Dell Studio 1535 Laptop / Windows 8.1 Upgrade Failed - How To Diagnose
Sep 2, 2013
Upgrading from Windows 8 ProWMC on a Dell Studio 1535 laptop. It ran for a couple of hours and was in the 'a few more things' stage when it decided to fail and roll everything back.
Now that it's back where I started, where do I start looking to try to find out what happened? I'm hoping it put some log files somewhere.
My first guess is that it's third-party drivers, will start by looking at those. There are several things which are old but still were working with Windows 8; I suppose one or more of these might not be compatible?
I have a Dell Studio XPS 9000 running Windows 7 home premium 64bit and a USB 3 card installed. I want to upgrade it to Windows 8.1. I also have an HP laptop Envy dv6 running Windows 8.1 USB 3 compatible. I also have an Intel SSD 335 Series 240 GB, on which I want the upgrade to be installed, and a USB 3 NexStar caddy.
I imagine the most elegant approach would be to load Windows 8.1 on the SSD via the caddy connected to the HP laptop which is connected to the Internet, and then install the SSD into the Dell Studio XPS 9000.
I see the write-up on how to make a password reset disk on a USB flash memory stick. But is there a way to make a password reset disk on a CD?
WHAT I DID: 1. Inserted a blank CD in the optical drive. 2. Opened control panel and clicked "User Accounts". But in the left panel there is no option "Create a password reset disk". All I see are: Control Panel HomeManage your credentialsManage your file encryption certificatesConfigure advanced user profile propertiesChange my environment variables.
Do I HAVE TO insert a USB stick to see the password reset option? (I don't have a spare USB stick to test with)
I have the Dell Studio 1458 and i have Windows 8.1 Enterprise x64, When I try to install the video card which is: ATI Readeon Mobility HD 5400. I got Errors that say "there was an error when trying to install driver" (on devmgmt.msc).
Where can i find the correct drivers this version?
I failed several times at installing Windows 8.1 Pro 64 bit on my Latitude E6510 (from July 2010). Windows 7 Pro 32 bit was pre-installed when I bought the laptop. As I recently upgraded the RAM from 3 to 8 GB, I would like to use a 64 bit system now.I tried to boot from the installation DVD and the windows flag appears. After several seconds, a message on a blue background pops up: "Your PC ran into a problem. We are collecting some information and then we will restart it for you." That is the message, as fas as I can remember. It is only shown for one second and then the laptop reboots automatically. I have got no chance to get into an installation menu. I already tried a BIOS update from A03 to the most recent version A16 with no success. Boot mode is set to legacy at the moment, I also tried UEFI temporarily, with no change...
Yesterday, I clean-installed Windows 8 Pro x86 on an old Dell Vostro 1400 laptop which had been running Windows 7 Ultimate, and it activated and ran fine, without even a single exclamation point in Device Manager. I applied the update necessary to make the Store offer 8.1 and proceeded to install it as I've done on a couple other machines. After downloading the thing, it errored out with:
Couldn't install Windows 8.1
Contact your PC manufacturer to see if you can upgrade the System BIOS
When I clicked the OK button, it then gave me the informative and grammar-challenged error box:
Something happened and the Windows 8.1 couldn't be installed. Please try again. Error code: 0xc1900104
Try again Cancel
Ever the optimist, I clicked Try again, and of course, it proceeded to download all over again from scratch, only to error out in the same way. I then downloaded all the Windows 8 updates, although just the one had been necessary on my other machines that successfully upgraded to 8.1, and tried again, only to get the same result.
Today, I've discovered the Windows 8.1 Compatibility Assistant, which avoids the lengthy download of the upgrade every time (Microsoft, maybe you should run it implicitly before downloading 3 GB of transient data), and it tells me:
This PC doesn't meet system requirements
Contact your PC manufacturer to see if you can upgrade the System BIOS
Obviously, no BIOS updates are available, and what exactly is the problem here with my BIOS. The obvious googling turned up nothing except some people with Sony Vaios that had the same problem, which was corrected with a BIOS update, and of course, there is no information on what their BIOS update does to make the 8.1 upgrade possible.
