Susan C, Author at Drivers.com

Solution to WDF_VIOLATION BSOD in Windows 10

By Susan C on August 7, 2019

Blue Screen of Death is a concern for many Windows users as it indicates critical failure of a system component (software or hardware). Also, the abrupt rebooting of system causes great inconvenience and you lose all unsaved work. Many users have complained of WDF_VIOLATION Blue screen of death on Windows 10 system. If you are looking for solution for WDF_VIOLATION BSOD, this post is for you.

What is WDF_VIOLATION Error?

WDF stands for Windows Driver Files. Hence, you can draw a conclusion the BSOD is related to some driver problem. You get this error when the operating system finds some problem with framework based driver.

In this post, we have provided 5 solutions that could fix the issue. You don’t need to try all solutions. Start with first solution. If the solution does not work for you, move to next solution and so on.

Solution One – Disconnect peripheral devices

Many users have found that WDF_VIOLATION is caused by USB peripheral devices. They were able to resolve the error by disconnecting peripheral devices. You can follow this tip and see if it helps.

Disconnect all peripheral devices except mouse and keyboard and restart your computer. If you are still receiving WDF_VIOLATION error, move to next solution.

Solution Two – Update Drivers

Since the BSOD is related to driver, you cannot rule out possibility of some corrupted or incompatible driver behind the error. In that case, updating the drivers is the best solution. You can update drivers manually or automatically. Here we have provided both ways to update drivers.

Steps to update drivers manually

Press the key combination – Windows logo key + R on your keyboard to invoke Run command
In Run command box, type devmgmt.msc and click OK
In the Device Manager window, expand each category and look for devices with yellow exclamation mark. It indicates driver problem
Also check the WDF_VIOLATION error message code. Does it mention any driver or file name? if yes find the driver related to file name and go to related device driver in Device Manager
Right-click on problematic device and click Properties
In the Properties dialog box, go to Driver tab. Note down details like Driver manufacturer name, driver version and other details
Open Internet browser
Go to device manufacturer website and search for latest driver on the site
Download the driver and install it
Restart the system

Now check whether you still receive WDF_VIOLATION BSOD. If the issue persists, move to next solution.

If you are looking for an easy way to update drivers, you can use a driver update tool to update driver automatically.

Steps to update drivers automatically

The easiest way to update your drivers is using a reputable driver update tool.

Automatic driver update tools offer many benefits, the most important ones being:

You can update device drivers automatically
The software scans and updates all outdated or missing drivers at one go
The tool picks the right drivers for your device and operating system, so you won’t have to worry about installing an incorrect driver by mistake
Automatic driver updates are 100% safe

Driver Updater is one of the best driver update tools out there. Outbyte Driver Updater will give you access to a database of over 1 million drivers. It will regularly scan your PC, suggesting new driver versions to install. Driver Updater contains drivers for a variety of Windows devices. With just one click, you can update drivers in your system.

Step 1
Click here to Install and launch the app

Step 2
Scan all devices

Step 3
Install or update drivers automatically

Start Download

Solution Three – Use Driver Verifier

Driver Verifier is an in-built tool that monitors graphics drivers and Windows kernel-mode drivers and detect illegal call or function that might corrupt the system. Here are the steps to run Driver Verifier

Click Start
Type cmd in the Cortana search box
Right-click command prompt from the list of results and click Run as administrator
In the command prompt window, type verifier to open Driver Verifier Manager
In the Driver Verifier window, click Create standard settings (the default task)
Click Next
Select Automatically select all drivers installed on this computer
Click Finish
Wait for the Driver Verifier tests to complete. After tests are completed, you just need to follow the instructions to resolve WDF_VIOLATION error.

If the error persists even after using Driver Verifier, move to next solution.

Solution Three – Scan your system for virus or malware

There is a possibility some virus or malware are causing WDF_VIOLATION error. To rule out this possibility, update the virus definition and scan your C drive and other drives too.

