Windows 8 update basically frozen. 24 hours of research and I need help.

[Matt_Stevens]

This is what I do when I visit my parents. I fix their computer. Every time.

This time I was forced to use their Avatar rescue disk to reinstall Windows 8 (I despise Win8). It all went smoothly until after the first round of automatic updates.

Now it just sits there and does nothing. It says it is downloading, but hours go by and 0% has been downloaded. Multiple reboots, network reboots, etc. prove fruitless.

I tried Microsoft's automatic fix or detection program (Update Diagnostic?), but it just Detects for HOURS! That's scary.

They are 14 months into the purchase of this computer so there is no help from Avatar or Microsoft. I'm tearing my hair out because I will spend my entire vacation fixing this stupid computer so please, someone give me light at the end of a dark tunnel.

I do not know my way around Windows 8. I use Win7 with Classic Shell. This particular system is an AMD FX 3.30 GHz with 8GB of ram, and it is a 64bit system.

ADDITIONAL INFO: Windows Update Standalone Installer will not even install. It goes into "Preparing the installation" and just sits there. There is a hell of a serious problem here.

 

[Gunbuster]

A fresh install going wrong indicates some sort of hardware or driver issue. Have you installed the AMD drivers (I think they have an auto detect option at the AMD support page)

If driver updates dont help I would start with some diagnostics. I've never heard of Avatar. Do they provide any kind of diagnostics utility at their website?

 

[Matt_Stevens]

The rescue DVD is supposed to have the drivers for the mainboard and NVidia graphics card. Upon using Windows Update it downloaded a newer version of the NVidia drivers and installed. Upon rebooting Windows update began its current problems.

Avatar: http://avatargamingpc.com/

 

[Ketchup]

So is/was there data still on the hard drive, or is this a fresh install after wiping the hard drive?

 

[Matt_Stevens]

I used the rescue disk, starting from scratch. My father had so completely obliterated the O.S. trying to fix it that he had effectively rendered it useless. So the C drive was wiped out and the O.S. installed from scratch using the Avatar rescue disk running Windows 8.

The install went just fine. Everything was OK. Until the dreaded Windows Update just won't work phase. And to be clear, it DID work the first time around. Around 1GB of updates were successfully installed. Since that time it just hangs and never finishes searching for updates. And as described above, the manual fixes themselves just hang.

I have heard of this happening before and experienced it myself on Vista, but the manual fixes worked. Here I am stumped and ready to smash this thing with a hammer.

I have been on this since yesterday morning.

 

[Ketchup]

Will the Rescue DVD let you install just Windows? Install Windows, do the updates, and install the rest later, if you can.

 

[Gunbuster]

Off topic but wow, if anyone ever tells me Dell sucks I'll just point this out:

http://avatargamingpc.com/support/ vs http://www.dell.com/support

 

[Matt_Stevens]

The rescue disk gives you options. I chose to install NEW vs. REPAIR. New just starts over. Nothing is left from the C drive (their D drive is their storage drive, which I set up for them knowing they will always ruin their C drive's O.S.).

I don't want to install Windows 8 over and over and over again.

I should point out that nothing will stall now. Nvidia Graphics Driver Installer has ben "Checking System Compatibility" for twenty minutes now.

Something is really really screwed up.

And yes, Avatar support seems to be zero or worse.

 

[Ketchup]

Do you have access, either on a sticker or in the BIOS, to the Windows 8 code? If so, you might want to try Windows 8 from a Microsoft download, instead of continuing to try their rescue disk.

 

[Matt_Stevens]

There is a windows sticker.

I used CPU-Z to find that the MB is a GA-78LMT-S2.

I checked their drivers but am unsure what I should or should not download.

CPU is an AMD FX-6100. Graphics an NVIDIA GeForce GT 630.

I'm trying to avoid reinstalling Windows 8 again. God help me. If I do have to do that it would make sense to download the drivers I need and save them to the D drive so I can just use them immediately after the initial Windows 8 install.

UPDATE: I am going to attempt to install Windows 8 again. Hopefully you guys can give me a little heads up on what I should have ready. I have use of another PC here. It runs XP pro and what a joy it is to use (despite it being old and slow).

 

[Steltek]

It wouldn't be a bad idea to open up the case and determine the exact motherboard revision (it should be stenciled on the board near the model number - there are three revisions, 1.0, 1.1, and 1.2 per Gigabyte's support site) in case you need to do a BIOS update for system stability.

At minimum, you'll also need the Realtek LAN driver from the Gigabyte support website for the GA-78LMt-S2 motherboard as well as the AHCI driver, both for 64-bit Win8. You can manually download the appropriate GT630 driver by going to the nVidia website, going to the drivers tab, manual driver search, and use the following search options: first selection: GeForce, 2nd selection: GeForce 600 series, 3rd selection: GT630, fourth selection: Win8 64-bit, fifth selection: English (US), 6th selection: All , then hit the Start Search button. Select the most recent WHQL certified driver for download (should be the first search result).

Make sure that Windows update is configured to download, but let you choose to install, updates. As you select the updates for installation, make sure that you don't install any hardware driver updates from Windows update as you might be getting a bad hardware driver update. Save any hardware updates from Windows update until last so you can do them one at a time to allow a rollback if it doesn't work.

Prior to reinstalling, have you done any hardware troubleshooting (such as a hard drive scan using a manufacturer bootable diagnostic CD, a MEMTEST86+ diagnostic, etc)? These types of problems can also be the result of failing hardware (i.e. a bad hard drive or a faulty DRAM module, etc). You may also want to delete, recreate, and reformat the partition for the system drive in case there is a problem with the partition itself.

