Intel HD 4600 graphics causing problems, can I switch to Nvidia card?

Since I got my new laptop, I've had an intermittent problem where the screen would go completely blank for about 1-2 seconds before coming back on. At times, when the screen comes back on, the Aero theme would be switched off and the basic theme would be running without any of my settings changing.

I actually made a previous post about this issue: Screen flashes on and off/theme switches from Aero to Basic.

So I figured I had a problem with my Nvidia card. I uninstalled the Nvidia drivers using driver sweeper and re-installed them, but the problem persisted. Now that my computer is toward the end of its warranty, I've been looking into this problem more deeply because I wanted to get it fixed under warranty IF it was a hardware problem. As it turns out, however, the integrated graphics on the processor are running the display, so I figure now that the problem is the Intel integrated graphics. So, my question is, in hopes of eliminating this problem once and for all, is there anyway I can switch all of the computer's graphics settings over the Nvidia chip? I've heard of people trying this and messing up by turning the Intel graphics off before switching to their graphics card and not being able to get their display to work at all, so I definitely want to do it right.

Here are my system specs if necessary:


Thanks for your help!

HP Envy 15-j171nr.

I've been doing a little more research and it appears what I'm asking here might not be possible? Apparently all lower end laptop are designed to run BOTH integrated and discrete graphics, but not just one or the other.

I believe that's a slightly different issue. It seems that issue occurs right after entering your password, meaning they stop at a black screen before even getting to their desktop. Mine occurs intermittently as I'm using the computer. The screen shuts off all together for maybe 1-2 seconds before coming back on. All of my programs are still running. My problem is like if, on a desktop computer, you were to just shut off the screen and turn it back on in quick succession. The computer is still running, but the screen is off. I'm really at a loss here. While this seems to be a very common problem, it doesn't seem like there are very many solutions.

I have downloaded and installed the Nvidia drivers from Nvidia and HP. I also tried upgrading the drivers for the Intel graphics from the Intel site BUT it gave me a warning saying that HP had installed a custom driver on my computer and using the stock Intel driver could cause problems. Since the latest update to the HP issued driver was in January of 2014, I did not update since that's before I even bought the computer.

Yes I am.

The issue with switchable graphics is that the display is connected only to Intel HD 4600. Windows Desktop Manager is by default run on the GPU where the display is attached. Because of this you won't be able to set the Nvidia as default for everything. Anyways, millions of computer run on Intel HD 4600 and thousands run them with switchable graphics so I wouldn't think it's a simple driver issue. I would bet it's a combination of a specific Intel and Nvidia drivers.