This post is to shed light and share a workaround on a crippling issue going on now with Vulkan and older graphics cards like my GTX 970 that cause the whole PC to completely FREEZE when running a Vulkan-using game like Doom Eternal.
So something happened since Microsoft released their January 2026 security update KB5074109. When running a Vulkan game (Doom Eternal for me), the screen turns black, there’s a BOOP sound, and everything completely freezes. The only way out is to manually reboot the PC. Games using OpenGL don’t seem to be affected. For example, UZDoom allows you to select the Rendering API (Vulkan, OpenGL, and OpenGL ES). When using OpenGL ES, UZDoom works, but when using Vulkan, UZDoom experiences the same BOOP freeze.
Here are some workarounds that I found.
Workaround #1: Go to Uninstall Updates and remove “Security Update from Microsoft”. As of this writing, there’s already a Security Update for February 2026 (KB5077181). If you have that installed, uninstall it, reboot, go back to Uninstall Updates, and it will now let you uninstall the January 2026 Security Update (KB5074109). Once you uninstall that junk and reboot, the Vulkan games will be working again.
Workaround #2: I noticed after I uninstall the latest NVidia drivers and let Microsoft automatically install their own Nvidia drivers (version 441.87), I was able to play Vulkan games while on still having the latest Security Update installed (February 2026 KB5077181). Unfortunately, Doom Eternal specifically requires a higher version driver to work, but other games seem to work OK.
I tried using NVClean to install some older versions, but they all seem to be affected. Version 471.68 is the earliest NVClean allows me to select, and it has the same issue as the latest drivers.
For reference, my specs:
DATE: 15th Feb 2026
OS: Windows 11 25H2
CPU: Intel i5-6600K
MOBO: Asus Z170 Pro Gaming
RAM: 2x4GB DDR4 2666
GPU: Zotac GeForce 970 GTX
PSU: Cooler Master V750 Semi-Modular