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How to identify driver conflicts on Windows 10. How to identify problematic drivers using Driver Verifier

The Driver Verifier utility (verifier.exe) is designed to analyze problematic drivers when analysis of memory dumps after a BSOD does not allow finding the problematic driver. Driver Verifier is a “lifesaver” in the most problematic situations.

With Driver Verifier you can:

    driver stress test (resource shortage conditions are simulated);

    buffer overflow control;

    control over errors that occur due to incorrect operation at a given IRQL;

    I/O error analysis;

    detection of deadlock situations, etc.

The Driver Verifier utility is very useful when:

    the administrator (user) has suspicions that this particular driver is causing the system to crash and he wants to further check whether this is actually the case;

    driver developers want to test their driver;

    When analyzing a dump after a BSOD, it is impossible to find the problematic driver.

One of the most difficult cases of analyzing memory dumps is when a driver mistakenly overwrites data before or after the end of the buffer it allocated. In such cases, errors occur in the OS kernel (for example, analysis of a dump after a BSOD shows that the error occurred in ntoskrnl.exe).

Let's look at a similar case at specific example. Using the NotMyfault utility, we cause BSOD - “Buffer overflow”.

The result of dump analysis using windbg is attached below.

According to the dump analysis we get:

1. Arg1: 00000007, Attempt to free pool which was already freed (an attempt was made to release an already freed pool)

2. IMAGE_NAME: ntkrpamp.exe (the core of the system itself has something to do with this)

It is with such errors that verifier comes to the rescue.

Launch verifier.

Select “Create non-standard parameters”. Next, select “Select parameters from list”.

Select everything except “Simulate resource shortage”.

Then select “Select unloaded drivers for this list” and specify the path to the myfault.sys driver, which is located in the same directory as the NotMyfault.exe program.

Then mark the driver and click “Finish”. After this, we need to reboot the computer.

We perform all the same actions as at the beginning. Run NotMyfault.exe, select “Buffer overflow” and click “Crash”. As you noticed, a crash may not happen immediately, since who and when will try to work with this memory is unknown in advance. As you can see in the image below, thanks to the verifier, the system can identify the problematic driver.

I will give an analysis using!analyze –v in windbg.exe of a memory dump after a BSOD.

The verifier program makes it so that the driver being tested, instead of ordinary memory available in the kernel, uses a special pool designed to detect such an error. Thanks to this, you can find the driver that causes the BSOD.

If we look at the results of the analysis, we see the following.

1. DRIVER_PAGE_FAULT_BEYOND_END_OF_ALLOCATION (d6) – this is one of the errors that is generated by verifier

2. IMAGE_NAME: myfault.sys – driver that caused the problem.

Thus, if analyzing a memory dump after a BSOD does not allow you to find the “culprit driver,” use the verifier.exe program (install all checks, except for lack of memory).

The simplest way to use Driver Verifier (verifier.exe) is to run it with the following parameters:

verifier /standard /driver driver file name

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Users who have at least once reinstalled the Windows operating system on their own have had a question about what drivers need to be installed after this for the normal operation of all devices connected to the computer. In this article, we'll look at how to check drivers on Windows 10. The instructions below are also suitable for other versions of the system.

How to check driver version

If you try to figure it out, it will become clear that drivers must be installed on the computer for all devices, both external (mouse, keyboard, joystick) and built-in (video card, network adapter, processor). Microsoft developers are trying their best to make life easier for users, significantly expanding the internal driver base with each update, but sometimes you still have to search for software and manually install it. Now we will present four ways to check drivers on Windows 7, 8 and 10.

Method 1: official websites of manufacturers

The most reliable way to get the latest software for your devices is to download them directly from the manufacturer's official website. But you should understand that these manipulations are primary and will not provide all devices with drivers. But that's the point, first you need to update the main components: motherboard, processor and video card. But first you need to find out the name and model.

Find out the motherboard model

To find out the manufacturer and model motherboard, you need to do the following:

  1. Open the Run window. To do this, press the Win+R buttons on your keyboard.
  2. In the window that appears, enter and execute it by clicking “OK”.
  3. The Command Prompt window will appear. In it, write two commands in turn: wmic baseboard get Manufacturer and wmic baseboard get product.
  4. The output for the first command will indicate the manufacturer of the board, and the second - its model.