Solution Four – Install KB 4468304

(Note- this solution is only applicable to HP devices)

According to Microsoft, it has recognized compatibility problems with HP keyboard driver (version 11.0.3.1). If you this driver installed, you are more likely to receive WDF_VIOLATION errors. The solution to this problem is installing KB 4468304 which removes the problematic driver from your Windows 10 system. Here are the steps to follow.

Click Start menu
Click Settings (gear icon)
In the Settings window, click Update & Security.
In the next window, click Windows Update.
Click Check for updates button
Windows will automatically download KB 4468304 update which will uninstall the problematic driver.

You need to check whether the problematic driver has been removed from your system. Here are the steps to follow.

Open Device Manager
Go to Keyboards category and expand it
Right-click the HP keyboard device and click Properties
In the properties window, go to Driver tab
Note down the driver version number. It should not be 11.0.3.1. If the driver version is different, you can conclude the problematic driver has been removed.

Solution Five- Remove problematic programs

Some 3^rd party programs might cause BSOD errors likeWDF_VIOLATION. According to users, SteelSeries Engine software was causing WDF_VIOLATION error in their Windows PC. Removing the software helped in resolving the issue.

You need to ensure your system does not have any program that is not compatible with Windows 10. An easy way to find out is – try recalling the recently installed software. When WDF-VIOLATION error started appearing? Did the problem start after installing or updating a certain program?

Find answers to the questions given above and you will be closer to identifying the problematic program on your system. The next step is to uninstall the program and see if it helps. Here are the steps to follow

Click Start menu
Click Settings(gear icon)
In the Settings window, click System
In the next window, click App & features from the left pane
You can now see list of all installed programs
Click the desired program to uninstall
Click Uninstall option that appear below program name
Wait for the program uninstallation to complete
Close all windows

Check whether you are still receiving WDF_VIOLATION error. Like many users, the WDF_VIOLATION error would be resolved by one of the solutions given in this post.

Solution to DRIVER CORRUPTED EXPOOL Error in Windows 10

By Susan C on August 5, 2019

Blue Screen of Death error like “DRIVER_CORRUPTED_EXPOOL” cause your Windows 10 system to crash frequently, which is annoying to say the least.

The error name clearly points toward some driver problem behind this BSOD. Since BSOD errors are serious in nature (due to frequent restarts), you need to resolve these errors as early as possible.

Here we have given 5 solutions that could resolve the error. You are not required to try all of them. The best approach is to start with the first solution. If it does not work you, move to the next solution and so on.

Solution One – Uninstall problematic drivers

Since the BSOD mentions a problem with drivers, the first step in resolving the issue is to find problematic drivers in Windows 10 systems and uninstall them. Here are the steps to follow.

On the keyboard, press Windows logo key and R to invoke Run command
In Run command, type devmgmt.msc and click OK
In the Device Manager window, look for driver items with a yellow exclamation mark. First, check Other Devices category
If you find any driver items with a yellow exclamation mark, right-click on driver entry and click Uninstall
Visit all device categories in Device Manager and check for driver items with a yellow exclamation mark and uninstall them
After you are done with uninstallation of all problematic drivers, reboot your system

Windows 10 will now install new drivers for devices which would resolve the “DRIVER_CORRUPTED_EXPOOL” error. If the error persists, move to the next solution.

Solution Two- Update Drivers

Since uninstalling problematic drivers has not worked for you, try updating drivers. You can update system drivers manually or automatically. We have given steps for both methods.

How to update drivers manually?

Open Device Manager
Locate the driver you want to update
Right-click on the driver and click Update Driver
In the next window, click Search automatically for updated driver software
Windows will search for latest driver on the Internet and download and install it for you.
You have to perform the above steps for every driver you want to update

Many times Windows is unable to find driver updates for your system. In that case, you need to go the device manufacturer website and download the latest driver. Here are the steps to follow

Right-click on the driver you want to update
Click Properties
In the Properties window, go to the Driver tab.
Note down driver details like Driver provider, Driver version and other details

Use this information to find and download the latest driver. After downloading the latest driver, double-click on the setup file to install the latest driver. Reboot system after installing the driver.

If you find the manual driver update method difficult, you can use driver update software to update all drivers automatically

How to update drivers automatically?

