U43Jc can't find Nvidia graphics card

I have an ASUS U43Jc laptop that came with an Intel HD Graphics card and an NVIDIA GeForce 310M. A couple of days ago I noticed Skyrim running SUPER slow and went to update the NVIDIA driver. Everything seemed to go fine, until NVIDIA just disappeared from the device manager and was replaced with something called "Standard VGA Graphics Adapter". I can't update or roll back the driver because when I try the computer says it doesn't have any NVIDIA hardware.

The thing is, SOMETIMES the card still shows up when I restart. Sometimes it's there for a few seconds before being replaced with "Standard VGA Graphics Adapter", sometimes it's there for an hour, sometimes 20 minutes, sometimes I start up and it's already gone. When I manage to catch it before it runs away, it says it's up to date and the option to roll back the driver is greyed out.

I've tried uninstalling everything NVIDIA related and restarting my computer, I've tried going into BIOS but there are no options related to onboard devices or chipsets or anything mentioned in any other forum I've checked. Please please please help.

 

Standard VGA adapter is the driver used by windows for every card until the proper drivers are installed.

If you really can't get drivers to install that does point to a hardware failure.

Can you backup and do a restore?

 

I cannot. My computer has an unrelated problem where it deletes restore points on every reboot.

 

So, um... can anybody help me? It doesn't even show up when I restart anymore. This is really really frustrating. I really want to play Skyrim again.

 

I have a feeling you installed a bad graphics driver and need to uninstall it. Your computer has Optimus technology and sometimes it does not play well with generic drivers. Also not sure about your model but is there a button combo or switch for the optimus to manually swap between Nvidia and onboard?
At the very least you need to boot up in safe mode (Press F8 after first screen disappears when turning the computer on) after booting into safe mode open the control panel and go to Programs and Features icon and uninstall anything NVIDIA, restart the computer after the uninstall and boot up normally, iw windows does not install a graphics card automatically go to usa.asus.com and click on the support tab and look up your laptop model and download the graphics driver from there and install it.

 

That sounds an awful lot like a virus. But I agree with Meaker about the graphics card: it sounds as though it's on its last leg.