Fixing a blinking computer screen

Today at work, I was presented with an HP Windows 10 laptop with the issue of the screen blinking on an off. I was able to successfully address the issue and returned the laptop to its owner in working condition.

The laptop owner provided me with the following information:

• The laptop had worked properly until recently
• Several days ago, a pop-up informed owner the unit had overheated and would shut down (upon questioning, it was determed that the laptop had not been left outdoors nor in a car)
• After shutting down for overheating, the laptop appeared to work well for a few days
• The screen blinking on and off began occurring this morning (April 12, 2022)

My first step was to turn on the machine to confirm its condition. The screen was blinking on for no more than half a second before blinking off to black for around one second. It continued to do this for a period of time.

While the screen continued in this state, I Googled the model number of the laptop + the manifested issue. A Microsoft support page indicated a display driver could be the issue. After appoximately one minute of continued blinking, the display adjusted itself and remained on.

I logged in and used the Windows Search function to open Device Manager (this alternative can be done by right-clicking the Windows Start Menu in the bottom-left and selecting Device Manager). Expanding the Display adapters menu, I discovered a yellow icon, indiciting an issue.

Double-clicking onto the active driver, Intel(R) UHD Graphics, I read the following under Device status:

Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems. (Code 43)

I then Googled “code 43” to identify my options. An article from Intel’s website walked through how to resolve this error code. I performed the following steps as directed by this support page:

• I turned off the Wi-fi in the network settings
• I uninstalled both the Intel Graphics and Intel Audio drivers
• I restarted the machine
• Upon reboot, I navigated back to Device Manager and confirmed the driver read Microsoft Basic Display Adapter
• I then turned Wi-fi back on to allow Windows to automatically search for latest drivers

After a short time, I received notification that they drivers for both graphics and audio had successfully installed. I restarted the laptop again to complete the installation. With this reboot, the display did not blink again, appearing normal. I opened Device Manager and confirmed the drivers not only installed correctly but no longer showed an error code.

I returned the device to its owner in original functioning condition.