Automatic driver update tools offer many benefits, the most important ones being:

You can update device drivers automatically
The software scans and updates all outdated or missing drivers at one go
The tool picks the right drivers for your device and operating system, so you won’t have to worry about installing an incorrect driver by mistake
Automatic driver updates are 100% safe

Step 1
Click here to Install and launch the app

Step 2
Scan all devices

Step 3
Install or update drivers automatically

Start Download

Solution Three – Install all pending updates

Windows 10 stability and performance is largely based on updates provided by Microsoft. According to experts, Windows 10 is far from being a perfect system and Microsoft regularly provides patches and updates to fix the bugs discovered.

In case, you have not chosen the option to install windows updates automatically, there are chances a large number of important updates are not installed on your system. The first thing you need to do is install all pending updates. Here are the steps to follow.

On the keyboard, press Windows logo key and I simultaneously to open Windows settings
In the Settings window, click Update and Security
In the next window, click Check for updates under Update Status
Windows will connect to the update server and provide you with a list of updates that need to be installed. Install all recommended updates.
After Windows completes installing updates, reboot the system

Check whether you are still getting “DRIVER_CORRUPTED_EXPOOL” error. If the error persists, move to the next solution.

Solution Four – Uninstall 3^rd party antivirus

If you are already using Windows Defender, you can skip this solution. There is a possibility the 3rd party anti-virus software installed on your computer is causing a BSOD problem. To eliminate this possibility, uninstall 3^rd party anti-virus program and use Windows Defender to protect your computer.

Here are the steps to follow.

Open Start Menu
Click the Settings options(gear icon)
In the Settings window, click System
In the next window, click Apps & features in the left-hand column
Click the 3^rd party anti-virus program in the list ( in right-hand column)
Click Uninstall

Wait for the program uninstallation to complete. Now you have to enable Windows Defender program that is in-built in Windows 10. Here are the steps to follow.

Open Settings
In the Settings window, click Update & Security
In the next window, click Windows security in the left-hand column
Now click Open Windows Defender Security center to access the program settings
In the Windows Defender settings window, click Virus & Threat Protection settings link
In the next window, make sure the following options are ON-
Real-Time Protection,
Cloud-Delivered Protection
Automatic Sample Submission
Close all windows

Solution Five- Uninstall Problematic applications

According to experts, it is not always 3^rd party anti-virus software that causes errors like “DRIVER_CORRUPTED_EXPOOL”. There are certain programs that could be the root cause of the problem. In that case, you need to uninstall problematic applications and see if it helps.

Some users have reported applications like Virtual Box and Radeon software behind BSOD error “DRIVER_CORRUPTED_EXPOOL”. Besides these applications, there might be many applications that could be the cause behind the error. You will have to find these problematic applications and uninstall them.

It is worth mentioning that any application installed on your system might be the cause of the “DRIVER_CORRUPTED_EXPOOL” error. We are not telling you to uninstall every application. Just try to recall any newly installed or updated software after which the cycle of “DRIVER_CORRUPTED_EXPOOL” BSOD started. Uninstall newly updated or installed software and see if it resolves the error.

Solution to Calculator not working in Windows 10

By Susan C on August 3, 2019

Unable to use the calculator in Windows? Getting “calculator not working” error?

If yes, this post is for you.

Here we have provided 8 easy to follow solutions that could fix the issue. Of course, there’s you don’t have to try all the solutions. Start with the first one, and if that doesn’t work, move to the next one, and so on.

Let’s look at the solutions now.

Solution One – Reset Calculator app

If the calculator is not working in Windows 10, you can try resetting the calculator app which will fix the issue. Here are the steps to follow.

Click the Start button
Click Settings(gear icon)
In the Settings window, go to the apps section
You will see a list of all applications, locate the calculator app in the list
Select calculator and click Advanced options
Click on Reset button
Click on Reset button again for confirmation

Solution Two – Get the updated version of the calculator from the Microsoft App store

There is a possibility the current version of calculator installed on your system is plagued with problems and there is an updated version of calculator available in Microsoft store. All you need to do is get the updated version of calculator which will replace the older version and also resolve the issues you are currently facing with the calculator. Here are the steps to follow.

