Watermark won't go away on Windows 8.1 upgrade

MrBill

New Member
Messages
53
I upgraded to Windows 8.1 from my OEM version of Windows 8 on a machine that's about 4 months old. I'm seeing a watermark showing the release version and complaining about my UEFI secureboot setup. Any ideas beyond locking my UEFI BIOS?

watermark.jpg
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7/8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    i7-3770k
    Motherboard
    Asus
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVidia 630
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG 23 inch LED
    Screen Resolution
    1680X1050
    Hard Drives
    1 internal 1tb, 1 external 3tb
I had the same watermark so I just enabled Secure Boot using the default keys option. Now, I'm normally not that lazy but I must say that I saw no actual difference in performance thereafter so I saw no need to pursue any further corrective action. From my experience, secure boot just blended into 8.1 and removed the watermark. No other side effects were observed.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel G2020
    Motherboard
    ASRock B75M-DGS R2.0
    Memory
    8GBs @ 1333 MHz
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 EVO
    PSU
    400w
    Internet Speed
    57/11
I have same issue how do i remove it ? my stuff is setup with UEFI its a alienware
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Myself
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3770 CPU @ 3.40GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI Z77A-G45
    Memory
    8 gigs
    Graphics Card(s)
    PNY GeForce GTX 660 Ti
    Sound Card
    onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung Sync Master s27B550
    Screen Resolution
    1080p
    Hard Drives
    1 TB internal driver and one 1TB external drive.
    PSU
    Antec NeoECO 620 watt
    Case
    custom case
    Cooling
    Fans
    Keyboard
    steelseries apex
    Mouse
    stellseris sensel
    Internet Speed
    Unknowen
    Browser
    Google chrome
    Antivirus
    Norton 360 from comcast

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
mine says when i go to enable it it tells me something about my video card wired i have a pny geforce gtx 660TI i never had this issue with windows 8 not untell 8.1
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Myself
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3770 CPU @ 3.40GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI Z77A-G45
    Memory
    8 gigs
    Graphics Card(s)
    PNY GeForce GTX 660 Ti
    Sound Card
    onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung Sync Master s27B550
    Screen Resolution
    1080p
    Hard Drives
    1 TB internal driver and one 1TB external drive.
    PSU
    Antec NeoECO 620 watt
    Case
    custom case
    Cooling
    Fans
    Keyboard
    steelseries apex
    Mouse
    stellseris sensel
    Internet Speed
    Unknowen
    Browser
    Google chrome
    Antivirus
    Norton 360 from comcast
mine says when i go to enable it it tells me something about my video card wired i have a pny geforce gtx 660TI i never had this issue with windows 8 not untell 8.1

In your case, you may have trouble enabling secure boot because it also requires the UEFI GOP protocol which (apparently) your video card does not support. You'll need to go back to pny support and see if they have a firmware update available. Good luck.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel G2020
    Motherboard
    ASRock B75M-DGS R2.0
    Memory
    8GBs @ 1333 MHz
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 EVO
    PSU
    400w
    Internet Speed
    57/11
Ok, obviously you can get rid of this by enabling SecureBoot, I personally have no intentions of re-enabling SecureBoot as I dual boot with Linux. I just want the watermark to go away.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8, Windows 7, Ubuntu 12.04, Arch Linux, Gentoo, and Slackware

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    ME, XP,Vista,Win7,Win8,Win8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Other Info
    Notebooks x 3

    Desktops x 5

    Towers x 4
I am trying to get rid of the watermark by enabling secure boot on my hp pavilion p6-2120 using the hp support link in the tutorial from brink. My computer originally came with windows 7. In the support link it shows a secure boot configuration option in the security menu in the setup utility. However, I do not have that option. Is there another way I can enable secure boot? I will look further in the tutorial but any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Update: After reading further in the HP support page I noticed this:

HP and Compaq Desktop PCs that were manufactured with Windows 7 or earlier do not have a BIOS version that allows the use of Secure Boot and one will not be made available for these computers.

Will I still be able to get rid of the watermark?
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro with Media Center
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion P6-2120
    CPU
    AMD A6-3620 APU
    Memory
    6 GB DDR3 ram
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon HD 6530D
    Hard Drives
    ST10000DM 003-9&N162 SATA Disk Device @ 1TB and WD My Book Essential External Hard Drive @ 1TB
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, Malwarebytes Pro
Thats what i want gone the watermark this is sick why they do this make a permanent watermark.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Myself
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3770 CPU @ 3.40GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI Z77A-G45
    Memory
    8 gigs
    Graphics Card(s)
    PNY GeForce GTX 660 Ti
    Sound Card
    onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung Sync Master s27B550
    Screen Resolution
    1080p
    Hard Drives
    1 TB internal driver and one 1TB external drive.
    PSU
    Antec NeoECO 620 watt
    Case
    custom case
    Cooling
    Fans
    Keyboard
    steelseries apex
    Mouse
    stellseris sensel
    Internet Speed
    Unknowen
    Browser
    Google chrome
    Antivirus
    Norton 360 from comcast
You should not see the watermark if your BIOS is not UEFI or cannot support SecureBoot.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    CPU
    Intel i7 3770K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Z77X-UD4 TH
    Memory
    16GB DDR3 1600
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVidia GTX 650
    Sound Card
    Onboard Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Auria 27" IPS + 2x Samsung 23"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440 + 2x 2048x1152
    Hard Drives
    Corsair m4 256GB, 2 WD 2TB drives
    Case
    Antec SOLO II
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000
    Mouse
    Logitech MX
Have a read of post 7
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    ME, XP,Vista,Win7,Win8,Win8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Other Info
    Notebooks x 3

