What is DRIVER-VERIFIER-FAIL?
DRIVER-VERIFIER-FAIL is a critical-severity system driver problem. Windows Driver Verifier detected illegal driver behavior in memory or IRQL. Use the steps below to track down and fix the cause.
Common Causes
- Driver accessed invalid memory
- IRQL violation
- Stack overflow in driver
Step-by-Step Fix Guide
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1
Identify the culprit of the crash dump in WinDbg
Most reports of DRIVER-VERIFIER-FAIL clear up after Identify the culprit of the crash dump in WinDbg, so it's worth trying before anything more involved.
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2
Uninstall or update the detected driver
When the first step isn't enough, the later steps handle the edge cases tied to drivers instability.
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3
Turn off Driver Verifier after diagnosis
This step, "Turn off Driver Verifier after diagnosis", specifically rules out driver accessed invalid memory.
Commands & Diagnostics
verifier /reset
verifier /query
Frequently Asked Questions
Driver accessed invalid memory accounts for the majority of DRIVER-VERIFIER-FAIL reports; IRQL violation and stack overflow in driver come up less often but are documented.
The fastest fix is "Identify the culprit of the crash dump in WinDbg". Only move on to the later steps if DRIVER-VERIFIER-FAIL keeps coming back.
Treat DRIVER-VERIFIER-FAIL as urgent — it's flagged critical severity, meaning repeated occurrences risk data loss or hardware damage.
Usually. DRIVER-VERIFIER-FAIL is fixable with the steps above; a full Windows reinstall is rarely necessary unless everything else has failed.
Sometimes. Microsoft regularly releases patches that fix known BSOD triggers including DRIVER-VERIFIER-FAIL. Make sure Windows is fully up to date via Settings → Windows Update before attempting more advanced fixes.
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