E6540 Blue Screen When Attempting to Install Memory Card Reader Driver

ntoskrnl, a primary system process, is running non-stop. Taking average of 33% of CPU cycles. Research says likely issue is bad driver. I was in process of trying to reinstall Win10Pro on new drive for E6540. OS was installed successfully, worked as expected for an initial install, and ntoskrnl was not out of control. I started applying Dell and Windows updates. I lost track of when the ntoskrnl process became "stuck". Maybe after most current BIOS update? Currently, running on third Win10 install attempt, following complete disk scrub, no additional Windows updates. Takes 2-3 minutes to boot to Win10 login screen. Even with SafeBoot, ntoskrnl process running stuck. Review of System EventLogs indicates first error, and ongoing errors, caused by "BHTPCRDR cannot be found". This is SmartCard reader driver. DeviceManager does not show separate "O2 ... Card Reader" entry. Whether in normal or Safe mode, laptop gives blue screen when attempting to load Dell's smart card driver: "O2 Micro OZ777xxx/OZ621XX memory card reader Driver" (from Dell Support site.) I tried to disable smart card via msconfig, unchecking three smart card processes. No luck. I have reset BIOS to default values. Given that kernel process is running at time of Windows boot and Win10 is running without updates, it makes me think that it is a result of BIOS change. I cannot install the card reader driver, (with ntoskrnl running stuck), without blue screen. Laptop is nearly unusable with 33% loss of cycles, so I can't just ignore it. Thoughts?