| Cause | Explanation | |-------|-------------| | | A damaged wudfrd.sys file or related system files due to a bad update, power outage, or malware. | | Windows Update Glitch | A recent Windows Update may have incorrectly updated or removed critical UMDF (User-Mode Driver Framework) components. | | Third-Party Antivirus | Aggressive security software can block the loading of user-mode drivers, mistakenly flagging wudfrd.sys as unsafe. | | Driver Conflict | Another software driver (e.g., a proprietary webcam driver from Dell, HP, or Lenovo) may conflict with the Windows Hello Face driver. | | Corrupt Driver Store | The driver package for Windows Hello Face is partially installed or missing critical registry entries. |

To resolve this error, the following steps can be taken:

Fast startup skipping driver initialization.

It often appears in (yellow exclamation mark) or Event Viewer (Event ID 10110 / 10111 or similar).