To restart a video card (GPU) driver in Windows 7, there are a few methods you can follow. Here are the most common approaches:
Method 1: Using Keyboard Shortcut (Quickest Method)
Windows has a built-in feature to reset the video driver using a simple keyboard shortcut.
- Press
Win + Ctrl + Shift + B
on your keyboard. - Your screen may flicker, and you will hear a beep sound.
- The display will go blank for a second, then reappear, indicating that the video driver has been restarted.
This method works for Nvidia, AMD, and Intel drivers on Windows 7 and newer versions.
Method 2: Using Device Manager
You can restart the video card driver through the Device Manager by disabling and re-enabling the GPU.
- Right-click on Computer or This PC and select Manage.
- In the Computer Management window, go to Device Manager in the left panel.
- In the Device Manager window, expand the Display adapters category.
- Right-click on your video card (e.g., Nvidia, AMD, Intel) and select Disable.
- You may see a brief screen flicker.
5. After disabling, right-click on the video card again and select Enable to restart the driver.
Method 3: Restarting the Graphics Driver Service via Command Prompt
You can restart the graphics driver by restarting the Display Driver service.
- Open Command Prompt as Administrator:
- Click Start, type
cmd
, right-click Command Prompt, and select Run as Administrator.
2. Type the following command to stop the display driver service:
net stop nvsvc
(For Nvidia cards, or replace nvsvc
with the appropriate service name if using AMD or Intel cards).
- To restart the driver service, type:
net start nvsvc
(Again, replace nvsvc
with the appropriate service name for your GPU).
Method 4: Restart Your PC
If the above methods don’t work or you want a more comprehensive reset, simply restart your computer. This will reload all drivers, including the video card driver.
- Click Start.
- Select Restart from the shutdown menu.
Conclusion
To simply restart any video card (or GPU) driver specifically in Windows 7, then there are several ways that you can easily follow along with the best GPU dedicated server. The above-mentioned approaches help you to restart your card.