Display Driver atikmdag / nvlddmkm Stopped Responding

Atikmdag / nvlddmkm fix update
I would just like to say thanks to all those who have posted their fixes in the comments section below!
- 3.12.2008 - More and more solutions have been posted below
- 14.3.2008 - More solutions have been submitted below
- 24.12.2007 - Seems some are having success using a variety of methods see the comments below
- 1.11.2007 - If you have found a solution please leave a comment below - click here
Purpose of this article
This error has been a constant problem on my new PC for the last 8 months. This particular error exists on both ATI and Nvidia cards and on a whole range of different PC builds.
The error you receive on the cards is different because obviously the driver that stops has a different name, but the symptom is the same, the screen will go blank and then sometimes the game/application will recover or it may crash. A small message will appear on the bottom right hand side of your screen if you are using Vista.
ATI Cards: Atikmdag has stopped responding and has successfully recovered
Nvidia Cards: nvlddmkm has stopped responding and has successfully recovered
This page contains all the information I have collected and possible fixes and puts them in one place.
This page will be constantly updated until a 100% Fix is found - the fixes that are listed work for some but not for others - so you might have to experiment a little until a solution is found
I will point Nvidia users to the best solutions for them and then list possible fixes for ATI users - I am a ATI card user myself and have found a few fixes which increase the stability of my system - this has reduced the frequency of the error but has not eliminated it entirely.
Best Forum Discussions about the atikmdag / nvlddmkm error
ATI atikmdag Discussions
Nvidia nvlddmkm Discussions
Fix 1 - Vista Users - ATI and Nvidia Users
Windows Hot fixes
Some users have solved the problem by actually uninstalling a windows hot fix, the "KB952287" patch. (Vista Users)
Matthew Utah
Posted at 6:14pm on August 25th, 2008
I had this problem and found it quite annoying. Due to other circumstances, I reinstalled Windows Vista, and found that I did not have this problem before installing updates. In fact, installing update KB952287 caused this problem to start, and when I installed this update, it went away.
I looked up the update, and it deals with some very specific SQL server issues that I will likely never deal with, so it will stay gone on my machine.
Karen Texas
Thank you Matthew from Utah!
Your solution worked for me.
I un-installed "update KB952287" and the problem is gone.
I also use the AMD 780G chip set.
Possible Helpful Patches
- KB938194 - An update is available that improves the compatibility and reliability of Windows Vista
- KB938979 - An update is available that improves the performance and reliability of Windows Vista
You may have these fixes installed already, write them down then check if you have them installed.
To check if you have them : start menu / control panel / system and maintenance / Windows updates / View update history
Fix 2 - Only using one stick of Ram - All Users
According to several posts I have read over the internet a sure-fire way to rid yourself of this problem is to only have one stick of ram in your PC. I personally have not tried this method as I only have 2gb of ram, reducing it to 1gb would not be enough for me as I am using Vista and have to run several applications.
quote from ocforums:
'Drivers, software, vista driver structure and sub-level timings, etc...simplest way to get rid of the problem is to run one single RAM stick...I kid u not. 1 ram stick and u will see the issue vanish almost instantly!'
If you are so sick of this problem and can reduce your PC to only one stick of ram then give it a go.
*Warning* Only remove ram if you know what you are doing - you can quite easily damage your components if you are not use to repairing computers.
Fix 3 - Cleaning the Registry
Some people report cleaning the registry has solved the problem for them.
Registry Cleaners with Free Software Trials Here
Fix 4 - ATI users XP and Vista - Total Fix of the atikmdag error on my System
*Warning* You do all of this at your own risk - I am not responsible if anything goes wrong
Update 30.9.2007: I managed to totally remove my atikmdag error now following the information below
My PC Build:
- P5W DH Deluxe
- Intel Core 2 Duo 6300
- 2gb Geil Ram 800 mhz
- Radeon HIS IceQ3 Turbo 1950 Pro
Tools you need:
Effectiveness of Fix
- Battlefield 2 (before: error every 45mins - After - Never)
- Company of Heroes (before: error every 3 - 4 min's - After Never)
- Neverwinter Nights 2 (before: error every 3 - 5 min's - After Never)
Stage 1
- Disable UAC - Vista Users (see below) - reboot
- Disable any Antivirus software
- Remove Current drivers
- Reboot into safe mode - to do this you wait until after the bios screen has disappeared (bios is the start-up screen) then tap the F8 key until the windows booting options come up - select safe mode
- Run Driver cleaner - select the following options below and then click start

- Empty your recycle bin
- Reboot into normal mode
- Install Catalyst 7.9
- Turn Antivirus and UAC back on
- Reboot your PC
Stage 2
This stage is what removed the error for me. My ATI card is a HIS Ice3q 1950 Pro which is an overclocked video card. Doing some research I found that it wasn't very stable running at the speeds it is set at, so I made one small change to the VPU clock speed. Obviously I don't know what card you have and weather this will make any difference for you, but I can say that before most games had this error every 5 minutes of game play and after I haven't had the error since.
