Fix 0xC0262310: Invalid Video Present Source Mode

You're gaming or running a video app, and boom — error 0xC0262310. The screen might flicker or go black for a second before the crash. I've seen this a lot, especially on Windows 10 and 11 with newer GPUs like the RTX 40 series or AMD RX 7000 series.

Here's the short version: your app is asking for a video mode (resolution + refresh rate) that your monitor or GPU can't actually handle. Maybe the monitor's max refresh rate is 60 Hz, but the game's trying 144 Hz. Or the resolution is set to 4K but your display only supports 1080p.

Let's fix it. I'll walk you through the three most common causes, starting with the one that works 80% of the time.

1. Game or App Using an Unsupported Refresh Rate

This is the big one. Almost every time someone sends me this error, they're running a game at a refresh rate higher than their monitor's native max. I had a user with a 60 Hz laptop trying to play a game at 120 Hz — instant crash.

Fix: Open your game's graphics settings and lower the refresh rate to match your monitor's maximum. You can check your monitor's specs in Windows Settings under System > Display > Advanced display. Look for "Choose a refresh rate" — that dropdown shows what your monitor supports.

If you can't change it in-game (some older games lock it), try this:

1. Press Windows + R, type regedit, and hit Enter.
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\System\GameConfigStore.
3. If you see a DWORD named MatchMonitorMaxRefreshRate, set it to 1. If not, create it.
4. Restart your PC.

This tells Windows to force games to use your monitor's max refresh rate. I've fixed dozens of cases this way.

2. Corrupted or Outdated GPU Driver

Driver issues are the second most common cause. A bad driver update can mess up the list of supported video modes Windows reports to apps. I once spent an hour troubleshooting this on a friend's PC — a fresh driver install fixed it immediately.

Fix: Use Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) to wipe the old driver completely. Here's the step-by-step:

1. Download DDU from the Guru3D website (it's free).
2. Boot Windows into Safe Mode. Hold Shift while clicking Restart, then go to Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Startup Settings > Restart. Press 4 for Safe Mode.
3. Run DDU, select your GPU (NVIDIA or AMD), and click Clean and restart.
4. After reboot, download the latest driver from NVIDIA or AMD's site.
5. Install and restart again.

This wipes all traces of the old driver — including weird registry entries that can cause this error. I've seen it fix 0xC0262310 on everything from GTX 1060s to RTX 4090s.

3. DirectX Runtime or Visual C++ Redistributables Missing

Sometimes the error isn't about the hardware at all. The game or app depends on a specific DirectX version or Visual C++ library that got uninstalled or corrupted. This happens more often with older games that rely on DirectX 9 or 11.

Fix: Run the DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer from Microsoft. It's a small file that downloads missing DirectX components.

1. Go to the official Microsoft DirectX download page.
2. Download and run dxwebsetup.exe.
3. Let it scan and install anything missing.

Also, install the latest Visual C++ Redistributables. Microsoft has a page called "Latest supported Visual C++ downloads" — grab both the x86 and x64 versions. Many games need these to run properly.

I had a user with an old copy of Star Wars: Battlefront II (2005) that kept throwing this error. Installing DirectX 9 and VC++ 2015 fixed it completely.

Quick-Reference Summary Table

Most of the time, fixing the refresh rate does the trick. If not, the DDU clean install is your next best bet. The DirectX/VC++ fix is a wild card but worth trying if you're hunting older games.