# 8.1 upgrade hang up



## raybro (Apr 27, 2003)

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.

Starting to get a bit nervous. Thoughts/suggestions???


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## raybro (Apr 27, 2003)

What a hassle. The hang lasted almost 2 hours when I gave it up and shut down my laptop. When I rebooted, it said windows was recovering to the previous version. That went on for 30 minutes or so. The machine went through a couple of reboot cycles, then said it would be necessary to recover to a restore point (yaaah MS... NOT). Nothing happening for some period of time, but the HDD activity was continuous, so I left it run. Finally booted into windows. Had to reinstall the windows updates I installed prior to this fiasco. Then I found my installation of Chrome was corrupted. I wont go into the details, but trust me, it was not usable. Uninstalled Chrome and then reinstalled. OK now. Can't wait to find out what else the process screwed up. I do have a full backup of the disk, but I want to see just how much damage it did. I may or may not use it.

Anyone have any idea what happened???


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## Lance1 (Aug 4, 2003)

How did you do the update? From a download, or from the Windows 8 store?


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

Have any security software (Norton, McAfee, AVG, ZoneAlarm, etc.) that could be getting in the way?


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## raybro (Apr 27, 2003)

> How did you do the update? From a download, or from the Windows 8 store?


Download and install in one process from the Windows Store...



> Have any security software (Norton, McAfee, AVG, ZoneAlarm, etc.) that could be getting in the way?


Nope... AV is native Windows Defender and Windows Firewall

Thanks to Lance1 and TerryNet for responses


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## Macboatmaster (Jan 15, 2010)

Do you please have all external devices disconnected -


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## raybro (Apr 27, 2003)

Printer is connected, but not on. External USB keyboard and mouse. All through a powered USB Hub. Should they be disconnected?

Ray


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## Macboatmaster (Jan 15, 2010)

I would certainly try it - with all disconnected - and I would check first for all updates not only Windows updates but also any updates in the Store apps


Try that first, please and there is a problem, it appears with some laptops and Dell was one of them regarding an earlier update - 


However give my first suggestion a try please and if that does not work I will find the other POSSIBLE solution for you


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## raybro (Apr 27, 2003)

I use almost none of the Store apps, so I'm disinclined to update them. Do you really think that matters? 

But I'll give it a shot without the apps update. Not today though, other irons in the fire.


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## Macboatmaster (Jan 15, 2010)

I only meant any store apps that you have installed


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## raybro (Apr 27, 2003)

Don't have any I'm aware of.


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## Macboatmaster (Jan 15, 2010)

I see Dell are strongly recommending
*Step 6: Update Critical Drivers*

Dell *strongly* recommends that you update the following drivers and firmware before starting an update to Windows 8: 

System BIOS
Video Driver
Intel Rapid Storage Technology
Wireless LAN
Mobile Broadband
To get started with updating your drivers, visit the Dell Drivers and Downloads website. Be sure to have your system's Service Tag available to get the drivers that are right for your computer. 


AND in that regard I see there is a BIOS update issued 9 May 2014

That all said after the Video driver and the IRST driver and as I said Windows updates - EVEN if you have those set automatic - I would give it another try - with my first suggestions, as external USB hubs are definitely a cause of this problem

Only then if that does not work would I try the BIOS flash


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## raybro (Apr 27, 2003)

Thanks for the tip. I'll check it out.


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## raybro (Apr 27, 2003)

Updated BIOS and chipset drivers along with other recommended drivers from Dell support.

Disconnected USB Hub which, in turn, disconnected all external devices.

Ran the Win 8.1 Upgrade again and hung up at the identical point previously encountered. Specifically, after 28% of *"Setting up a few more things"*.

Recovery process also the same sequence. Ended up recovering to a restore point. Had to do the windows updates again. Hindsight tells me I should have created a new restore point before the second attempt. Oh well, live and learn.


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## Macboatmaster (Jan 15, 2010)

I would try connecting hard wired if you ARE connected wireless - if possible


And I would try again but this time I would leave it for three hours, many reports quote that as the limit time when the Microsoft servers are busy


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## raybro (Apr 27, 2003)

I am. in fact, connected via wireless. I do have an Ethernet connect and will try that on my next attempt if such should prove necessary. I ran it again this morning for the 3rd time and it is now stalled at the same 28% of *"Setting up a few more things"*. Going to be out of the house for a few hours, so I'll just leave it as is.

Appreciate the advice.


