Windows 8 & Inconsistent Booting

[Ryanph]

Hi All, I've been running Windows 8 on my HP TouchSmart IQ500 for the past ~8 months and working well.  I updated to Windows 8 Consumer Preview and NOW when I attempt to use the machine SOMETIMES it works but MOST TIMES I get to the login screen and after login the display goes blank.  I see the HD churning away so I THINK this is a video driver issue.  however there is no way to get into safemode UNLESS you can get logged in and setup.  So I've got a catch-22 and wondering if others running this TouchSmart IQ500 have seen issues like this and what you might have done to fix this?

I'm thinking that since Windows 8 has a default setting to AUTOMATICALLY download and install updates and since I have rebuilt this machine twice, that at some point there IS a driver update that is getting installed and causing these problems.

I'm thinking if I can get in, I will remove any driver updates and change this default setting and see if the machine can level out.

Anyone having these issues?

Thanks

....Ryan

[Ryanph]

FYI, I just ran a full machine Diagnostic via the BIOS and CPU, Memory and Disk all PASSED, so I don't think this is hardware related, probably Video driver related. Stupid Win8, cannot enable Safe Mode to get in to diagnose until I can get into Win8..arrrgh!

[Ryanph]

Sorry all, this is a fluid situation. If I move quickly after login, I AM able to move around and do stuff and was able to set Boot for Diagnostic, so this does NOT seem to Display Driver related as TouchScreen works, the video looks great, wonder if this is an Application Startup thing causing this!

[Ryanph]

Windows 8 finally went into RECOVER MODE and rolled me back.  not exactly sure how far back but I'm back up and running.  I have changed the "Automatically download and install updates" and will monitor.  Wondering if there is something that is being pulled down and installed that is causing this as I ONLY install what is needed for the machine and stay clear of websites with virus/worms, etc.  Will keep monitoring, but looks like the Windows 8 "Recover" option does a good job.

Also I looked aorund on how to run in Safe Mode and found that if you can get into the "Recovery" menu during start up, you can use the Advanced section and restart in Safe Mode with Command Line option.  From there I was able to do a cntrl-alt-delete, run Task Manager and disable all the Startup Applications and this seemd to give me an extra ~2 minutes before the machine went down.  So this will at least give you more time to look around and see what is going on.  you can also run msconfig.exe and set the boot options for Diagnostics, etc, which I used instead of going through BCDEdit and creating a new Safe Mode Boot Option, just didn't have enough time to get all that setup.

What a mess!

[TrainzGuy]

I did a similar post today before seeing your post.  Anyway, this seems to be definitely Microsoft-sourced as an issue.  Of course, as your system goes "black" (the result of a subsystem crash), the results are relayed back to Microsoft for handling.  THey will tell you, like HP, that there is no support for WIndows 8 "Betas" at this time, and that the problem MAY or MAY NOT be fixed in a final product release.

It sucks that something works fine for a while, then gets trashed after "upgrading."

[Ryanph]

HI all, I FINALLY found out what is causing issues with my machine anyway.  I found that WHEN I change from a local account to a Microsoft Account (LiveID) that the machine goes down.  I THINK some online services are being contacted when I login and that is bringing my machine down.  I restored back to an earlier version and since I've been running in Local Account mode the machine has NOT gone down one time!

Not sure if others are in this scenario, but if you can get into your Windows 8 machine, maybe Safe Mode, using the Advanced Features in the Recovery section, if you can set your account back to local account mode.  Try this and login and see if your issue goes away.

I'm researching why this might be and the only thing I could find is that the MAIL application seems to launch automatically when in LiveID mode and that seems to be the only application that is reaching out to the "cloud" and maybe this is the issue...not sure, but I am not going to switch out of local mode, at least until the next Windows 8 version...Tired of recovering the machine every few days :-)

Cheers and I hope this helps someone!

....Ryan

[ginginho]

I experienced this problem on an IQ510 - random blank screens seconds to minutes after logon: in my case Windows Update had or was trying to auto-install a new graphics driver. I rolled back the driver during a period before the black screen kicked in and configured Windows Update not to auto-install updates without approval.

[PCorbit]

I've got the same problem with my TouchSmart IQ815.  Installed the Win8 Preview and took many boots to finally get in to Windows 8 Pro the first time.  I have tried everything I can think of to fix this problem but still no luck. Changed video drivers, eliminated different drivers/apps from loading, etc and still if I have reboot it may take 3 or 4 attempts before I am able to finally get it to stop.  The good part...once you make it till all drivers and programs load up it is as stable as any OS.  I can leave it on for days on end and never a problem. 

[PCorbit]

Reading another post about this here I forgot to add that I also went with a local login from LiveID and afterwards I still had the trouble getting to the desktop....and staying there! I'm looking hard at MS Skydrive app now as a possible source!

[Willyson]

I had the same kind of troubles.

Windows 8 installed itself after few unwanted rebootings, but after the machine worked fine

The problem came when I decided to replace the original DVD reader (mine was not functionning anymore) by a brand new Blu-ray reader/Writer.

Just after Windows restarted ok, but short after I add always a black screen even with doing no action, just on windows 8 startup screen.

After dozen of reboots, I got on a menu where windows suggested lots of "secure boot" options like "safe mode", and I selected the "disable enforcement of drivers digital signature" (F7 key, the text is approximative)

And miracle, everything was working find

Ps : I didn't activated any live ID, just local login. The machine is for my 8 years old twins to play pinball, solitaire...