Laptop Graphics Driver Question

Update:

Couldn't get the Retaining Clip back in successfully even with Plastic Tweezers, but did get the Battery cable fully seated, and Laptop so far is working percectly fine.

Ran on Battery a bit--discharged normal/recharged normal from 40 percent back to 80 percent

Gaming Performance is excellent so far

Should i still take it by Professional Computer shop?

Or am i good to go now?

The metal retaining clip is needed to keep the battery cable connector from becoming unplugged. If you don't bang the computer around maybe it won't come unplugged for awhile. If it does you will have to get the connector replaced.

If you decide to use it as keep it plugged in and check the battery every day to make sure it is getting charged. You can also unplug it every day for a short time to see if the battery is still plugged in.

Yeah i really wanted to get it back in, but just wasn't working out like i planned.

I have saved the metal retaining clip in case i do have problems down the line. So then next step is Professional shop to get it fixed up, but for now it seems to be working fine. Will check it again tomorrow or Tuesday

Last time the battery wasn't connected all the way, the light started blinking amber, so i'll know if it develops issues

Would've taken to shop on Monday, but i don't drive and Family doesn't drive much either these days--and told me night before you shouldn't installed the 2nd M.2 drive yourself in the first place, and that was all they said on it

**I'll just use Desktop for the gaming tasks, only light tasks on PC 2 til its fully fixed, then will run PC 2 a bit harder after that**

Only ran SecondLife a bit eariler with Turbo fan mode on to keep it cool, probably shouldn't have.

But i'll get it back to normal as soon as i can--at least not in tears like i was when it first happened during the afternoon i installed the 2nd M.2 drive

Don't feel bad about your problem with the metal retaining clip. When I first opened the laptop to replace the single SSD with two new SSDs I couldn't figure out how to disconnect the battery. I left the battery connected during the whole process. I was lucky that I hadn't cause any damage by not disconnecting the power. Is wasn't until many months later that I figured how to move the metal retaining clip to disconnect the battery. I feel dumb now that I would have known how if I simply had read the Upgrade Guide.

I had a worse problem. The left Control-key cracked and fell off. I took it to a shop to fix that. They ordered a new Palmrest (keyboard) to fix it. When they gave the laptop back to me they said the sound no longer worked. They suggested I hook up an external speaker for sound. I really gave them the "you know what" when they told me that. That was unacceptable since I paid $1500 for the laptop in October 2022. I also reminded them that I had been a customer for over 20 years. They finally agreed to replace the laptop in September 2024 with an identical refurbished one from Amazon for about $960. They paid for that. I had to pay the original $400 repair charge and keyboard cost in exchange for swapping the two laptops. At least I had a working laptop.

BTW, I kept the RAM and SSD upgrades from original laptop and put them in the replacement laptop. The original laptop also had an upgrade from Windows 11 Home to Windows 11 Pro. That reactivated OK when I put the SSDs in the replacement laptop. Also, after I removed the RAM and SSD upgrades from from original laptop I replaced them with the original RAM and SSD I had kept.

Before I turned over the original laptop I did a system recovery from the hidden partition on the boot SSD. That restored the disk and removes all my data. That was the condition it was when I first got it. Note after I got the replacement laptop I removed the original RAM and SSD like I did on the original one. They now sit on a shelf where they will stay until I ever decide to sell it.

Purchased this Gaming Laptop back in February 2026 to replace my Former Windows 10 HP Omen ( I never opened that one for the life of the machine) this one took me months to get the courage to finally be like ok i'm installing my 2nd M.2 for the Games finally, prior to doing that i was running the games off an External M.2 drive. Learned with this experience even after reading the service guide 5-6 times before i started--things don't always goto plan.

But after chatting with Windows Co-Pilot i relaxed more and learned that i didn't really fail, nothing is seriously broken that i'm aware of, i just never expected that retaining clip to just pop off the battery connector like it did, but its a good thing i noticed it did and grabbed it with my ESD Tweezers before it got lost on the board and caused some real damage.

