Black screen after installing Windows 8.1 update 1

Question

Original Title: Windows crashed after installing Windows 8.1 update 1Black

I tried to install the Windows 8.1 update 1 (KB 2919355) today and it left my computer in an unbootable state (I can't even boot to safe mode). It shows the Windows logo and circles and after that, it sits at a black screen with the cursor and wifi indicator appearing periodically. I thought it created a system restore point but it never did. I managed to boot to recovery but from there, I attempted to run a startup repair and sfc /scannow and I had no luck whatsoever. I really don't want to do a clean install because I just did one about 3 weeks back and just recently got everything back on there. The computer did not originally come with Windows 8 as it was upgraded to it from Windows 7.

Answer 1

Hi Harrison,

This issue might occur due to outdated or incompatible display driver installed on the computer.

1. How did you tried to perform a System Restore?
2. What is the Make and Model of the computer?
3. How did you navigate to the recovery options? Is it using a media?

I would suggest you to try hard reset method to boot the computer in safe mode and then try updating the display driver installed on the computer. Follow the methods mentioned below:

Method 1:

Follow the steps to boot the computer in safe mode:

• Hold power button to shut down the system.
• Press the power button to restart system.
• Repeat the steps multiple times (twice or thrice until you see the recovery page).
• After that, select "advanced repair option" in Recovery page
• Select "Troubleshoot" in Choose an option page.
• Select "Advanced options" in Troubleshoot page.
• Select "Startup Settings" in Advanced options page.
• Select "Restart" in Startup Settings.
• After restart the system, choose "4) Enable Safe Mode".
• Now, if you are able to boot the computer in safe mode, Press Windows+X keys and select Device Manager.
• Locate the Display adapter and expand the driver icon.
• Right Click on the display driver and select Disable.
• Restart the computer and check if you are able to boot the computer normally.
• If yes, download and install the latest display driver from the computer’s manufacturer website.

If the issue still persists, proceed to the next method.

Method 2:

When you install an update offered from Windows Update, then, a restore is created.

If you haven’t tried performing a System Restore using the media/recovery environment, you can do so and see if it fixes the issue.

If you do not have a Windows 8.1 media, refer to the link to create one and then proceed further:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-IN/windows-8/create-reset-refresh-media   

Follow the steps:

• After you boot your computer using Windows DVD or System Repair Disc, a black screen appears with gray text "Press any key to boot from CD or DVD". Press any key.
• Select the correct time and Keyboard type.
• Click Repair your computer in the lower left corner.
• Select Troubleshoot from Choose an option screen.
• Click Advanced options in Troubleshoot screen.
• Select System Restore.
• Check the box that says “Show more restore points”.
• Select the restore point prior to this issue and proceed further with the restore operation.
• Windows will restart after it restores the operating system to a previous point. Check if it fixes the issue.

For reference:

You can reinstall the update for Windows 8.1 Update April, 2014:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2919355/en-us

Please let us know the status of this issue.

Answer 2

I have had the exact same issue. Lucky enough I did have a restore point which got it back working to the day before the update. I thought this must have just been a glitch so I tried the update again and did the exact same thing, black screen cursor periodic wifi flash but nothing else. And it did the same thing when I installed and tried it a third time making sure the computer was awake the whole time and giving it a good hour to see if it would eventually load screen.

It has the exact same behavior even when I boot into safe mode on multiple attempts (though once I believe I did see it flash the safe mode boxes in the corners). I have tried tried everything I could think of and every solution listed in prior form posts about this and has had no change, only fix is to system restore to pre update and then not attempt the update again.

Heres a quick run through of what I've tried so far:

reboot

system restore and tried update again twice

safe mode (same black screen / cursor)

safe mode with networking

low resolution mode

options for no digital driver enforcement / malware startup

tried running startup repair multiple times successively says cannot repair each time

hibernating and unhibernating

toggling screen on / off with function keys

hit windows key + shift + arrows (to see if login was projected off screen)

in command prompt (accessible from troubleshoot section on os selection) I have also tried:

chkdsk - no errors

chkdsk /r

bootrec /fixmbr - says successful

bootred /fixboot - says successful

At this point I think I will have to ignore this update unless someone can come up with a new fix :(

(Computer is laptop - Intel® Core™ i3 3217U Processor / hd4000 graphics running windows 8.1 up to date besides most recent update)

Answer 3

Yes I had to reinstall 8.1 with update 1 with it.

It's just a hassle that I had to reinstall everything else and lose all my files as well.

It is a shame that it cannot update smoothly.

Answer 4

Hi Harrison,

Glad to know that you have fixed the issue.

Thank you for sharing the information on this forum. This will help other community members as well.

Please let us know if you have more queries on Windows.

Answer 5

Actually, it looked like it was more of a disk error rather than the update causing it. I pulled the hard drive and plugged it into my desktop and I ran both a defrag and a chkdsk /f/r. The disk was fragmented and I let it do its thing and disk errors did come back with chkdsk. Luckily, this looked like this fixed my problem