Upgrade Installation Versus New Windows 8 PC

There are several functions that will not be available to upgrade computers, compared to a new, factory-installed Windows 8 computer, listed below:

• Dell Store inside of Windows Store not visible to upgrade computers
• Secure Boot: Only works with systems that have the UEFI 2.3.1 (BIOS)
  • Brand New Windows 8 PC - need BIOS update and clean install (assumes Win7 load was based on legacy/CSM BIOS)
  • Upgrade computers - Not available due to ROM space limitations and lack of BIOS code.
• Fast Boot: UEFI 2.3.1
  • Brand New Windows 8 PC - need BIOS update and clean install (assumes Win7 load was based on legacy/CSM BIOS)
  • Upgrade computers - OS loader performance improvements will be seen, but not full end to end performance improvement.
• Beautiful/Seamless Boot (one display resolution transition): UEFI 2.3.1 (BIOS)
  • Brand New Windows 8 PC - need BIOS update and clean install (assumes Win7 load was based on legacy/CSM BIOS)
  • Upgrade computers - Improvements will be seen after BIOS hand-off, but not full end to end improvement.
• Measured Boot: TPM & UEFI 2.3.1 (BIOS)
  • Brand New Windows 8 PC - need BIOS update and clean install (assumes Win7 load was based on legacy/CSM BIOS)
  • Upgrade computers - Reduced measurement capabilities due to old HW and lack of UEFI 2.3.1 BIOS support
• Auto Provisioned TPM: TPM and UEFI (BIOS)
  • Brand New Windows 8 PC - need BIOS update and clean install (assumes Win7 load was based on legacy/CSM BIOS)
  • Upgrade computers - Not available with older TPM hardware
• eDrive (if present): eDrive-compliant HDD & UEF - Compliant eDrive needed
• USB 3.0 speed/boot: USB 3.0 controller & UEFI boot support - USB 3.0 HW needed
• Bluetooth battery/power savings (if present): Bluetooth 4.0-LE
  • Brand New Windows 8 PC - Available
  • Upgrade computers - Not available with pre-BT4.0 HW

Touch Compatibility with Windows 8

Problem: After upgrading to Windows 8, some older touch-enabled systems may have erratic touch behavior.

Discussion: Some older Dell computers that used touch technology provided by N-Trig may experience degraded function of their touch screen. This is due to the in-box driver for Windows 8. The affected systems are the Latitude XT, Latitude XT2, Latitude XT3, Latitude ST Tablet, XPS L502X, XPS L702X, Studio 17, Precision M4600 and Precision M6600.

Secure Boot and Windows 8

Problem: Dell logo screen is not seen during initial power-on (POST) on Dell Systems.

Solution: In order to avoid potential problems related to systems not recognizing graphics cards, Dell recommends that customers should not enable Secure Boot in their BIOS prior to upgrading to Windows 8. To disable Secure Boot, restart the computer and tap the F2 key repeatedly at the Dell logo screen. Once in System Setup, locate the option for Secure Boot and disable it, then save your settings and exit to restart the computer.

Generic "Stop 0x124" Troubleshooting Strategy:

1) Ensure that none of the hardware components are overclocked. Hardware that is driven beyond its design specifications - by overclocking - can malfunction in unpredictable ways.

2) Ensure that the machine is adequately cooled. If there is any doubt, open up the side of the PC case (be mindful of any relevant warranty conditions!) and point a mains fan squarely at the motherboard. That will rule out most (lack of) cooling issues.

3) Update all hardware-related drivers: video, sound, RAID (if any), NIC... anything that interacts with a piece of hardware. It is good practice to run the latest drivers anyway.

4) Update the motherboard BIOS according to the manufacturer's instructions. Their website should provide detailed instructions as to the brand and model-specific procedure.

5) Rarely, bugs in the OS may cause "false positive" 0x124 events where the hardware wasn't complaining but Windows thought otherwise (because of the bug). At the time of writing, Windows 7 is not known to suffer from any such defects, but it is nevertheless important to always keep Windows itself updated.

6) Attempt to (stress) test those hardware components which can be put through their paces artificially. The most obvious examples are the RAM and HDD(s). For the RAM, use the in-built memory diagnostics (run MDSCHED) or the 3rd-party memtest86 utility to run many hours worth of testing. For hard drives, check whether CHKDSK /R finds any problems on the drive(s), notably "bad sectors". Unreliable RAM, in particular, is deadly as far as software is concerned, and anything other than a 100% clear memory test result is cause for concern. Unfortunately, even a 100% clear result from the diagnostics utilities does not guarantee that the RAM is free from defects - only that none were encountered during the test passes.

