How to fix DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE step by step

If you have seen a blue screen with the text DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE, take a deep breath: it is a known bug and can be fixed, you can see how Fix Windows 11 Driver Error. This error usually appears when starting up, restarting, or resuming from sleep/hibernation., and is almost always related to drivers that do not manage the device's power states well.

In the following lines you will find a complete guide that combines practical solutions, advanced checks and, for those who need it, Low-level debugging methods for bugcheck 0x0000009F documented by Microsoft. Plus, if you've lost files due to the BSOD, we'll tell you how to recover them without any problems.

What is DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE and when does it appear?

DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE is a Windows Stop Code with value 0x0000009F. A message like this may appear on the screen: “A problem has been detected… DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE”, and the system reboots to protect the integrity of the OS.

The typical trigger is that Windows tries to wake, sleep, or resume a device and The controller is unresponsive or remains in an invalid power stateHence, the most common symptom is a BSOD upon waking up the computer, although it can also occur during use if the driver "hangs."

Common causes of failure

There are several scenarios that cause the DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE error. These are the most common according to documented cases:

• Incompatible or corrupted drivers: Drivers that are outdated, corrupt, or incompatible with your version of Windows.
• Problematic peripherals: External drives, USB hubs, printers, or newly connected devices that cause conflicts.
• Incorrectly adjusted power settings: Aggressive power-saving options that cut power to devices and prevent them from reactivating.
• Corrupted system files: especially if the hibernation file hiberfil.sys has been damaged.
• SSD and low power modes: units that do not get along well with certain functions (e.g., DevSleep).
• Antivirus or third-party software: Applications that interfere with power transition or drivers.
• Malware: infections that alter system files or drivers.
• Faulty hardware: Storage drives or graphics cards failing intermittently.

Before we get into the nitty-gritty, it's worth defining the problem. Disconnect everything external and test; if it stops failing, you already have a strong clue about the origin.

Identify the culprit quickly

Start with the simple. Disconnect USB peripherals and bootIf the BSOD disappears, connect one by one to find the problematic one, and when you find it, reinstall its driver from Device Manager.

If the computer does not start normally, enter Safe Mode (F8 on startup in older versions; in Windows 10/11 from Advanced Options) to avoid loading problematic drivers and work without a screen crash.

Open the Device administrator and look for devices with a red X or a yellow exclamation point. That's usually where the source is: update or uninstall that driver.

Another source of clues is the Events viewer: Check for critical system errors in the same time window in which the BSOD appeared. Logs can point to the specific driver that failed.

Practical step-by-step solutions

Let's now look at a series of possible solutions for the DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE error:

1) Remove recent external hardware

The most common culprits are new USB devices. Disconnect drives, hubs, printers, and dongles, restart and test. If the error disappears, update the driver for the conflicting device from the manufacturer's website; if you work with printers or scanners, check the WIA driver.

2) Uninstall drivers in Safe Mode

If you installed any driver recently and the problem started, boot into Safe Mode, go to Device Manager, right click on the newly installed device and press Uninstall device. Repeat with the suspects, and restart normally.

3) Update (or roll back) drivers

Open Run (Windows+R), type devmgmt.msc and, on the device, choose Update driver. First try automatic searchIf you can't find anything, download the driver from the manufacturer's official website.

If the problem appeared after updating a driver (especially graphics (AMD Radeon driver), network or Wi‑Fi), go to Device Properties, Driver tab and use Revert to the previous controller. Reboot and check.

4) Run an SFC scan

To repair damaged system files, open CMD as administrator and runs:

sfc /scannow

Let it finish; it may take a while, especially in a Mechanical HDD. Do not interrupt the process even if it seems like it's not making any progress. When it's finished, close the window and restart.

5) Adjust power options

This BSOD is closely linked to power management. Go to Control Panel > Power Options and select Balanced (recommended). Then, under Change plan settings > Advanced settings:

• Wireless adapter: Maximum performance.
• PCI Express > Link State Management: Testing Between Disabled or Maximum energy saving depending on your case (some guides suggest saving, others suggest deactivating it to avoid power cuts; validate which setting eliminates your BSOD).
• Check Sleep/Hibernation and prevent critical devices from entering aggressive states.

If you have tinkered with plans in the past, an effective option is restore the default settings for each plan and try again.

6) Temporarily disable or uninstall your antivirus

Some antivirus programs interfere with power transitions or drivers. From Control Panel > Programs, temporarily uninstall the antivirus, restart and see if the error resolves. If it improves, install the latest version or change your security solution.

7) Configure the NVIDIA Control Panel

With NVIDIA graphics, open the Control Panel and go to “Manage 3D Settings.” Under “Power Management Mode,” select Prefer maximum performance and choose the correct preferred GPU. Apply and test.

8) Remove problematic programs

If the BSOD started after installing a program, go to Control Panel > Programs > Uninstall a program, remove that software and reboot. In some cases, leftover driver cleanup tools help remove residual drivers.