Remember the name, you will need it to find the appropriate driver.

Find out the model of the video card and processor

You can find out the manufacturer and model of the video chip and processor in almost the same way:

  1. Open the Run window.
  2. Enter the dxdiag command into it.
  3. Click OK.
  4. In the window that appears, go to the “Screen” tab.
  5. In the “Device” category, opposite the lines “Name”, “Manufacturer” and “Chip Type”, the relevant information regarding the computer processor will be indicated.
  6. Go to the "Converter" tab.
  7. By analogy with the processor, all necessary information about the video card.

Write down all the information you receive so you can search for the appropriate drivers for your computer components.

We are looking for drivers

Knowing the names of all devices for which drivers need to be installed, you can easily find the software for them directly.

  1. Go to any search engine.
  2. Enter the name and model of the component that needs updating.
  3. Go to the manufacturer's official website.
  4. In the site interface, find search bar and run a query with the device name.
  5. Find the corresponding driver in the search results.
  6. Download it to your computer.
  7. Install.

This is how you can easily update the main components of your computer. Now you know the first way to check your computer drivers, but it is far from the last.

Method 2: Driver update programs

The previous method of how to check drivers may seem quite complicated to you, and to some extent this is true. For the average user it will be much easier to use special programs, which in automatic mode scan your computer for outdated versions software and will offer appropriate updates for them. One such program is Driver Booster.

  1. Launch the program.
  2. Click the "Scan" button.
  3. Wait for this process to complete.
  4. As a result, devices that need updating will be displayed.
  5. If you want to install new versions of individual software, then click “Install” next to the corresponding component.
  6. If you decide to update all components at once, click the corresponding button on the top panel of the program.

Immediately after this, the process of downloading and then installing drivers for computer devices will begin. Your computer may restart several times during this step.

Method 3: Online Services

Someone fundamentally does not want to install additional software on their computer, in which case there is an excellent way to check drivers on Windows 10 and in general all other versions of the OS, which involves using online services.

  1. Open "Device Manager" and look in it for the device ID for which you want to download the driver.
  2. Go to an online service to search for drivers by their ID.
  3. On home page Enter the identifier in the search bar and click the “Find” button.
  4. The output will display a list of all drivers suitable for your equipment.
  5. Select the one you like and click the “Download” button.
  6. Install.

As you can see, this is perhaps the most quick way, how to check drivers on a computer, but it can’t help everyone.

Method 4: updating with standard operating system tools

Is an update required, how can I check the drivers? You can also update them without using additional software through the Device Manager utility.

  1. In the system search, enter “Device Manager” and launch the corresponding program from the results.
  2. In the list of all devices, select the one you want to update.
  3. Click on it right click mice.
  4. Select "Update Drivers" from the menu.
  5. In the new window, click the "Update automatically" button.

After this, the computer will independently try to find and install new versions of drivers for the component. This method is not always effective, since the software search is carried out by internal base Microsoft.

A faulty driver can cause many problems for your computer. The most common sign that drivers need updating is " blue screen Fortunately, this blue screen is shown to us by error codes, memory dumps, which allows us to identify the cause in a particular driver, device and update it or remove it. It becomes difficult when memory dumps and error codes do not help or the computer does not even show error codes, but simply blocks the system. What to do in these cases?

Built into Windows system Driver Verifier designed to test drivers by placing additional stress on system drivers and stress tests to trigger a crash. This will help you identify bad drivers in Windows.

Preparing the system for checking Windows 10 drivers

Before turning on Driver Verifier, please note that Drivers can lock you out of your own computer if you're not careful. Driver Verifier, when it detects a bad driver, will give you a blue screen; if there are several of them, then a load>load>crash cycle will form and you will not be able to start back into windows system to disable crash testing of system drivers. Therefore, we will be prepared for every firefighter, otherwise in our time the Russian “maybe it’ll give you a ride” is no longer working well. Before enabling driver verification, do one of the following:.