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## Lance1 (Aug 4, 2003)

It stalls at 28% each time. I'm thinking bad sectors. Go to search, type cmd. Right below you'll see the Command Prompt. Right click it and select Run As Administrator. Type CHKDSK /R and hit enter. It'll say that it can not run and would you like it to run on reboot. Hit Y for yes and restart the system. Let it run to completion. When your back in Windows go to the control panel. you can get there by typing control panel in search. Go to Administrative Tools \ Event Viewer \ Windows Logs \ Application. Look for CHKDSK Double click it. go to Details, Click Copy and post the log here, *"Please post the log in a QUOTE"*


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## Macboatmaster (Jan 15, 2010)

Lance1
You may well be right but I will be surprised as Windows 8 and 8.1 have automatic disk checking procedures

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2012/05/09/redesigning-chkdsk-and-the-new-ntfs-health-model.aspx


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## raybro (Apr 27, 2003)

Lance1 said:


> It stalls at 28% each time. I'm thinking bad sectors. Go to search, type cmd. Right below you'll see the Command Prompt. Right click it and select Run As Administrator. Type CHKDSK /R and hit enter. It'll say that it can not run and would you like it to run on reboot. Hit Y for yes and restart the system. Let it run to completion. When your back in Windows go to the control panel. you can get there by typing control panel in search. Go to Administrative Tools \ Event Viewer \ Windows Logs \ Application. Look for CHKDSK Double click it. go to Details, Click Copy and post the log here, *"Please post the log in a QUOTE"*


Got a bad feeling here. Ran CHKDSK /R as suggested. Got to 27% and hung. Let it sit for about 1 hour with no change. Shut down and restarted and CHKDSK started again and quickly reached 27% and hung.

Have to agree, probably a bad drive, but where do I go from here. Can't get out of this loop. 

EDIT... Got out of the loop. Ran diagnostics from the UEFI screen and then rebooted. It went to automatic repair and then to restore. That is running now. Any other test I can run to confirm the drive is not repairable?

EDIT 2... Restore successful.


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## raybro (Apr 27, 2003)

Following is a summary of actions to date...

1. Multiple attempts to install downloaded Win 8.1 upgrade. Stalls at 28% on "Setting up more things". Left run for multiple hours with no change in status. Hard drive activity nil.

2. Ran Dell diagnostics for hard drive long test from UEFI screen. Passed

3. Ran disk error check in Windows. Passed

4. Ran CHKDSK C: /r on boot. Stalls at 27 % for multiple hours

5. Ran CHKDSK C: /f /r /x on boot. Stalls at 27 % for multiple hours.

6. Ordered a new hard drive from Amazon (WD7500BPKX Black) NOTE: I can use it anyway

Comments/suggestions???


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## raybro (Apr 27, 2003)

Making some progress. I have had a 500GB WD Blue drive which has the 512 byte sector size for some time. Been using it a backup image storage device. Formatted it and tried to recover an Acronis True Image file and it succeeded. Except it would not boot when installed in the laptop. looking at the restored image with GParted revealed the position of the UEFI (ESP) partition was not as it was on the original drive. Could find no other variable. 

Next I tried recovering to an Easeus ToDo image. This one worked not only from a standpoint of restoring all the partitions in there original order, but it booted into Windows. Neither program would recover to a drive with Advanced Format (4096 byte sector size). At present, I'm downloading the Windows 8.1 upgrade. 

We shall see.


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## raybro (Apr 27, 2003)

Well I am about at my wits end on this one. What I've done to date.

The faulty hard drive was a red herring, at least as far as the Win 8 update is concerned. I finally got a backup image loaded into another drive and it exhibits the identical anomalous behavior. Near the very end of the process, during "Setting Up a Few More Things" it hangs at 28% and stays there... for hours and hours. 

I've updated all recommended drivers from the Dell site and ensured all Windows updates are installed. I even ran the Win 8.1 update adviser and updated a couple of programs it said were either not compatible or needed updating. The ONLY thing I have not done is install some of the app updates (14) from the Windows Store which I have no interest in using. 

I vaguely recall reading somewhere (and cannot find) a recommendation to disable the Windows Firewall and Windows Defender (both of which I use) before updating. Any thing to that?

In desperation, I'm stating to consider removing some installed 3rd party programs.

BTW.. I have disconnected ALL peripherals when attempting the upgrade.

Any thoughts, comments or suggestions would be very much appreciated.


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## raybro (Apr 27, 2003)

I ran CHKDSK /f /r C: on the new 500Gb hard dive with the Win 8 image restored to it and it has hung at 27% just like the original drive did. I started a timer on it when I noticed it was at 27% and is now at 30 minutes.

I Googled *"How long does it take to run CHKDSK /f /r C:"* and found, among others, this thread on How-to-Geek forum. It discusses the process with various mentions of hanging at 27%. Consensus seems to be its a time factor related to drive capacity. With that in mind, I'm just gonna let it run, overnight, if necessary.

