Display driver issues are common computer problems that may occur when your graphics card, or the software that runs it, has issues. It’s important to diagnose and fix any display driver issues to ensure a smooth user experience.
What Causes Display Driver Issues?
There are several potential causes of display driver issues. The most common cause is either an outdated or corrupt driver, a faulty hardware component, a conflict with another application or device driver, or a virus or malware infection. These issues can prevent your system from using the full capability of your graphics card, prevent you from installing new drivers, or even make your screen go black or blue.
How to Diagnose and Troubleshoot Display Driver Issues
Before attempting to diagnose and troubleshoot display driver issues, it’s important to check for updates for Windows and your graphics card. Intel and AMD both have automated driver update utilities that can be used to check for the latest versions of their graphics cards. NVIDIA also provides a driver update utility, but you can also download the latest GeForce driver from its website.
If you’re running Windows 10, you can also use the Windows Update tool to look for the latest updates for your system. To do this, launch the Settings app, select “Update & Security”, and then click the “Check for Updates” button.
Once you’ve made sure your system has all the latest updates, it’s time to actually diagnose and troubleshoot any display driver issues.
1. Check Device Manager
The first place to start is to open Device Manager on your computer (you can type “Device Manager” in the Start Menu to find it). Here, you should look for anything related to Display Adapters to see if there are any issues with your graphics card. If you see any yellow exclamation points or “unknown device” entries, then this indicates an issue.
2. Reinstall Your Graphics Card Drivers
If you’ve determined that there’s an issue with your graphics card drivers, then it’s time to reinstall them. First, you’ll need to download the correct drivers for your system. Intel, AMD, and NVIDIA all have driver download pages on their websites.
Once you’ve downloaded the drivers, you can use the Device Manager to uninstall your current graphics card driver by right-clicking on it and selecting “Uninstall”. After it’s been removed, you can then install the new drivers by simply running the installer.
3. Uninstall Conflicting Applications and Drivers
If you’ve determined that your display driver issue is caused by a conflict with another application or driver, then it’s time to find out what it is. You can use the Task Manager to determine which processes and applications are currently running and look for any that could potentially be causing a conflict with your graphics card.
Once you’ve identified a possible culprit, you can use the Add/Remove Programs feature in Windows to uninstall it. If it turns out that the application or driver you uninstalled was causing the problem, then reinstalling it can help resolve the issue.
4. Scan For Viruses and Malware
If none of the above methods work, then it’s possible that your display driver issue is being caused by a virus or malware infection. In this case, it’s important to scan your system for viruses and malware using a reliable security program. If it finds any malicious software, you should follow the instructions to remove it from your system.
After you’ve completed these steps, it’s time to restart your system and see if the issue has been resolved. If not, then you may need to contact technical support for more specific advice.