I don't even have the time.
Maybe next week.

Planet-X has stopped selling the Geax Saguaro, so by the end of the summer - or before that, because I kind of want to have a spare front tyre in case the current one packs in - I'll either have to buy one elsewhere for a metric fuckton of money or try to find a substitute and hope that I end up making the right choice. Bollocks.

For pete's sake, Microsoft...

I wanted to do a good deed, and do some maintenance work to the ASUS PC which found a new happy owner. Something simple, like making sure it has all the latest Windows 8.1 updates. Yep, there were well over 100MB of them waiting, so better let it download and install them. Geforce Experience also notified there is also a new graphics drive available, but I decided to let Windows to install its own updates first.

After a long wait Windows says it is ready to restart Windows in order to complete the updates, so I let it do that. It stays in the restart cycle surprisingly wrong... and at the end I get that smiley error screen saying there was some problem and the system must be restarted blaa blaa blaa, I recall it complained about a "power driver", whatever that is supposed to mean.

No big deal I guess, I let it restart. But after that, booting to Windows 8.1 always ends up in a black screen. It seems though that the system is not stuck because the hard drive light shows there is some HDD activity, and pressing the power button seems to run shutdown procedure correctly (I've set it up before so that power button runs a controlled shutdown, useful for cases like this).

Googling for "Windows 8.1 update black screen" shows that the "Windows 8.1 black screen of death" is quite a widespread problem. Usually it is thought to be some kind of mismatch with Windows updating the graphics drivers incorrectly, somehow mismatching with the graphics chip vendor drivers or something. The suggested workaround is to boot to Windows 8.1 using safe mode, disabling automatic Windows updates temporarily, uninstalling and installing graphics drivers...

After some research I finally found out how to boot Windows 8.1 into safe mode (it helps that I have Win7/8.1 boot menu, from which I can select also the safe modes), but that doesn't help me, still just a black screen even in safe mode. No go. Things I've tried and failed so far:

1. From the boot menu screen recovery options, trying to load an earlier restore point fails as it claims there are no restore points available.

2. "Refresh Windows 8.1" option (keep files) fails too. First of all, at that point it asks for either an installation disk or recovery media. Why? Wasn't the whole point of Windows 8.x that is allows a tablet-like "restoration to default values" with not much ado? I thought Windows 8 was supposed to keep its own recovery partition exactly for cases like these.

Anyway, I recall I have burned the Windows 8 Pro ISO that I received from Microsoft to a DVD-RW disk, so no problem... except that the refresh option claims that is not a valid media, and keeps asking for the installation disk or recovery media. So no Windows 8.1 refresh for me, I guess? Thanks for nothing.

There is still Windows 7 installed on that same PC, and it works fine, even after installing Windows security updates and the latest Geforce drivers. I don't know if I have other option but to tell the new owner to use only the Windows 7 for now. The Windows 8 partition is visible from the Win7 side, so any personal or important files can be copied from there (mainly meaning at this point his Minecraft save games, I guess).

Really, Microsoft? A freaking Windows update breaking the Windows 8.1 installation?

https://www.google.fi/#q=windows+8.1+black+screen

(As said, not fully sure if I have exactly the same issue because Safe Mode is also black for me, but otherwise the symptoms, and the things leading to this problem, sound the same.)

Phuck it. I told him to use the Windows 7 installation for now, I can't be arsed to re-install Windows 8.1 right now for him, and I can't seem to find any other way to clear the Windows 8.1 installation (safe mode doesn't work any better for some reason). I didn't try the debug mode yet though, maybe it would reveal something in the booting logs.

I knew it was a good idea to leave Windows 7 beside the Windows 8 Pro installation!


In other news, my old trusty Lenovo T400 laptop seems to be dying a slow death. About time, I got it back in 2008. Yesterday it made an emergency shutdown twice (possibly due to overheating) even though I didn't even do anything taxing on it. For some reason it seems to overheat more easily if it is in the docking station, even if the lid is open. Something blocking the ventilation?

