BSOD Driver_Power_State_Failure on Dell XPS 15 L502x

Nope, in this case the recovery disk is the disk(s) that are used to restore the system to it's original factory state.
You can use the built in recovery partition if you so desire - but that means that you won't be touching the partition tables (most likely), which is one of the places that malware hides.

The latest memory dump is essentially the same as the others - blaming the nVidia graphics driver.
If I had to guess, I'd suspect a hardware problem with the video card first - but that entails trying another video card to see if the problem goes away. Don't buy one for this test unless you get it from a place that allows returns - that way you can get your money back if the card isn't at fault.

BSOD BUGCHECK SUMMARY

Code:

Loading Dump File [C:\Users\John\_jcgriff2_\dbug\__Kernel__\071212-18876-01.dmp]
Built by: 7601.17835.amd64fre.win7sp1_gdr.120503-2030
Debug session time: Thu Jul 12 10:10:01.021 2012 (UTC - 4:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:54:06.879
BugCheck 9F, {3, fffffa80094d7a10, fffff8000491a3d8, fffffa80077047a0}
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for nvlddmkm.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for nvlddmkm.sys
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for win32k.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for win32k.sys
Probably caused by : pci.sys
DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  WIN7_DRIVER_FAULT
BUGCHECK_STR:  0x9F
PROCESS_NAME:  System
FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  X64_0x9F_3_nvlddmkm_IMAGE_pci.sys
Bugcheck code 0000009F
Arguments 00000000`00000003 fffffa80`094d7a10 fffff800`0491a3d8 fffffa80`077047a0
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨``

Yes it could still be a video issue - it all depends on what portion of the card is broken. It may be an area that isn't stressed by games.

That being said, a clean install will likely rule out all 3rd party and Windows issues - leaving you with hardware as the most likely possibility.

So, if the problems continue after the clean install, then next step is to try another video card.
If they don't continue, then you've fixed the problem!

Good luck!

Hold off on the BIOS flash.
They're not difficult, but if you make one mistake (even the tiniest one) it'll hose your motherboard!

Fix one thing at a time - then test to see if it worked.
Wait and see if the wipe and reinstall fixed it.

I'm pretty sure that the video card is built into the motherboard - so you'd have to replace the whole motherboard (but check with Dell before buying one).

It's not all that difficult to replace a motherboard in a laptop - but it does require some assembly/disassembly skills. See this post for a description: How to disassemble Dell XPS 15 L502X laptop >> Inside my laptop