Accidentally deleted both display adapters, GPU + Intel and need to know if there is anything I can do.

How to Recover from Accidental Deletion of Display Adapters on Your Laptop

If you find yourself in a situation where your laptop’s display won’t turn on, you’re not alone. Many users face similar challenges, especially when dealing with hardware issues or driver problems. Recently, a user encountered an unfortunate mishap: both their display adapters—a dedicated GPU and Intel integrated graphics—were accidentally deleted. This post will provide helpful steps to remedy this situation and get your laptop back to working order.

Understanding the Issue

In this case, the laptop screen went dark, but connection to an external monitor via HDMI was initially possible. The user attempted various troubleshooting methods, including reinstalling the display drivers and checking for hardware changes. However, during the process, both display adapters were inadvertently removed, leading to a complete loss of display output, even on the external monitor. The operating system continues to load Windows, but the absence of visible output complicates further recovery efforts.

Steps to Restore Functionality

If you find yourself facing this dilemma, here are some steps you can take to recover your display adapters and regain control over your laptop’s display capabilities:

1. Forced Reboot: Sometimes a simple restart can help. Shut down your laptop completely and power it back on. Pay attention to check if there’s any inconsistency with the display that may signal reinitialization of the drivers.

2. Boot into Safe Mode: If you can’t see anything on the screen, try booting your laptop into Safe Mode. You can do this by repeatedly pressing the F8 key during startup. Safe Mode typically uses basic drivers, which may help you regain access to your system.

3. Connect to an External Display: If your laptop still doesn’t show a picture on the external monitor, try switching to another monitor or using a different HDMI cable. It’s possible the issue lies with the external hardware rather than the laptop itself.

4. Use Keyboard Shortcuts to Navigate: Familiarize yourself with keyboard shortcuts for Windows. For instance, pressing Windows + X could open up the Quick Access menu where you can, theoretically, navigate to Device Manager without needing to view the screen.

5. Access Device Manager Blindly: If you believe that you can navigate your computer without visual guidance, try to access the Device Manager. You can do this by pressing Windows + R to open the Run dialog, typing in devmgmt.msc, and hitting