vid card driver problem

hi there, i've had a problem with my laptop since i opened the box brand new about a year ago, the problem is, when i'm running video games (in particular WoW and maplestory) the screen blinks out and then back in again, and a little info bubble from the taskbar says "your display driver has just recovered from a problem". now, i contacted gateway about this, and they told me that it was just a unsolved problem between vista and my driver. i was wondering if anyone could help me out here on how to stop this, here are my specs as best as i can give them:

computer make/model - Gateway MX8734
O/S - Windows Vista Home Edition Service pack 1
Motherboard - Intel Calistoga i945GM/PM
CPU Type - Mobile DualCore Intel Celeron M, 1600 MHz (12 x 133)
System Memory - 1013 MB (DDR2-533 DDR2 SDRAM)
Video Adapter* - Mobile Intel(R) 945GM Express Chipset Family (224 MB)[*appearantly theres 2 of the same for the vid adapter]
IDE Controller - Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) Ultra ATA Storage Controllers - 27DF
Disk Drive - Hitachi HTS542516K9SA00 ATA Device (149 GB, IDE)

if more info is needed let me know, i'll be more then happy to provide it

 

I checked the Gateway site, and the only driver they have is probably the driver you're using; it was released back in April 2007. However, Intel has released an updated version of the video driver in June 2008. You can download it by clicking on this direct download link. I hope this helps. Let us know how it goes, and good luck!
:major
[dlb]

 

i received an error while trying to install, screenied it and attached it

 

Try extracting the driver you downloaded. You'll need to download and install TUGzip (totally free) or WinRAR (has a free trial); then right click it and select "Extract using file name for folder" (TUGzip will say 'extract to: .\winvista_1583' and will create a folder called "winvista_1583" on the desktop since the downloaded file is named "winvista_1583") or "Extract to folder" or you can move the downloaded file into it's own folder and right click it and select "Extract here". Whatever is easiest for you. Then go into the Device Manager as administrator, click the Display Adapters and it should list the Intel 945 Display Adapter. Right click it, select 'Update Driver', and do NOT allow the wizard to search for the driver. You want to point it to the folder where the extracted driver is ("winvista_1583" if using the examples above), and in that folder will be a folder named 'Graphics'. Point the driver wizard to that folder and see if it lets you install the driver. If that doesn't work, maybe try Windows Updates and see if any new drivers are listed under 'Optional hardware updates'.

 

ok when i run through all of that, it says "windows has determined the driver software for your device is up to date". i also tried letting it search for a update and received the same message. weird ~.~

 

If you also went online to Windows Update and nothing in the Optional Hardware updates can help, then I'm out of ideas. Since this happened right out of the box, I'd be fairly PO'ed at Gateway for releasing a known faulty product, which is bad enough, but it's been over a year since the video driver for that laptop was released and they have made no attempt to update the driver or remedy the problem. If the PC is still under warranty, I'd seriously think about trying to get a different model of Gateway, or just return it and get an entirely different PC, but that's probably not going to happen. I'll keep this on the back burner and if I come up with something, I'll send you a PM or I'll post here. Maybe someone else will come along with a fix for you... I tried rolleyes

 

yeah its not under warrenty, hasnt been for a bit now, i didnt end up getting any extended ones, just the basic limited one it came with. by the time i realized it was a problem with the computer and not the games themselves it was past the chance to return/swap. oh well, i'm glad you tried to help, and of course if something does pop up i'll be checking back from time to time to see. thanks for your help though either way, it was worth trying =3