Another item mentioned is a free software program which is purported to do the same thing as CHKDSK. I'll create a post on the Software Forum about that.

EDIT... CHKDSK /f /r C: finished in 2 hours 29 minutes. Later I'll reinstall the 1Tb drive and repeat the process.


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## raybro (Apr 27, 2003)

This has been one of the most lengthy and frustrating processes I've ever been through. After exhausting all possibilities I could find with Google, at Dell, various blogs, friends with various levels of expertise and just plain guesswork, I ended up formatting the hard drive and installing Windows 8 from a system disc provided by Dell. Subsequently, I was able to install the Windows 8.1 upgrade.

This turned out to have what I consider to be an advantage I did not anticipate. The clean install of the OS did NOT result in the same configuration as the original. There were only 2 partitions, one for the OS and a small (350 MB) Dell reserve partition. It did NOT use the GPT partitioning scheme, but the old familiar MBR. The net result was I do not use the UEFI booting method. The machine boots from BIOS. I kinda like it. 

The only downside I've found so far is a couple of pre-installed programs were lost. MS Office (2010) and Adobe Photoshop Elements. I was able to get a download of Office from MS, but Photoshop was not available from Dell because the machine was out of warranty (they offered a warranty renewal for $239), so I purchased a copy of version 11 on line for $40. I was able to save all my files, photos and videos via a backup using Easeus ToDo. Good program. :up:

All-in-all, I'm much happier without UEFI. Anyone with experience and/or opinions regarding the pros and cons are invited to respond. I'll leave this thread open for a while to see what, if any, responses are posted.


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## dustyjay (Jan 24, 2003)

I have read and experienced personally similar and different problems with the upgrade to 8.1. Personally m failure was on an Asus Laptop that came from the factory with Win 8.0. Failed miserably. got into a Update Failed Restoring Files loop that never ended. Returned the laptop for refund. Seems that several models of Asus, Dell, HP, and Lenovo computers (I don't know if all laptops) are having the same problems. I have a Dell Inspiron 15 that had no problem with the update. Though the download and update did take about 5 hours total to do. Supposedly you should not even see the 8.1 update if you haven't got all required Windows updates already complete. That was true for me any way. My sis in law as a Lenovo Yoga that needed all updates done before being able to even see the 8.1 update. But the installation went perfectly other than again taking about 5 hours again. I have had several friends who have Dells that they are fed up with and ready to try installing Win 7 on.


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## raybro (Apr 27, 2003)

Thanks dustyjay, 'peciate the response. My personal opinion is Win 8 and 8.1 are both excellent operating systems. M$ will work out any bugs over time with user input as they always do. My particular problem was more related to the UEFI partitioning scheme than anything else. I say this in retrospect since now that I have the problem solved, I can afford to be generous. I believe Win 8.1 will progress along the same track as XP did and eventually become the new gold standard for M$. Installing Classic Shell which gave me back the old familiar Start Button makes all the difference in the world with respect to ease of use. The Metro screen is NOT something I care to use. 8.1 improved it a bit, but not near enough.

I was careful to ensure all Windows updates were installed and all drivers updated from the Dell site. After that, the upgrade to 8.1 took about 1 1/2 hours. 

Now that I do not have to deal with UEFI, I think I've got a winner. Another factor associated with UEFI is the backup programs I've used (Acronis True Image, Macrium Reflect and Easeus ToDo) do not handle UEFI and the associated GPT partitions very well. Using Easeus ToDo, I've recovered an image created from a functional 500GB drive with the original UEFI and GPT partitions to that same drive. After doing so, the drive would not boot. The only value the recovery had was allow me to recover some miscellaneous files from the OS Partition connecting it via a USB interface device (Apricorn DriveWire). The drive appears in My Computer and File Explorer with all partitions present in the configuration as it was when the image was created. Why it will not boot remains a mystery, but it no longer matters.


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## dustyjay (Jan 24, 2003)

I didn't like Win 8 much at all. But with Win8.1 upgrade it is actually very easy and nice to use. I then installed Classic Shell and am more pleased with it. I haven't tried Acronis Tru Image on my laptop. I did a hard drive back up that came with the Dell.


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## raybro (Apr 27, 2003)

dustyjay said:


> I haven't tried Acronis Tru Image on my laptop. I did a hard drive back up that came with the Dell.


Sadly, I did not do that. I mistakenly put my trust in programs I had used in the past. BIG mistake with the UEFI/GPT configuration.


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## dustyjay (Jan 24, 2003)

I use Acronis on all my other computers, the only reason I didn't try using it on the win8 laptop is I hadn't purchased the newest update yet.


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