Click Start
Look for Windows Store icon. See the reference image below
Click the Windows Store app icon
In the next window, type calculator in the search box. Wait for the results to populate
Click Windows calculator from the list of results
If you see there is updated version of calculator available, click the Update button to get updated calculator version
Check if the calculator is working now.

Solution Three- Create a new user account

Many users were able to resolve the issue by creating a new user account. Here are the steps to follow.

Click the Start button
Type add user in Cortana search
Click User Accounts from the list of results
In the user accounts window, click Manage another account
In the Manage accounts window, click Add a new user in PC settings
In the Settings window, click Add someone else to this PC
In the next window, click I don’t have this person’s sign-in information
Now, click Add a user without a Microsoft account
After the new user account is created, click Next
You will now see a new user account has been added in the window.
Click the Start button
Now click the new user account button to log into the account
Now check whether the calculator is working

Solution Four – Reinstall Calculator

You cannot ignore the possibility of some problem with calculator system files. Since Calculator is part of Windows core (in-built application), you cannot uninstall it from Add/Remove programs.

You can remove calculator from Powershell cmdlet. Here are the steps to follow

Click the Start button
Type PowerShell in the Cortana search box
Right-click Windows PowerShell from the list of results and select Run as administrator
Copy and paste the following line in the Powershell windows and press enter on the keyboard
Get-AppxPackage *windows calculator* | Remove-AppxPackage
Now we will attempt reinstalling the calculator by the command given below. Copy and paste the command in the PowerShell window and hit Enter on the keyboard
Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers| Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”}

Solution Five – Run SFC and DISM commands

SFC is short for System File Checker. It is s Windows diagnostic and repair tool that checks system files for corruption and replaces any missing or corrupt files with cached versions. SFC does not have a graphical interface and the commands are executed through a command prompt window with admin rights. Here are the steps to follow.

Press Windows logo key and R simultaneously on the keyboard to invoke Run command dialog
In the Run command box, type cmd
Right-click command prompt from the list of results and select Run as administrator
In the User Account control pop-up, click Yes
In the command prompt window, type sfc /scannow and hit Enter
Wait for the command operation to complete.

After you have run the SFC tool, you need to also run DISM commands. DISM stands for Deployment Image Servicing and Management. It is a command-line tool used to service Windows image. Here are the steps to follow.

Open command prompt with admin rights
When prompted with UAC, click Yes to continue
In the command prompt window, type DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth. Make sure you do not make any typo error. See the reference image below.
Wait for the whole process to complete
Close all windows
Restart your computer

Solution Six – Install missing updates

According to some users, the calculator not working issue gets resolved by installing missing updates. Here are the steps to follow.

Press Windows key and I together to open the Settings app
In the Settings app, go to Update and Security section
Click Check on updates
Windows will now check for updates and install any pending updates. Wait for the update process to complete
Now check whether the calculator is working

Solution Seven- Turn off the firewall

If you are using any 3^rd party firewall, disable it and see if the calculator starts working again. Many users have reported the calculator started working after disabling firewall. It might work for you too. Here are the steps to follow.

Click the Start button
Type firewall in the Cortana search box
Select Windows firewall from the list
In the Windows firewall dialog, look for Turn Windows Firewall on or off option in the left pane and click on it.

<insert-windows 10 calculator not working-turn windows firewall>

In the next window, click Turn off Windows Firewall (not recommended) for both Public and Private network settings
Click OK

Solution Eight- Enable User Account control

The user account control feature in Windows is there to prevent you from performing actions that need administrator privilege. The feature gives out lots of security notifications and hence some users choose to disable it.

Many users reported the calculator app stopped working after the user account control was disabled. Enabling the feature again brought things back to normal and calculator app started working. Here are the steps to follow.

Press Windows logo key and S together
Type user account control in search box
Select Change User Account Control settings from a list of results
In the User Account Control settings dialog, move the slider to the default position. Check the reference image below
Click OK