wouldn't be typing this to you since
all my Vista boxes use nVidia cards.

Whoever told you nVidia cards don't work with Vista probably works for/gets
paid by ATi or AMD. Don't get me wrong, ATi cards are good, the x1550 is
prety cheapo, but for Solitare it should work fine.

As for the message, if you spent "months" working on this problem what
suggestions did you receive? I mean if you did the driver troubleshooting,
did you ever replace the card? Probably was simply a defective card.
Replacing the card with a new one would of resolved the problem.

Sorry you had problems, but whoever is your IT guy, fire him/her and hire
someone else. He/She's only making you look like an ass.

Also, Vista runs "ok" with 512 Ram. If you can't get Solitare to run in
Vista it's not the ram. Yes, programs borrow ram, it's called multitasking.
Yes, more ram means less waiting and less swapping from RAM to the HD. The
black screen usually occurs when Vista tries to elevate a program to admin
level. Dunno if that'll ever be fixed.

Argh, JB don't listen to Sarah, please.

"VRG Scotty©" <scotty@scottyk1.com> wrote in message
news:OHgzgwN4HHA.1208@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

> Jeeeeeez what a total load of crap..Vista and Nvidia work
> perfectly...always have, who gave you this information?

Work perfectly? Even now, 6 months after launch there is 10 pages of "known
issues" on nVidia's release notes.

A few months ago nVidia's drivers were nothing less than a disaster.

--
Paul Smith,
Yeovil, UK.
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User.
http://www.dasmirnov.net/blog/
http://www.windowsresource.net/

*Remove nospam. to reply by e-mail*

"Paul Smith" <Paul@nospam.windowsresource.net> wrote in message
news:u5Py0VP4HHA.5360@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> "VRG Scotty©" <scotty@scottyk1.com> wrote in message
> news:OHgzgwN4HHA.1208@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>
>> Jeeeeeez what a total load of crap..Vista and Nvidia work
>> perfectly...always have, who gave you this information?
>
> Work perfectly? Even now, 6 months after launch there is 10 pages of
> "known issues" on nVidia's release notes.
>
> A few months ago nVidia's drivers were nothing less than a disaster.
>
Please, coming from a developer point of view, 10 pages of known issues for
something like a video driver is nothing. At least nVidia fixes their
issues. I'll give ATi props for adhearing to MS standards more closely, and
nVidia props for Linux support. Each have their strengths and weaknesses,
but even with the occasional problems, nVidia cards work. so do ATi cards.

"Paul Smith" <Paul@nospam.windowsresource.net> wrote in
news:u5Py0VP4HHA.5360@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl:

> "VRG Scotty©" <scotty@scottyk1.com> wrote in message
> news:OHgzgwN4HHA.1208@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>
>> Jeeeeeez what a total load of crap..Vista and Nvidia work
>> perfectly...always have, who gave you this information?
>
> Work perfectly? Even now, 6 months after launch there is 10 pages
> of "known issues" on nVidia's release notes.
>
> A few months ago nVidia's drivers were nothing less than a
> disaster.
>


Yea I wouldn't go as far as saying Nvidia works perfectly. But I must
admit with the latest drivers I haven't had the video drivers stopped
working issue.

--
The most reliable time to upgrade to a new Operating System is at the
end of its life cycle.

Dave

Same here...
I sometimes get a BSOD after installing the latest Nvidia driver, but then
it works fine after that....
Quite acceptable.


"Dave Cox" <dcox1961@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:Xns998F7892CE5F9dcoxgmailcom@69.28.186.121...
> "Paul Smith" <Paul@nospam.windowsresource.net> wrote in
> news:u5Py0VP4HHA.5360@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl:
>
>> "VRG Scotty©" <scotty@scottyk1.com> wrote in message
>> news:OHgzgwN4HHA.1208@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>>
>>> Jeeeeeez what a total load of crap..Vista and Nvidia work
>>> perfectly...always have, who gave you this information?
>>
>> Work perfectly? Even now, 6 months after launch there is 10 pages
>> of "known issues" on nVidia's release notes.
>>
>> A few months ago nVidia's drivers were nothing less than a
>> disaster.
>>
>
>
> Yea I wouldn't go as far as saying Nvidia works perfectly. But I must
> admit with the latest drivers I haven't had the video drivers stopped
> working issue.
>
> --
> The most reliable time to upgrade to a new Operating System is at the
> end of its life cycle.
>
> Dave