[mike_hearn]

I think Windows is capable of resetting the GPU and its driver without a hard reboot, actually. At least in theory.

[frognumber]

In theory is right. I've never seen a modern NVidia or AMD reset out of a failed state without a hardware reset.

This was possible with old-school graphics cards in the nineties and early 00's, when they were mostly a framebuffer, with a bit of 2d acceleration.