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Area 51 R2 - Updated drivers, now having problems
Hello all.
I've been having issues of the computer locking up and restarting soon after a first boot (oddly, this problem doesn't happen if I reset my machine from the log in screen - on a second boot and log in to desktop it doesn't lock up at all).
In order to rule drivers out, I decided to use the Dell driver page, with system detect in use, to find any drivers that were old. In retrospect I shouldn't have bothered... :(
I downloaded Intel Rapid Storage Technology Driver, and (if I remember correctly) on running it the installer gave me two options - remove or repair. I tried remove so I could run the installer again to install. It told me it couldn't remove, so I chose repair, thinking it'd update any old files.
I also chose to install Intel chipset drivers, Qualcomm Killer 2205 Ethernet controller driver & Intel Management Engine Controller driver as well as install whatever Dell software appeared on the download list.
All seemed to go OK, but on rebooting I'd lost access to wifi and the Killer taskbar icon had disappeared. With no internet connection and struggling to think how I could fix it, I did a system restore to before I did any driver updates and the internet and Killer app re-appeared and worked fine.
Again, all seemed OK, but on running CCleaner to clean any left over rubbish up the program took an age to do anything - light the clean button, populate the uninstall field, populate the startup program field, actually clean - anything at all.
I've fiddled a bit more including another system restore to a couple of weeks ago, but whatever I do CCleaner takes minutes, not seconds to do anything now.
I'm no PC expert, but with CCleaner now being seriously handicapped I can only suspect something has gone wrong with the SSD driver and I am stumped as to how to fix this issue now.
Can anyone help?
If not, with this machine having a factory restore image that is Windows 8, can I re-install from that and re-upgrade to Windows 10 for free?
I don't want to have to start from scratch, but if I have to I will.
Oh, I was also considering a BIOS update after updating the drivers (ha!), but they always worry me. Is it safe or worth it or both?
Thanks to anyone who might be able to help. :)
Tesla1856
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December 10th, 2016 14:00
Try turning off "Fast Startup" in Win-10 Power Profile. That is one of the main differences between a normal boot and a Restart.
RTID75
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December 11th, 2016 02:00
Thanks for that tip. I've given that a go. :)
Further to what I wrote, I noticed that the Nvidia drivers were broken too. Whether they be down to the driver updates or system restore I'm not sure, but I had to download an uninstaller and run it from safe mode to get rid of the old Nvidia drivers.
I haven't tried any games yet, but at the moment everything seems fine with the only symptom of problems being CCleaner running at a snail's pace. It's really confusing.
I'm a bit annoyed with the updates from Alienware. Never before (this being my third Alienware) has updates specific to my model caused such problems. It's really put me off keeping things up to date. :(
Tesla1856
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December 11th, 2016 18:00
Good work. Yes, that procedure is summarized as "Clean Installing Video Drivers".
With Windows-10, the industry in general seems to be moving more towards ... submitting working drivers to Microsoft, and they get installed automatically through Windows Update.
An exception to that might be if you want the latest and/or enhanced NVidia Driver Suite. You can install those on your own.
Only thing really left is Alienware Command Center. It can be a bit temperamental, so I usually suggest leaving it alone if it's working.
RTID75
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December 12th, 2016 06:00
Had a bit of a blast on Doom. The game plays fine.
I remain with a crawling CCleaner and the latest Windows update took probably 3/4 of an hour to download last night. I'm running a decent connection, so perhaps this is another symptom. It's odd that everything isn't running slowly and I can't get my head around what the problem might be.
I'm tempted to leave it alone and see what happens. I'm just as tempted to get it back to factory, upgrade to W10 again and start fresh. It's just such a long and labourious job and that's the only thing that makes me think twice.
Oh, I've only cold booted a couple of times, but the fast startup tip seems to have fixed the crash issue.
Tesla1856
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December 12th, 2016 14:00
So, you are using a real Ethernet cable, but are forced to use a "Killer Networking" device for Gigabit NIC?
Tesla1856
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December 12th, 2016 14:00
1. Good, that is a good work-out for machine
2. Measure your SSD speed and IOPS.
3. If you do want to start-over, don't go back to Factory Image. That will re-install Intel-RST (they replace Microsoft's supplied SATA/HDD/SSD drivers ... which IIRC, can't be removed or un-done later) and other un-desirable nonsense. Get real Win-10/64bit ISO (created with Media Creation Tool to your blank flash-drive) from Microsoft.com .
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
Backup your data files to flash drive (or similar). Disconnect and put in safe place.
Get behind a properly configured router (with a firewall). Use a real Ethernet wire if possible (not WiFi).
In BIOS ...
- UEFI (instead of Legacy) and SecureBoot .
- AHCI (instead of RAID). If your BIOS also has an Option-ROM (RAID) menu, you can disable it to speed-up boot-time.
Clean Install Windows to blank SSD as C: (with no existing partitions). At this point, only SSD (or main C: drive) needs to be connected.
For now, only visit Microsoft.com, dell.com, and you can use Windows Update from Windows.
Windows Update should install most required core drivers. In general, the industry seems to be moving toward ... submitting drivers to Microsoft for publishing (and downloading and installing with WU). You can install Intel Chipset drivers, but never install any Intel-RST. Get Alienware Command Center from Dell. Device Manager should now be free of errors. I like to keep drivers and driver-suite installs to a minimum (keep machine simple, lean, and fast).
You can get the few Dell drivers you actually need at: http://ftp.dell.com or http://support.dell.com .
I personally DO NOT use the website's Driver Auto-Detect Tool or Support Assist software.
It will Activate genuine online fine since machine either came with Windows-10 (key in BIOS) OR you already upgraded your Win-7/Win-8 Serial to Win-10.
Be sure Windows Firewall and Windows Defender are both on and working.
You can run msinfo32 and make sure SecureBoot-State is being reported as ON . Here, this is a "double check" not a setting. Most users want SecureBoot enabled and working. Among other things, it will protect you from Root-Kits. There is only a handful of SecureBoot-bootable flash-drives, and the ISO created with the Microsoft Windows-10 Media Creation Tool is one of them. Macrium-Reflect (Free v6.x) is another (for Drive Imaging Backups including bare-metal Restores).
RTID75
87 Posts
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December 26th, 2016 14:00
Thanks again for your help.
I'm happy to report that your suggestion to turn off fast boot has completely fixed the hanging/crashing/resetting problem! [:)]
As to the other problem, well that seems to have resolved itself. Everything has returned to normal - both CCleaner and Windows Update now run at normal speed, so whatever was upsetting the machine has somehow cleared.
I think I'm going to buy a decent capacity 2.5" external hard drive to do a semi-regular system image backup. It certainly would have solved all these problems with no fuss.
Thanks once more! [:)]