Driver state power failure - Blue screens caused by PCI.sys error in dump files, what do I do?

Hi James Davis,

Thanks for reaching out. A “Driver Power State Failure” BSOD referencing pci.sys usually points to a driver or power management issue, often related to devices not transitioning properly during sleep or hibernation.

First, try booting into Safe Mode and uninstall any recently added or updated drivers especially for graphics, chipset, or network devices as these are common culprits.

Second, update all your drivers. Use Device Manager to check for outdated drivers, or better yet, visit your PC manufacturer’s support page (Dell, HP, etc.) to download the latest versions, particularly for chipset, graphics, and power management components.

Third, disable Fast Startup by going to Control Panel > Power Options > Choose what the power buttons do, then click Change settings that are currently unavailable and uncheck Turn on fast startup.

Lastly, run a system file check to ensure there’s no corruption. Open Command Prompt as Administrator and run:

sfc /scannow

Then follow it with:

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

If this helps, please mark the answer as accepted so others can find it too.

Best,
Carl