Windows 10 Drivers (perhaps graphics card) are causing crashes.

[turbomair]

I have delt with this for about a year. It's only in the past 6 months has become a large hassle. My HP EliteBook 8560w is crashing quite frequently. After trying many many drivers, I cannot fix it. I just wiped and reinstalled windows hoping for a change, but none is to be found. I ran a performance test, found here: Benchmark. It says it was ran on a Radeon HD 6700M Graphics card. Windows automatically installs AMD Fire Pro M5950. After installing and uninstalling AMD's Catalyst Control Center for both drivers many times, no solution was found. After browsing the web for a while, I have found that this specific issue seems common among EliteBook's and/or Radeon HD 6xxx series. I bought this laptop from a classmate whose uncle worked at a computer faciclity. It was already upgraded to Windows 10 Pro. It was working fine when I recieved it, and I did not change anything, such as drivers, when it started crashing. I have tried driver easy and online manual installation, to no fix.

The most common BSOD causes are atikmpag.sys, dxgkrnl.sys, and ntoskrnl.exe, in which I used NirSoft.

While running, the screen will turn off, light the back light, and then show something like this for a moment. (Picture I took during a crash, I apologize for bad quality).

I have found my laptop is more stable while unplugged, but my battery dies quickly.

I have uploaded a W7F file.

 

[nmsuk]

That looks like video card corrupt and a hardware issue.

 

[turbomair]

That looks like video card corrupt and a hardware issue.

So, probably no fix besides replacment?

 

[Mike]

So, probably no fix besides replacment?

This type of artifacting is indicative of a GPU failure. It could be something as simple as cooling, or the whole unit could be going.

Generally speaking, if the GPU locks the system, freezes, or cannot pass:

FurMark Homepage

FurMark - GPU stress test and graphics card benchmark

geeks3d.com

It is generally advised to RMA as defective. However, some people can get by with it not passing certain benchmarking tests because they are not using the system for GPU intensive activities. Weeks or months could go by and you may not even realize there is a problem.