NEED HELP: Windows failed to boot, AMD drivers

I'd uninstall the AMD drivers as I was having problems installing CCC and now I cannot boot into Windows 8 after restarting. My system was currently under dGPU only before any of this happened, so that might be a problem.

Things I tried:

Resetting the bios to default settings.

Booting into safe mode, but failed to do so.

Tried system store point, but for some reason Windows couldn't locate any restore points. I know I've created 2 right before, just in case this kind of thing happened.

Is there any way to manually apply restore points or AMD drivers? Or boot into last known good config, or anything like that?

My system is an M17x R4 with an AMD 7970m GPU. My bios version is A10 unlocked, and dual booting with Windows 8 and Windows 7. I can currently boot into Windows 7, but most of my apps and files are in Windows 8.

Forgot to mention: I'm trying to install CCC version 13.2 Beta 5.

 

More details please. Are you getting to the Windows splash screen. It the system hanging at logon, or are you getting a BSOD at some point. That will help determine what the possible causes are. But in general, uninstalling the AMD drivers and software SHOULDN'T cause your system to crap out like this. Windows will use default VGA adapter drivers if it can't find the specific drivers for your GPU.

 

What radji said, more specific info

 

Sorry.

Well I cannot boot into Windows 8 logon screen, as in it doesn't even reach there. Bios is fine though. It just pops up the blue Windows ran into a problem screen or whatever. It then estarts and goes into automatic repair, which also fails. And after a certain point, it gives me more advanced boot options.

Also, I tried refreshing the pc, but I just got some unknown error.

 

Are you able to do a system test in the bios.

I would be inclined on the info you are giving that your GFX card is having some issues.

 

I was able to do a diagnostics test in bios and everything seems fine. Windows 7 boots fine too....so I don't know why the card would have an issue in only windows 8.

 

What about re-enabling the Intel iGPU and try booting into Windows 8. Give that a whirl.

 

Well I disabled the intel GPU via (F7) I/D GFX key while in Windows 8. So unless there's a way to enable it in the bios, which i'm sure it's possible, I cannot enable it in Windows 8.

 

You need the unlocked BIOS in order to manually set the GPU. Do you have the unlocked BIOS?

 

Yes i do. I have bios version A10 unlocked

 

STANDARD NBR WARNING: YOU COULD DAMAGE YOUR COMPUTER BY DOING THIS GUIDE. NBR AND MYSELF AREN'T RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE THAT YOU MIGHT DO TO YOU COMPUTER BY DOING THIS.

Good. So try this: Enter the BIOS, go to Advanced>Video Configuration, and change Primary Display from SG to IGFX. Then select Internal Graphics Device, then IGD again and make sure it is ENABLED. Save and exit

This will force the system to use the Intel iGPU. Restart and try booting into Windows 8

 

Quick question. I used Driver Fusion as recommended by another NBR member to remove the drivers. Of course I selected to remove the AMD drivers only, but somehow it screwed up my intel video adpater drivers also. And for reinstalling the video card drivers, should I download and install Dell's first and then AMD's, or just Dell's/AMD's? And how can I enable GPU Overdrive in CCC? That's how I got into this mess in the first....

 

I though you couldn't get into Windows 8 still. With dual booting, the Windows 7 partition has nothing to do with the Windows 8 partition. I don't know why you were recommended to use Driver Fusion in Windows 7 when your having problems with Windows 8. Catch me up, cause I think I missed a step here somewhere.

 

First install dell drivers, then the most recent AMD drivers on top.

The easiest way to enable overdrive in Catalyst is to install MSI Afterburner, and in the shortcut it will create after it installed, add the following: -xcl
( this effectively makes the shortcut start the following ["C:\Program Files (x86)\MSI Afterburner\MSIAfterburner.exe" -xcl] you could also just start this in a command prompt if you prefer)
If done correctly, the system will prompt you the changes have been made and you need to reboot, when you reboot, you will see you have the Overdrive available in Catalyst.

This will make some registry adjustions, which also work for Catalyst (I don't use MSi Afterburner, I only use it to unlock the Overdrive tab in ATI)

 

Sorry for the miscommunication.

Good news is I finally Windows 8 working.

I mainly use windows 8 as I have the majority of my apps and files installed there. I tried getting overdrive enabled in CCC in windows 8. Someone suggested using Diver Fusion to remove some drivers for one of the the steps. This is the point where I couldn't install CCC properly and Windows 8 not booting up.

MSI Afterburner was the method I used to overclock the GPU, but wanted the option to do the same with first-party applications. Oddly enough, when I used the method there was no system prompt about rebooting/changes. And Afterburner doesn't open up when I modified the shortcut. I don't know if it's not suppose to or what.

Side note: I downloaded the lastest AMD drivers from Dell for windows 8 and it failed to extract. Error code 39/40 or something like. I'd still CCC straight from AMD instead and got some errors.

 

I still think you should start fresh with your AMD drivers. Here are the steps to clean the drivers off manually:

1. Uninstall Catalyst Control Center and all AMD software from Programs and Features. Reboot.
2. Go into Device Manager. Select your AMD 7970m under display adapters. Right click and select uninstall. In the confirmation box, check the box to delete the driver software once it's uninstalled. Restart.
3. Go into Device Manager again. If the 7970m still shows up under display adapters, then repeat step 2. If it shows up as a generic VGA adapter, then you've removed all the old and lingering drivers for the 7970m.
4. Now you can install the stock Dell 7970m drivers for Windows 8. Here are the one's I've used. I don't know why yours are failing to extract.
Driver Details | Dell United States. If the package still won't extract, then download 7-zip and use it to extract the driver folder in the archive.
5. Install the stock Dell drivers for your 7970m. According to other users, the Intel iGPU driver is usually installed with the AMD drivers for the Alienware systems. But in case the Intel iGPU drivers don't install this time, here is the download link for them:
Driver Details | Dell United States
Make sure both the 7970m and the Intel iGPU are working correctly before you update to the latest AMD drivers. Again, if you download the CCC mobility package and it doesn't want to extract, 7-zip can get at the files in the archive for you.

One thing I always do between each of the steps is to run CCleaner's registry cleaner after each restart. That usually gets rid of any lingering registry errors without destroying the registry.

And I am not sure how to enable the GPU overdrive. I've only ever messed with the LCD overdrive in the CCC but I don't think that is what you're looking for.

 

I have manage to enable overdrive in CCC using the -xcl shortcut mod and MSI afterburner also works. However there are artifacts showing up using afterburner. Is there a rememdy for this? One way i found to work is changing the resolution after applying the overclock.