On the ATI tool main menu you will have your graphics card clock speeds. My core speed was 621 I reduced this to 600 and pressed set clock - the tool set it to 594 - I saved the profile and that was it - that little adjustment removed the error. Your graphics card will run at different speeds to mine, but it might be worth dropping the core speed by 20 points to test if this works - also make sure you go to stage 3 as well.
Stage 3
- In ATI tool select the setting button - bottom right of the main panel
- At the top - open the menu and scroll down and choose 'Fan control'
- Tick the box 'Override Fan Speeds'
Select dynamic based on GPU temperature and set it up like the screenshot above - save this profile so you can load it the next time you need it - then press apply - *Warning* - Some say that fix the percentage at 100% and that's it, but I wouldn't advise that as you may wear out your fan much faster than normal.
I'm hoping the above has also fixed your error - if it has or hasn't leave a comment at the bottom of this page.
Fix 5- Various methods that work for some - Vista Users
Reading through all the hundreds of posts I took down notes and kept a record of what worked for some people, some responded saying that it worked, some say it made no difference. So give some of these a try and see if it makes a change.
Turning off Aero: Start / control panel / under appearance and personalization / change the color scheme / Select Windows classic theme and apply.
Turning off UAC (User Account Control) - *Warning* UAC is designed to help keep your PC more secure - try this if nothing else works, turn it back on if it doesn't help.
Type msconfig into the search bar (pic below) - run the program
Select tools and scroll down to disable UAC and click launch (see pic) - reboot your PC

Fix 6 - More Possible solutions to the atikmdag / nvlddmkm error
This is basically as far as it goes for now, but these are few other fixes that you could try:
Fixes from comments below:
Robb from Canada:
Had the same problem until I set my bios setting to auto! Now everything is good to go!
Steve from Australia:
If you are using EXTENDED DESKTOP WITH DUAL MONITORS then disable it and revert back to using one monitor.Ta Da! no more crashes!
Greg from UK:
I have got the system stable by uninstalling the ati driver and using the standard vista vga driver, aero and window transparency don't work, nor do any of the screen savers but no more BSOD..
- Possible fix - worth a try - Vista Users
- Another possible fix for Vista users from the Hard Forum
Still Isn't Fixed? - if you still have problems or can offer a solution to the atikmdag or nvlddmkm error please post a comment below - Thanks!
