Driver Power State Failure BSOD Fix (Windows 10/11)
This blue screen means a driver didn't wake up in time. Usually it's a network or graphics driver. Here's how to stop it.
This is the fix that works 90% of the time
You're getting DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE and you're sick of it. I get it. This crash happens when your computer wakes from sleep or hibernate, but a driver doesn't wake up fast enough. Windows gets impatient and blue screens you.
Nine times out of ten, it's your network adapter or graphics driver. Here's the fix that stops it cold.
Step 1: Open Device Manager
Press Windows Key + X and click Device Manager. You'll see a list of all your hardware.
Step 2: Find your network adapter
Expand Network adapters. Look for something like Intel(R) Wi-Fi 6 AX200 160MHz or Realtek PCIe GbE Family Controller. That's your wireless or wired network card.
Step 3: Turn off power saving
Right-click your network adapter and choose Properties.
Click the Power Management tab.
You'll see a checkbox that says "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power". Uncheck it. Click OK.
What you should see after: The checkbox is now empty. The adapter won't go to sleep anymore.
Step 4: Do the same for your graphics card
Expand Display adapters. You'll see something like NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 or AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT or Intel UHD Graphics.
Right-click it, choose Properties, then the Power Management tab. Uncheck the same box. Click OK.
What you should see after: Both your network and graphics cards won't be put to sleep anymore.
Restart your computer. Put it to sleep manually (Windows Key + X > Shut down or sign out > Sleep). Wake it up. If the blue screen doesn't come back, you're done.
Why this works
Windows 10 and 11 love to put devices to sleep to save battery. But some drivers don't handle the wake-up call correctly. When your computer comes back from sleep, Windows expects the driver to respond within about 5 seconds. If the driver takes too long, the system decides it's broken and throws the DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE stop code.
By unchecking the power-saving box, you're telling Windows to leave that device alone. The driver stays awake, so there's no delay when the computer wakes up.
I've seen this fix work on Dell XPS laptops, HP Spectres, Lenovo ThinkPads, and custom desktop builds. It's the first thing I try on every blue screen that happens after sleep.
Less common causes (if the main fix didn't help)
Old or broken drivers
Sometimes the driver itself is the problem. If turning off power saving didn't work, update the driver.
Go back to Device Manager. Right-click the network adapter (or graphics card) and choose Update driver > Search automatically for drivers.
If Windows doesn't find anything new, go to the manufacturer's site. For Intel Wi-Fi, use their Intel Driver & Support Assistant. For NVIDIA, use GeForce Experience. For AMD, use the AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition app.
After updating: Restart and test sleep again.
Graphics driver causing problems
If the blue screen happens when you're gaming or watching video, the graphics driver might be the culprit. Uninstall it completely and reinstall.
Open Device Manager. Right-click your graphics card and choose Uninstall device. Check the box that says "Delete the driver software for this device". Click Uninstall.
Restart your computer. Windows will install a basic driver automatically. Then download and install the latest driver from the manufacturer's site.
Driver Verifier (advanced, be careful)
If you're still stuck, you can use Microsoft's Driver Verifier tool. It stresses test your drivers to find the bad one. But it can make your system crash a lot, so I'd only do this if you're comfortable with that.
verifierPress Windows Key + R, type verifier, press Enter. Choose Create custom settings (for standard developers), then Select individual settings and check all boxes except DDI compliance checking and Randomized low resources simulation. Next, choose Select driver names from a list. Only select drivers that aren't from Microsoft. The list will show third-party drivers. Restart. If a blue screen happens again, it will name the bad driver. Then you can uninstall or update that specific driver.
To turn off Driver Verifier: Run verifier again, choose Delete existing settings, restart.
Prevention (so it doesn't come back)
Once you fix it, here's how to keep it fixed:
- Keep Windows Update running. Let it install driver updates automatically. I know it's annoying, but Microsoft pushes fixes for known driver bugs this way.
- Check for firmware updates. If you have a laptop, go to the manufacturer's support page (Dell, HP, Lenovo, etc.) and update the BIOS and chipset drivers. Those also control power states.
- Don't use third-party driver updater tools. They often install wrong or broken drivers. Stick with Windows Update or the manufacturer's official site.
- If you overclock anything, stop. Overclocking the CPU or GPU can mess with power states and trigger this error. Run at stock speeds if you want a stable machine.
That's it. The blue screen should be gone. If it's not, check the Event Viewer for more clues, but 90% of the time the power management checkbox does the job.
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