9) Use Driver Verifier

Windows includes DriverVerifier To detect unstable drivers: search for “verifier” in Start, create standard configuration, select drivers to analyze, reboot, and let it verify. If it finds problems it will generate reports that point to the culprit.

10) Check for Windows updates (or roll back to the last one)

Go to Settings > Windows Update. Install pending patches, as they fix stability and power issues. If the issue occurred after updating, go to Uninstall updates and reverts the last one to rule out regressions.

11) Update the system while keeping your files

As a last resort, in Settings > Update & security > Recovery, use “Reset this PC”, “Keep my files” option. It is a light reinstallation that usually eliminates persistent conflicts of drivers.

Advanced Technical Guide: Debugging Bugcheck 0x9F

For development or advanced IT environments, Microsoft documents bugcheck analysis. DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE (0x9F)Parameter 1 indicates the type of violation and guides the diagnosis.

Parameter 1	Parameter 2	Parameter 3	Parameter 4	Description of the cause
0 x 1	Device object	Reserved	Reserved	A device object with a pending uncompleted power request is released.
0 x 2	Target device object (if any)	Device object	Driver object (if it exists)	System Power State IRP completed but PoStartNextPowerIrp was not called.
0 x 3	Stack PDO	nt!_TRIAGE_9F_POWER	IRP blocked	A device object blocks an IRP for too long.
0 x 4	Waiting time (seconds)	Thread holding PnP lock	nt!_TRIAGE_9F_PNP	Timeout when synchronizing power transition with PnP.
0 x 5	PDO	POP_FX_DEVICE	Reserved: 0	The device did not complete a directed energy transition in time.
0 x 6	POP_FX_DEVICE	Directed shutdown (1) / On (0)	Reserved: 0	Incomplete Directed Energy Transition Callback.
0 x 500	Reserved	Target device (if any)	Device (object)	Power Status IRP completed without invoking PoStartNextPowerIrp.

Base diagnostics in WinDbg: use ! analyze -v to see the structure nt!_TRIAGE_9F_POWER or nt!_TRIAGE_9F_PNP and the possible KiBugCheckDriver involved.

kd> !analyze -v
... DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE (9f)
Arg1: 0000000000000003
Arg2: fffffa8007b13440 (PDO)
Arg3: fffff8000386c3d8 (nt!_TRIAGE_9F_POWER)
Arg4: fffffa800ab61bd0 (IRP bloqueado)

With dx KiBugCheckDriver you can read the driver name if available, and with dt about nt!_TRIAGE_9F_POWER (Arg3) you examine pending energy IRP lists and the threads of work involved.

0: kd> dt nt!_TRIAGE_9F_POWER fffff8000386c3d8
+0x008 IrpList : ... _LIST_ENTRY 
+0x010 ThreadList : ... _LIST_ENTRY 
+0x018 DelayedWorkQueue : _TRIAGE_EX_WORK_QUEUE

The command !irp on Arg4 shows the trace of the blocked IRP, and !devstack with the PDO (Arg2) list the driver stack up to the specific service (for example, HidUsb on USB HID devices).

0: kd> !irp fffffa800ab61bd0
...
> ... pending \Driver\HidUsb
...
0: kd> !devstack fffffa8007b13440
... ServiceName is "HidUsb"

For global energy states, !poaction displays assigned IRPs and active worker threads.

kd> !poaction
PopAction: ... State: Idle ...
Allocated power irps ...

If you work with KMDF, use !wdfkd.wdflogdump y !wdfkd.wdfdevicequeues to confirm whether the framework is waiting for confirmation of pending requests. !stacks can uncover threads that delay the energy transition.

Also, for 0x4 check the structure nt!_TRIAGE_9F_PNP indicated in Arg4, with its completed queue and deferred work queue.

kd> dt nt!_TRIAGE_9F_PNP 82931b24
+0x004 CompletionQueue : _TRIAGE_PNP_DEVICE_COMPLETION_QUEUE

If you are not going to debug, the basic recommendations already seen (update/remove drivers, check Device Manager, temporarily disable energy saving, removing recent hardware, running diagnostics, and updating BIOS/ACPI) are the practical way to go.

Extra tips and final checks

If after applying several methods the problem persists, consider analyzing hardware components (especially the power supply and storage drives) and update firmware/BIOS and ACPI tables.

Remember that some portable power plans are very aggressive: modify sleep/hibernation, PCIe, and Wi-Fi, and validate with reboots. Sometimes, reversing the process (restoring to default if you changed it, or customizing if it was set to default) helps isolate the setting that triggers the BSOD.

Finally, if the screen always appears on restart and not on cold boot, the focus is usually on devices that don't wake up properly or hibernation channel corruption. In this case, a combination of SFC, correct drivers, and a conservative power plan usually resolves the issue.

With all the above You should be able to get past DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE: Disconnect peripherals, adjust power, repair files, and keep drivers up to date., the system is stable again; and if you needed to save data from a recent scare, Recovery utilities get you out of trouble quite reliably.