Unable to get GT 640 working after failed update

[balderstone]

Hi!

I'm using a Windows 7 x64 machine with a GeForce GT 640 and all was well until a driver update failed yesterday. Upon reboot, Windows reverted back to on-board graphics and I just can't seem to get the driver(any driver) working again. At first it seems to install fine, but when done installing I get a code 39 in device manager and the nvidia config won't even open.

Some things I've tried so far:

-use ddu to uninstall driver & clean reg
-use ccleaner for further reg cleaning
-fresh install with newest driver
-fresh install with older drivers
-uninstall microsoft visual c++ 2013 redistributable x86 & x64 before install
-install manually from device manager
-install with windows update

Hope someone knows what's going on!

Update: New gpu suffers from the exact same problem

 

[Lutfij]

Which driver version are we talking about? What was the last stable(non issue) drivers that you used on your system?

 

[balderstone]

Which driver version are we talking about? What was the last stable(non issue) drivers that you used on your system?

I'm not sure what the driver was before I attempted to update. Last time I updated can't be longer than 2 months ago. I did try some drivers from around that time but none of them worked for me.

 

[Lutfij]

Right, now what are your full system's specs?

 

[balderstone]

Right, now what are your full system's specs?

Intel Core i7-3820
Asus P9X79
D316GB 1600-10 Vengeance LP

 

[balderstone]

Actually, it's not using integrated graphics as it's still outputting from the GT 640 (duh). So it's just not using the drivers properly I guess? Even video playback is a challenge, all choppy and stuff.

 

[neatfeatguy]

Can you do a system restore to a date prior to when the issue started? This will put your system back on the previous driver for your video card. Hopefully windows created a system restore point before you upgraded the video driver or installed any other system updates for windows.

 

[balderstone]

Can you do a system restore to a date prior to when the issue started? This will put your system back on the previous driver for your video card. Hopefully windows created a system restore point before you upgraded the video driver or installed any other system updates for windows.

Sadly not, I tried installing it so many times that any restore points before the update have been wiped. I did try to restore it yesterday when I still had some older restore points left but it failed.

 

[junkeymonkey]

thing is with out the driver the card may work in like a low power state the built in to windows standered vga driver is just a kinda failsafe driver when you use the NVidia driver that puts the card to use a full power states and all features

so 90% of the time something in the card may of failed and cant do much more now then display at minimum

I all ready answered here once on all this better but seems my post got removed ????

you need to try to test that card in another computer with the driver installed and test if it fails or still will not except the NVidia driver the card just failed

 

[balderstone]

thing is with out the driver the card may work in like a low power state the built in to windows standered vga driver is just a kinda failsafe driver when you use the NVidia driver that puts the card to use a full power states and all features

so 90% of the time something in the card may of failed and cant do much more now then display at minimum

I all ready answered here once on all this better but seems my post got removed ????

you need to try to test that card in another computer with the driver installed and test if it fails or still will not except the NVidia driver the card just failed

Yeah, seems like right now it's running a vga driver without anything fancy, just the bare minimum. Even though the driver is installed and device manager recognizes it as a GeForce GT 640 (but with a code 39).

I don't have access to another computer right now so I can't do further testing. If all else fails I'll have to get a new card but of course I'd rather not. I would also like to add that this is the first time having problems with my gpu.

 

[junkeymonkey]

I did see one guy say with that code 39 he ended up having to reinstall windows ??? to me if that worked I would feel there maybe a harddrive or related issue that's corrupting data ????

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-hardware/code-39-video-card-driver-already-attempted-at-re/d8027b75-ab1e-4106-a566-4d943bcf3cfd

that could work but then in a day or a week or may last forever if it were to work right off hand ??

and then unless you got another NVidia card to try in your rig to see what it may do ?? work correct -0- issue or show the same issue ??

with out a process of elimination you just don't know and keep guessing and hoping

may try to run SFC/SCANNOW or try that windows check disk

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/929833/use-the-system-file-checker-tool-to-repair-missing-or-corrupted-system-files

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2641432/check-your-hard-disk-for-errors-in-windows-7

never know , may find smthing and correct ti ??

 

[balderstone]

I did see one guy say with that code 39 he ended up having to reinstall windows ??? to me if that worked I would feel there maybe a harddrive or related issue that's corrupting data ????

may try to run SFC/SCANNOW or try that windows check disk

never know , may find smthing and correct ti ??

Thanks. Tried sfc/scannow and chkdsk and both turned out fine.
Reinstalling Windows would be really inconvenient atm and a last resort only.

 

[junkeymonkey]

I understand , just test your card in another computer like your buddies or something and se if a buddy has a NVidia card close to like yours to test in your rig is all I can say now

 

[Lutfij]

Even on Windows 10, SFC / scannow and a system restore end up as nothing fruitful. The best course of action is to reinstall your OS. In fact I was just about to mention that you should recreate your installer of Windows 7 to rule out a corrupt installer and try again. Following that you should be installing your device drivers first and then install app's and going on to the internet.

As a cautionary note to Junkeymoney's post, you must be careful that the card you're dropping into has the same TDP as the GT640. If you get something lower than the GT640 then you're fine otherwise you are asking for the card to draw more and asking more from the PSU if the card is, say a GT660 or higher, which you haven't stated in your specs list.

Prior to doing anything it'd be a very good idea to take a note of what driver revision's you've used...

 

[balderstone]

Quick update. Bought a new gpu(Radeon RX 460) but it has the exact same problem; installs fine but code 39 in device manager. Are there any repair options for Windows 7 I should consider?

 

[Lutfij]

The OS repair feature wasn't perfected until the released of Windows 10. Any OS prior to 10 ultimately were like reinstalling your OS after a full format. It's best that you reinstall your OS, after making sure your OS isn't corrupted, which leads me to ask, where did you source the OS from? You forgot to mention your PSU's and model.

 

[junkeymonkey]

https://www.asus.com/support/faq/1002017/

that code 39 may not have to do with any card your using ?? ''post-memory system agent initialization is started ''

may need to look at that some may of developed a memory / motherboard issue