AMD Crimson Driver is freezing down my machine

I have an HP Pavilion 15, running Windows 10 Anniversary Update (ver 1607). The machine has Radeon Graphics, specifically AMD Radeon HD 8400/R3 Series and also Radeon HD 8600 M Series.

Initially, everything was working perfectly fine, and I started having issues with the display driver after updating it. Every time i booted my machine it would display a message saying hardware settings have changed. please reboot, or something like that.

Good thing is, by then I wiped my machine and reinstalled everything from scratch, and everything was fine.

Now, last week, I started having issues again. My machine upgraded the driver, and every time I powered the machine, it would take ages booting up, and when it did, slow down the machine, then freeze up after logging in. Removing the driver gets everything back to normal, except that with the basic display adapter from Microsoft, the display is crazy bright and I cannot turn it down, neither can I project to an external screen, which is something I use everyday in my works. And I cannot use it whilst online because Windows Update keeps on downloading the same driver and my machine freezes up, again.

How do I fix this problem. I need my machine to function again. I cannot get the old driver because I think AMD obliterated it, and it cannot be found anywhere.

kelvinelove

Posted 2016-11-01T19:51:30.360

Reputation: 135

1You can use the tool to block device driver updates. – Ramhound – 2016-11-01T20:47:07.887

@Tetsujin My machine came with Windows 10 installed as the base OS, so it can't have old hardware, neither can it be abandoned by AMD..!! – kelvinelove – 2016-11-01T21:26:51.707

Sorry, misread... M series is still current. Get drivers from AMD not MS. http://support.amd.com/en-us/download

– Tetsujin – 2016-11-02T07:34:40.593

@Tetsujin I did. No change..!! The problem still persists – kelvinelove – 2016-11-02T10:20:36.407

Answers

I had the same problem this week. I downloaded Display Driver Uninstaller http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html en after this tool has removed the new drivers, there was a basis display driver working after reboot. After this I installed an older driver for this device (the same as yours (15.200.1055.0) from the HP website. Take care that Windows will not install an update bij running the tool Show and Hide Windows Update from https://support.microsoft.com/nl-nl/kb/3073930#bookmark-1607. After done this, my system is working very good again.

Ger

Posted 2016-11-01T19:51:30.360

Reputation: 26

This worked.. Apparently it was a problem with the driver version. AMD released another update beyond the crimson one, and it works perfectly fine.. Thank you. This helped – kelvinelove – 2017-01-16T14:17:01.910

You are able to select and deselect updates to install. Make sure you do not allow that specific driver to update. You may use the methods found at [https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3073930].

A system restore to a date prior to the driver upgrade and then preventing it from updating in the settings would be your best bet.

Otherwise, suspend the update from installing and hope AMD releases a fix soon, as @Ramhound mentioned, this isn't an issue with AMD's driver quality but rather Windows Update having a newer driver version, thus potentially superceding the driver found on AMD's website.

t a b designworks

Posted 2016-11-01T19:51:30.360

Reputation: 295

“You are able to select and deselect updates to install.” Not on Windows 10. – Daniel B – 2016-11-09T21:27:39.420

@DanielB - There is a tool to hide driver updates. Of course this answer doesn't mention that, but that tool, does exist for problems like kelvinelove describes. How to Uninstall and Block Updates and Drivers on Windows 10

– Ramhound – 2016-11-09T21:32:55.440

"Otherwise, suspend the update from installing and hope AMD releases a fix soon." - This isn't a problem AMD created, AMD expects people to go to their website, and install the current version. Due to how driver updates work in Windows for years, its possible for a newer update to appear in Windows Update, then you actually have installed. When this happens Windows Update will install the driver, this can cause problems like this with mobile products, like the author has. This problem is created by a perfect storm of outdated drivers and aggressive patching by Microsoft. – Ramhound – 2016-11-09T21:37:48.903

Interesting information @Ramhound. I'll edit my answer to include the listed resource. – t a b designworks – 2016-11-09T22:10:39.667