Question Failing to install GPU driver

Sherief

Reputable
Mar 22, 2016
11
0
4,510
Hello guys,

I've had this laptop for over 5 years now (Dell Inspiron 7520). It has been doing me great since I purchased it up until something in it broke out and forced me to purchase a different desktop rig. And now, I'm looking for trying to fix the poor thing again.

So here is my Laptop's specs

Intel Core i7 3632QM @ 2.20GHz
Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000
8.00 GB of RAM
64-bit Operatiing System, x64-based processor on Windows 8.1 Pro
AMD Radeon HD 7730M (which is causing all sorts of problems)

When I first got this laptop, everything was working perfectly, and nothing was really getting in any other thing's way.

I used to NOT take good care of my laptop when I first got it. Even until very recently I'd say. It used to thermal throttle and/or thermal shutdown when I was playing some games on it and I didn't give a damn back then. I used to straight-up booting the laptop back again and rerunning the game I was playing right after it shut down because it got too hot (too hot to even touch. I assume it reached 95C+). Let's just say it was not handled with any care.

Later on down the years, things started getting out of control for this laptop. One day, I tried to install a newer graphics driver update for it until everything went black on my screen with the normal flickering on/off that happens on any screen when you install a new GPU driver. But the poor thing never actually booted up again. I had to go through the BIOS, tried to enter windows repair options, and roll back through a restore point that was created by the system (thankfully) and was able to restore my laptop back to its old state. But the main difference there was: it didn't have its old GPU driver. It was straight out unrecognized through my device manager. It could only see the Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000, but the other display driver said "Microsot Basic Display Adapter" with a yellow exclamation mark next to the icon. So I've tried countless times installing the GPU drivers from AMD's website but things never worked. It usually would first prompt me to install AMD Catalyst™ Control Center, and then install the GPU driver afterwards, but it my Laptop would crash 100% of the time. I've tried installing the driver through 3rd party apps like Driver Easy/Windows Update/Dell Support App and it would still crash before the installation was even finished. I've tried installing the driver once more using the Guru Display Driver uninstaller to clean everything and restart my PC and try a new fresh install, the thing would just crash when trying to install the GPU again.

So at this point I'm very confused. Why is my thing crashing only when I'm installing a the GPU driver but works completely fine otherwise? Even playing games and stuff, it becoming very hot, or very normal use, it would still work perfectly fine. I used WhoCrashed application and here is a report from it when my PC crashed last time and some other times dating back to 2016.. since the problem started happening.

So, I guess here are my questions:

Did I completely break my GPU (Like the actual physical hardware)?
Is it fixable without having to completely replace my GPU? (If that's even an option)

Just as a side note as I feel a lot of people might just hate me or get triggered for not taking good care of my laptop, but I'm now starting to take good care of my PCs as you can tell by starting this thread. So please don't hate on me for being a teen who didn't know much about PCs who just wanted to play games and hated it when his computer crashed.

All I'm asking for is assistance.

Appreciate anyone reading.










Crash Dump Reports Below:


Crash Dump Analysis


Crash dumps are enabled on your computer.

Crash dump directories:
C:\WINDOWS
C:\WINDOWS\Minidump

On Thu 7/25/2019 7:00:01 PM your computer crashed or a problem was reported
crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\072519-10812-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: iastora.sys (0xFFFFF801BB573B21)
Bugcheck code: 0x1000007E (0xFFFFFFFFC0000005, 0xFFFFF801BB573B21, 0xFFFFD0017251B748, 0xFFFFD0017251AF50)
Error: SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED_M
file path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\iastora.sys
product: Intel(R) Rapid Storage Technology driver
company: Intel Corporation
description: Intel(R) Rapid Storage Technology driver - x64
Bug check description: This indicates that a system thread generated an exception which the error handler did not catch.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in a storage driver or controller driver. Since there is no other responsible driver detected, this could be pointing to a malfunctioning drive or corrupted disk. It's suggested that you run CHKDSK.



On Thu 7/25/2019 7:00:01 PM your computer crashed or a problem was reported
crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\MEMORY.DMP
This was probably caused by the following module: iastora.sys (0xFFFFF801BB573B21)
Bugcheck code: 0x7E (0xFFFFFFFFC0000005, 0xFFFFF801BB573B21, 0xFFFFD0017251B748, 0xFFFFD0017251AF50)
Error: SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
file path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\iastora.sys
product: Intel(R) Rapid Storage Technology driver
company: Intel Corporation
description: Intel(R) Rapid Storage Technology driver - x64
Bug check description: This bug check indicates that a system thread generated an exception that the error handler did not catch.
The crash took place in a storage driver or controller driver. Since there is no other responsible driver detected, this could be pointing to a malfunctioning drive or corrupted disk. It's suggested that you run CHKDSK.



