My monitor turns off for several seconds; then I get a message that the computer's display driver shut down and recovered. Every time I see this, I fear my computer isn't going to survive long enough for me to upload thousands of pictures onto Shutterfly before it dies. Is this the beginning of the end for my Windows 7 PC?

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It doesn't sound like your computer is "dying".  It sounds like you may have an issue with your video driver.  The first thing I would do is update the video driver.  Select the start button, type in "Device Manager", hit enter.  Expand Display adapters by selecting the triangle next to Display adapters.  This will give you the name of your video card.  If you right click on it, and select properties it will give you the date of your video driver.  Now, you'll have to do an internet search on your video card + the word "driver".  This should lead you to a site that allows you to download the latest driver for your video card.  Most of the time this is just a single setup file you have to run.  

 

Likely, what you are talking about is a software issue and can be fixed.  If it is a software issue, the worst you'll have do to is reinstall (or system restore) Windows. 

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RIP



 

 

is it a desktop or laptop? 

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Is it a desktop or laptop? 

 

Desktop by HP.

 

I hate laptops and don't care if that's weird.

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Desktop by HP.

 

I hate laptops and don't care if that's weird.

 

You would have never made it as an 'exotic' dancer.

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You would have never made it as an 'exotic' dancer.

Do exotic dancers prefer laptops over desktops?

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What in the Wide Wide World of Sports is agoin' on here???

Do exotic dancers prefer laptops over desktops?

 

Service fees pay more for laptops.

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Service fees pay more for laptops.

Ahh...I see!

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What in the Wide Wide World of Sports is agoin' on here???

Desktop by HP
.

 

I hate laptops and don't care if that's weird.

 

:no:

 

If a factory desktop computer doesn't last like a decade or longer there is some incompetence going on somewhere.  Like I said, it's probably software problem.  But with my experience with HP, you never really know.

 

One important thing you may want to know is that a computer is built with several parts.  If a computer fails, it's likely only one of the parts failing.  In other words, you can almost always fix a computer by replacing the ONE part that has failed.  But this is only necessary if the hardware (physical device) has failed (most common being a harddrive).  Most of the time the problem is software (or logic) (meaning there is nothing wrong with the computer whatsoever).   

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If a factory desktop computer doesn't last like a decade or longer there is some incompetence going on somewhere.  Like I said, it's probably software problem.  But with my experience with HP, you never really know.

 

One important thing you may want to know is that a computer is built with several parts.  If a computer fails, it's likely only one of the parts failing.  In other words, you can almost always fix a computer by replacing the ONE part that has failed.  But this is only necessary if the hardware (physical device) has failed (most common being a harddrive).  Most of the time the problem is software (or logic) (meaning there is nothing wrong with the computer whatsoever).   

 

Replacing parts of a computer that is no longer under warranty would be a huge waste of money. It is four years old IIRC and three times I could not turn it on all day so I know it is hitting old age.

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Replacing parts of a computer that is no longer under warranty would be a huge waste of money. It is four years old IIRC and three times I could not turn it on all day so I know it is hitting old age.

Depends on your situation and the state of the rest of the computer. I've had the same problem you're describing and it's definitely a problem with the video card. Hopefully it's in the software and a new driver will fix it, but if you have to replace the card a new one can had as a cheap as $75. That's still a fair amount but it's a lot better than shelling out $500 for an entirely new computer.

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Depends on your situation and the state of the rest of the computer. I've had the same problem you're describing and it's definitely a problem with the video card. Hopefully it's in the software and a new driver will fix it, but if you have to replace the card a new one can had as a cheap as $75. That's still a fair amount but it's a lot better than shelling out $500 for an entirely new computer.

 

But when I followed Cobra's instructions, I got a message the NVIDIA driver is updated and working properly. How is that possible?

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But when I followed Cobra's instructions, I got a message the NVIDIA driver is updated and working properly. How is that possible?

 

Did you actually download a driver from NVIDIA's website and run the setup file?  If you did this, that message could just mean you successfully installed the new driver.  Usually drivers don't check what driver you already have.   What DragonFury was saying is that if updating the driver doesn't fix the issue the actual video card may be going bad.

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Did you actually download a driver from NVIDIA's website and run the setup file?  If you did this, that message could just mean you successfully installed the new driver. Usually drivers don't check what driver you already have. What DragonFury was saying is that if updating the driver doesn't fix the issue the actual video card may be going bad.

 

This is from the display adapter window after I double-clicked NVIDIA in the device manager window, which I looked at without downloading anything:

 

This device is working properly.

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Hopefully.

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Hopefully.

 

What are you hoping for?

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Maybe you should reinstall the driver just in case.

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"Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, if he gets angry, he's a mile away and barefoot."

 When I clicked on the Driver tab, then the Update Driver button, I got this message:

 

Windows has determined the driver software is up to date.

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Maybe you should reinstall the driver just in case.

 

How do I do that?

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"Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, if he gets angry, he's a mile away and barefoot."