AMD Radeon R9 M290X Graphics Driver Update Issues on Alienware 17

I have an Alienware 17 (2013 Edition) laptop that runs on Windows 8.1 Alienware edition. 

These are my system specifications:

• Processor: Intel Core i7-4700Q, Turbo Boost 3.4 GHz/ 4 Core
• Installed Memory (RAM): 16.0 GB
• CPU: 2.40GHz
• System Type: 64- Bit Operating System, x64-based processor

I have integrated and dedicated video cards inside my laptop.

These are my graphics hardware specifications:

• Intel HD 4600 Graphics (Integrated)
• AMD Radeon R9 M290X (Dedicated)

I did not experienced any problems after first buying the laptop in mid-2014. During the past few months however, I have been having a lot of difficulty with my graphics cards. This began when a Windows update attempted to update both graphics drivers. My laptop needed to restart after the driver updates were complete however the other Windows updates needed to continue installing and therefore the graphics drivers were not installed successfully.

Upon the next reboot Windows loaded but before it arrived at the logon screen it cut to a black screen. I believe this had to do with the failed graphics driver installation. I started the computer in Safe Mode and was able to roll back the graphics driver changes. Unfortunately this did not fix the black screen issue. I started the computer in Safe Mode again and uninstalled both drivers. Upon the next reboot I did not experience a black screen but my graphics cards no longer had drivers. During the next Windows Update I unchecked the driver updates and went to the Dell website to download the latest Alienware 17 graphics drivers.

The Intel card updated successfully (with the Intel HD Graphics Driver Video_Driver_N3XF4_WN_10.18.10.3496_A03.EXE update) but the Radeon did not (with the Alienware AMD Graphics 13.251.3.5 WHQL Driver Video_Driver_D24NC_WN_13.251.3_A02.EXE). The Radeon driver did install successfully but upon the next reboot I experienced a black screen again.

Currently I have no drivers installed for my Radeon Card. In Device Manager my Radeon card is now displayed as a ‘Microsoft Basic Display Driver’ and it has a Code 31 error of “This device is not working properly because Windows cannot load the drivers required for this device. The driver trying to start is not the same as the driver for the POSTed display adapter.”

I have tried various AMD Radeon driver updates from both the Dell and AMD websites and all have been unsuccessful. They either cause a black screen during installation or after a reboot. If an installation is successful device manager still stops the Radeon card with a Code 43 error: “Windows has stopped this device because it has reported a problem”.

I have attempted the driver updates from the Alienware 17 resource CD that came with my laptop. I have also refreshed, reset and manually formatted the laptop countless times but I have had no luck with updating the Radeon card.

I have successfully updated all my other drivers to the latest shown on the Dell website. I have also updated my BIOS to A14.

I thought that there could be a hardware problem with the Radeon as it not respond to several driver updates. The hardware diagnostic tests I have used in Windows and from Dell Support Assist seem to only test the Intel card and not the Radeon so I haven’t been able to get a clear idea of whether this is a hardware problem or not.

I’m really at a loss as to what else to do. Any recommendations or advice would be greatly appreciated!