How to fix the nvhda64v.sys blue screen (BSOD) in Windows

nvhda64v.sys is the NVIDIA High Definition Audio driver, the part of the NVIDIA graphics driver that sends sound to an HDMI or DisplayPort screen. When a blue screen names it, that audio driver crashed, not the graphics driver itself. If you do not use the monitor's or TV's speakers, turn the device off first.

Facts checked on 15 October 2026. Steps written for Windows 11 (25H2 and 26H2) and Windows 10 22H2.

What nvhda64v.sys is and why it crashes Windows

The name reads as NVIDIA High Definition Audio, 64-bit. Every NVIDIA graphics card has a small sound device built in, so that a monitor, TV or AV receiver on HDMI or DisplayPort can play sound. nvhda64v.sys is the driver of that sound device. It is installed together with the graphics driver unless you tell the installer to skip it.

So the blue screen does not mean that the graphics card is failing. It means the audio driver did something the Windows kernel could not handle, and Windows stopped to protect your data. Microsoft's advice for a crash that names a driver is short: disable or remove that driver, or get an update from its maker.

Why nvhda64v.sys crashes: the causes, most common first

In crash reports on NVIDIA's, Dell's and Sysnative's forums, the crashes stop when the NVIDIA audio device is disabled or left out of the driver install. That points at the audio driver itself, and only then at the hardware around it.

Check that the NVIDIA audio driver is the one crashing

One stop screen can be chance. Before you change drivers, check that the crashes really name nvhda64v.sys and see whether you use the device at all.

1. Open File Explorer and go to C:\Windows\Minidump. Each .dmp file is one crash; the date shows when it happened.
2. Press Win + R, type eventvwr.msc and press Enter. Open Windows Logs > System and look for BugCheck entries at the times of the crashes.
3. Right-click Start and select Device Manager. Expand Sound, video and game controllers and find NVIDIA High Definition Audio. You may see more than one entry, one per connected screen.
4. Right-click the speaker icon on the taskbar, select Sound settings and check the output device. If it is your headphones, laptop speakers or a USB headset, you do not use the NVIDIA audio device.

How to fix the nvhda64v.sys blue screen

Fix 1 is a five minute test that tells you whether the audio driver is the cause. Fix 2 makes the change permanent, and Fix 3 is for readers who need HDMI sound. Fixes 4 to 6 are for crashes that go on.

Fix 1. Disable NVIDIA High Definition Audio in Device Manager

5 minutesLow riskSound plays from your PC speakers, headphones or a headset, not from the monitor or TV.

A disabled device has no driver running, so nvhda64v.sys cannot crash the PC. The picture is not affected, because the graphics driver is a separate file. Users on the Dell and Sysnative forums report that their blue screens stopped after this.

1. Right-click Start and select Device Manager.
2. Expand Sound, video and game controllers.
3. Right-click NVIDIA High Definition Audio and select Disable device, then Yes.
4. Repeat for every other NVIDIA High Definition Audio entry in the list.
5. Restart the PC and use it normally for a few days, including sleep and wake.

Fix 2. Reinstall the NVIDIA driver clean, without the HD audio part

20 minutesLow riskFix 1 stopped the crashes, or you want the audio driver gone for good.

NVIDIA's installer has a Custom (Advanced) mode in which you choose the components and can tick Perform a clean installation. Leaving out the HD audio part means nvhda64v.sys is never installed again, and the clean option removes old settings and leftover driver files.

1. Download the current driver for your card from NVIDIA's Game Ready Drivers page, or the driver from your laptop maker's support page.
2. Close all programs, including GPU monitoring and tuning tools such as MSI Afterburner, browsers and video players.
3. Right-click the downloaded installer and select Run as administrator. Accept the User Account Control prompt and the default folder for temporary files.
4. Choose Custom (Advanced) and select Next.
5. In the list of components, keep the graphics driver and untick the HD Audio driver. Untick the other optional parts you do not use, too.
6. Tick Perform a clean installation and select Next.
7. Restart the PC when the installer finishes.

Fix 3. Roll back the NVIDIA driver to the version that worked

10 minutesLow riskThe crashes started after a new NVIDIA driver, or you need sound through the monitor or TV.

Each NVIDIA driver release brings its own HD Audio driver version, and users report that one release crashed while the one before did not. Returning to the earlier version keeps HDMI sound and removes the new bug.

1. Right-click Start, select Device Manager and expand Sound, video and game controllers.
2. Right-click NVIDIA High Definition Audio and select Properties.
3. Open the Driver tab, write down Driver Version, then select Roll Back Driver, choose a reason and select Yes.
4. If Roll Back Driver is greyed out, do the same under Display adapters for the NVIDIA graphics card, which rolls back the whole package.
5. Restart the PC.
6. If the button is greyed out there too, download the previous driver release from NVIDIA and install it as in Fix 2, with the HD audio part ticked this time.

Fix 4. Update the BIOS and chipset drivers from your PC maker

20 to 30 minutesRead the warningThe crashes happen around sleep, wake or power changes, especially on a laptop with both Intel and NVIDIA graphics.

The audio driver asks Windows to change the device's power state, and the firmware's power tables (ACPI) take part in that. Microsoft's guidance for this kind of crash includes checking with the hardware maker for ACPI and firmware updates.

1. Press Win + R, type msinfo32 and press Enter.
2. Note System Model (laptops) or BaseBoard Product (desktops), and BIOS Version/Date.
3. On your PC or motherboard maker's support site, search for that model and open its drivers and downloads.
4. Install the newest Chipset driver first and restart.
5. If a newer BIOS is listed, read its notes, run the update as the maker describes and let the PC restart on its own.
6. Install the NVIDIA driver again afterwards, as in Fix 2 or Fix 3.

