Fix DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE (0x9F) in Windows 8 or 7 (Historical)

Historical support note: Windows 8 and Windows 7 are no longer supported by Microsoft.

DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE has bug check value 0x0000009F. Microsoft defines it as a driver entering an inconsistent or invalid power state. It commonly appears while Windows is shutting down, sleeping, hibernating, waking, or otherwise changing device power states.

1. Identify what changed

If the crashes began after installing a device, driver, utility, or firmware update, start there. Remove the new device temporarily or roll back/update its driver.

In Device Manager, look for devices with warning icons and inspect their event information. Also check Event Viewer > Windows Logs > System around the crash time.

2. Update the relevant drivers

Prefer the driver supplied by the PC, motherboard, or hardware manufacturer for that exact model. Common areas to check include:

chipset and power-management drivers
graphics
storage/AHCI
Wi-Fi/Bluetooth
USB devices and controllers

Do not update every driver indiscriminately when one device is clearly implicated.

3. Check firmware only when appropriate

Microsoft’s own 0x9F guidance notes that system ACPI/BIOS or other firmware can be involved. Check the manufacturer’s release notes and follow its update procedure exactly.

A firmware update is not a generic first step: an interrupted or incorrect update can make a system unbootable.

4. Test power-management interactions

If the crash consistently occurs during sleep or hibernate, temporarily changing the power-saving behavior for the suspected device can help isolate the problem. Revert unnecessary changes after testing.

5. Driver Verifier is an advanced diagnostic tool

The original version of this article recommended leaving Driver Verifier running for a day or more on a normal PC. Microsoft’s current documentation explicitly warns that Driver Verifier can deliberately crash the computer and says it should be used on systems intended for testing and debugging.

Do not use Driver Verifier as a routine consumer fix. If you are debugging a reproducible driver problem and understand crash-dump analysis, Microsoft’s documentation explains how to use it safely.