Windows 10 freezing every few seconds / Unable to install a new driver

Leah · 11 Apr 2021

Hello everyone!

I have an HP laptop and recently decided to try Windows 10. Note that I'm not very tech savy, I just follow youtube videos to get this stuff done. Anyway, I installed windows 10 but there is a HUGE problem : it freezes every few seconds or so.

Doing my google research to try to fix this issue, I found this thread : Windows freezing every 2 seconds for a second at the time and deactivating the graphics driver did stop the freezing but I can't figure out how to install the old driver. While deactivated I cant adjust the brightness nor connect HDMI and those are very important to me.

I went here: https://www.amd.com/en/support and here: https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers...99?sku=E7H81LA downloaded the 2015 drivers as instructed in the thread I listed above and for some reason the most recent driver gets installed all the time which is the one causing the issue (AMD radeon HD 8330)

What am I doing wrong here? Am I supposed to do something different with those files other than running it? This is driving me crazy. No matter what I do, after every restart AMD radeon HD 8330 goes back active. I need some help please. If you need any more info please let me know and thanks beforehand.

FreeBooter · 11 Apr 2021

See if performing clean boot state will resolve the problem.

Perform a Clean Boot in Windows 10 to Troubleshoot Software Conflicts

EdTittel · 12 Apr 2021

If you already know which driver causing the problem, and have a replacement driver ready to go, you should follow this MS Docs item, which explains how to Add and Remove Drivers to an offline Windows Image. OTOH, long-time TF Team member Kari the Finn has written an excellent tutorial: DISM - Add or Remove Drivers on an Offline Image, as well. You would boot to a Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) image, at which point you can work on your normal boot image offline. Works reasonably well for already-diagnosed driver problems, in my experience. YMMV, of course.
HTH,
--Ed--

dalchina · 12 Apr 2021

You would need to completely uninstall the driver you don't want and delete it and any installation source for it from your PC so Windows cannot reuse it. (E.g. check delete box if uninstalling via the Device Manager)

With the internet disconnected, you can then install the driver you want, but you must then take steps to stop that being replaced.

There's a tutorial on stopping driver updates being included in Windows, and another on stopping driver updates for a particular piece of hardware. However some video graphic software includes its own updater. I don't know which you have.

You can also take complete control of Windows update and use a free 3rd party program to scan for and select updates manually.

How old is the laptop? No make or model given alas.
What is its driver page?