  • Check that you can easily boot into Safe Mode without BIOS required. In ordinary words, the entrance to safe mode must be done using worker windows table. Hold Shift+reboot, press and hold the Shift button and click on reboot. Try another way, install the option through Windows.
  • Create a system restore point while disabling antivirus products. Open Windows search and dial Creating a restore point, select from what is offered and follow the instructions given to you.
  • Create for your computer to have command line access through options when using the recovery disk.
  • You can or any other data that you are worried about.
  • Be sure to read my crash test at the end of the article. He will help you in case of failure, which happened to me.

Activating the Windows Driver Verifier function

Before activating the drivers, make sure you read the section above on how to protect yourself from endless loading.

  • Press Windows+R and type cmd to open Command Prompt.

Enter the following code into the command line:

  • verifier

Specify the item (for program code).

Select all options except "DDI compliance check" and "Random resource shortage emulation".

Click on the supplier column to sort. It is not necessary to select all drivers, only from other suppliers where there is no Microsoft Corporation inscription. If you are sure that the error is in any driver, then check all the boxes.


After all the settings, click Finish and you will be told that the check will be performed after the system reboots. If the checker gives you a blue screen, write down the error code, a memory dump, and restart your computer.

Once back in Windows, you can disable driver verification in one of the following ways:

  • Log back in as you did through the command line and select remove existing settings.

Open a command prompt and enter the following code:

How to Fix Boot Loops with Blue Screen of Death

  1. I would like to note that I experienced a cyclic boot with a faulty driver. There was no error or memory dump code listed, which is surprising to me.
  2. After 2-4 cyclic blue screen loading, the "system restore" option was automatically launched. In which I clicked "troubleshooting" > "advanced options" > "boot options" > "restart". Once booted, select 4 or 5 to boot into Safe Mode. Disable Driver Verifier Manager as mentioned above.
  3. To avoid booting into Safe Mode, go to Troubleshooting > Advanced Options and COMMAND LINE. In which just enter the command verifier /bootmode resetonbootfail.
  4. Copy or take a photo to your mobile phone, before starting the driver check, all 3 above points. Don't forget to copy the link to the article just in case.

How to open a DMP file to view error analysis

  • The test files are on the path C:\Windows\Minidump.
  • You can open the DMP file format using

Sometimes DRIVER_VERIFIER_DETECTED_VIOLATION blue screen errors related to hardware can be caused by corruption RAM(RAM). If you are experiencing random computer reboots, sound signals When booting or other computer malfunctions (in addition to BSOD errors 0xC4), it is very likely that there is memory corruption. In fact, almost 10% of application crashes on Windows OS are caused by memory corruption.

If you've recently added new memory to your computer, we recommend temporarily removing it to make sure it's not causing the DRIVER_VERIFIER_DETECTED_VIOLATION error. If this action resolves the BSOD, then this is the source of the problem and therefore the new memory is either incompatible with some of your hardware or is damaged. In this case, you will need to replace new memory modules.

If you did not add new memory, the next step is to run a diagnostic test on your computer's existing memory. A memory test will scan for hard memory failures and intermittent errors that could be causing your 0xC4 blue screen of death.

Although the latest Windows versions contain a utility for testing RAM, I highly recommend using Memtest86 instead. Memtest86 is a testing tool software BIOS-based, unlike other test programs run in Windows environment. The advantage of this approach is that the utility allows you to check ALL operational memory for DRIVER_VERIFIER_DETECTED_VIOLATION errors, while other programs cannot check memory areas occupied by the program itself, the operating system and other running programs.

Indicates a system driver that is unlikely to be causing the problem (for example, win32k.sys). In this case, a serious analysis of the dump will be required, requiring very deep knowledge and experience in this area. However, you can check your drivers yourself using the operating system's built-in driver checker. Verifier.exe. Although it is covered in detail in the Microsoft knowledge base article Using the Driver Verifier to troubleshoot Windows driver problems, the material presented there is presented at a fairly advanced technical level. Below is brief description actions that need to be taken to check drivers.

On this page

Getting started with the Driver Verifier

On the menu Start - Execute(or Start - Search) enter verifier and press Enter. The Driver Checker will launch. Select an item Create non-standard parameters (for program code) and press the button Next.

