Fix 0xC01E0116: Graphics allocation content lost

The 30-Second Fix: Restart the Application or Driver

This error pops up when a game or 3D app loses access to its video memory. The GPU driver had a hiccup, or the system reclaimed some memory for power saving. Before doing anything else, try this:

1. Close the app — don’t just minimize it. Hit Alt+F4 or right-click the taskbar icon and select Close window.
2. Open Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) and check for any leftover processes of that app. If you see it still running, right-click and End task.
3. Launch the app again. If it works, you’re done. The error was a one-time glitch — likely from a driver timeout recovery.

Still seeing the error? Reset the graphics driver hotkey: Press Win + Ctrl + Shift + B. You’ll hear a beep and the screen will flicker once. That restarts the driver without a full reboot. Try your app again.

If the error comes back right away, move to the moderate fix below.

Moderate Fix (5 minutes): Update or Roll Back the Graphics Driver

Outdated or buggy drivers are the #1 cause of this error. But also, super recent drivers can break things. I’ve seen NVIDIA’s Game Ready drivers ship with this bug twice in the last year. So we’ll check both directions.

Step 1: Update your driver

1. Press Win + X and select Device Manager.
2. Expand Display adapters. You’ll see your GPU listed (e.g., NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060, AMD Radeon RX 6700, Intel UHD Graphics 620).
3. Right-click that entry and choose Update driver.
4. Select Search automatically for drivers. Windows will check Windows Update for a newer driver.
5. If it finds one, let it install. After it finishes, restart your PC.

Windows Update rarely has the latest driver for gaming GPUs. For NVIDIA, use GeForce Experience. For AMD, use the Adrenalin app. For Intel Arc, use the Intel Driver & Support Assistant. Those get you the game-ready versions.

Step 2: If updating didn’t help, roll back

Did the error start after a recent driver update? Roll it back.

1. Back in Device Manager, right-click your GPU and select Properties.
2. Go to the Driver tab.
3. If the Roll Back Driver button is clickable (not grayed out), click it. Follow the prompts.
4. Restart your PC.

If the button is grayed out, you can use System Restore instead. But that’s a bigger hammer — try the advanced fix first if rolling back isn’t an option.

Advanced Fix (15+ minutes): Increase the GPU Timeout Detection & Recovery (TDR) Delay

This error is a close cousin of the infamous “video TDR failure” (0x116). The OS has a watchdog that kills the driver if a single operation takes longer than 2 seconds. In some games — especially with ray tracing or heavy compute workloads — that timer is too short. The driver is actually working fine, but Windows kills it prematurely and resets the allocation memory. Then you get 0xC01E0116.

The fix is to give the driver more time. You’re going to edit the Windows Registry.

1. Press Win + R, type regedit, and hit Enter.
2. Navigate to:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\GraphicsDrivers

3. Right-click in the right pane (empty space), select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
4. Name it TdrDelay (exactly that, case matters).
5. Double-click TdrDelay, set it to Decimal, and enter a value between 8 and 10. I usually recommend 8 — that’s 8 seconds before the watchdog kills the driver. Don’t go higher than 10 unless you’re troubleshooting a known heavy workload.
6. Click OK.
7. Close Regedit and restart your PC.

After the restart, launch your app again. The error should be gone. If it still appears, there’s something else going on — possibly a failing GPU, overheating, or power supply issues. But in my experience, increasing TdrDelay fixes 80% of these cases.

Still stuck? Try these bonus checks

• Check for overheating. Download HWMonitor (free). If your GPU temp hits 90°C or higher while gaming, you’re thermal-throttling. Clean your fans, improve case airflow, or lower graphics settings.
• Test with a different power plan. Go to Control Panel > Power Options. Set it to High Performance. Some power-saving plans starve the GPU.
• Disable hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling. In Windows Settings > System > Display > Graphics > Change default graphics settings. Turn off “Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling.” This feature, while helpful, has caused this exact error on some driver builds.
• Run a clean driver uninstall. Use Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) in Safe Mode. Reboot and install the latest driver fresh. This wipes any leftover junk from previous installs.

Most people stop at the first step and it works. If not, the TdrDelay tweak is your best bet. That registry key has saved me more times than I can count.