# Windows 8.1 update.... black screen



## SWARP (May 30, 2014)

Hey there, 

Heres a little back story just in case any of this matters... I recently purchased an Alienware m11x from a friend. It was in good condition and was running fine, another friend asked if he could install Ubuntu on it, he re-partitioned the drive one half windows 7 and the other half Ubuntu... no problems there was working fine. After about a week I decided I wanted get rid of Ubuntu, I attempted to un-partition the drive and get rid of Ubuntu... in the process I was left with a error. 

Next I got a copy of Windows 8 which my college provides and put it on a USB and booted the computer from there and had windows 8 running.... Everything worked fine until I restarted the computer, after restart I would get stuck in a black screen where my mouse pointer was the only thing visible... I've attempted so many things and nothing has been working, I'm not the best with computers but I'm learning...

Does anyone know how I can start fresh with windows and avoid the black screen, and maybe eventually re-install the original Alienware software???

If you could respond soon that would be great, if I solved this problem I would be beyond happy!

Thanks


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

> I attempted to un-partition the drive and get rid of Ubuntu... in the process I was left with a error.


Please explain "un-partition" and the error.



> Windows 8 which my college provides and put it on a USB and booted the computer from there and had windows 8 running....


You were running Windows 8 from the USB flash drive? Or did you install Windows 8 to the hard drive?


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## SWARP (May 30, 2014)

By unpartitioned I mean I removed the Ubuntu partition of my hard drive, and I now receive an error whenever I reboot my computer "error code: 0xc000000f".... Before I was getting a black screen :/

I installed windows 8 using a bootable USB


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## TheShooter93 (Jul 10, 2008)

Your best bet would be to set the BIOS to boot to the USB drive.

Then you should be able to follow the installation guide to install Windows on the harddrive.


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## SWARP (May 30, 2014)

Alright I just tried that again, I used a bootable USB with windows 8 on it and it restored my computer and was running fine... but whenever I restart the computer it goes to a black screen after the windows 8 logo. I dont know what else to try, its so wierd how it works great after I boot it through the USB then after I restart the computer it black screens, its quite frusterating... Any other ideas, is there something else I need to install?? Any thing else I should try, I'm about fresh out of ideas... :/


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## TheShooter93 (Jul 10, 2008)

After you install Windows 8, do you remove the USB drive and change the boot order back to the harddrive being the primary boot device?


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## SWARP (May 30, 2014)

No, how do I do that?


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## SWARP (May 30, 2014)

I figured I might have to do something like that, but through my research no one has said I should or told me how... if thats where I'm going wrong... I'd be quite happy.


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## TheShooter93 (Jul 10, 2008)

When you start your computer, press *F12*, *F10*, or *F2* as it is booting up. One of these keys will allow you to access your BIOS (each computer is different).

Each computer's BIOS is a little different, so I can't provide specific instructions.

Once you are in the BIOS, you will need to look for something along the lines of "boot order". There will be options to set your harddrive, CD/DVD drive, and any other media as the first, second, third, etc., device to boot from.

When you boot from your flash drive to install Windows you should be doing this anyway. Just make sure you change the boot order one the installation is complete.


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## SWARP (May 30, 2014)

Ok I did that, and prior to that I formatted my hard drive... it worked well I was able to reset my computer with no problems... but after updating the driver for windows 8 it black screened again... :I 

*Do you know where I can get all of the drivers for windows 8 and maybe my alienware command center updated/back?


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## SWARP (May 30, 2014)

Ok so I've got it down to a couple things... After I update to windows 8 it works fine, until I update my "Nvidia GeForce GT 335M" display adapter... after that I restart to finish the update and I'm stuck at a black screen :/ 

* I guess my questions now are, 

- how can I update my display adapter without it black screening
- where can I install a different display adapter for windows 8
- where can I download command center


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## SWARP (May 30, 2014)

Correction it black screens after updating from the "Microsft Basic Display Adapter"...


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

I'm probably lost. Is it the case that you install Windows 8 and it works OK until you replace the "generic" Windows graphics driver with the one from the PC manufacturer's web site? If so, maybe you should just keep the generic driver, at least until you have installed all the other Windows 8 updates and then updated to 8.1 plus all the subsequent updates.


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## TheShooter93 (Jul 10, 2008)

SWARP said:


> Correction it black screens after updating from the "Microsft Basic Display Adapter"...


If this is within Windows Update, simply remove the check-mark next to that entry, then proceed with the updates.

As for where you can get other drivers, you should actually be downloading them from the computer manufacturer's website.

Lastly, I do not know where you can get the Alienware Command Center. I've never used an Alienware computer before. It might be worth contacting Dell for that.


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## SWARP (May 30, 2014)

Alrighty sounds good, everything is working fine now. You guys have been a great help!

One last thing I ask is how do I set up a new recovery partition with the windows 8.1 on it from the USB ??


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## SWARP (May 30, 2014)

Also is there anyway I can set it so that when I do a factory restore from the recovery partition that it will keep the command center I downloaded?


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## TheShooter93 (Jul 10, 2008)

SWARP said:


> Also is there anyway I can set it so that when I do a factory restore from the recovery partition that it will keep the command center I downloaded?


If it's something you downloaded, then no.


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## SWARP (May 30, 2014)

How about the windows 8 I installed... Will that factory restore on its own now or will I need the USB?


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## TheShooter93 (Jul 10, 2008)

I'm not sure what you mean.

If you perform a factory install (System Recovery), your computer will revert to factory settings -- however it was when you opened it up.


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