Why does Quartus® II Programmer cause my computer to crash when programming large files?

Due to a problem with the USB-Blaster download cable drivers included with the Quartus® II software version 11.1 SP2, you may encounter an error that causes your computer to crash. This problem may occur when using these drivers with Windows XP 64-bit or Windows 7 64-bit operating systems and programming devices with large configuration files such as Stratix® V devices.

To work around this problem, perform the following steps:

1. Uninstall the drivers for your USB-Blaster download cable and replace them with the drivers in the file below:
   • usb-blaster.zip
2. Open the Device Manager and locate the USB-Blaster device.
3. Right-click on the USB-Blaster device and navigate to the Driver tab.
4. Click Uninstall and then check the Delete the driver software for this device checkbox and click OK in the pop-up window.
5. Unplug the USB-Blaster and then plug it in again.
6. Navigate to USB-Blaster under Other devices in the Device Manager.
7. Follow the instructions on the Intel website to install the new driver using the drivers downloaded from the link above.

The drivers are fixed beginning with the Quartus II software version 12.0.