Maybe I'll try to open and dust it off today (I've done it before, like two years ago), but it broken in other ways too, like it has only one functional USB port anymore (two were broken a long time ago), and the battery lasts only like 20-30 minutes. So I've already ordered a new laptop from my employer (some kind of generic HP Probook). Many good memories with the T400, it was quite good also for playing those finicky old Win9x games.

If you were able to burn a windows 8 CD, you could run the repair option which might be able to fix it. If they didn't nix that option with Windows 8, being how so reliable it is. I think I read that your CD didn't work. Any friends with a Install CD?

Since I have a Windows boot menu in the beginning (due to having both Win7 and Win8.1 installed side by side), I have access to the repair options and such. But none of them seem to do even diddly squat. The repair option apparently doesn't find anything to repair, the refresh option wants some kind of installation media (and rejects a DVD-RW burned from the Win8 Pro ISO that I bought as an upgrade earlier), the recovery option says it can't find any recovery points from the system disk, the safe modes work as poorly as normal mode (=black screen after awhile), etc.

The Win8.1 partition itself is visible from the Win7 side, and on a glance looks fine (ie. all the data files are there fine etc.).

I guess the only option would be to reinstall the whole Win8, but even then I am unsure if I'd had to install it over Windows 7, because for some reason I remember doing that the first time (maybe so that I could keep the HDD as a GPT disc, not MBR, or something similar).

The only people I know with Windows 8 got it preloaded on their PC, so they have any installation media even less than me. I think they usually have only a recovery USB stick that they had to create in the beginning.

As long as you have access to their computer you can create the rescue drive.

Before you do this boot into Windows 7 and create a rescue disk there and a system image if possible. I would hate to see your Windows 7 installation get nuked.

got laid off, splitting up with my wife, can't find work, running out of money, our lease runs out in a month, and last week my wife told me that she found someone she wants to date even though we are still living together.

So after I had knee surgery 4 weeks ago and has been a long painful month.. I am finally almost recovered and now since I have been on pain meds (Vicoden and Oxycodone ) for about 4 1/2 weeks.. I get to spend the next 3-4 days withdawling from opiates.. just took the last one this morning yayyyy..

Oh, I forgot to mention I also somehow got acute bronchitus.. had to do this before with broken ankle but was not on meds this long.. Damn

Oh yeah.. Im unemployed and broke too..

That's horrible. :( But at least your wife has the decency to be honest to you about finding someone she wants to date... A lot of women in her shoes, would just lie to you and cheat behind your back. And then you find out months later she has been lying to you and cheating on you. Then maybe, depending on your personality and beliefs, you feel like a stupid piece of shit, question everything you believe in about this universe, feel more betrayed and die inside.

dont worry dude life will pull through, hang in there

I appreciated the support. It was out of line.

Really? We were having a conversation and simply because my opinion is different he/she throws out the "we are better than you" nonsense.

You can't have an intelligent conversation on the internet. I should already know this but I can never seem to learn. I never once put a label on Germany or badmouthed Germans. I explained what I learned of the German government welfare programs from my professor, which I ended up finding out weren't fully accurate, and explained my views on welfare programs. Hell, my major complaint which I stated more than once was the US tax system. But I guess I'm not allowed to have my own opinion. In typical internet fashion, if my opinion doesn't match the other person's opinion, the "superior" attitude comes out. Thinking you or your country is superior to any other person or country is the exact opposite of "high-civilization". People with that type of attitude, American, European, Australian, whatever, piss me off. And before someone makes a comment "well so many Americans feel they are superior" - like I said, they shouldn't and it pisses me off. Lots of people feel superior, we have a perfect example of the same thinking in Europe right here.

Just in case: I don't feel superior to those who are capable of working but don't. I would not call someone a freeloader, slacker, or whatever. I just don't want the money I worked hard to earn to go to them as a free hand-out. I work hard each day and because of my bills (mostly student loans), I only have a small amount left to spend on myself. Why should even more of that be taken? <-- my OPINION. If you think otherwise, that is fine, but don't you dare call me inferior.

.....

I give up.

Yes, I know, he wasn't being polite. He wasn't refined. He wasn't being "civilized" the American way...