So I had a perfectly good working copy of Windows 8 Professional x64, activated with Microsoft Toolkit, (KMS) and because I'm thick headed, and have to have everything new, I upgraded to Windows 8.1 Professional x64. I used a Win 8.1 4in1 x64 ISO from murphy** over at TPB, and edited the ei.cfg so that it would work correctly. However, after I installed it, which seemed to work fine (it did not ask for a key), I logged in, and was quickly logged out to a simple solid color pre-logon screen.. and upon logging back in, I am greeted with a completely black screen.. with a mouse cursor that moves around just fine. At any rate, I can fix the problem for a minute or so, by running sfc /scannow from a CMD prompt with admin selected (by using task manager). When I restart, I can log in like normal, but am quickly logged back out again to the same situation... but when I do press CTL+ALT+Delete I get an error which I can't quite recall but has something to do with immersive.UI .. I have googled the symptoms, researched for at least 10 hours or so, and can't find a fix, if you have any ideas, please.. feel free to help... I can write down the exact error I'm getting If it will help... So far, I have tried, Re-installing with a different ISO (does the same thing) running setup -> Repair Windows chkdsk Please... if you think you can help.. letm know
I think your problem might have more to do with running a custom driver rather than Windows. I'm not super familiar with how to get your computer to boot into safe mode, but you could do a google search about that and then remove any custom drivers. A lot of people forget that Win8.1 is not compatible with any Windows 8.0 drivers and extra programs that come with drivers. Someone had a problem with USB 3.0 boost program that changed drivers. I'm sure a decent amount of people had problems with Graphics drivers. Whatever you've installed, you're likely doing this to yourself and you need to uninstall it.
Murphy, I don't disagree.. I don't think it has anything to do with the software... I almost wonder if it has to do with activation... ???? As I have always used, how shall I put this... "non-legitimate" copies of my operating systems.. As for the drivers, do you have any idea how to pinpoint the specific driver which would potentially be causing the problem? When I boot in safe mode I get the same black desk-top... I will say this... I forget which operating system it was.. Maybe Vista or Windows 7, but I remember having a similar problem a long time ago, and its almost like the OS knows its "non-legit" and bricks itself... or locks itself down... Just a hunch... and BTW love the torrents... Have a whole bunch of DL DVD's of Win 7 stuff you made... Your a living legand!
Maybe the black screen is simply the pre-logon screen. Did you sign on using your email? I've noticed that doing so greets you with a background that you have to click on to log onto Windows. Did you do anything weird with the desktop theme?
I downloaded and installed the isos AIO WINDOWS 8.1 RTM X86 AND X64 that Murphy 78 posted on TPB and all working well here, thanks Murphy78 for great job.
Murph, I'll test that theory out in a few minutes, I suppose its possible. I use a local account to sign into Windows, not a fan of all that email (Microsoft Account) "cloud based" stuff.... Call me crazy, but I'm old fashioned and like to have my files on my hard drive, along with my applications.. LOL So, I simply log in with a local account, i.e, a password and user name. You think that might be part of the problem? I'm gonna also write down the exact error message..
So the first error message I receive after logging-in from the solid color log in screen with no user picture ( I do have a picture usually) and then pressing CTL+ALT+Delete which brings up a menu (Switch User, Log Off, Task Mananger, etc.) and selecting task manager is this: Taskmgr.exe - Entry Point Not Found The procedure entry point ?CreateRect@Value@DirectUI@@SAPEAV12@HHH@Z could not be located in the dynamic link library C:\Windows\System32\Windows.UI.Immersive.dll. It looks just like that!
Funny thing about 8.1 and 8.0 drivers, My 8.0 Video Drivers from LeshCatLabs.net work perfectly with 8.1.
No... Not sure how to access windows update, as I only get that black screen... Is there a command line for Windows Update I can run from task manager?
Try wuauclt /showwuautoscan - If you can't see the GUI you should try the tool WuInstall (wuinstall.com) and run it on a USB drive or something like that. Command should be wuinstall /install
You could try pressing Winkey+R then typing "wuapp.exe" That's the GUI frontend for the Windows Update. I'm not sure if it would work in your situation, but it's worth a shot. I have heard of people having problems connecting screens with an HDMI cable and lots of problems with video capture cards. If you have either of those going, you could try using just a DVI cable until you get your system sorted.
Are you definitely sure that the windows 8.0 drivers don't work? I have been using the enterprise build from the day it got leaked and it's working fine with what I think are the windows 8.0 drivers??? (touchpad and the memorycard reader drivers for example) Btw, which drivers should I use for my ati graphics? The catalyst 13.4 or is there a special driver package for windows 8.1 which I should use? Thanks
So Murph, I have updated all the drivers to 8.1 drivers if there available, mainly the intel chipset has a 8.1 driver, and the Intel Rapid Storage Driver has a 8.1 version... I also ran windows update and the only update was a defender definitions update... So no such luck so far... For the life of me I can't I figure it out... After I updated each driver, I ran sfc /scannow, restarted, and it worked for about 3 -4 minutes, then all of sudden, logs me out.. and the problem starts all over again.... I'm pretty close to giving up.... and just starting fresh on that partition... PS: I can live without that system if I have to, as I have a duel boot system set up: Windows 8.1 Pro RTM x64 (Not working) / Windows 8.1 Preview x64 (Working fine as of the moment) Plus, I was able to back up all my files recently..
Starting fresh on that partition? If you are using more than one OS, you need to wipe the hard drive and install win8.1 FIRST. The most recent OS always has to be installed before the more dated ones.
So the most recent first? I didn't know... I have always done the opposite.. with the oldest OS being installed first, then the newer one... Well...I guess I learned something new!
Yes it seems backward, but that's the way you have to do it. This way they can backward support older more primitive Operating Systems.
What? I was always under the impression that you have to install the oldest first and then the newer ones, because the newer ones do know about the older ones. So there would be no accidently overwriting of bootloaders etc.