Blue Screen of Death error is one of those things that you never want to see on your computer screen, particularly when you’re doing something important. However, Windows can throw these types of errors when you least expect it.

One such error is atikmpag.sys or Video TDR Failure error.

Users who have recently updated their Windows 10 have complained of a recurring Video_TDR_Failure error that makes it impossible for them to work on their computer.

While an irritating error, atikmpag.sys issue can be resolved fairly easily. So if you are facing a similar problem, don’t worry as it won’t take much to get your computer up and running again.

In this post, we have offered four easy solutions that could fix the issue. Before looking at the solutions, let’s try to know more about this error.

What is a Video_TDR_Failure error?

You are more likely to get the Video_TDR_Failure error if your computer has an ATI or AMD graphics processing unit.

When this blue screen of death error occurs, your system crashes and you lose all unsaved work. There can be various reasons for this error but often the problem lies with drivers.

Over the years, GPUs have become more capable of handling complex graphics rendering on the screen. Today, a large number of users enjoy high definition multimedia content on the video that also includes playing multimedia games and computer simulations.

The genuine atikmpag.sys file is a software component of ATI graphics card manufactured by AMD. The atikmpag.sys is a kernel driver that gets installed with ATI graphics cards. Since it is a kernel driver, it directly works with the Windows operating system and needs a very stable environment to function.

(Note- Some users may see atikmpag.sys instead of atikmdag.sys in the ( ) after the Video_TDR failure error. There is not much difference in both files and you can follow the solutions given here confidently.)

You don’t need to perform all the solutions given in this post. Start with the first in the list, and if doesn’t work, move on to the next one and so on, until the problem is fixed. And of course, we would love to hear from you which of these solutions worked for you.

Solution One – Reinstall drivers in Safe Mode

There is a possibility the AMD graphic drivers are corrupt. A simple solution to this problem is uninstalling AMD graphics drivers and installing latest AMD GPU drivers.

AMD Driver Download & Update

Here are the steps to follow.

• Boot your computer in Safe Mode
• Press Windows logo key and R to bring up Run window
• In the Run window, type devmgmt.msc and hit Enter on the keyboard
• In the Device Manager window, go to the Display Adapter category and expand it

• right-click AMD display adapter and select Uninstall
• when asked for confirmation, click OK
• Reboot your computer in Normal Mode
• Install latest Intel chipset driver for your PC
• Reboot your PC again
• Go to the AMD website
• Select your product from the list and download latest drivers for your Windows operating system
• After downloading latest AMD graphic drivers, install them
• Reboot your computer and check whether the issue is resolved.

If the issue persists, move to next solution

Solution Two- Use an older version of AMD graphic drivers

Many times the latest graphics drivers may not be the best for your Windows computer. It is possible that the newer graphics drivers might have compatibility issue with your version of Windows, which in turn might be the root cause of the BSOD error.

A simple solution to this problem is using an older version of AMD graphics driver that worked well on your computer.

Here are the steps to follow.

• Open Device Manager. You can refer to steps given in Solution One
• Right-click on AMD Display adapter and select Update Driver software.

• In the next window, select Browser my computer for driver software.

• In the next window, select Let me pick from a list of device drivers in my computer
• Under Model, you need to select an older version of AMD driver. You can know about the older version by looking at the version dates
• Click Next and wait for the process to complete
• Restart your computer and see if the issue is resolved.

If the issue is resolved, you need to prevent Windows from updating ATI drivers again. Here are the steps to follow.

For Windows 10

• Open browser and download Microsoft’s Show or hide updates troubleshooter
• After downloading the troubleshooter, run it
• To run the troubleshooter, open wushowhide. diagcab, and select Next
• Uncheck the AMD drivers to be installed
• Reboot your computer

For Windows 8/8.1

• Go to Control Panel
• Click Windows updates -> Optional/Pending updates
• right-click and select Hide

If the issue is not resolved, move to next solution

Solution Three – Replace ATIKMPAG.SYS

Since the Video_TDR_Failure error mentions the ATIKMPAG.SYS file, there is a possibility the driver is corrupt. To resolve this problem, you need to replace the current ATIKMPAG.SYS file with a fresh copy. Remember you need to replace all files with ATIKMPAG.SYS name. Here are the steps to follow.

• Open Windows Explorer
• Navigate to C:\Windows\System32\drivers
• Find the atikmpag.sys (or atikmdag.sys) file.
• Rename it as atikmpag.sys.old (or atikmdag.sys.old)
• Navigate to ATI folder – C:\ATI
• find the atikmdag.sy_ or atikmpag.sy_. file
• Copy the file to the desktop
• Press Windows logo key and X simultaneously on the keyboard to open the Context menu
• Select Command Prompt(admin) from the list
• In the command prompt window, type following commands and hit Enter on the keyboard after typing each command. Wait for the command operation to complete before typing next command.
• chdir desktop

• exe atikmdag.sy_ atikmdag.sys

or

• expand -r atikmdag.sy_ atikmdag.sys

• Now copy the atikmdag.sys(or atikmdag.sys) to C:\Windows\System32\Drivers
• Restart your computer and see if the problem is resolved

Solution Four – Update Chipset and AMD graphics drivers

Last but not the least, update chipset and AMD graphics drivers. You can do this manually, but do remember that the process might be time-consuming. If you want to update your drivers quickly, we recommend you use a 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