On Thu 7/25/2019 5:47:01 PM your computer crashed or a problem was reported
crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\072519-13687-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: dxgkrnl.sys (dxgkrnl+0x100034)
Bugcheck code: 0x116 (0xFFFFE00137BBF010, 0xFFFFF801ADA0F654, 0xFFFFFFFFC00000B5, 0xA)
Error: VIDEO_TDR_ERROR
file path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\dxgkrnl.sys
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: DirectX Graphics Kernel
Bug check description: This indicates that an attempt to reset the display driver and recover from a timeout failed.
The crash took place in a Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system that cannot be identified at this time.

On Fri 6/28/2019 3:22:08 PM your computer crashed or a problem was reported
crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\062819-11921-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: dxgkrnl.sys (dxgkrnl+0x100034)
Bugcheck code: 0x116 (0xFFFFE000BE5724D0, 0xFFFFF801E1664654, 0xFFFFFFFFC00000B5, 0xA)
Error: VIDEO_TDR_ERROR
file path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\dxgkrnl.sys
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: DirectX Graphics Kernel
Bug check description: This indicates that an attempt to reset the display driver and recover from a timeout failed.
The crash took place in a Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system that cannot be identified at this time.



On Thu 9/8/2016 9:53:09 PM your computer crashed or a problem was reported
crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\090816-13531-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: dxgkrnl.sys (dxgkrnl+0x100034)
Bugcheck code: 0x116 (0xFFFFE001E6B974D0, 0xFFFFF801DC95EE5C, 0x0, 0xD)
Error: VIDEO_TDR_ERROR
file path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\dxgkrnl.sys
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: DirectX Graphics Kernel
Bug check description: This indicates that an attempt to reset the display driver and recover from a timeout failed.
The crash took place in a Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system that cannot be identified at this time.



On Fri 7/15/2016 7:21:47 PM your computer crashed or a problem was reported
crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\071516-10390-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: dxgkrnl.sys (dxgkrnl+0x100034)
Bugcheck code: 0x116 (0xFFFFE000187014D0, 0xFFFFF800774ABE5C, 0x0, 0xD)
Error: VIDEO_TDR_ERROR
file path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\dxgkrnl.sys
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: DirectX Graphics Kernel
Bug check description: This indicates that an attempt to reset the display driver and recover from a timeout failed.
The crash took place in a Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system that cannot be identified at this time.



On Fri 7/8/2016 11:56:28 PM your computer crashed or a problem was reported
crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\070916-12578-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: dxgkrnl.sys (dxgkrnl+0x100EB8)
Bugcheck code: 0x116 (0xFFFFE001A85E7010, 0xFFFFF800D066CCE0, 0xFFFFFFFFC0000001, 0x3)
Error: VIDEO_TDR_ERROR
file path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\dxgkrnl.sys
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: DirectX Graphics Kernel
Bug check description: This indicates that an attempt to reset the display driver and recover from a timeout failed.
The crash took place in a Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system that cannot be identified at this time.



On Fri 7/8/2016 9:59:08 PM your computer crashed or a problem was reported
crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\070816-6312-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x1509A0)
Bugcheck code: 0x19 (0x3, 0xFFFFC000A24143B0, 0x400000004000, 0xFFFFC000A24143B0)
Error: BAD_POOL_HEADER
file path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that a pool header is corrupt.
This might be a case of memory corruption. This may be because of a hardware issue such as faulty RAM, overheating (thermal issue) or because of a buggy driver. This problem might also be caused because of overheating (thermal issue).
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver that cannot be identified at this time.



On Fri 7/8/2016 9:57:42 PM your computer crashed or a problem was reported
crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\070816-11218-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntfs.sys (Ntfs+0x31EEC)
Bugcheck code: 0x24 (0xB500190645, 0xFFFFD00034395768, 0xFFFFD00034394F70, 0xFFFFF8026D54C36B)
Error: NTFS_FILE_SYSTEM
file path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\ntfs.sys
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT File System Driver
Bug check description: This indicates a problem occurred in the NTFS file system.
The crash took place in a file system driver. Since there is no other responsible driver detected, this could be pointing to a malfunctioning drive or corrupted disk. It's suggested that you run CHKDSK.



On Fri 7/8/2016 9:56:11 PM your computer crashed or a problem was reported
crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\070816-9828-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x64A5F)
Bugcheck code: 0x1000007E (0xFFFFFFFFC0000005, 0xFFFFF8029687DA5F, 0xFFFFD0014F446078, 0xFFFFD0014F445880)
Error: SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED_M
file path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that a system thread generated an exception which the error handler did not catch.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver that cannot be identified at this time.





Conclusion



On your computer a total of 17 crash dumps have been found. Only 10 have been analyzed. No offending third party drivers have been found. Connsider using WhoCrashed Professional which offers more detailed analysis using symbol resolution. Also configuring your system to produce a full memory dump may help you.


