Windows 7 - Display Driver nvlddmkm stopped responding

During the first 4 days of my new Windows 7 install I was getting constant "Display Driver nvlddmkm stopped responding and has recovered" events (Event ID 4101 - Level 3 - Task 0 - 0x8000000000000). The best I can recall these events occurred when changing display settings. These events are occuring much less often now. The only instance in the past day or 2 was trying to start Autocad Lt 2010 (separate, bigger issue).

When I installed Windows 7 it loaded the 186.18 driver. That driver folder still exits in C:\NVIDIA\Display Driver. I installed the latest nVidia driver - 195.62 - right after the motherboard drivers (second thing). The driver version in device manager is 8.17.11.9562. The option to roll back the driver is grayed out. There are no hardware conflicts.

Memtest and Prime95 tests are clean. I have 6GB of 1333 memory "overclocked" to 1333 in bios. This is because the i7-920 is a "fixed" processor and only defaults to 1066 memory.

Originally (day 1-2) the event occured when trying to switch to an aero theme. Today (day 5) I am using a modified aero theme and have no problems. Is it possible that Windows 7 applied a bug fix transparently?

I have researched and there are many possible solutions offered. The most common is to to re-expand the nvlddmkm.sys file in System32. What do you folks here think/suggest I do?

Try to remove one memory module. If it helps, discuss here:

Driver Stopped Responding And Recovered!

Regards
Alex

I have tried everything regarding memory to no avail. The problem remains.
It's back now with a vengeance. Now the system blue-screens coming out of sleep (screen blinks in and out 4-5 times then crash).
In the past I reset the memory to Auto in Bios, set it at it's lowest speed, taken modules out, switched them, run memtest, and even let Windows Memory Diagnostics Tool give it a go. No change in behavior.
Today I completely uninstalled all nVidia drivers and software, deleted the folder, and rebooted. Windows installed "Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 (MS Corp - WDDM v1.1" device with a v8.15.11.8593 driver (it did this even though I had turned off "auto hardware download and install" feature). It did not crash coming out of sleep but did crash loading AutoCad Lt 2010. I reinstalled the newest nVidia driver 195.62 download. System crashed after blinking during the nVidia install (changing screen res). Changed desktop to Windows Classic and retried. Success. Changed back to Aero desktop - crash coming out of sleep. Nothing solved.

I am going to post over on "Crashes" forum with all my error reports and see what we can determine from that. (I posted this in Video hoping it was a common prob with an easy fix).

Try this then post back -- start - control panel - admin tools - services -

Scroll down and disable the two Nvidia services ( I attached a picture ) . that should fix your issues ..

No joy. I stopped and disabled the services. crash coming out of sleep mode. crash running AutoCad 2010.
If I use a basic theme I seem to be able to use sleep mode.

I just went into the "nVidia Control Panel" > 3D Settings > "Adjust Image Settings With Preview" > and selected "Use My Preference for..." radio button and the driver wigged out before I could move the slider. Display Driver stopped a couple times and recovered before I was able to reselect "Let the 3D application decide" again and close the window with a "nVidia Control Panel has stopped responding" > Close the program option.

and you restarted the computer ??

I put in a new GeForce 9500GT card and the latest nVidia drivers (195.62) and all my video issues are gone. The GTX260 is being RMA'd as we speak.

And we just replaced a 9500GT with 195.62 drivers with another new 9500GT and 196.34 beta drivers. Still gives the "display has recovered" error. I really don't think this is a video card problem, as much as a corrupted drivers by Windows 7/Vista error.

And you could be right. This TDR issue is so prevalent across both Vista and Windows 7 platforms, with both nVidia and ATI engines, and across every brand of video card that it would be foolish to rule that out. The fact that there is no one solution that works for everyone makes it all the more frustrating.

This is a good read: NVIDIA Statement on TDR Errors - NVIDIA Forums

Who made your card? Some brands have the problem more consistently than others. You could check their forums for clues. I suspect that a video card must perform flawlessly to operate in a Windows 7 environment. The 9500GT card I got was from PNY. When I got my replacement GTX260 and installed it the video problems were gone. It could not be more clear, in my case, that the card was the problem.

The drill:
Check the hardware connections - re-seat the video card and memory, make sure the contacts are clean.
Run Memtest and be sure there are no memory errors.
Run Prime95 for 12 hours or more without errors.
Test the power supply. Be sure it has the ample amperage for your card and the system. You can use a multimeter to measure for a steady 12v to the card's power connectors.
Check for and install an updated BIOS, particularly if it says the new BIOS corrects memory errors or bug fixes.
Uninstall all video software and the drivers. (Some people say to run a cleaner program, some say this is unnecessary). Let Windows 7 install it's own driver. Check for video problems using the windows driver.
Install the latest drivers for your card. Or try older drivers. Always completely remove the old stuff every time.
If you have honestly done all of these diagnostics and the card still does not work than there is not much left to consider other than it must be defective. Although two defective cards in a row would be pretty rare.
If you really think the issue is with the OS you might try a new, clean install.
HTH