Been running the upgrade to 8.1 from a factory installed Win 8 system on my Dell 5720 laptop. Download took quite long and now installation is taking even longer. It went through multiple steps on the Dell logo splash screen starting with "Getting Ready". Then it went to "Setting Up". Another lengthy time period. Now its doing "Setting up a few more things" and has been hung at 28% for over an hour. Hard drive activity very low and sporadic.
I have a Dell Inspiron 15R SE 7520 laptop that came with Windows 8 Core edition pre-installed. This laptop has never worked properly for some reason. It won't shutdown the normal way (it'll just stay on the shutdown screen forever) and it never comes back from sleep without a BSOD along with other troubles that haven't been solved by updating drivers,etc.
I decided I want to do a clean Windows 8.1 re-install and upgrade on my laptop to get rid of these problems, but it's been ages since I last did this (back in Win2K times, I used to dual boot Slackware Linux) and I've bee reading about all this UEFI, Secure Boot,etc and quite frankly it's making me quite nervous. I was even planning on taking this chance to dual boot some linux distro, but it looks sooo difficult. Things are much more complicated these days for the tinkerer!
I need to make sure I can get back to a running system quickly.
For starters, here is how the hard drive is partitioned: [URL] .... And this is the Diskpart output : [URL] ....
Why do I have 5 partitions? I understand the recovery partition, the OS partition and (after lots of reading) the ESP partition, but I'm not sure about the others. What do I need to keep? I've been reading around and I see some people recommend wiping the whole drive and starting from scratch. Is this a good ide?
I'll create the installation media from a windows 8.1 MSDN ISO using a USB drive. When I start the installation process it will ask me where I want to reinstall it to. Do I just choose the OS partition? Won't the recovery partition be based on a Windows 8 image and be useless from now on?
What's the best way I can get back to a fully working system in case I screw up somehow? I've made an image of my drive using Macrium Reflect free edition. But I read here that I cannot make an image of a GPT disk. Will this image I made work for getting back to a working system quickly in case I screw up?
As a last resort, I've made a Recovery USB using the Dell Backup and Recovery Method. In the extreme case that I screw up real bad, will this work to get back a factory-state system even if I've wiped my hard drive clean? I'm assuming this tool is for users recovering after a dead hard drive so it should work , right?
I recently updated my Studio 1458 Notebook from 64-bit Windows 7 Ultimate to Windows 8 Pro. It is a 2.4GHz Intel Core i5-520M, 8 GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066 MHz RAM, 512 MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4530 Video Card, 500 GB SATA @7200 RPM HDD.
Since upgrading, I have had no control over the Sleep function. I have changed all settings I can find on CONTROL PANEL<POWER OPTIONS, and still the system goes to "Sleep Mode" if I do not touch it for a few minutes. It even went to Sleep DURING the Windows 8 installation, which made it take longer than expected.
I have a Dell Studio XPS, I have just installed an SSD for the boot / system drive and am using Windows 8.
I wanted to make an copy of the SSD for backup. I have tried a number of program which boot from CD or USB but they all start to load and then stop. The software tried is "Mini Tool Partition Wizard", "Driveimage XLM", and others.
I know the CD boot system works ok as that is how I installed Windows 8 to the SSD and the above software all starts to load and then locks up.
I'm upgrading from Windows 8* After downloading 3 gig and then it installs automatically. THen it restart automatically and at 68% ("Getting Devices Ready: 68%" it crashed. Restarted it and it restored back to Windows 8..
