AMD graphics card has vanished

[samo42]

My laptop has switchable graphics, an Intel HD and a Radeon 6400m, i have it set to fixed. However recently, my ATI graphics card has vanished, it is not under display adapters and when trying to reinstall drivers it only shows my Intel graphics.
please help.

 

[MC_K7]

Did you check in the BIOS if it's activated in there?

 

[samo42]

how do I do that?

 

[MC_K7]

how do I do that?

Check your laptop user manual on how to access your BIOS and the different options for your graphics card in there.

While you're at it, this would be a good opportunity to look for a BIOS update if a new version is available.

You said you've set it to "fixed" but since you don't seem to know what a BIOS is, this tells me you probably did this from Windows? What happens if you revert this change and re-activate both cards? I'm just not sure from what software you did this. My point is, if I wanted to disable one of the two cards, the first place I'd look would be in the BIOS because this is the low-level platform that controls all the hardware on your motherboard. If you disable a component in the BIOS, Windows won't be able to see it at all. This is probably the best way to force Windows to use the other card. But I'm not 100% sure it's possible on your laptop since each BIOS are different you will need to read your user manual, but as I said this would be the first place I'd look if I wanted to disable one of the two cards and not run into problems after (like Windows re-enabling one of the card without your consent after an update or something. To me hardware solutions are more reliable than software settings).