Display Adapter Driver error with Windows 7.

[Hydrens]

Hello guys!
Listen, I am totally out of ideas to try and fix my problem, so you guys are pretty much my last hope I'll try my best to explain the issue and what I've done thus far.

System Specifications:

Acer Aspire 5551
OS - Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
CPU - 2.1GHz Triple-core AMD Phenom II N830
Graphics - 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD4250
RAM - 4 GB DDR 3

Two days ago, my brother complained to me about his laptop, Windows seemed to have just froze, with screen tearing and weird lines all over the screen. I told him to restart his laptop. Upon restarting, the entire was black, with the windows logo stretched across the screen, all torn. But I could still hear the Windows noises it makes when it logs in, So this got me thinking, could it be an issue with his Display Driver?

I booted in Safe Mode to see if it would boot up, it works fine. No black screen, no tearing, nothing. Which makes me think that it must be a issue with his Driver. I asked him if he's made any changes recently to his drivers and he said no.

I next went into the Device Manager to find his Display Adapter, and I disabled it. I then restarted his laptop to see if it'll work, and it worked. No problem, no screen tearing, it logged him in fine. I next went about uninstalling and reinstalling his driver.

I rebooted it into Safe Mode and uninstalled his driver from the Device Manager. Then, I went about reinstalling it again, so I went to the ATI website, AMD or something I think it was called, and I had to download the AMD Vistion Engine Control Center. It found drivers for several things, including his Display Graphics. So I downloaded them, installed them. I restarted his laptop, but the same thing happened. Black Screen, screen tearing, Windows Logo stretched and torn.

I have no idea what to do guys, Could you help me out? Thanks
(Sorry if this post it very long, I wanted it to be very detailed :X )
P.S If you guys want pictures to see what is actually happening, I will be happy to take some and upload it.

 

[pooch]

Hello Hydrens, welcome to the forum

Try using this to remove the driver that you have installed; download from Guru3D.com
Then go here to get the driver to install; Acer Support: Downloads & Support Documents - Notebook / Aspire / Aspire 5551

 

[Hydrens]

Thanks Pooch! I will go try this now

 

[Hydrens]

I've just tried cliking the download button, refreshing the page and stuff until I read

'Attention - Guru3D Driver Sweeper has been discontinued as such you will not find any download links here any longer.'

Do you know of any other site that would have this product? Thanks in advance.

 

[Hydrens]

Oh, I just found another link to it after some searching, I'll try this now

 

[pooch]

Whoops sorry about that, you could have a look here as well; http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pages/GPU58RemoveGraphicsHardware.aspx

http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pages/737-20870HowtoInstallYourATIProduct.aspx

 

[Hydrens]

Ok, I've just reinstalled the Driver, restarted the machine and the problem is still occuring.
I have no idea what else it could be

 

[pebbly]

Ok, I've just reinstalled the Driver, restarted the machine and the problem is still occuring.
I have no idea what else it could be

Hi Hydrens, You must install the driver for the graphics from the manf's website Acer Support: Downloads & Support Documents - Notebook / Aspire / Aspire 5551 ,laptops use custom designed GPU's which require specific drivers to run them as intended

 

[Hydrens]

Hey Pebbly, I went to the website that you and Pooch gave, and I downloaded the VGA Driver one, Is this the right one? I think I'm doing it right but you can never be sure.
It downloads an ATI program where you must select certain Drivers that have to be installed. Have I done it correctly? Thanks <3

 

[pooch]

Just to make sure here is the direct link to a 64bit driver; Acer Support: Downloads & Support Documents - Notebook / Aspire / Aspire 5551
I cannot see that a 32bit driver would install, but you never know.
Assuming that the old driver uninstalled properly and that you are using the right driver then it leaves the possibility that your adaptor is defect, is your notebook still under guarantee? if it is you may want to take it back to where you bought it and let them repair the problem.

 

[pebbly]

Hey Pebbly, I went to the website that you and Pooch gave, and I downloaded the VGA Driver one, Is this the right one? I think I'm doing it right but you can never be sure.
It downloads an ATI program where you must select certain Drivers that have to be installed. Have I done it correctly? Thanks <3

Yes ,sounds OK to me ,Is it now working correctly ?

 

[Hydrens]

It's still under guarantee yeah, I'm pretty confident I was uninstalling and reinstalling it correctly. Looks like we'll have to send it to 'em, thanks for the help anyway guys.
I just dunno what would randomly cause this to happen o_o He was only watching Youtube at the time it happened

 

[pooch]

Sometimes these things break As it is still under warranty you are probably far better off letting them repair it, we can give you tips and try to help but nothing beats a hands on approach. Let us know how you get on.