Display driver stopped working, does not recover... [ Edited ]

[jjknz]

HP Pavilion dv7-6015tx

Windows 7 32-bit

ATI HD Radeon 6770m

Hello,

I thought I had solved this problem before, but it is now persisting.

A while back my pc would freeze and then recover, with pop up dialogue saying

"display driver has stopped working and recovered"

Now it does not recover, it just stays frozen.

This does not happen when I revert to the Intel Mobile Graphics.

It freezes when I use AMD ATI Radeon.

My PC freezes when I am conducting medium to low graphics load.

(watching vidoes via media player and browsing internet)

This means I am not hardcore gaming, however when I AM hardcore gaming my pc does NOT freeze.

I have the latest graphics driver/software HP provides me with.

I cannot install from ATI, because anything I download from there says it is not compatible with my device.

Also I feel that occasionally my pc is overheating.

I have HP CoolSense set to maximum cooling, however I feel that is not enough. (blue screen of death)

I have tried SpeedFan a third party temperature sensor software that automatically adjusts fan speed.

However, I don't think that software is compatible with my motherboard as it cannot read my fan speed rpms.

I think it is the GPU that is causing the overheating because the CPU is at an acceptable(?) 50 degrees celcius.

This is a new laptop, so there is no collection of dust/debris in the exhaust.

I would like an update to my graphics driver, there has been no update of the driver since: 2011-05-06

Also, I would like some method of increasing the fan speeds, preferrably both GPU and CPU 

to lower ambient and component temperatures.

Even as I write this now I have had to forcibly restart the computer because it has frozen. (driver stopped working)

I realize the graphics driver may not be the only problem,

or it may be another problem disguised as a problem of the graphics driver.

I am willing and commited to use any means, (except for a complete recovery of my pc)

to fix my current mishaps with my notebook pc.

Kind regards,

John

[Jolly_Rogers · Accepted solution]

You need to first update the latest BIOS on your notebook.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?softwareitem=ob-96635-1&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&...=

Once you update the latest BIOS download and install the following softpaq and this should resolve the issue:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&softwareitem=ob-95106-1

This should resolve the issue.

[Jolly_Rogers]

Pertaining to the overheating, please ensure that you clean the FAN vents.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01657439&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en

[jjknz]

I tested some graphical media without installing anything,

then installing BIOS driver

and afterwards installing graphics driver.

The problems stopped when I installed the BIOS update.

It seems that the graphics driver wasn't the main problem.

I've already said this is a new laptop, there is no dust to vacate with a can-of-air...

Thanks for the solution.