Notebook updated to Windows 10 - where to find the drivers?

[santamonica4712]

I have a Compaq Presario Notebook CQ56-202SO about 5 yrs old. When Windows 10 came out I upgraded to that (from Windows 7) and everything has been working ok until lately.

I now have some issues with the computer freezing up totally and/or getting a black screen after which I have to shut down and reboot (and then the same thing happens again).

I got some advice in a Microsoft support forum to update my drivers. I am kind of a rookie when it comes to things like that but someone in the forum directed me to HP and where to get the drivers. 

However, I don´t see any drivers for my computer now that it is running Windows 10 (it only offers for Windows 7).

How do I go about this?

And by the way, does my description of the problems I am having with my computer sound like driver problems to you guys?

I´d really appreciate any help in this matter!

Sorry if I have posted in the wrong forum, maybe admin could move my posting to the correct one in that case:

[iomare]

Hi,

Windows 10 should install all or most of the drivers automatically and if you go to device manager (right-click on start and click on device manager) see if there are any devices with yellow triangle near them or not recognized and we can try to help you find the driver. In device manager by right-clicking on the devices for example graphics you can click on update software and Windows will try to fing the most updated software. Naturally if any device is not working correctly you can try to find the drivers by either looking at the older drivers on this site and see if they are also released for windows 10 or teying some older drivers.

OK, the problem you are experiencing could be driver related, however most driver related problems will first give a blue screen (that the OS has encountered an important error) and then reboot. To me your problem sounds like it is hardware related. I would first run diagnostics on hard drive with HP diagnostics or using software such as crystalmark.info and see if it passes all tests and is in health.

http://crystalmark.info/download/index-e.html

If it has problems, back up all your personal data as soon as possible and replace hard drive, reinstalling windows 10.If all is good with hard drive I would run diagnostics on RAM such as memtest or HP diagnostics and see if all is well.

Let me know if you need further help,

David

[santamonica4712]

Thanks for your suggestions David!

Which of the Crystalmark exe files should I use? There are quite a few on the page  you gave in a link.

[iomare]

Hi,

Use the first one in the list "standard edition". At startup of Computer you can also run HP diagnostics by pressing F2, choose the quick test and see if devices are OK.

Let me know,

David

[WAWood]

@santamonica4712

I tend to be less optimistic about the success of Win7 PCs from Win10 Upgrades -- especially laptops. I have upgraded 5 PCs from Win7 to Win10, two of them being laptops, and both of them are back in Win7, due almost entirely to driver problems.

The problem you're up against is that Microsoft only supplies drivers with the most basic functionality, and what you really need for FULL functionality is the specialized drivers written for the specific hardware found in your HP PC -- and unfortunately, there are no HP Win10 drivers for your PC. HP only guarantees Win10 compatibility for machines made after August, 2013. HP is no longer producing Win10 drivers for the older machines.

This means that your PC is most likely NEVER going to be fully functional under Win10 because the drivers it needs for full functionality simply do not exist!  This is especially true if your PC has switchable graphics because, in this case, the ONLY drivers that will work properly are the OEM drivers that were written for that hardware.

To restore full functionality, you would need to do a factory reset using HP Recovery Media to its original pre-installed OS.

Good Luck

[santamonica4712]

Hi again David,

The diagnostics on the hard drive with Crystalmark came out well. Nothing wrong there it seems. Status=good.

You then suggest doing a "memtest". How do I do that?

[santamonica4712]

WAWood, thanks for all your input!

From what you write it seems like I maybe have to replace my current computer, or else I´ll be stuck in an old reinstalled Windows 7 environment in order to have full functionality. I´ll see what happens the next few days with the various tests suggested in this thread. 

[WAWood]

@santamonica4712

I try to be realistic with folks on this forum, as no one likes to be stuck with a PC that has only limited functionality -- and I don't want you to think that simply by waiting, the HP Win10 drivers you need for FULL functionality are suddenly going to appear -- because they are not.  When Win10 came out, HP went through a major effort to have Win10 drivers written for older PCs that were built after a certain date -- but that date has long past, and the driver development effort is over.

With desktops, you have more generic hardware, so you have a better chance of finding Win10 drivers; but with laptops, you have specialized hardware, and even the so-called Driver Update apps (which are largely a waste of your money!) can't find drivers that simply don't exist.

I maintain a bunch of PCs and laptops -- and more than half of them are STILL running Win7, and everything on them is working just fine.

So, I personally don't look at it as "being stuck" in an old OS; instead, I look at is as being able to use the full functionality of something I paid good money for -- rather than being coerced into using a new OS, where somethings simply don't work!