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Problem description: The computer blackscreens after loading Windows, including playing the Windows startup sound. BIOS and everything before Windows functioned normally, and it could successfully boot Windows in safe mode. Attempted fixes have complicated these issues (the owner of the laptop induced a System Repair loop), and after a system Reset we can no longer boot into safe mode. The blackscreen continues as normal, and booting into safe mode now gives an error prompt stating that " Windows cannot complete installation in Safe Mode. To continue installing Windows, restart the computer". The computer then automatically restarts itself and launches to the black screen as usual. If left alone on the black screen after doing so, the computer will eventually put itself to sleep. Attempted fixes: Have attempted hard reboot per google advice. This model has both an external battery and an internal battery that must be disabled through BIOS. Doing so causes an automatic reboot, and the battery automatically re-enables itself if an AC adapter is plugged in, so I have been attempting the procedure by turning off the internal battery with the AC adapter unplugged and the external battery in place, then removing the external battery, then holding down the power button to drain excess charge, then connecting the AC adapter. This has so far been unsuccessful. Rolling back to a system restore point temporarily solved the issue, but the problem reemerged a day later and the machine claimed to no longer have any restore points on memory. Somewhere in attempting these fixes the machine fell into a Startup Repair loop. None of the advice on google worked (the system flatly refused to boot into safe mode through the loop), so in desperation we did a system Reset (there were no irreplaceable files on the machine). This fixed the Startup Repair loop, but introduced the safe mode issue as described above. This machine was purchased refurbished from the Lenovo Outlet and came with its operating system preloaded. We do not have access to our own copy of the operating system. Recent changes: None. Google suggests that this was a common issue for users newly upgrading to 8.1, but we have had the computer for roughly a year and do not fall under that category. There is a Windows 10 upgrade pending on the machine that has not yet been installed. -- Operating system: Windows 8.1 Pro (cannot currently access control panel to check 32/64. Is there way to check this from BIOS?) System specs: Lenovo Thinkpad T440s 20AQCT01WW Intel i5-4200 @1.60ghz 8 GB RAM ST500LM021-1KJ152, 500gb (this is the drive on which the OS resides) SanDisk SSD U110, 16gb (currently unused) Location: United States I have Googled and read the FAQ: Yes Thank you for your time.
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Jun 1, 2016 01:35
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| # ? Apr 23, 2024 07:04 |
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Voyager I posted:This machine was purchased refurbished from the Lenovo Outlet and came with its operating system preloaded. We do not have access to our own copy of the operating system. If you have the key I'd download the ISO and reinstall the OS: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows8ISO
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Jun 1, 2016 23:51
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We turned it back on today out of morbid curiosity and it was able to complete its Windows install. It went back to blackscreening on load afterwards, but safe mode works again. Does this call for attempting less drastic measures?
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Jun 3, 2016 22:29
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Voyager I posted:We turned it back on today out of morbid curiosity and it was able to complete its Windows install. It went back to blackscreening on load afterwards, but safe mode works again. Does this call for attempting less drastic measures? Doing some kind of repair/recovery install might work but if I was in your situation I'd do a clean install of 8.1 followed immediately by an upgrade to W10 while it's still free.
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Jun 3, 2016 23:23
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Zogo posted:Doing some kind of repair/recovery install might work but if I was in your situation I'd do a clean install of 8.1 followed immediately by an upgrade to W10 while it's still free. You don't need to upgrade. You can get a Windows 10 ISO and input the product key directly.
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Jun 4, 2016 13:34
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The computer did a normal startup today (accidentally; I was too slow hitting the BIOS key) and I was able to get the full product key. It's only 20 characters, rather than the 25 I was expecting. Is there any significance to this? I was also able to confirm that it's running on Windows 8.1 64 bit. Assuming I can move forward with this, I'll probably try doing the clean install of Win 10.
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Jun 5, 2016 19:23
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Yea, I thought they were all 25 but IDK.
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Jun 5, 2016 22:35
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Attempting to do a clean ISO install off a flash drive (the computer has no DVD drive) was stymied by an problem with drive formatting. I received the message “Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk is of the GPT partition style”. I initially tried to install Windows 10 directly, but after encountering this issue made another copy with Windows 8.1 only to encounter the problem again. I'm not really sure where to go from here and am wary of formatting the drive with a dubious product key. Googling the issue brought up mostly concerns regarding Windows 7 and is starting to get beyond my technical skills.
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Jun 6, 2016 00:07
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Voyager I posted:Attempting to do a clean ISO install off a flash drive (the computer has no DVD drive) was stymied by an problem with drive formatting. I received the message “Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk is of the GPT partition style”. I initially tried to install Windows 10 directly, but after encountering this issue made another copy with Windows 8.1 only to encounter the problem again. I'm not really sure where to go from here and am wary of formatting the drive with a dubious product key. Are you trying to install a 32-bit or 64-bit version(s) of Windows? I think only the 64-bit versions can handle a GPT-formatted system disk, but I might be wrong on that.
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Jun 8, 2016 07:21
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It's a 64-bit system. I'm confident that the initial ISOs I made were set to 64-but, but I'm making a new one to verify now. Thanks a bunch for the continued responses, by the way. I know this is turning out to be pretty damned convoluted for what should be a simple reinstall.
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Jun 8, 2016 21:48
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I ended up formatting the hard drive to enable a clean install of Windows 10. It seems to have worked out so far. Thanks for the replies, everyone!
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Jun 16, 2016 02:34
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Update: the day after formatting the hard drive and upgrading to Win 10, the computer resumed blackscreening. I'm assuming this suggests a hardware issue and it's time to seek professional help. Any chance you could point me towards a 101 for finding competent tech support? I'm afraid to trust this one to google.
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Jun 17, 2016 01:36
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| # ? Apr 23, 2024 07:04 |
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I'd check GPU and CPU temperatures using: http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/ http://www.hwinfo.com/download.php
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Jun 20, 2016 00:08
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