Driver Verifier:
What is Driver Verifier?
Driver Verifier monitors Windows kernel-mode drivers, graphics drivers, and even 3rd party drivers to detect illegal function calls or actions that might corrupt the system. Driver Verifier can subject the Windows drivers to a variety of stresses and tests to find improper behavior.
Essentially, if there's a 3rd party driver believed to be causing the issues at hand, enabling Driver Verifier will help us see which specific driver is causing the problem.
Before enabling Driver Verifier, it is recommended to create a System Restore Point:
Vista - START | type rstrui - create a restore point
Windows 7 - START | type create | select "Create a Restore Point"
Windows 8/8.1 -
Restore Point - Create in Windows 8
How to enable Driver Verifier:
Start > type "verifier" without the quotes > Select the following options -
1. Select - "Create custom settings (for code developers)"
2. Select - "Select individual settings from a full list"
3. Check the following boxes -
- Special Pool
- Pool Tracking
- Force IRQL Checking
- Deadlock Detection
- Security Checks (only on Windows 7 & 8/8.1)
- DDI compliance checking (only on Windows 8/8.1)
- Miscellaneous Checks
4. Select - "Select driver names from a list"
5. Click on the "Provider" tab. This will sort all of the drivers by the provider.
6. Check EVERY box that is
NOT provided by Microsoft / Microsoft Corporation.
7. Click on Finish.
8. Restart.