Fix 5. Check the graphics card, the memory and the PC maker's diagnostics

30 minutes, plus a test overnightNo riskCrashes go on with the NVIDIA audio device disabled or removed, or name different drivers each time.

When a crash continues with the driver gone, the driver was not the whole cause. Microsoft advises running the hardware diagnostics that the PC maker supplies, and a forum analyst suggested reseating the graphics card for this exact crash.

1. On a desktop, shut down, unplug the power cable, then take the graphics card out and push it firmly back into its slot. Check that its power cables click in.
2. Remove any overclock and run the card and memory at default speeds while you test.
3. Test the memory: How to test your RAM with Windows Memory Diagnostic
4. Run the diagnostics your PC maker ships, such as the one in the laptop's boot menu, and note any error codes it shows.

Fix 6. Repair Windows system files

20 minutesNo riskEvery fix above failed, or the stop screens name several different drivers.

nvhda64v.sys sits on top of the Windows audio and power stacks. They are rarely damaged, but DISM and SFC check them together with the rest of Windows and replace a broken copy.

DISM fetches clean Windows components, then SFC replaces damaged system files. Step by step with screenshots: Run DISM and SFC to repair Windows system files

In Terminal (Admin), one after the other:

DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
sfc /scannow

If the crashes began on a known date and nothing else helped, System Restore takes Windows and its drivers back to that date without touching your files: Undo recent changes with System Restore

Still crashing: what to check and whom to ask

Only NVIDIA can fix a bug inside nvhda64v.sys, and on a laptop the PC maker decides which NVIDIA driver it supports. Give them what they need to reproduce the crash.

• The three newest .dmp files from C:\Windows\Minidump, zipped.
• The NVIDIA driver version from the graphics card's Driver tab in Device Manager.
• Your graphics card or laptop model and the monitor, TV or receiver connected to it.
• Your Windows edition and version from Settings > System > About.
• When it crashes: on wake from sleep, when a screen is switched off, or at random.

How to keep the nvhda64v.sys blue screen from coming back

Windows 10 left support on 14 October 2025. NVIDIA still publishes drivers for it, but a PC that can run Windows 11 has better odds of getting future driver fixes.

Frequently asked questions

What is nvhda64v.sys?

nvhda64v.sys is the 64-bit NVIDIA High Definition Audio driver. It drives the small sound device inside every NVIDIA graphics card, which sends audio to a monitor, TV or AV receiver over HDMI or DisplayPort. It is installed with the GeForce graphics driver and shows in Device Manager under Sound, video and game controllers as NVIDIA High Definition Audio. The file lives in C:\Windows\System32\drivers. It is a genuine NVIDIA driver, not part of Windows and not malware.

What does SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED with nvhda64v.sys mean?

It is bug check 0x7E: a system thread hit an error that no error handler caught, so Windows stopped. The stop code describes the kind of fault, and What failed names the driver that was running, here the NVIDIA audio driver. Microsoft's advice for this bug check is to disable or remove the named driver or to get an update from its maker. That is what Fixes 1 to 3 on this page do.

Can I disable NVIDIA High Definition Audio safely?

Yes. Disabling it only removes the option to play sound through the monitor, TV or receiver connected to the graphics card. The picture, games, video acceleration and the graphics driver keep working, because they use a different driver file. Your laptop speakers, headphones and USB headsets use other audio devices and are not affected. You can enable the device again at any time in Device Manager if you start using HDMI sound.

Why does it crash when the PC wakes from sleep?

The audio driver has to switch its device off when the PC sleeps and back on when it wakes, and it asks Windows for each power change. In one analysed case, that request failed and Windows stopped with INTERNAL_POWER_ERROR, with nvhda64v.sys on the call stack. Removing the NVIDIA audio driver ended the crashes there. Disabling the device (Fix 1) and updating the BIOS and chipset drivers (Fix 4) target this case.

Will I lose sound if I remove the NVIDIA audio driver?

Only the sound that goes out through HDMI or DisplayPort to a monitor, TV or receiver. Sound through the motherboard's audio jack, the laptop's own speakers, Bluetooth and USB headsets uses other drivers and keeps working. If you need the monitor's speakers, keep the audio part and use Fix 3 instead, which finds a driver version that does not crash on your PC.

Does a clean NVIDIA driver install fix nvhda64v.sys crashes?

Only when you leave the HD audio part out, or when the new driver carries a fixed audio driver version. A clean install with every component ticked puts the same nvhda64v.sys back, so the crash can return. In NVIDIA's installer, choose Custom (Advanced), untick the audio component and tick Perform a clean installation, as in Fix 2.

Is nvhda64v.sys a virus?

The genuine file is a signed NVIDIA driver in C:\Windows\System32\drivers, and its crashes come from bugs, not from malware. A copy in another folder, or one without a valid NVIDIA signature, would be suspicious. To check, right-click the file in File Explorer, select Properties and open Digital Signatures. If in doubt, run a Microsoft Defender scan: How to scan for malware with Microsoft Defender. A scan alone will not stop the blue screens, though.

Should I use a driver updater program to fix it?

No. Driver updater programs may pick a driver for the wrong card or from an unofficial source, and they install every component, including the audio part that crashes. The current NVIDIA driver is free on NVIDIA's own download page, and laptop makers publish theirs on their support sites. Those two places are enough for this error, and you choose exactly which components go in.

This page is about nvhda64v.sys. What about nvlddmkm.sys?

nvlddmkm.sys is the NVIDIA graphics driver itself, a different file with different causes such as display timeouts and unstable clocks. The fixes on this page that remove the audio part will not help with it. Clean driver installs and removing overclocks still apply. Our guide to Event ID 153 from nvlddmkm covers that driver.