Hello HP Owners,
Here we go again... It seems we went through this exact same thing with the release of Windows 8 not all that along ago. I recently upgrade my system to Windows 8.1 Preview from the previous Windows 8. I upgraded to Windows 8 from Windows 7 prior to this latest upgrade. Who know that HP, in there supreme wisdom, would only support select few of their laptops model with switchable graphics beyond Windows 7.
That said... I missed the date cut-off for ongoing support under The Windows 8 platform by just a few months. I was told if you wanted your Switchable Graphics feature to work, "Re-install Windows 7." However, they not only changed the graphics configuration in the next generation models of my same pc, but they also continued to make pc's with the same ATI/Intel based configuration as well. Those laptops made after a certain date would receive support under the Windows 8 platform.
It took me some time, but I finally came across an acceptable fix for this issue. HP has released several updated driver packages that work with the ATI/Intel Switchable Graphics setup to-date. However, Windows 8 somehow only seems to recognize the Intel part of the driver package as current and automatically tries to overwrite the AMD driver and software portion of the package with a "NEWER" update.
The ability to switch between the two GPUs is lost, once Windows 8 update service installs two separate drivers and software packages to replace both the ATI/Intel package, which are specifically designed (Digitally Signed) to work in tandem through the Catalyst Control Center portion of the HP Switchable Graphics driver package.
HP released [sp58788] - Intel High Definition (HD) Graphics update to restore the Switchable graphics feature for those customers who bought their system with ATI/Intel based graphics after a certain date due to HP's intention to provide ongoing support for those customers.
This HP driver package (sp58788) works under both the previous Windows 8 platform and the current Windows 8.1 Preview (Code name: BLUE) platform.
You will need to completely remove your current Graphics drivers before re-installing the [sp58788] - Intel High Definition (HD) Graphics update.
1. Use the device manager to uninstall both the Intel and AMD graphics driver and software from your system, but do not restart your system immediately.
2. Run both the Driver Fusion and AMD Catalyst Un-install Utility to completely remove all associated backups of the ATI/Intel drivers and software.
I used both Driver Fusion by Treexy and AMD Catalyst Un-install Utility by AMD to completely remove all previous instances of their driver and software installations. You can download these removal tools from their makers websites.
AMD Catalyst Un-install Utility -
AMD Catalyst Un-install Utility
Driver Fusion -
Driver Fusion - The Complete Device And Driver Solution
sp58788
AMD High-Definition (HD) Graphics Driver | HP® Support
3. Next, you will need to navigate to your system properties menu. You can do this by going to Settings charm and selecting PC Info. This will bring up your system's System window.
4. Once there, you'll need to select the Advanced System Settings option located on the left of the System window.
5. Doing this should bring you to the System Properties window. Here you will need to select the Hardware tab at the top of the window.
6.Under the Hardware tab of the System Properties window, you will need to select the Device Installation Settings button, in the middle of the window.
7. No, let me choose what to do. Never install driver software from Windows update. Uncheck the box that allows your systyem to automatically get drivers and software from your pc manufacturer.
8. Restart your system in order to save these changes.
Part II.
1. Reinstall the [sp58788] - Intel High Definition (HD) Graphics update and configure your switchable graphics in the Catalyst Control Center which now should be working correctly.
You may need to enable your Switchable Graphics feature in your system's Bios. You can do that by entering your System Bios Utility upon restart. Simply press F10 to enter the Bios setup on most HP DV6 Entertainment laptops. Once in the Bios setup, navigate to Device configuration Settings, then to Switchable Graphics, Select Dynamic, then F10 again to save and exit.
Your Switchable Graphics feature should now work correctly and windows should not be able to automatically update these drivers again, which usually results in the disabling of your AMD Graphics under Windows 8.1 Preview.
