I have a thorny problem with my video.

 

About two weeks ago suddenly my video would just go out meaning a black screen for maybe 3 seconds and then all would return with a message saying the Nvidia driver stopped responding and it has recovered. This could happen two to three times per day with  seemingly no reason. I ran every diagnostic I have including complete virus scans and malware scans with no result. At about the time this thing started to happen the only thing on my computer that changed was I downloaded the Orbx vector updated version. I had the original vector and never had this problem.  I reinstalled the video driver with no result, I downloaded the latest video driver with no result, I downloaded an older video driver with no result.

 

I then went into windows and manually uninstalled the display adapter software and let windows reinstall it. The problem vanished...until I used FSX again and then it reappeared. it seems FSX or something in it is corrupting the driver. In particular the issue is with file windows\system32\drivers\nviddmkm.sys.

 

Once the problem starts the only way to stop it is to do the adapter uninstall and then all is well for days at a time and then once into FSX it starts and continues even after FSX is shut down. A couple times my system actually crashed and rebooted though that only happened twice.

 

Alienware Aurora R4, I-7 Extreme, 16G, Nvidia 580Ti, windows 7.

 

 

Of course if I go to Orbx they will say the issue is unique and it's not their software. I checked their forums and don't see anyone reporting this issue.

 

Anyone have any ideas?

No you are not alone- I had the same problem upon updating my drivers to the 335.XX series. Constant 3-second black screen, then a return to normal with a "NVIDIA has recovered" message.

 

My fix however was to open my case, vacuum everything out, reseat the cables/videocard. It was dusty in there! I noticed the problem kept recurring even after rolling back to my old 327.85 drivers. I'm not sure it was software related on my end, but I haven't experienced the problem since.