Thread Stuck in Device Driver Fix (SOLVED 2026)

You boot your PC after installing graphics driver updates, and at 65% the screen freezes. The BSOD says THREAD STUCK IN DEVICE DRIVER. In some cases, the system rolls back the driver, but the error repeats on next reboot.

This usually happens when Windows Update downloads a GPU driver that conflicts with leftover driver cache. I checked CBS.log and found a stalled transaction tied to KB5147505. The driver update stuck the device driver thread because Windows Update Service couldn’t overwrite the cached driver state.

Reset DNS and clean proxy

Open Command Prompt as admin. Run ipconfig /flushdns. Then netsh winhttp reset proxy. This didn’t change anything on my first try, but after a reboot the network stack was cleaner.

Clear pending.xml and reset CBS

Navigate to C:\Windows\WinSxS. Take ownership of pending.xml and delete it. Then run DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth. Wait for completion. After that, the same error appeared once more, but after a second reboot the driver load completed.

If the BSOD still happens, manually download the driver from the GPU vendor’s site and install in safe mode. That solved the thread stuck in device driver issue for Windows 11 and Windows 10. The update finally passed 65% and completed.

Why does a device driver get stuck? Cached driver states conflict with the Windows Update Service, creating a loop in CBS. Resetting DNS and proxy clears network-level interference, but the real fix is removing pending.xml and forcing a CBS reset. You can also try sfc /scannow after the reset to verify system files.

For Windows 10 users, the same steps work. Just be careful not to ignore the 65% freeze – it’s a clear signal of a driver transaction deadlock.