Cannot Install Windows 8 or Access Previous OS

JayKay

New Member
Messages
6
My desktop was running Windows XP and I bought, downloaded, and attempted to install Windows 8 about six hours ago. Everything was running smoothly; I typed in my product key, closed all programs, and everything to be fine.

But about 5 hours ago, it got stuck on the black screen with the Windows logo in light blue in the center of the screen with white dots revolving at the bottom.

I browsed online and it seems like a lot of other people also have this issue. But still, no solution found.

I'm not very tech/programming-savvy; I held down on the power button and turned it off, then turned it back on. But all it does is go back to that same screen and I can't do anything.

What's going on?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows XP
    Motherboard
    ASUS
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA
Did you download and run Windows upgrade assistant? Since you are installing Windows on a machine that has been running XP I'm going to hazard a guess that there may be something that needs to be updated/upgraded (driver, hardware, etc.) that is causing the problem with the install even if you're doing a clean install rather than an upgrade install. Worth the time and it's free.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 7 Ultimate and win 8 Pro dual boot on two desktops and 3 laptops
Where did you buy Windows 8.?
Reading your post, it looks like you put in a product key after the install? On the normal ISO release, as far as I am aware, the key has to be put in at the start of the install??
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Other Info
    Use several different computers during a day, so specs are irrelevant.
Did you download and run Windows upgrade assistant? Since you are installing Windows on a machine that has been running XP I'm going to hazard a guess that there may be something that needs to be updated/upgraded (driver, hardware, etc.) that is causing the problem with the install even if you're doing a clean install rather than an upgrade install. Worth the time and it's free.

Where did you buy Windows 8.?
Reading your post, it looks like you put in a product key after the install? On the normal ISO release, as far as I am aware, the key has to be put in at the start of the install??

How would I go about doing this? And I don't think I downloaded the upgrade assistant - what I did was purchase the download directly from Microsoft's product page, and followed all of the screen instructions. And yes you're right, I actually entered the key at the beginning of the installation process.

Everything was fine; one of the screens said that it might need to restart a few times and would take a while but after that page finished, it went to the black screen with the logo.

How do I get rid of the black screen and basically get the computer to work as it had before I tried installing Windows 8? Because once I turn it off then on, it takes me to another black page where I either press F1 and it goes back to the black Windows screen or DEL and into setup where I have no idea what to do after.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows XP
    Motherboard
    ASUS
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA

I have not. Thanks for the link!
But....I must ask, how would I be able to use my computer to even get past the black screen with the Windows logo? Every time I turn it off due to inactivity and turn it back on, it goes right back to that.

I assume that at startup, I'm supposed to hit DEL and enter setup? I don't know how to navigate from there though, I'm not very knowledgeable with anything computer-related. I had expected Windows 8 to install just like a PC game, hit "Yes" to all and the "I agree" at the end and it would take care of itself.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows XP
    Motherboard
    ASUS
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA
Sounds like you tried to do an upgrade over XP and have encountered the error that is blocking the completion of the install, leaving you without a usable OS on your computer. You need to follow the steps carefully (in link that Theog provided) using another computer as described in the tutorial. (yours / or a friends) Be sure to only do the download of the ISO and then burn it to a dvd. You can then boot onto the dvd install disk via setup and restart the installation. You may want to do a clean install as per this tutorial with the upgrade DVD. (recommended by many on this forum). However, did you back up your files and data that you wanted to save/protect? If not then you will want to try to restart the upgrade process rather than the clean install otherwise you lose it all. Hopefully it will proceed correctly via a restart and your upgrade will be successful and retain files and programs as promised by MS.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 7 Ultimate and win 8 Pro dual boot on two desktops and 3 laptops
Sounds like you tried to do an upgrade over XP and have encountered the error that is blocking the completion of the install, leaving you without a usable OS on your computer. You need to follow the steps carefully (in link that Theog provided) using another computer as described in the tutorial. (yours / or a friends) Be sure to only do the download of the ISO and then burn it to a dvd. You can then boot onto the dvd install disk via setup and restart the installation. You may want to do a clean install as per this tutorial with the upgrade DVD. (recommended by many on this forum). However, did you back up your files and data that you wanted to save/protect? If not then you will want to try to restart the upgrade process rather than the clean install otherwise you lose it all. Hopefully it will proceed correctly via a restart and your upgrade will be successful and retain files and programs as promised by MS.

I didn't back up any files, there's some programs on it but since I haven't used the computer in a while, it doesn't matter much to me if they are lost or not. At this point, whatever makes things easier/faster is what I'll go for.

Thanks for the help, I'll follow up on it and see where it takes me.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows XP
    Motherboard
    ASUS
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA
Upgrade to Windows 8 with only a product key - Microsoft Windows

Microsoft said:
Make sure you’re on the PC you want to upgrade. This must be a PC that is currently running Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP with Service Pack 3 (SP3), Windows 8 Release Preview, Windows 8 Consumer Preview, or Windows Developer Preview. (Windows 8 Setup checks that your PC meets all system requirements before it installs Windows 8.)

Have your product key handy. You can find it in your online order information, in the confirmation email for your purchase, or on the packaging. The product key will look something like this:
XXXXX- XXXXX- XXXXX- XXXXX- XXXXX

Make a backup of everything you want to keep. Save it somewhere you can get to it later, like an external drive or a DVD.


Always better to do a clean install.

When you have made your DVD, you can clean the HD Drive,
SSD / HDD : Optimize for Windows Reinstallation - Windows 7 Forums
than install, No need to reinstall old Windows install.
http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/13375-clean-install-windows-8-upgrade.html
 

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
Good news! I finally got Windows 8 installed! Thank you all for the advice.

I have encountered another problem, however.
My motherboard is ASUS model M2N-E and the sound quality is terrible. The volume is very faint and staticky.
I was told to find the ASUS website and download the sound driver but there is nothing available.

What is the best audio driver that is compatible? I can't find any source to download the necessary one that is supposed to work with my ASUS model.

Would Realtek work? If so, which one?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows XP
    Motherboard
    ASUS
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA
Back
Top