I tend to worry alot, and get upset more than i should at times, but it will be all fine, even if i have to eventually take it to professional for either a replacement battery connector on the motherboard or whatever it takes to fully fix it properly.

Anyhow gonna sleep i think for tonight, a good nights rest probably good for me i do think

P.S. Co-Pilot suggested using polyimide/Kapton type of Tape to secure the battery connector, don't know if thats really a good idea or not, but its something to consider, if i don't just take it to a professional and get it fixed professionally.

This issue started with a concern on video driver not showing switching from APU to GPU, then i decided to go ahead and install the 2nd spare M.2 for Game M.2 lol

Don't feel bad about making mistakes, this is how you learn. We experts were no better before we got our experience. Yes, by experimenting and fixing our own damages. They don't tell you everything at College or University, only the very basics. The first two years studying in UK I remember experimenting with new stuff, mostly in software, and damaging our home PC within the first week I returned for vacations. However, I knew what I did and learned how to fix it. My dad was like "again?" But he was very happy I managed to fix it without having to return it to the store. Back then there was no YouTube or other videos to consult.

A good online site with step-by-step repair guides and relevant videos is this one:


If you cannot find detailed instructions there, you can always Google your model to find a relevant disassembly (aka removing parts and putting back) video. You can even search for the task in hand, such as "your-laptop-model replace ssd". Most likely someone else has done it before so you can watch the video and slowly do it step by step. These videos are useful for revealing hidden screws that will damage your laptop if not removed properly and also the right order to remove components and of course the right way to do it to avoid damage.

Update #2:
Now the Red Popup is showing properly when i do tasks that switch APU to GPU, not sure how it started showing again. But i'll take it lol.


As for the other issue i read over the Servicing Guide about 6-7 times before i got the courage to go ahead and work on getting open, and 2nd M.2 installed that afternoon, and had i realized the battery wire just is a push down type reconnection, then i probably wouldn't even tried sliding it in, and pushing out the Retaining Clip,

Since i reseated the cable properly though--haven't had a sign of any issues as yet. But I will still get it properly secured asap here, and hopefully no more issues come up after that.

Still not gonna run PC 2 really hard til i have it secured fully, Then won't be doing anymore hardware upgrades for a long time i think.

then again not planning any hardware upgrades for Desktop either anytime soon lol.

Mistakes are part of human nature, and everyone makes them at one time or another, even seasoned techs i imagine, plus this was first laptop i ever even attempted to do small hardware upgrade on, but i was getting tired of having to get out the External M.2 drive all the time, so i finally said i'm getting this done, and went for it.

What i should've done is stopped when i wasn't sure how to reconnect the battery in the first place, and found a youtube video on Desktop watched it, and then did it successfully and then closed the case.

But with my Real Life countless interruptions, Despite me Being 46 years old, with Severe Anxiety Disability. Everyday Family bothers me at some point via Text Message either what you doing, what you want for Lunch, Do this, do that, always something each and every day, but guess since i can't live alone with my disability, nothing i can do on it, but put up with it i suppose. So that issue has me sometimes in a little hurry when there gone to finish delicate tasks faster than i should, and i now know that is not a good thing



I tend to get upset when i mess up, and sometimes cry for a while, but then i realize everything most of the time can be fixed, and whats done is done.

Laptops are more difficult than desktops because of smaller parts, but tablets and smartphones are even worse. Once I put a little pressure trying to remove the display from the case of a tablet and when I put back all parts and switched it on I realized the display had been damaged at one side showing an ugly black area. I had to order a replacement. That's why I avoid opening anything smaller than a laptop. That's also why I avoid opening a MacBook! Too many different screws, too many delicate easy to damage parts. No thanks! I rather pay a professional for the repair. Even replacing the SSD on a MacBook is very advanced procedure.