7) As the last of the non-invasive troubleshooting steps, perform a "vanilla" reinstallation of Windows: just the OS itself without any additional applications, games, utilities, updates, or new drivers -NOTHING AT ALL that is not sourced from the Windows 7 disc. Should that fail to mitigate the 0x124 problem, jump to the next steps. Otherwise, if you run the "vanilla" installation long enough to convince yourself that not a single 0x124 crash has occurred, start installing updates and applications slowly, always pausing between successive additions long enough to get a feel for whether the machine is still free from 0x124 crashes. Should the crashing resume, obviously the very last software addition(s) may be somehow linked to the root cause.

If stop 0x124 errors persist despite the steps above, and the harware is under warranty, consider returning it and requesting a replacement which does not suffer periodic MCE events. Be aware that attempting the subsequent harware troubleshooting steps may, in some cases, void your warranty:

8) Clean and carefully remove any dust from the inside of the machine. Reseat all connectors and memory modules. Use a can of compressed air to clean out the RAM DIMM sockets as much as possible.

9) If all else fails, start removing items of hardware one-by-one in the hope that the culprit is something non-essential which can be removed. Obviously, this type of testing is a lot easier if you've got access to equivalent components in order to perform swaps.

Should you find yourself in the situation of having performed all of the steps above without a resolution of the symptom, unfortunately the most likely reason is because the error message is literally correct - something is fundamentally wrong with the machine's hardware. 

How To Fix a Blue Screen of Death

A Blue Screen of Death, also called a STOP Error, will appear when an issue is so serious that Windows must stop completely.

A Blue Screen of Death is usually hardware or driver related. Most BSODs show a STOP code that can be used to help figure out the root cause of the Blue Screen of Death.

Did your PC restart after the BSOD? If the blue screen flashed and your computer rebooted automatically before you had time to read anything, see Tip #3 at the bottom of the page.

Important: Below are general Blue Screen of Death troubleshooting steps. Please reference my List of Blue Screen Error Codes for individual STOP code troubleshooting steps. Come back here if I don't have a troubleshooting guide for your specific STOP code or if you have no idea what your STOP code is.

Note: Some of these steps may require you to start Windows in Safe Mode. If that's not possible then skip those steps.

Difficulty: Average

Time Required: It might take you several hours to fix a Blue Screen of Death, depending on the STOP Code.

Here's How:

1. The most important Blue Screen of Death troubleshooting step you can take is to ask yourself what you just did.
   Did you just install a new program or a piece of hardware, update a driver, install an update, etc.? If so, there's a very good chance that the change you made caused the BSOD.
   Undo the change you made and test again for the STOP Error. Depending on what change you made, some solutions might include:
   • Startup using Last Known Good Configuration to undo recent registry and driver changes.
   • Use System Restore to undo recent system changes.
   • Roll Back device driver to version prior to your driver update.
2. Verify that a minimum amount of free space is available on your Windows partition. Blue Screens of Death and other serious issues, like data corruption, can occur if there's not enough free space on your primary partition used for the Windows operating system.
   Note: Microsoft recommends that you maintain at least 100MB of free space but I regularly see problems with free space that low. I usually advise Windows users to keep at least 15% of a drive's capacity free at all times.
3. Scan your computer for viruses. Some viruses can cause a Blue Screen of Death, especially ones that infect the master boot record (MBR) or boot sector.
   Important: Make sure your virus scanning software is completely up to date and that it's configured to scan the MBR and boot sector.
4. Apply all available Windows service packs and other updates. Microsoft regularly releasespatches and service packs for their operating systems that may contain fixes for the cause of your BSOD.
5. Update drivers for your hardware. Most Blue Screens of Death are hardware or driver related so updated drivers could fix the cause of the STOP error.
6. Check the System and Application logs in Event Viewer (7/Vista | XP) for errors or warnings that might provide more clues on the cause of the BSOD.
7. Return hardware settings to default in Device Manager. Unless you have a specific reason to do so, the system resources that an individual piece of hardware is configured to use in Device Manager should be set to default. Non-default hardware settings have been known to cause a Blue Screen of Death.
8. Return BIOS settings to their default levels. An overclocked or misconfigured BIOS can cause all sorts of random issues, including BSODs.
   Note: If you've made several customizations to your BIOS settings and don't wish to load the default ones then at least try returning clock speed, voltage settings, and BIOS memory options to their default settings and see if that fixes the STOP error.
9. Make sure all internal cables, cards, and other components are installed and seated properly. Hardware that's not firmly in place can cause a Blue Screen of Death so tryreseating the following and then test for the STOP message again:
   • Reseat all internal data and power cables
   • Reseat the memory modules
   • Reseat any expansion cards
10. Perform diagnostic tests on all hardware you're able to test. It's highly likely that the root cause of any given Blue Screen of Death is a failing piece of hardware:
    • Test your system memory
    • Test your hard disk drive
    If a test fails, replace the memory or replace the hard drive as soon as possible.
11. Update your BIOS. In some situations, and outdated BIOS could cause a Blue Screen of Death due to certain incompatibilities.
12. Start your PC with essential hardware only. A useful troubleshooting step in many situations, including BSOD issues, is to start your computer with the minimum hardware necessary to run the operating system. If your computer starts successfully it proves that one of the removed hardware devices was the cause of the STOP message.
    Tip: Typically, the only necessary hardware for starting your PC through to the operating system includes the motherboard, CPU, RAM, primary hard drive, keyboard, video card, and monitor.

