STATUS_DRIVER_BLOCKED_CRITICAL (0XC000036B) – Driver Blocked from Loading

When This Error Hits

You're booting up your Windows 10 or 11 PC, and instead of seeing your desktop, you get a blue screen with STATUS_DRIVER_BLOCKED_CRITICAL (0XC000036B). The exact message says something like "Driver %2 has been blocked from loading". This usually happens right after you installed a new driver (maybe for a graphics card or a motherboard chipset), applied a Windows Update that included a driver, or let your antivirus software quarantine something it thought was suspicious. I've seen it most often on systems running third-party security tools like Norton, McAfee, or Malwarebytes that scanned and blocked a driver before Windows could load it.

Root Cause in Plain English

Windows has a security feature called Driver Signature Enforcement. It checks if every driver has a digital signature from Microsoft. If a driver's signature is missing, expired, or revoked, Windows refuses to load it and throws this error. The real culprit is almost always one of three things: a recent driver update that got corrupted or signed incorrectly, a security tool overreacting and deleting or blocking the driver file, or a failed system restore that left your driver files in a broken state. The blocked driver is actually critical—it's not some optional piece of software. That's why your computer can't boot properly.

The Fix: Step by Step

You'll need to boot into Safe Mode or use Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) to bypass the blocked driver. Here's how to do it from scratch.

Step 1: Enter Windows Recovery Environment

1. Force your PC to shut down by holding the power button for 5–10 seconds.
2. Turn it back on. As soon as you see the Windows logo (or the manufacturer logo), hold the power button again to force another shutdown.
3. Do this three times. On the third restart, Windows should show a blue screen with "Choose an option".
4. Click Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Settings > Restart.

What you'll see: After you click Restart, the screen will list several startup options. Don't panic—the list shows numbers from 1 to 9.

Step 2: Boot into Safe Mode

1. Press the 4 key on your keyboard to select Enable Safe Mode.
2. Windows will now start with only basic drivers. Wait—this could take a minute or two.

Expected outcome: You should see your desktop, but everything will look huge or plain because graphics drivers are disabled. That's normal.

Step 3: Identify and Remove the Blocked Driver

1. Press Windows Key + X and choose Device Manager.
2. Look for any device with a yellow exclamation mark. That's your blocked driver. Common ones are under Display adapters (graphics) or System devices (chipset).
3. Right-click that device and choose Uninstall device. In the pop-up, check the box that says "Delete the driver software for this device". Then click Uninstall.

What you'll see: The device disappears from Device Manager. If you can't find anything with a yellow mark, move to the next step.

Step 4: Roll Back the Problematic Update

1. Search for "View installed updates" in the Start menu and open it.
2. Look at the list for any update dated the same day the error started. Sort by "Installed On" if you need to.
3. Right-click the update and choose Uninstall. Confirm any warnings.

What you'll see: Windows will ask you to reboot after uninstalling. Don't restart yet—do the next step first.

Step 5: Disable Third-Party Security Software (if installed)

1. Open your security software (Norton, Malwarebytes, etc.).
2. Find the setting to temporarily disable real-time protection or on-access scanning.
3. If you can't disable it, right-click its icon in the system tray and choose Exit or Quit.

Why: Security tools often scan drivers during boot. If they blocked one, they'll keep blocking it until you turn them off or whitelist the driver.

Step 6: Reinstall the Driver from a Known Good Source

1. Restart your computer normally (don't go back to Safe Mode yet—just restart).
2. If it boots fine, great. Go to the device manufacturer's website (like NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel).
3. Download the latest driver for your device. Avoid using Windows Update for this—manufacturer sites are more reliable.
4. Run the installer and choose Clean Installation if the option exists. This wipes out old driver files.

Expected outcome: After installation, restart one more time. Your PC should boot normally without the error.

What to Check If It Still Fails

If the error comes back, you're dealing with a corrupted system file or a deeper conflict. Boot back into Safe Mode and run these two commands in an administrator Command Prompt (search for cmd, right-click, run as admin):

sfc /scannow

Wait for it to finish—it'll say either "Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files and successfully repaired them" or "found corrupt files but was unable to fix some." In either case, follow up with:

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

This fixes the component store. By the way, if you have a third-party antivirus that's still blocking things, temporarily uninstall it completely (not just disable) and see if the problem goes away. I've seen Norton lock down critical drivers even after being "disabled." If that's the case, switch to Windows Defender—it's free and doesn't cause this nonsense.

Still stuck? Check the Windows Event Viewer under Windows Logs > System. Look for an event with ID 7026 (driver load failure) or 7023 (driver service terminated unexpectedly). The blocked driver's name will be listed there. Google that driver name plus "0XC000036B" for exact removal instructions. Sometimes it's a leftover from a graphics driver update that didn't uninstall properly.