    Desktops x 5

    Towers x 4
I am in the process of contacting HP on this issue. I was not able to find a bios update through their website.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro with Media Center
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion P6-2120
    CPU
    AMD A6-3620 APU
    Memory
    6 GB DDR3 ram
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon HD 6530D
    Hard Drives
    ST10000DM 003-9&N162 SATA Disk Device @ 1TB and WD My Book Essential External Hard Drive @ 1TB
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, Malwarebytes Pro
Thats what i want gone the watermark this is sick why they do this make a permanent watermark.

If you have a UEFI bios configuration, an interim test might be to turn off fast boot in your bios (or Win 8.1) and see if that gets rid of your watermark temporariliy. However, the final solutios is to get a UEFI GOP bios update for your specific graphics card. Here is an example of one vendor that has already taken such action:

GOP UEFI BIOS Available for ASUS GeForce GTX 680 Series Graphics Cards

Good luck.

Update: This only applies to those who have both issues. A watermark and a video card warning. FYI, I was able to remove my watermark by just enabling secure boot and my graphics config was already UEFI GOP compliant.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel G2020
    Motherboard
    ASRock B75M-DGS R2.0
    Memory
    8GBs @ 1333 MHz
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 EVO
    PSU
    400w
    Internet Speed
    57/11
Yes PNY is going to try and fix my issue they had me send in a picture of the card with all labels and my main board bios version as well as what revision my alienware x51 is. I just hope they can read the stickers on my card as all i have is a camera on my phone so i did the best i could.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Myself
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3770 CPU @ 3.40GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI Z77A-G45
    Memory
    8 gigs
    Graphics Card(s)
    PNY GeForce GTX 660 Ti
    Sound Card
    onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung Sync Master s27B550
    Screen Resolution
    1080p
    Hard Drives
    1 TB internal driver and one 1TB external drive.
    PSU
    Antec NeoECO 620 watt
    Case
    custom case
    Cooling
    Fans
    Keyboard
    steelseries apex
    Mouse
    stellseris sensel
    Internet Speed
    Unknowen
    Browser
    Google chrome
    Antivirus
    Norton 360 from comcast
I contacted HP and they said there is no firmware or bios update for my PC. They said that since my PC originally came with windows 7 there is no need for secure boot. They said to do a factory restore back to windows 7, then upgrade to 8 and then 8.1 which I really don't wanna do but it looks like that's what I'm gonna have to do. Thanks anyways for the help and any other suggestions would be appreciated.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro with Media Center
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion P6-2120
    CPU
    AMD A6-3620 APU
    Memory
    6 GB DDR3 ram
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon HD 6530D
    Hard Drives
    ST10000DM 003-9&N162 SATA Disk Device @ 1TB and WD My Book Essential External Hard Drive @ 1TB
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, Malwarebytes Pro
HI pbm5362,

I'm a bit lost as to how their advisement would change you current situation; however, I must admit I haven't read every post in this thread. So, if anyone else can confirm that they understand HPs suggestion and thinks it will work, I'd certainly like to hear why because, there has been no mention of anything relative to changing any BIOS setting to Legacy during this entire process, so it just sounds up like you will end back up in the same place again. What am I missing here? Anyone?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel G2020
    Motherboard
    ASRock B75M-DGS R2.0
    Memory
    8GBs @ 1333 MHz
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 EVO
    PSU
    400w
    Internet Speed
    57/11
I was a bit perplexed about their suggestion myself. I don't wannna spend all day resetting and reinstalling with no result. The HP tutorial said for a computer preinstalled with windows 8 to go into the setup utility and then go to secure boot configuration but my PC came with win 7 preinstalled I don't have that option. I haven't tried setting my bios to legacy yet. I'm not sure how to do this. My bios version is AMI 7.10, date 4/9/2012 if anyone has any further suggestions.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro with Media Center
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion P6-2120
    CPU
    AMD A6-3620 APU
    Memory
    6 GB DDR3 ram
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon HD 6530D
    Hard Drives
    ST10000DM 003-9&N162 SATA Disk Device @ 1TB and WD My Book Essential External Hard Drive @ 1TB
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, Malwarebytes Pro
I was a bit perplexed about their suggestion myself. I don't wannna spend all day resetting and reinstalling with no result. The HP tutorial said for a computer preinstalled with windows 8 to go into the setup utility and then go to secure boot configuration but my PC came with win 7 preinstalled I don't have that option. I haven't tried setting my bios to legacy yet. I'm not sure how to do this. My bios version is AMI 7.10, date 4/9/2012 if anyone has any further suggestions.

If have installed Windows 8 in UEFI mode, & reset the UEFI/BIOS firmware to Legacy, Windows 8 will NOT BOOT.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    ME, XP,Vista,Win7,Win8,Win8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Other Info
    Notebooks x 3

    Desktops x 5

    Towers x 4
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