Troubleshooting a Disappearing NVIDIA GPU: My Struggle with a Used Laptop

As an IT professional, I often find myself troubleshooting a variety of tech issues, but even the most seasoned techies can hit a wall occasionally. Recently, I encountered a perplexing problem with a used laptop I purchased from my previous employer, and I’m reaching out to the community for insights.

This laptop is equipped with an NVIDIA GeForce 3060 GPU, which had been functioning flawlessly for the past two weeks. However, a few days ago, I suddenly found it completely non-operational. After a thorough investigation and numerous attempts to resolve the issue, I have yet to find a solution.

Here’s a summary of what I’ve tried:

1. Driver Management: I’ve gone through the standard procedures, starting with a fresh installation of the latest graphics drivers. When that didn’t work, I reversed the updates and even tried installing older versions to see if that would help.

2. BIOS Updates: I made sure to check for any BIOS updates available for the laptop and applied them, hoping it might restore functionality.

3. Windows Reinstallations: In pursuit of a more drastic solution, I completed a full reinstallation of Windows. Even reverting to a previous version of Windows didn’t bring the GPU back to life.

Interestingly enough, the graphics card is still visible in the device manager, which suggests the hardware is recognized by the system. However, other applications fail to detect it, which leaves me scratching my head.

If anyone in the community has encountered a similar issue or has any tips that could shed light on this predicament, your advice would be invaluable. It’s moments like these that remind us that technology can be both fascinating and frustrating! Thank you in advance for any assistance you can provide.