Comments to date: 108. Page 1 of 2. Article Rating: 
trey texas |
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woooooooooo thank u guys so much!!! | |
Toni Finland | Posted at 8:44pm on January 1st, 2009 |
KB953186 did the trick on vista. | |
James UK |
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Hi, | |
Jack UK |
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This is bad, I have tried all fixes without success. Including buying additional hardware. | |
Eduardo Dias |
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guys I finally found my fix if you have an asus mobo try setting your dram frequency to match your ram speed and check your ram manufacturer for the appropriate dram voltage and set the according to recommendations | |
fritz137 Georgia |
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I was able to fix this problem by disabling Aero on Vista. | |
grbenny Oregon |
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I have been having this same problem while using a Samsung external monitor with my Toshiba laptop. | |
jhkim Korea |
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The Matthews solution also worked for me. | |
Im not a genius Satu Mare |
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I THINK I FOUND THE PROBLEM!! Guys,you wont f***ing believe me. I have the same problem you have,that error with your display driver has stopped working when I want to play half life2 or any game related to it. | |
Wim Verstraeten Lovenjoel |
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After 2 years of crashes I lowered the Memory Bus of my MSI8800GTX with +- 50Mhz and everything works perfect now. I use NVidia NTune on VISTA 32. | |
Henry Innis Australia, Sydney |
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Setting up a class action lawsuit against these people (Nvidia, Microsoft Ubisoft ((Ubisoft corrupted my files leading to this problem on my comp))). Email me henryinnis at Yahoo or visit freewebs dot com / SueNvidiaUbisoftMicrosoft | |
Randy Canada |
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After fresh format of Windows vista and latest nvidia drivers, the problem totally disappeared. But make sure you disable automatic updates, cause one of those updates brings back the dreaded error. (nvidmkm) Try it, you'll see | |
David London |
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I would give this a 5, however there is one major problem. I try downloading the file updates but when it comes to installing the, they both say they do not apply to my system...despite the fact I know I am 32bit. | |
jc bacoor, philippines |
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I think they are correct, deleting KB952287 kinda solved my problem. I never crashes now. And then the next morning, Windows Update tries to install that fix again, i just hide it so it wont install ever again! lol | |
Rafael Brazil |
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The problem of my pc was not in it, but an incompatibility between the RAM and motherboard, where attendance has not changed the problem more | |
Lisa Wyoming, USA |
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The one that worked for me was switching the theme to plain old Windows Classic. I didn't even have to reboot. | |
Darcio South Africa |
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I need some help on my hp laptop, 18 ghz amx athlon x2 dual core, hav 1gb mem, nvidia graphics, when I watch movies after 20 mins then I get the nvlddmkm error need some help out there... | |
Karen Texas |
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Thank you Matthew from Utah! | |
Bednar Poland |
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I have just fixed the problem. All I had to do was to disable UAC. Now everything runs error free :-) | |
ricky calgary |
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its not just a vista problem, it also occurs on the XP side of my computer. What I will say is that the problem appears to be chronic in my case, and that it used to crash once and awhile, but now it happens every time I open a game up about 2 minutes in. | |
wiggle tiggle wiggl taggle |
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I play wow and every time I loaded it up I would get the message, I use nvidia by the way. | |
Andrew England |
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MY problem is that i have had nvlddmkm has stopped responding and has successfully recovered since I first played Lara Croft-Basically the first game I ran to test out this computer. | |
Andrew England- | Posted at 4:08pm on August 31st, 2008 |
I have the nvlddmkm driver error, it occurs on the desktop and after use of any games-Lord of The Rings Online has to be played on the medium graphics setting, whereas the computer should enable it to run in ultra high with at least 40 FPS. I have an Nvidia 8800 GT and Vista 64 Bit Home Premium. However upon downloading the widnows updates suggested in Fix 1, | |
Matthew Utah |
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I had this problem and found it quite annoying. Due to other circumstances, I reinstalled Windows Vista, and found that I did not have this problem before installing updates. In fact, installing update KB952287 caused this problem to start, and when I installed this update, it went away. | |
Andreas Germany |
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I had the same Problem in Lord of the rings online. Outside it was ok but wehn i went into Buildings the System came up with an Atikmdag Error. I turned off the "Stencil Shadows" in Graphic menue. Since there the game runs very well. :) | |
Eduardo Dias Portugal |
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i have found a possible solution .for realtek users . | |
Jim Wisconsin |
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New Dell 420 XPS | |
ob2kenob oz |
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I have not tried this yet and judging by how few pots they were in the forums where i found this, it might notbe widely known yet but the people who have tried it are reporting great success: | |
Mike J Arizona |
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Thanks for compiling all this info. I have fought this issue for months now. | |
HaZe303 Sweden |
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New 4850 has huge problems with this issue. Tried all supported drivers: 8.5, 8.6, 8,7beta. No help. I have no issues with TDR with my 8800GTX so Im an inch from selling this damn card and buying a 9800gtx+ instead!!! But thx for trying. | |