Select individual options from full list and press the button Next.

In the next step, check all the boxes except Simulating resource shortages and press the button Next.

In the next step, select Automatically select unsigned drivers and press the button Next. If no unsigned drivers are found, go to .

Unsigned drivers

If unsigned drivers are detected, you will see a list of them.

Drivers can belong to both devices and applications. Do not close the Driver Verifier window or click the Next Now.

Search for updated drivers

You need to check if there are updated drivers.

  1. If you see an application driver in the list, visit its manufacturer's website - the application may have been updated. If there is no updated version, you can try uninstalling the app (you can always reinstall it later). If critical errors stop, that was the cause.
  2. If you see a device driver in the list and you are working in Windows Vista use the center Windows updates to search for new drivers. This method works well for Windows Vista because many device manufacturers work with Microsoft to make their drivers available for download. Windows Update. In Control Panel, select Windows Update and check for updates to your device driver. If the driver is found, install it.
  3. If Windows Update doesn't offer you new drivers, visit the device manufacturer's website. Perhaps new drivers are available there. If you have problems finding drivers, please contact the forum on the site.

After updating an application or driver, close the Driver Verifier window. pressing a button Cancel(not Next) . Restart your computer and continue using the operating system. If the critical error no longer occurs, you have resolved it by updating the driver.

Removing drivers

If new drivers cannot be found, try uninstalling the driver.

Attention! Removing drivers leads to device inoperability. After reboot at best operating system will install the appropriate driver from its own driver repository. If you are not sure whether to remove a particular driver, do not remove it.

In Device Manager ( Start - Search / Run - devmgmt.msc - OK) find the device, right-click on it and select from context menu paragraph Properties. Then go to the tab Driver and press the button Delete.

Checking for unsigned drivers

Attention! After checking unsigned drivers, the system may not boot (described below is how to act in such a situation).

If you do not want to remove the driver and/or want to check for unsigned drivers, in the Driver Verifier window, click Next. You will be prompted to select a physical disk.

Ready, then restart your computer. If after rebooting you see a blue screen with an error, the problematic driver has been identified - its name will be included in the error message. Restart your computer and enter safe mode by clicking F8 Start - Search / Run team verifier.exe /reset.

If the system boots into normal mode, the check for unsigned drivers completed successfully - they are not the source of the problem. You can see a list of tested drivers by running verifier.exe .

Because unsigned drivers are not the cause critical error, you need to check other drivers.

Custom driver check

If no unsigned drivers are found or checking them does not reveal any problems, you will have to perform a custom driver check. In this case, in the window shown below, select Select driver name from the list.

In the next step, you will be asked to select drivers to scan. Don't select all drivers at once, since checking them will take a lot of time and system resources.

Therefore, the verification may have to be carried out in several stages. The step-by-step sequence for selecting drivers could be as follows:

  1. Recently updated drivers or those that typically cause problems (drivers antivirus programs, firewalls, virtual disks).
  2. Drivers not supplied by Microsoft.
  3. Group of 10 - 15 drivers at a time.

Select the drive on which the operating system is installed and click Ready, then restart your computer.

Attention! After checking the drivers, the system may not boot (described below is how to act in such a situation).

If after rebooting you see a blue screen with an error, the problematic driver has been identified - its name will be included in the error message. Restart your computer and enter safe mode by clicking F8 when loading. After logging in, reset all driver verification settings by entering Start - Search / Run team verifier.exe /reset.

If the system boots in normal mode, the check of the selected drivers was completed successfully - they are not the source of the problem. You can see a list of tested drivers by running verifier.exe and selecting the item in the first step Display information about currently verified drivers.

Now select the next driver group and check again.

All drivers have been checked - what next?

If the check of all drivers was successful, I have to take my hat off to your patience and perseverance. Most likely, drivers are not the cause of the critical error occurring on your system. It is possible that the problem lies in the hardware of your computer - for example, a faulty hard drive or RAM, or the power supply is not powerful enough to power all devices. There may be other hardware problems that also cannot be identified by checking the drivers.

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