An error code is:
0xC1900101, 0x30018
Don't want to download 3 gig again, where is the installation file saved?
when the windows 8.1 upgrade came out I updated to it without any problems but a few weeks ago a driver update showed up in windows update thingy. I decided to update it but it went horribly wrong my screen went black and stayed black for a hour, that's when I decided to restart my computer after the logo I just got a black screen with a flashing mouse. I made a recovery stick with my sisters windows 8.1 laptop and renewed my windows to 8. I wanted to upgrade to windows 8.1 again but it didn't work after it rebooted it just went to windows 8 again and gave me an error message that said that it couldn't update to windows 8.1. I searched on Google for a few hour and what I got was that I need to update my video drivers. I tried the default drivers I got (v8.9) it didn't work I tried the newest beta one (v13.11) didn't work either. And because my laptop manufacturer is Toshiba i cant update to the latest release of catalyst control center so i have to use the old version of Toshiba or the beta version. Both didn't work BUT before the driver incident I successfully updated to windows 8.1 with v13.11 beta however now it doesn't want to work anymore.
I am trying to upgrade to Windows 8.1 from Windows 8 PRO. Though, every time I try to install it, it reaches around 82% and then it stops to give an error code. 0x8007004 I think...
Anyway, I've done some researching and apparently the update does not work unless the user directory is not in its default location.
It's true for my setup. I run both an SSD and HDD, and I moved the user directory to the HDD using a Symbolic Link. That way to trick the system that it still is at C: Drive, but is actually writing the data at D: Drive.
Anyway, what are the steps I can take so that I can install Windows 8.1? There are a few features I want to use that are in that update, but this has prevented me from doing so for a while now. I would prefer to keep it setup this way because I don't want to harm my SSD and keep it in tip top shape.
I got this Gateway this last year, and in the "store" it says to upgrade to 8.1, and I have tried and tried and it says that the download has failed, and cannot install. I have called microsoft support, and was on the phone with them for a couple of hours, and he escalated support to the engineers, they also called, and I allowed them remote access, to come to the conclusion, that my connection is too slow to upgrade to 8.1. So, I went to an open network and tried it, to no avail.
BSOD...have always been something that I have gotten since I was a little kid and for the most part driver updates have always been the reason. Now that I am in the computer field though I think it's time I learn how to actually diagnose and resolve BSOD errors for others. Where can I start in learning about BSODs?
I am trying to upgrade an xps 8500 to windows 8 pro. It's an i7 system with 16 gig RAM. It was running windows 7 64 bit.
I made the first upgrade. It seemed to work fine. I updated drivers but when I attempted to add the windows media center the system failed -- on reboot it indicated the update could not be made and the previous version of windows 8 pro had been restored. I tried again, and this time it indicated that there were corrupted files and the system could no longer boot (error was 0xc000021a). It was not able to fix the disk issue automatically.
With Microsoft support I created a windows 8 pro boot drive on USB. At first the software would not even recognize a drive on which to install the operating system. That was resolved, and I was able to install windows 8 pro. But now every time I restart, the system goes back to the original problem (corrupt files), meaning I have to reinstall windows 8 pro, and so on. I have formatted the HDD as part of the installs: Partition 3 of Drive 0 (the other partitions are: Drive 0 partition 1 (1 meg used) OEM (reserved), partition 2 recovery (8.2 meg used) and drive 1 29.8 meg unallocated.
Windows installs updates (22 in number) automatically on restart, and these may be the source of the problem.
I have checked the drivers. They all seem up-to-date. The Bios is A09 (I think, in any case it is the latest version).
I've bought a Dell XPS 12 laptop (9Q33 model). It comes with preinstalled Windows 8. According to a support article I've found, this model supports upgrading to Windows 8.1. Where can I get this upgrade? It's absent in Windows Store.
My Dell Inspiron All-In-One came with Win8 preinstalled. Purchased from Staples I have the pc for about a year and was forced to do the 8.1 upgrade. The upgrade went ok but now I'm seeing a message that Windows is not activated. I call Microsoft and they said it is a volume license key and I need the retail key. I called Staples - no luck.
I bought a laptop, specifically the Samsung QX410-J01. The Laptop came pre-installed with Windows 7, and I upgraded to Windows 8 on 10/26/2012. I bought the Windows 8 Pro product key, downloaded, and upgraded to Windows 8.
Just last week my laptops Motherboard failed and my computer would no longer start up. The HDD works just fine though so all my files are safe. I decided I wanted to build my own PC and I am simply waiting on my case to arrive.