andy uk |
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hey guys i just discovered a way to make this work on my IBM lenovo N200 with a Geforce GO 7300 | |
Jack0459 USA | Posted at 9:36pm on July 9th, 2008 |
I just deleted the drivers for the card in safemode and it went away | |
qjkxc6 MO |
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The second monitor enabled was making mine crash a lot, so I turned the color for the second monitor down to 16 bit on the second monitor. It fixed the problem without disabling the second monitor. | |
Dharam London |
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HOW I FIXED this: | |
Rob Newcastle Upon Tyne |
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This is why it all goes wrong in the first place. | |
Rob Newcastle Upon Tyne UK |
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I suffered this for over a week i tried every solution mentioned above, gradually my BSOD became more frequent until i could not even use repair disc on my damaged drive (OS kernel). I decided today to completely remove the hard drive and install it in my XP system as an extra drive, with XP i formatted and defraged the drive and performed a disc check utility then I removed it and installed back into my Vista 64 system and done a fresh install of my OS. Originally this was not working as a repair as ghosts were left behind from the bad driver install which were affecting the smooth operation of the display driver NVLDDMKM | |
Jacob QLD |
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I would be keen to participate in a class action law suit against ATI if anyone is interested in pursuing one? Obviously it is a major problem, and ATI are basically refusing adequate support, to the detriment of many users. Why is nothing being done? | |
Aaron Maryland |
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I fixed it by underclocking my BFG 7800GT-OC back to original specs (400mhz and 1000mhz, down from 425 and 1050 respectively) | |
Henry China |
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I have found that my problem lies in the AMD dual core processer. If I disable one core, then the error never comes up again. But that also reduces the whole system performance. | |
Jim Athens |
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I think that fix no 3 did it for me...just by setting the core speed 20 units lower the world just got better... ;)Thank u very much. | |
André Sweden |
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Had the same problem with my HIS radeon 3870 (factory OC), but ati tools did not work properly. | |
Rob Canada |
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Hey, I just started having this problem 3 days ago. I looked every where on the internet to try and find any kind of fix and so far none of them work. I even got desperate and called Dell but to no avail. I have no idea where the error is happening so I have no idea on how to approach it to try and fix it. If anyone has any idea or suggestions please email me at dumbobob-nospam@msn.com just take out the no spam when your emailing. Here are my specifications | |
murat mgx |
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Amd Phenom 9600 | |
RJ USA |
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When using fix 4, I could not locate the Fan speed option in the ATI Tool settings. Why is that? I use a Radeon X1300 pro | |
Pepe_carlos Madrid |
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Solved !!!!!!! | |
Michael Dees San Diego |
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I down clocked my memory in bios. Frikkin box is rock solid now. | |
FatRider St Louis |
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I have had the nvlddmkm error for about 4 months. This error can be very confusing as it is a blanket error message. Many people tend to blame Nvidia or bad drivers and in many cases this is true. However, this problem can be the result of several different issues. Drivers, heat, bad hardware, corrupt OS... etc. I tried virtually every "fix" out there. After 3 re-installs of Vista, too many driver installs to count, a new video card, we finally determined that my particular problem was a combination of bad RAM and a bad mobo. I am now error free! | |
Edejon Nevada |
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The problem is with CCC. Atikmdag.dll has something to do with how CCC has the video card reference memory. Only install the display driver (catalyst 8.4 for example) and use ati tool or rivatuner to OC and regulate 3D/fan speeds. | |
Josh Australia |
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Hey guys, this trick has worked for me several times and also a lot of friends who has had this problem. | |
Billy Brum, England |
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finally got so fed up i bought an nvidia card and am now running rock solid. wish i just binned that ati card in the first place now instead of wasting money on a new cpu and 2 months of messing with a brand new pc. i will never buy ati again. | |
solu. usa |
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sorry i meant post 576 | |
solu. usa |
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Here it is, the 100% solution, | |
RICHARD COSTA RICA |
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I HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM, I see and hear about this problem in several post in other blogs, and I try too many ways to fix that, and finally I fixed, in my case I only install the video card driver, in the dispositives adm, and Vista reinstall the driver automatically, and done, the problem blow away. | |
coolsystems home |
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fan speed in atitools fixed my HD2600 PRO. | |
Paul R Sydney |
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I tried nearly every suggested fix posted here but in the end the only thing that worked was replacing the NVIDIA Video Card and 2GB of RAM (under warranty !!) I bought an XPS420 Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q6699 @2.4GHz 32 Bit running Windows Vista Home Premium with 4GB RAM and 500mb NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT. I had the same problems with the video card crashing from day one of turnng it on. Now all okay (so far) | |
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