Read the topic general suggestions for troubleshooting system crashes for more information.

Note that it's not always possible to state with certainty whether a reported driver is responsible for crashing your system or that the root cause is in another module. Nonetheless it's suggested you look for updates for the products that these drivers belong to and regularly visit Windows update or enable automatic updates for Windows. In case a piece of malfunctioning hardware is causing trouble, a search with Google on the bug check errors together with the model name and brand of your computer may help you investigate this further.
 

PC Tailor

Illustrious
Ambassador
Hello my friend!
As a quick heads up, I would tend to avoid using WhoCrashed to translate the DMP files as it often can point to the incorrect drivers or not pull through all the information needed. A full debug is the way to go (usually) - especially when it is a software problem.

Just to clarify, it is an older laptop, and now the GPU seems to be causing issues, even to the point where it is not properly recognised in device manager?

So where the dump file blames Intel RST, I would largely suspect this is just the program that crashed as the driver install was utilising intel RST at the time, so Whocrashed believes RST was the cause, when it could well have been just the program that crashed at the time.

Unfortunately, it does sound like the GPU could be at the end of it's life, especially if it has succumbed to a lot of heat etc. in the past. If there has been a lot of thermal throttling in the past, this does certainly reduce the lifespan of components.

Do you have latest BIOS and Intel management engine driver? These 2 should be aligned.
This may help if it is firmware based, but bets would be the GPU is gone unfortunately.
 

Sherief

Reputable
Mar 22, 2016
11
0
4,510
Hello my friend!
As a quick heads up, I would tend to avoid using WhoCrashed to translate the DMP files as it often can point to the incorrect drivers or not pull through all the information needed. A full debug is the way to go (usually) - especially when it is a software problem.

Just to clarify, it is an older laptop, and now the GPU seems to be causing issues, even to the point where it is not properly recognised in device manager?

So where the dump file blames Intel RST, I would largely suspect this is just the program that crashed as the driver install was utilising intel RST at the time, so Whocrashed believes RST was the cause, when it could well have been just the program that crashed at the time.

Unfortunately, it does sound like the GPU could be at the end of it's life, especially if it has succumbed to a lot of heat etc. in the past. If there has been a lot of thermal throttling in the past, this does certainly reduce the lifespan of components.

Do you have latest BIOS and Intel management engine driver? These 2 should be aligned.
This may help if it is firmware based, but bets would be the GPU is gone unfortunately.

Yup I do have the latest BIOS (A11) as far as I believe. About the Intel Management Engine Driver, I do not know which one that I have installed on my current Laptop. If you can direct me to properly downloading the right thing, it would be much appreciated.
 

DavidDisciple

Commendable
May 29, 2017
26
3
1,535
Yeah. I had an older Dell laptop that had 2 Video settings in the BIOS-one for the nvidia chip itself and the other one I don't remember, but it took 2 drivers to power the Display. With my Dell, it would run just fine until you installed both drivers. You could install one or the other, but not both, and in the Device Manager it would say "Basic Microsoft VGA Adapter" when the screen worked, but when you added both drivers, it went black after installation. Come to find out that this was a problem in the GPU of that particular model and there was no fix. So, I would agree with PC Tailor that it is the GPU going bad. Sorry.
 

Sherief

Reputable
Mar 22, 2016
11
0
4,510
Yeah. I had an older Dell laptop that had 2 Video settings in the BIOS-one for the nvidia chip itself and the other one I don't remember, but it took 2 drivers to power the Display. With my Dell, it would run just fine until you installed both drivers. You could install one or the other, but not both, and in the Device Manager it would say "Basic Microsoft VGA Adapter" when the screen worked, but when you added both drivers, it went black after installation. Come to find out that this was a problem in the GPU of that particular model and there was no fix. So, I would agree with PC Tailor that it is the GPU going bad. Sorry.

Well, I have to be fair and say that I was expecting this to happen at some point, especially cause I did not look after it the way I should have been doing. At least I'm glad I have my desktop that's so far 100% functional.
 

DavidDisciple

Commendable
May 29, 2017
26
3
1,535
Yeah, a lot of of the onboard GPU's are the first thing to go on laptops. Windows 7 Compaqs were notorious for that. Windows 7 AMD laptops were notorious for the processors overheating and killing the motherboard .
 

Sherief

Reputable
Mar 22, 2016
11
0
4,510
Yeah, a lot of of the onboard GPU's are the first thing to go on laptops. Windows 7 Compaqs were notorious for that. Windows 7 AMD laptops were notorious for the processors overheating and killing the motherboard .

When I first got it, this laptop was running Windows 7 and an AMD GPU. It was overheating and still is (only when it is on Balanced or High Performance Mode. I always have it on Power saving and the GPU clock never go past 1170+- GHz. I always monitor it through CPUID Hardware Monitor.