BSOD Attempt to reset display driver failed. Prevents win7 reinstall.

[Drish]

A week or so ago my Dell XPS 16 laptop screen would not turn on and I had to connect to my external monitor to see anything... the display was stretched and every time I tried to run the computer in normal mode this BSOD saying "Attempt to reset display driver and recover from timeout failed." then the computer would restart and give me boot menu.

The only way to get into the computer was through safe mode. In safe mode, I fiddled around a bunch with installing drivers from AMD catalyst since at one point it was missing. I couldn't fix it, so I decided to format my computer and re-install windows from the disk that came with the laptop.

The installation process stopped just after the setup said that it's updating registry settings... and again the same BSOD appeared, which restarted the computer. I tried using the driver and utilities disk that came with the laptop but I couldn't figure out how to fix the driver, or if I could... without windows being installed on the system.

I want to know if there's any way I can fix the drivers before I install windows 7 SO I can actually install it... or if I can somehow get around the BSOD and install windows 7, then fix the drivers with the disk.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Hello and welcome Drish mate if it were me I would do this then do the drivers
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/219487-clean-reinstall-factory-oem-windows-7-a.html

Alternatively you could try these in safe mode to start with.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1538-sfc-scannow-command-system-file-checker.html

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/433-disk-check.html

PS Meant to mention it will get rid of the bloatware form Dell too

 

[Golden]

BSOD 116's can be extremely difficult to solve. Since you get this during a clean installation, it is suggestive of a hardware error on the card.

To start with, blow out all the vents on the laptop. Ensure there is nothing blocking the vents and re-try the clean install.