BSOD 0x116 atikmpag.sys possibly video card problem?

The laptop is a year old and was ordered online. I tried to do some things from this topic STOP 0x116: VIDEO_TDR_ERROR troubleshooting here is what I've tried.

1. "Display driver stopped responding and has recovered" error in Windows 7 or Windows Vista I tried using Microsoft Fix It and it said, "This Microsoft Fix It has been processed."

2. I checked windows update to see if any important updates were available and none were. The only one available was for Bing Desktop.

3. I enabled video card and went into safe mode to use Furmark. When I tried to use it, a window popped up and said, "Could not initialize ZoomGPU. FurMark startup failed. Bye!"

4. I ran Prime95. I'm not sure if I ran it right. I actually ran it past 24 hours which is the recommended time, as I thought it was a program that would stop itself when it would be "finished" (someone today told me it can literally go on forever). I'm going to try to attach the results - when I stopped the test, I received 0 errors and 0 warnings.

5. Can't start video memory stress test.

Is there anything else I can try?

koolkat77 said:

I enabled video card and went into safe mode to use Furmark. When I tried to use it, a window popped up and said, "Could not initialize ZoomGPU. FurMark startup failed. Bye!"

Are you able to run the test out of safe mode?
Check the temp of your graphics card using Speccy

No, I tried running it with disabled video card and I got the same message. I can't try running it with enabled video card, because when I enable it I get the BSOD. I tried running Speccy both with disabled video card (didn't show video card temperature), and running it in safe mode and got "Cannot initialise SPC dll." for the video card and almost everything else, too.

I don't think there is a driver issue or overheating, so it is probably the card itself. I tried downloading the ATI Driver and uninstalling the rest but that didn't change anything. I blew air into the fan and it's clear now. I reinstalled Windows as well and that didn't work. I can't switch the card out because it is a laptop. I don't think I have any other options now but to send it in using my warranty. I just wanted to let you know I appreciated your help. :)

koolkat77 said:

Please read this quote from one of our bsod experts:

usasma said:

These are predominantly STOP 0x116 errors - and there's a limited number of possibilities there.
More info at this link: BSOD Index

The 3 most common causes for this are:
- video driver issues
- overheating
- bad video card

I would suggest:
- downloading the appropriate ATI Driver - and only the driver, not the Catalyst Control Center. Pick option 2 in torrentg's link. FYI - I have seen issues occasionally with the CCC program.
- uninstalling all the current ATI stuff from Control Panel...Programs...Uninstall a program
- install the drivers that you downloaded

Then, open up the case and ensure that the graphics card's fan is working, and that there's no dust/crud obstructing the airflow inside the case.

If that does not fix the problems, then I'd suggest trying another video card. Since the computer is less than a year old, I'd expect that a defective video card would be covered under the manufacturer's warranty.