My question is I want to use Windows 8 on my new PC. The problem I am facing is I do not know how I am going to install Windows on my new machine. I do not want to purchase a new install disk and license since I have already paid for the OS. I can only think of two options and I am not sure if either of them are right.
1. Plug in my laptops hard drive into the new desktop. Run Windows 8.1 on that and use the new Terabyte hard drive I bought as a second hard drive.
2. Somehow put Windows 8.1 on a flash drive and install it from the flash drive onto the new blank hard drive. Then use the product key that I had purchased to activate the OS onto the new hard drive!
I really do not want to have to purchase Windows again, but if I must I guess I will. I believe there has to be a way I doubt after being a loyal Microsoft customer, switching to Windows Phone recently, and buying an Xbox One, that Microsoft will just say "Too bad, buy it again".
I want to know that what OS is included in factory image that made after upgrading from windows 8 to 8.1 (Factory image can be made using "My dell backup and recovery" application )
Download of Open Office 4.0.0 from SourceForge failed on Win 8 ASUS laptop.
Error Message:
C:UsersSusanDownloadsApache_OpenOffice_4.0.0_Win_x86_install_en-US.exe.part could not be saved, because the source file could not be read. Try again later, or contact the server administrator.
I did not have a problem with the same download on a Vista machine. I sent an email to SourceForge. No response yet.
After upgrading to Windows 8.1 the key is not showing as valid. When I enter the key I get this error code:
Error code: 0xC004F012
I used a tool to get the actual key from the OEM code and when I try to add that key it also rejects the key. Also, the system will install updates but after rebooting but it reverts all the new updates.
Dell XPS One 2710
I tried calling windows and dell support with no luck..
Windows 8 will not upgrade to Win 8.1 since Intel Pentium D CPU 2.80Ghz does not support PrefetchW.. processor that will work on a 0F030 Dell motherboard?
I have a new XPS8700. I have been unable to download the Windows 8.1 upgrade from the MS Store. My first problem was a lack of Windows updates, which I did, and now I can see the 8.1 upgrade in the store. I can also download updates to other aps.
My remaining problem is a continual notice every time I hit download that I need to first log into an account with admin access. Best I can tell, this and other forums have shown me how to add Admin capability with the Command prompt. I even created a second account and did the same thing. Within the User Summary screen within control panel, both USers show "administrator". Yet I still cannot get access
I have tried "net user administrator /active:yes" as well as tried same with swapping my name for administrator
The actual "administrator" user cannot do anything within the App Store. That appears to be what is supposed to happen.
I had a BSOD on my week old Samsung 350E7C laptop. It was a Power_Drive_State_Failure. It has since recovered but now every time I try to go on Youtube, my internet connection just stops working. No pages will load and I have to disable my Wi-Fi and re-connect. I have tried several browsers, but the same issue happens.
I installed W8 successfully about a month ago and all went well. The only recent change I have made is to install Startmenu8 to get a more normal Windows look. Last weekend my computer screen went dark blue and the mouse seemed not to function. I changed batteries and rebooted. However all I got was my desktop with no task bar and no icons. The programmes showed up along the bottom but would not open maximised so I couldn't use them. I have run the diagnostics on F12 at start up. All was ok according to that. I wanted to restore to a previous point so I managed to boot from my CD drive with the recovery disk (W8 version) but it said that both my restore point and image wouldn't work. I therefore tried to do a clean install of W8 but that wouldn't work. It just hung after several hours. I tried the same with W7 but with the same result.
My machine came with Vista so I installed that from the Dell recovery disk. This worked. I then tried to upgrade to W7 SP1 (an upgrade which would never install back in the day) from a CD I downloaded off the Windows website. That went on all night with the machine interminably rebooting. Still hung this morning. So I reinstalled Vista as above (clean) and tried to install W7 from the original upgrade CD. This hung also. The reason I haven't gone straight to W8 is that I think I have an image from a few months ago before I upgraded to 8.
I've just started restoring from a reasonably W7 image in Vista. Cross fingers but it seems to be working. However, I wanted to do a clean install and wonder why neither W7 nor 8 would complete.
