I recently experienced a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) with the error code DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE while restarting my laptop. After the reboot, I noticed that the bottom eighth of my screen is pixelated and mirroring the top eighth. I haven't dropped the laptop or anything similar, and this issue only started right after the BSOD, so I'm hoping it's a software or driver problem rather than requiring hardware replacement. Has anyone dealt with something like this or have any ideas about what might be going on?
4 Answers
Quick update: I tried booting into safe mode, but things actually got worse! Now the pixelation is covering the bottom sixth of the screen. I’m convinced it’s a software issue since the laptop hasn’t moved at all during this. Anyone have insights on next steps?
It sounds like you need to get some dump files from your system for a better understanding of the BSOD. If you can access Windows normally or through Safe Mode, check for any crash logs in C:WindowsMinidump. You can zip that folder and upload it to a file sharing site so others can check it out. Multiple dump files are better for diagnosis, so if you can, follow this guide to set up your system to create a Small Memory Dump. It could really help narrow down the issue!
For anyone facing similar issues in the future, I believe this is a problem with the screen itself. I saw artifacts even in the BIOS, which rules out software problems, and an external monitor worked perfectly fine. This started after the power state crash, and it could be due to an electrical short in the LCD's timing controller. I'm going for a screen replacement—will update if that resolves everything!
I suggest booting from a live OS like Hiren's or a Linux distro to see if the screen issue persists. If it doesn’t show up there, then it's likely a software issue with your drivers or Windows itself. It might save you a lot of time later!
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