How to Fix Driver Power State Failure in Windows 10

The dreaded "Blue Screen of Death" or BSOD is that all-too-familiar Windows error screen that seems to pop up at random with a blue background and a scary looking error message. Often, these error screens is not actually as severe as they seem, and can be fixed relatively easily.

The important thing is to pay attention to the specific error message you are given, and that can lead you to the solution. One of the common errors that people see when they see the Blue Screen of Death is "DRIVER POWER STATE FAILURE" - as seen below:

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If you should ever see this error, there are a few things you can try to fix it.

What the Error Means

This error is usually related to either power settings on the PC, or driver issues with certain devices. The error is usually caused when a device goes "to sleep," due to not being needed at the time, and then a signal is sent to the device to bring it out of sleep mode, but the device does not respond. The result is the "Driver Power State Failure" error message you see above.

How to Fix the Error

The error can sometimes be fixed by modifying the power settings related to the PC and certain components of it. Another possible fix would be to update or remove corrupt drivers of those PC components.

Table of Contents

Method 1 - Modify Power Settings

The following steps can be followed on a computer running the latest release of Windows 10.

  1. Type "Control Panel" into the Search bar at the bottom left, near the Start menu. Then "Control Panel" will display in the menu. Click on it to open Control Panel.

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  2. Once Control Panel opens, click on the section called "Hardware and Sound."

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  3. Next, click on the "Power Options" section.

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  4. Find the Power Plan that is currently in use (it will be selected with a radio button), and click the "Change plan settings" link to the right. In this example, the "Balanced" plan is currently in use.

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  5. Click on "Change advanced power settings."

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  6. A new windows will open titled "Power Options." You may need to click the link called "Change settings that are currently unavailable," if this is visible.

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  7. Scroll down to "PCI Express" and expand "Link State Power Management." For both "On battery" and "Plugged in" options, make sure that "Maximum power savings" is selected.

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    Note: On some PC's, you might see "Graphics Settings" instead of "PCI Express." If so, just follow the same steps as above.

  8. Also locate the "Wireless Adapter Settings" section, expand "Power Savings Mode," and make sure that both "On battery" and "Plugged in" options are set to "Maximum Performance."

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If modifying the Power Options settings does not work, then next thing to look at is a possible driver issue with one or more components.

Method 2: Update or Remove Problem Drivers

In order to check for drivers that may be having issues, you will first need to open Device Manager:

  1. With Windows 10 version 1803 (and possibly older versions), you can simply right-click the Start menu and click on Device Manager:

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    If the Device Manager option is not available when right-clicking the Start menu, simply type "Device Manager" in the Search box and it will be displayed.

  2. When Device Manager opens, look for any warning icons next to any of the devices, usually indicated by a small, yellow exclamation point. Sometimes these problematic devices will show up under the section called "Other devices."/p>

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  3. Right-click on the device and select "Uninstall device." This will remove the driver from your system.

  4. Reboot your PC and then go back to check Device Manager again. If Windows has found drivers for the device, it will have reinstalled them and hopefully the yellow exclamation mark is no longer there. If so, the device should be functioning properly now.

    If you still see the yellow exclamation mark, or the device still shows as "Other devices" or "Unknown," then you can select "Update driver" from the right-click menu and you will see the screen below. Select "Search automatically for updated driver software."

    How to Fix Driver Power State Failure in Windows 10 - Image 12

Note - If you have a driver installation file or disk, you can select the other option, "Browse my computer for driver software," and it will allow you to point to a target location where the driver software is located.

Another option to update your driver software is to use the Automatic Driver Update Utility, offered on DriverGuide's website. This software will scan your PC for any drivers that need to be updated, and automatically find and update the needed drivers.

We hope this article has helped you with the "Driver Power State Failure" error, if you have encountered this on your PC. One of the two methods described above should lead you to the solution for this error. Blue Screen of Death errors don't always have to mean "death" - in cases like this, the problem may be easy to solve and you can continue using your PC.

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