Intel hybrid graphics stuck in power save mode

Question

I have an Asus UL30V with Intel hybrid graphics. When I bought it it used to switch to turn of the better graphics card to save power and run on a more power effecient one. When I connected the laptop to a power source again I could go to the intel graphics icon on the task bar and click on "switch to enhanced performance mode" or something similar. But like 2-3 months ago it suddenly vanished. I cannot switch modes anymore, it's gotten stuck in power save mode. I can change the windows power setting but that doesn't enable the better graphics card :( What should I do? I've tried restarting the computer and that does not work. I really hope I don't have to reinstall the drivers!

It seems like other people have had the same issue: http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3518/p/19422695/19994601.aspx , he hasn't even got the same computer as me.

I have windows 7 Home Premium x64.

Edit: The graphics that won't enable is NVIDIA GeForce G210M, looking in the device manager now under graphic cards I cannot find it :S only the built in slower one "Mobile Intel(R) 4 Series Express Chipset Family"

Any ideas?

Solution

For some reason my Advanced Power Settings had changed, the only possible culprit as I see it is Windows Update... anyway what you do is (translated):

1. Go to power settings in the control panel (click on the battery icon in the task bar - more options)
2. Select "High performance" or similar.
3. Click Change Scheme Settings -> Change advanced settings
4. Go to "GPU Settings" -> "NVIDIA Hybrid SLI Graphics" -> Power source plugged in
5. Select "Boost performance (multiple GPUs)
6. Click Apply (in the current window)

Now you can once again click on the Intel Hybrid Graphics icon and enable Enhanced Graphics / Performance !! You can repeat the above steps for all your high performance power schemes.

Comments

[OZZIE]

I guess I could try that but it's the software that doesn't let me change graphics mode so I'm not sure that would help. Also I don't know where I would find that software again if I uninstalled it..

[OZZIE]

I did not have that option or anything similar, I had very few options all actually. However I found a solution to my problem finally myself so I will post that as an answer now.