How to Fix Video TDR Failure Error in Windows

Your graphic card needs to communicate with the operating system constantly. If there is no data from the graphic card, you will get the Video TDR (Timeout Detection & Recovery) failure error. TDR failure is one of the Blue Screen Of Death (BSOD) errors that crashes your computer erasing any unsaved task.

TDR is a tool for detecting any failures on GPU and recovering them. If your graphic card is not responding, the TDR detects it and resets your graphic card. 

How to Fix Video TDR Failure?

A computer can get Video TDR Failure BSOD due to two main reasons. You get this problem with some irregularities in the operating system or some hardware issue. First, let’s go through the fixes for your operating system.

Check Your Power Supply 

If your computer PSU (Power Supply Unit) is not enough to run all your add-in components, some of these components will not work. The graphics card will not function if it doesn’t get enough power. Check if the GPU fans are spinning. If not, your graphic card is not getting enough power.

You can easily calculate the power you need for your desktop computer. Websites such as coolermaster and newegg contain a certain section on their page that helps you to calculate the required power for your desktop PC. 

Clean the Graphic Card

If we do not use the desktop computer for a long time, dust will settle on the fan blades. This dust stops the fan from spinning, causing a lot of heating issues. Therefore, proper maintenance is a must.

A can of compressed is going to be very useful if you are removing any dust from the graphic card. To clean your graphic card thoroughly, you can follow these steps.

1. To remove the fan and the heat sink, unscrew all the screws on the back side of the Card.
2. Unplug the power cable that powers your GPU fan.
3. You can see the thermal paste on your GPU chip (this is a small chip in the mid section of the graphic card). Wipe it off using dry tissue. 
4. Now clean the chip using rubbing alcohol.
5. Re-apply the thermal paste on the GPU chip and reassemble your graphic card.

Check the GPU Connection

No communication between your GPU and OS causes the Video TDR Failure. When the GPU is not installed correctly onto the motherboard, data cannot pass from GPU to OS and vice versa. 

Check if the graphics card is connected properly to the motherboard and see if all wires are secured. 

Change PCIe Slot

If the above solution does not work, there may be some issue with the PCIe slot. On a desktop PC, the motherboard will have multiple PCIe slots. You can place the GPU in different PCIe slots to check if they work.

Incompatible Hardware

On Desktop, all your components must be compatible with each other. Old devices may not work on new motherboards. Similarly, an old graphic card will not work on new motherboard models. Make sure that all hardware/devices support your motherboard.

Update Windows and Graphic Driver

Updating your OS and drivers will solve multiple issues with its compatibility. 

To update your windows, press the Windows + X key and click on Settings. Go to Windows Update and Security > Windows Update. Click on Check for Updates. Your update will automatically download. You will need to restart your computer to install the updates.

To update your graphics driver, press the Windows + X key and click on Device Manager. Expand Display Adapters and right-click your graphic driver. Click on Update driver. Now click on Search automatically for a driver update. Wait for the update to complete 

Run the CheckDisk Command

Your disk may have some corrupted files that are causing the BSOD error. You can fix this by running a check disk function from the command.

1. Press Windows + R and type cmd
2. Press Ctrl+ Shift+Enter to run the command as administrator.
3. Type chkdsk /f c:
   
4. Press Y if it asks for any permission. Press Enter.
5. Restart your computer. Wait for the process to complete.

Check for Background Process

Your computer will have multiple processes that run in the background. Some applications can run in the background without your knowledge during startup. If the application puts a lot of strain on your graphic card, you will run out of graphic memory quickly. Even while doing simple tasks, memory won’t be enough.

You can disable the startup and background applications following these steps.

To end the background process,

1. Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc. 
2. On the Process tab, you can see all the front and background processes. 
   
3. If you see any task that is taking a lot of GPU memory (make sure that it is an unnecessary process),
4. Click on the task and press End Task.

To disable any unnecessary startup process/application,

1. Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc. 
2. Click on the Startup tab.
3. Click on any process you want to disable. Then click Disable.

Run Safe Mode

Your computer uses a minimum number of hardware and drivers when you boot the computer in safe mode. If you do not get the TDR error while on safe mode, there is some solution you can try to fix.

Boot your computer into safe mode. 

1. Press Windows + I key
2. Then select Update and Security > Recovery > Advanced startup > Restart Now. 
3. After your computer turns on, go to Troubleshoot > Advanced Option > Startup Setting > Restart.
   
4. Now the computer will restart and Startup Settings will open. Choose 5 or F5 to boot Safe Mode with Network.

Now that you are in safe mode, open Control Panel. On the top-right of the dialog box, search for memory and click on Diagnose your computer’s memory problems. Then click on Restart now and check for problems.

Now that we have completed the fixes using the OS. Let’s get to some hardware fixes. 

Note: you will need to open up your computer to do these solutions