Revisiting 'Doing clean install....' with a return of old problem

Be sure to check optional Updates for drivers which I would do singly first. That may be where it choked.

roving said:

I am now at the point with my new clean install where all is running smoothly andhave 111 important updates and 8 optional updates waiting for download and install. I plan on doing 15 at a time and then using it for two days or so and then adding 15 more and using the same routine with them. I will be creating a new defined restore point after each segment proves that it is all OK. That should help finally isolate the problem if indeed it lies within the updates as now suspected. I'll also be adding back my usual group of regularly used programs. This should do the trick......I hope. Thanks for all of the help!

I use a bit more caution than what you are considering. I install updates, one at a time, and wait to see if it requires a reboot. If I am prompted for a reboot, I allow the system to go through the reboot process and then go back to installing the remaining patches/updates until I find another that requires a reboot and follow the same procedure. My experience has been that the reboot process when installing patches/updates is best done on an "as required" basis and not en masse.

HTH

I finally did a clean install using my original Windows 7 DVD. The object being to install just a few updates at a time and hopefully find one or a few that caused it to crash. HOWEVER, maybe things are narrowing down quickly. Two days ago I started with a clean HDD with only a new install of Win7 and without any updates that I was aware of. That is why the large number of them awaiting install. I had done a a clean reinstall with the latest ISO last week and the problem still occurred.

After leaving it on most of Tuesday and making 3 or 4 shutdown and restarts all was still working well. I did not install any updates at all, and was feeling quite smug when at 5:30 pm it suddenly Blue Screened on me and the only words on the whole screen I had time to recognized were: "attempts to reset display driver............." and then it turned to black. That driver had been checked and was the latest available.

My present thought leads me to wonder if the video card is failing due to getting warm. The fan functions fine, but all along with this current problem my screen has showed thin red stripes off and on, and pink and blue swirls at various times. But a cold start this morning brought up everything just as it ought to be. I'm going to let it run today and see what happens.

Would any or all of you agree that the video card is a suspect rather than the OS?

What is the make and model of the display device?

What driver did Windows Update deliver to use for it?

What driver is available for update on the Support Downloads webpages for your HP and Display device model? Have you also tried these drivers?

Have you tried uninstalling the video card, cleaning its port of debris, reinstalling it?

Is there onboard video chip to default to? Check on board and in BIOS. Enable it to see what driver it wants and how it performs.

agreed with oldmx.

bad drivers can cause bsod and driver stopped responding errors.

however when artifacts start appearing and not overlocking or overvolting card that suggests a hw failure.

in terms of drivers on micrsoft update I tend to avoid them.

my rule is.

dont update a driver period if its stable and does the job, if do need an update the try manufacturer first. on this laptop I am using right now I am using the intel display drivers that came with the OS, all newer ones caused issues, the drivers maybe 3-4 years old but they work.

on my main rig which is in my sig, I use the msachi drivers which default with OS instead of intel newer drivers as another example. I think graphics drivers are very volatile to bugs and they are ones ill advised to blindly always update to latest. especially with amd and nvidia.

I use dual screens, an 18 and a 22. It will do the same crash on either one and both are using the same driver: MS dated 6/21/2006 Version 6.1.7600.16385. Doesn't look like any updated version there.

I don't overclock or such and never fancy graphics, just the ordinary boring stuff of word processing or viewing pictures and the like.

In the long list of uninstalled updates there is just one recent update showing for my Nvidia GeForce 8400GS, at 165.2MB. The update is dated 6/22/2012. Maybe I should just install it and see if anything changes. I have a restore point set so that I can back out of it easily.

I have removed the card and found no dirt buildup or such and just reinserted it, and no change.

And thanks to all for continuing interest and help. I can get a new video card for less than $20 and for that it might be best for me to give it a try. If it works, Hooray, and it would sure save a lot of time for you great helpers.

Why do you still have a long list of uninstalled Updates, including Display driver? Install it now.

If it performs OK then install the others in small groups.

Update. Away for three days. Finally got it started yesterday a.m. and got to Nvidia site and downloaded their latest that it found form my video card. Ran perfectly all day through three restarts with no problems, so hope it would be that way today as I had time to do the lengthy update drill. Started fine this morn. Did some email checking and suddenly a black screen announced it had no signal. HDD kept clicking and then came the blue screen with all of the white words that disappeared in just seconds. Restarted and it began with the vertical red pinstriping and finally got to Safe Mode. Did a restart with same bad results. Ordered a new video card to hopefully solve the problem or eliminate it as a cause. Will report back when I get the card installed.

Thanks again to each of you for sticking with me and the persistent problem. Roving