Tried and failed with 8.1 months ago

RAMWolff

New Member
Messages
41
Location
RWC, CA USA
Hi,

Been meaning to write a note here for perhaps some tips and suggestions on what to do to get my 8.0 upgraded successfully to 8.1.

Months ago I was very excited to upgrade as I read of all the great improvements and now there is a note on line that 8.1 will get more upgrades in April.

So I got the banner across my desktop asking me if I wanted to upgrade so eventually I gave in and allowed the process to happen. I was very excited until the final reboot and well... I booted into a very grave mess.

I had NO background image, black screen. No task bar, no icons, only "a cursor in the dark" as I like to call it. Yea, I actually had a cursor I could move around and click but I couldn't "see" what I was clicking on. So upon trying what I could I called up Microsoft and after a while they asked permission to take over my machine and after 4 HOURS we both gave in and I had to do a full reinstall. At least the newer Windows saves all the older stuff in a Windows.old folder so not all was lost but enough to know I didn't want to go through that again.

Apparently the video drivers became corrupt along with Windows Explorer (that's what the MS tech was able to figure out). She was just as amazed as I was.

Anyway, I've laid off the upgrade again in hopes I could get here and ask what it was I should do before trying again? My video drivers are all up to date (as they were the day all that happened). The only thing I had running was the scripts from Stardock to tweak things so I booted directly into the desktop and the other to give more options to tweak the new tiled start menu... (Decor8 and Start8). I'm sure I had a couple of other scrips running but nothing that should have caused this to happen.

So what advice can you give me to assure that this will be a smooth upgrade?

Thanks

Richard
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 64 bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    CyberPower
    CPU
    Intell Core i7 5820K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte X99-UD4-CF
    Memory
    16 Gigs of DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX760
    Sound Card
    on board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic 27" and 20"
    Screen Resolution
    27":1920X1080 20":1600X900
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 1863GB SATA
    Cooling
    liquid
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Marble
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    MS default
Have had mixed results with 8.1 here, had to revert to 8 on some laptops, am postponing any more upgrade until some time after 8.1.1 is out and has been discussed\reviewed.

But in all circumstances, IMO move nr1 in any upgrade process is to 1st do some good imaging (easeus here for xp\w7, macrium for w8).
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    W8.1, W7
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP \ Toshiba \ Lenovo \ Dell E7440
    Browser
    FF
Thanks much. I'll check out Macrium. When I had to reload I lost allot of stuff. Wasn't pretty at all. I've been scouring my other older drives that I can hook up and look at via a bridge but not finding much that I am missing. So dissapointing. I'm an artist for a living so ALLOT of my files got corrupted or lost during this mess. Didn't loose allot of my Photoshop files or ZBrush obj's so that's good at least but older stuff, irreplaceable. Oh well... live and learn I guess...
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 64 bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    CyberPower
    CPU
    Intell Core i7 5820K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte X99-UD4-CF
    Memory
    16 Gigs of DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX760
    Sound Card
    on board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic 27" and 20"
    Screen Resolution
    27":1920X1080 20":1600X900
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 1863GB SATA
    Cooling
    liquid
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Marble
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    MS default
After installing 8.1 pro I had to update 7 drivers.

All drivers were up to date before the install.

New ones were needed.

Hope this helps. :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1.1 Pro with Media Center
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Gateway
    CPU
    AMD K140 Cores 2 Threads 2 Name AMD K140 Package Socket FT1 BGA Technology 40nm
    Motherboard
    Manufacturer Gateway Model SX2110G (P0)
    Memory
    Type DDR3 Size 8192 MBytes DRAM Frequency 532.3 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics
    Sound Card
    AMD High Definition Audio Device Realtek High Definition Audio USB Audio Device
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Name 1950W on AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x76
    Screen Resolution
    Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x768 pixels
    Hard Drives
    AMD K140
    Cores 2
    Threads 2
    Name AMD K140
    Package Socket FT1 BGA
    Technology 40nm
    Specification AMD E1-1200 APU with Radeon HD Graphics
    Family F
    Extended Family 14
    Model 2
    Extended Model 2
    Stepping 0
    Revision ON-C0
    Instruction
    Browser
    Opera 24.0
    Antivirus
    Avast Internet Security
Wonder if they are going to released a disk version of 8.1.1? Might come loaded with all the updated drivers needed.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 64 bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    CyberPower
    CPU
    Intell Core i7 5820K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte X99-UD4-CF
    Memory
    16 Gigs of DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX760
    Sound Card
    on board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic 27" and 20"
    Screen Resolution
    27":1920X1080 20":1600X900
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 1863GB SATA
    Cooling
    liquid
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Marble
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    MS default
Wonder if they are going to release a disk version of 8.1.1? Might come loaded with all the updated drivers needed.

