Quick answer: exit code -1073740791 is not a Minecraft error code. It is a Windows status code, 0xC0000409, meaning the process was terminated by the operating system after a native crash. Java did not throw an exception, so there is no stack trace in the log, which is why the launcher falls back to guessing and suggests outdated video drivers. That guess is right often enough to be worth trying first, and wrong often enough that you should not stop there.
Where the number comes from
Exit codes on Windows are signed 32 bit integers. Convert it and the meaning appears:
-1073740791 -> 0xC0000409 STATUS_STACK_BUFFER_OVERRUN
For comparison, the other code you will see in Minecraft crashes:
-1073741819 -> 0xC0000005 STATUS_ACCESS_VIOLATION
Both mean the same thing for your purposes: something crashed in native code, outside the Java virtual machine. That is the single most useful fact here. A normal Minecraft crash produces a crash report with a stack trace because Java caught it. This one produces almost nothing, because the process was killed before Java could react.
So when your log ends abruptly with no exception, that is not a missing log. That is the symptom.
Why the launcher blames your drivers
Minecraft renders through OpenGL, and the OpenGL implementation is part of your graphics driver. That driver is native code running inside the Minecraft process. If it faults, the whole process dies exactly this way. Since the graphics driver is statistically the most common native component to crash, the launcher guesses it.
It is a reasonable guess. It is still a guess.
The four real causes, in the order worth checking
1. Graphics drivers. Worth ruling out first because it is cheap. Do a clean install rather than an update, since a layered driver install can keep the broken files. Download from NVIDIA, AMD or Intel directly, not from Windows Update, and choose the clean install option.
2. Shaders and the renderer. If you run OptiFine, Iris, Sodium, Oculus or Embeddium, disable shaders and launch again. Shader packs push far more unusual work through the driver than vanilla ever does, and a shader pack that crashes one driver version runs fine on another. If it launches without shaders, you have found it, and the fix is a different shader version rather than a different graphics card.
3. The GPU running out of memory. This is the one people miss. Large render distances, high resolution texture packs and Distant Horizons all raise video memory use, and running out of it can present as a native crash rather than a clean error. If you recently raised render distance or installed a 512x texture pack, put them back and test.
4. A mod with native components. Not many mods ship native code, but the ones that do can crash this way. If the crash started right after adding a mod, that mod is the suspect regardless of what the launcher says.
How to actually narrow it down
The absence of a Java stack trace does not mean there is no evidence.
Check .minecraft/logs/latest.log and read the last few lines before it stops. The process died mid operation, so whatever it was doing last is a genuine clue. If the final lines mention shader compilation, texture loading, or a specific mod initialising, start there.
Then bisect. Half your mods out, launch, and see which half crashes. It feels slow but it is usually four or five launches to a definite answer, which is faster than guessing at driver versions.
If it crashes with no mods and no shaders at default settings, it is drivers or hardware, and now you know that instead of assuming it.
Does this affect servers?
Not directly, and this is worth being clear about because the two get confused.
-1073740791 is a client crash. It comes from Windows and involves graphics, and a Minecraft server renders nothing at all. If your server process is stopping, you are looking at a different problem: exit code 137 is the Linux out of memory killer, exit code 1 is usually a startup error that will be printed in the log, and a Java exception will produce a real stack trace.
Where the two do meet is that a client crashing repeatedly on join can look like a server problem. If one player crashes and everyone else is fine, it is that player's machine, not your server.
FAQ
Is exit code -1073740791 a virus or corrupted install? No. It is a Windows status code meaning the process was terminated after a native fault. Reinstalling Minecraft rarely changes anything, because the crash is in the driver or a native library, not in the game files.
Why is there no crash report? Because Java never got the chance to write one. The process was killed by the operating system, not by an exception the game could catch.
I updated my drivers and it still crashes. Then it is one of the other three causes. Try without shaders first, then lower render distance and texture resolution, then bisect your mods.
What is the difference with -1073741819?
That is 0xC0000005, an access violation. Different fault, same category: a native crash outside Java, and the same troubleshooting applies.
My server keeps stopping with exit code 137 instead. That is a different problem entirely. See game server killed with exit code 137, which is the Linux out of memory killer.
Related reading: how to read Minecraft crash reports for the crashes that do produce a stack trace.