One thing I would suggest is, once you get it up and running smoothly, invest in some good backup software and an external drive where you can create your own known-working cloned clean recovery image (I prefer Macrium Reflect, but any decent software should do).

EDIT: Is there a Secure Boot option in the BIOS, and if so, have you turned it off while installing?

 

[XavierMace]

I've run into this issue multiple times on Win 8 systems. Just had my dad take back a new laptop for this reason last weekend. I've found sometimes setting the updates to manual, then rebooting the PC and installing the updates one at a time (through control panel, not charms) to figure out which one it's getting stuck on works.

IMO, there's a fatal flaw in the Win 8 update system. The "new" Windows Update through charms and the classic Windows Update from the classic control panel seem to have no idea how to play with each other and the new and "improved" one through charms gives you no clue what it's doing. I suspect this is why 8.1 changed Windows update yet again, but that's just speculation.

 

[xantub]

just in case, I recently installed Win8 in my laptop. I thought it got stuck updating at some point (when it was updating to 8.1 I think). It took FOREVER, I was just about to hit reset and then it continued. So something you can try, just leave it there at the 'stuck' point overnight, just go to sleep and check it out in the morning. Maybe it's just taking its sweet time doing something.

 

[Matt_Stevens]

It wouldn't be a bad idea to open up the case and determine the exact motherboard revision (it should be stenciled on the board near the model number - there are three revisions, 1.0, 1.1, and 1.2 per Gigabyte's support site) in case you need to do a BIOS update for system stability.

At minimum, you'll also need the Realtek LAN driver from the Gigabyte support website for the GA-78LMt-S2 motherboard as well as the AHCI driver, both for 64-bit Win8. You can manually download the appropriate GT630 driver by going to the nVidia website, going to the drivers tab, manual driver search, and use the following search options: first selection: GeForce, 2nd selection: GeForce 600 series, 3rd selection: GT630, fourth selection: Win8 64-bit, fifth selection: English (US), 6th selection: All , then hit the Start Search button. Select the most recent WHQL certified driver for download (should be the first search result).

EDIT: Is there a Secure Boot option in the BIOS, and if so, have you turned it off while installing?

I opened her up, but nothing is listed as far as Bios number. The model number is clear as day, but five minutes searching with a flashlight and i came up with zip. It must be listed in the Bios so when I turn her back on I will check (and also check on Secure Boot).

Now one thing that confuses me... I checked Gigabytes website for drivers and found NO Windows 8 Chipset drivers! Only Windows 7 and older. But how can that be? This system was bought with Windows 8 installed. There is a LAN driver for Windows 8.

Avatar's website has a number that goes straight to voicemail and nowhere can I find out to access the RECOVERY drive on the C drive. WTF?

just in case, I recently installed Win8 in my laptop. I thought it got stuck updating at some point (when it was updating to 8.1 I think). It took FOREVER, I was just about to hit reset and then it continued. So something you can try, just leave it there at the 'stuck' point overnight, just go to sleep and check it out in the morning. Maybe it's just taking its sweet time doing something.

I wish that were it, but it hangs on anything. If I choose just a 22kb Windows update it hangs. If I try and install the GeForce Drivers off of NVIDIA it hangs.

I have reinstalled Windows 8, but did not use Update at all. I am stuck on what drivers to install since I see no drivers for the motherboard at Gigabyte. IN FACT, I found a Gigabyte DVD that came with the system and it not only says Windows 7/Vista/XP Pro on it, it errors when I try to load the disc and says it cannot run a Millenium OS! Again... WTF?!?!

Here is a Tomshardware thread (with no resolution) from a guy like me who cannot find Win8 drivers for this MB: http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1902571/install-windows-motherboard-gigabyte-78lmt.html

 

[jolancer]

what i did once for a laptop back in the day when vendors were trying to phase out XP by not providing drivers for some components but only vista/7, is go to a different vendors support site for perhaps a diff brand but uses the same chip/chipset, and use there driver.

have not looked into it for you, but appon quick search for same chipset board by other vendor such as msi, it appears they also don't provide win8 chipset driver... Maybe its not necessary/already integrated into win8?, in your case tho also leads me to guess perhaps it doesn't matter. you already have some sort of driver from your oem recovery disk, and your issue doesn't apear untill after update... and its an AMD board, the other vendors site also listed integrated ATI radeon, I dunno if those are built into the CPUs these days just like Intel or if they actually meant the board itself... eitherway perhaps its just a board that doesn't play nice with Nvidia.

perhaps just try avoiding Any updatest regaurding video/gfx driver updates.

you could also create a backup image of the OS partition now b4 messing with any updates, that way you can easily restore if you run into issues again. Restoring a backup image takes similarly as long as copying the files back over, instead of going through a re-install process.

don't even need another drive, IF your data partition is large enough to house the 'used data' from the OS partition, you could just clone to the Data partition. since your goal right now isn't mission critical backup but instead ease of restoring to a working state.

 

[Matt_Stevens]

UPDATE: It's looking like it was an issue of Windows and how stupid it was in the creation of the restore disc and the way in which it was to be restored.

I ended up on the phone with Alan from Avatar and he was terrific. PATIENT, knowledgeable, understanding and never condescending. He took me through a long, far more complicated process of making sure the C drive was wiped out so that Windows8 would not find any old drivers or settings. Looong story short, everything is installed, including all updates.

So much so that it is currently upgrading to 8.1. So kudos to Alan at Avatar.