Possible, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1.1 Pro with Media Center
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Gateway
    CPU
    AMD K140 Cores 2 Threads 2 Name AMD K140 Package Socket FT1 BGA Technology 40nm
    Motherboard
    Manufacturer Gateway Model SX2110G (P0)
    Memory
    Type DDR3 Size 8192 MBytes DRAM Frequency 532.3 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics
    Sound Card
    AMD High Definition Audio Device Realtek High Definition Audio USB Audio Device
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Name 1950W on AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x76
    Screen Resolution
    Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x768 pixels
    Hard Drives
    AMD K140
    Cores 2
    Threads 2
    Name AMD K140
    Package Socket FT1 BGA
    Technology 40nm
    Specification AMD E1-1200 APU with Radeon HD Graphics
    Family F
    Extended Family 14
    Model 2
    Extended Model 2
    Stepping 0
    Revision ON-C0
    Instruction
    Browser
    Opera 24.0
    Antivirus
    Avast Internet Security
*holds breath* *faints* :p
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 64 bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    CyberPower
    CPU
    Intell Core i7 5820K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte X99-UD4-CF
    Memory
    16 Gigs of DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX760
    Sound Card
    on board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic 27" and 20"
    Screen Resolution
    27":1920X1080 20":1600X900
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 1863GB SATA
    Cooling
    liquid
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Marble
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    MS default
Wonder if they are going to released a disk version of 8.1.1? Might come loaded with all the updated drivers needed.

Actually the drivers you probably need wouldn't be MS drivers but would be downloaded from the manufacture website? My NB required updated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, And at the time the latest Video and Audio drivers. I did not attempt to upgrade and just did a clean install.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro MC
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus G75VW / Z97 Pro
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-3610QM / I7-4790K
    Motherboard
    Z97 Pro
    Memory
    16 GB Hyundai HTM315156CFR8C-PB PC3-12800
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVIDIA GeForce GTX 670M (GF114M)
    Sound Card
    VIA 6.0.10.1600
    Screen Resolution
    1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 850 Pro 256, Samsung 850 Pro 1TB
    Internet Speed
    30 down 3 up
    Browser
    Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    NIS and Malwarebytes
After having same problems with GPU drivers while upgrading to 8.1 I waited couple of weeks 'till AMD released proper ones, install them in W8 and then upgraded to 8.1 online and everything worked. The kicker is that nobody (MS and AMD) did not issue any warning before. So, the time to update the drivers is before you upgrade to 8.1 (for video card at least)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home made
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen7 2700x
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime x470 Pro
    Memory
    16GB Kingston 3600
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus strix 570 OC 4gb
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 960 evo 250GB
    Silicon Power V70 240GB SSD
    WD 1 TB Blue
    WD 2 TB Blue
    Bunch of backup HDDs.
    PSU
    Sharkoon, Silent Storm 660W
    Case
    Raidmax
    Cooling
    CCM Nepton 140xl
    Internet Speed
    40/2 Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    WD
Thank Mike. I'll go see now then at the NVIDIA web site...
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 64 bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    CyberPower
    CPU
    Intell Core i7 5820K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte X99-UD4-CF
    Memory
    16 Gigs of DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX760
    Sound Card
    on board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic 27" and 20"
    Screen Resolution
    27":1920X1080 20":1600X900
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 1863GB SATA
    Cooling
    liquid
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Marble
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    MS default
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