Intel HD Graphics problem "Display driver stopped responding and has recovered"


I solved a problem with my Lenovo T410 Thinkpad.

The machine often crashed when viewing HD video. Black parts appeared on the screen or the whole screen would go black, and the computer would go to a halt. Sometimes Windows 7 gave an error message: "Display driver stopped responding and has recovered". But the system was always in a halt and showing no signs of recovering. This was clearly a problem with the Intel HD Graphics adapter.

I updated the graphics driver with Lenovo ThinkVantage Tools, using the Lenovo ThinkVantage System Update. However, the update did not solve the problem for me.

After getting frustrated for a while, I found that Intel has a newer version of the driver on their site. You need to use Microsoft Internet Explorer to open this URL: http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/detect/graphics

The website will aid you in updating your Intel drivers. Unfortunately you need to install some browser add-ins to get it to work, but it pays off in the end. I also got newer versions of the wireless and wired LAN adapter drivers, which also have been crashing now and then on my computer.

It's a shame that Lenovo doesn't apply these critical updates with their own ThinkVantage System Update software... Maybe some day.

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