Tips:

1. Find that hardware is the cause of your Blue Screen of Death? Try this:

   • Replace the hardware.
   • Update the hardware's firmware.
   • Make sure the hardware is on the Hardware Compatibility List.
   • Check with the manufacturer for support information.

2. Find that a software program is the cause of your Blue Screen of Death? Try this:

   • Reinstall the software.
   • Check for and install any available program updates.
   • Check with the developer for support information.
   • Try a competing program.

3. Is your PC restarting before you can read the STOP Code on the Blue Screen of Death?

   Most Windows PCs are configured to reboot immediately after receiving a serious error like a BSOD. You can prevent this reboot by disabling the automatic restart on system failure option.

4. Still Can't Fix Your Blue Screen of Death?

   Let a community of computer support enthusiasts help out! Post the details of your Blue Screen of Death in the PC Support Forum. Be sure to let us know the exact STOP code that you're receiving (if you know it) and what steps, if any, you've already taken to fix it.

10 Simple tips to bring computer to normal state when it freezes or hangs up

10 Simple Computer tips to bring computer to normal state when it freezes or hangs up

Sometimes when you are in the middle of someting and suddenly your computer hangs or freezes. You are left with no other option than to restart your computer directly. But the only problem is, you have not saved your work! Don’t panic! There is a solution for that! And you can surely save your file! Here’s how:

First keep on pressing “Num Lock” key until your Operating system is back to normal state. This releases the processor from any busy process. If this doesn’t work then follow the below ten tips to bring you computer back to normal state when it is struck.

1. Click on “ctrl-alt-delete” keys. The windows task manager will then open, click on all programs that you don’t need and end the task. You will see that all programs on your taskbar will close one by one. If this will resolve the issue! – then save!

(tip# 1: if you’re working on an MS Office application, it will automatically save your file in case the programs suddenly shut down —

tip# 2: always save your file at least every 2 minutes by just simply clicking on the “diskette icon”— its just one click!)

2. If it did not resolve the issue, are there some users logged on that computer? If so, go to switch user (for XP) and log off that user, go back to your log on screen and log on again. The reason the computer hang up is because if there are many open programs and applications, these retains in the memory, if it is too much for the memory to handle, it freezes! Another reason too the computer hang up is because if you are connected to the internet via dial up, and you are running too many applications and opening many websites. So I suggest, if you are multimedia user or a heavy internet user, then you are better off with a higher memory, at least 512Mb of memory. There are simple ways to avoid computer to freeze or hang up:

3. Clean your history at least once a week >tools>internet options>clear history. I normally set my history to “0”, meaning, when I restart my computer, it doesn’t save history pages that I have visited

4. Delete all internet temporary files >tools>internet options>delete files (do the “offline” content too!)

5. Delete cookies (some do not do this, but I do delete cookies at least once a week!) >tools>internet options>delete cookies

6. Remove unnecessary programs that you no longer use they are just occupying space and memory! >control panel>add/remove programs

7. Do defragmentation at least once a week >point the mouse to “start” button, then right click “explore”>right click the mouse pointing to drive C (which is usually the main system logical drive) >properties>tools>defragment now

8. You can also check the logical drive’s volume for errors >point the mouse to “start” button, then right click “explore”>right click the mouse pointing to drive C (I repeat, is usually the main system logical drive) >properties>tools>check now

9. It is better to have only one user being logged on. Even if there are many users, make sure the user logs off after using the computer, rather than keeping it logged on and you do the switching of users. Switching users is good as long as you don’t keep all users logged on—I think that is more logical

10. Always shut down properly the computer (do NOT use the power button when turning it off!