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Coran Fixx
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Win 8 Drivers and Licensing questions

Tue Apr 28, 2015 8:43 pm

Ran into some trouble with a partial new windows 8 build.

Put a MSI Z97 PC Mate motherboard and G3258 I had lying around with 8gb ram, bx100 ssd and Windows 8.1 OEM.

As soon as I started trying to update the software I got the new blue screen with a vague Whea hardware fault. After looking it up, it is a nondescript hardware/driver problem. I get a blue screen anywhere from 30 to 90 seconds of the computer being on.

So I updated all the drivers except for the onboard video because it reported the builtin driver as newer. When that didn't solve the problem I ran Memtest overnight with no errors.

Next I went ahead and installed MSI's video drivers. No difference. Then I remembered that I wasn't really overly satisfied how the front usb 3.0 header fit in the motherboard so I disconnected that. No difference. When I was testing that change I noticed that the youtube video I was playing was skipping right before it blue screened.

So next I installed a video card. Unfortunately all that I had handy was a x300 video card. There really is no x300 support under windows 8 without jumping through a bunch of hoops so it is just running as "Microsoft Basic Display Adapter". So far it has been running for about 40 minutes without a problem. Here are my questions:

1) How do I figure out if I have an actual problem with my motherboard or just windows 8 driver incompatibility?
2) If I take the easy way out and just buy a cheap video card (like nvidia 210) what are the odds that the motherboard will develop problems in other areas?
3) If I replace the motherboard with an Asrock board I have, will I be able to keep my Win8 install? The reason I ask that is because I bought OEM instead of full version. Usually under Win7 install I get all my backing up and testing done before I activate. Windows8 just decided to activate itself when I connected to my network so I am concerned I'm going to be out the money I spent on the license.

This problem becomes simpler if anyone can tell me that they have successfully reactivated Windows 8.1 OEM. I would just replace the motherboard, nuke the ssd and start over; so if someone had a personal experience with this it would be most helpful.

Thanks guys
 
Melvar
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Re: Win 8 Drivers and Licensing questions

Tue Apr 28, 2015 10:23 pm

Do you have a different CPU you could test? The IGP isn't on the mobo any more.
 
esc_in_ks
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Re: Win 8 Drivers and Licensing questions

Wed Apr 29, 2015 4:01 am

For what it's worth, I've done a motherboard swap with Windows 7 OEM before with a fresh install using the same key and didn't have a problem. I didn't try to reactivate the existing install, though.

The part of your problem description that was interesting is the YouTube video skipping just prior to the blue screen. Makes me wonder about CPU temperature and throttling before getting too hot. You've got over 1,000 posts so I'm sure you've been around the block a few times, but it could be worth making sure your thermal grease was applied correctly (we all make mistakes, especially if in a hurry). Could it be a heat problem?
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Kougar
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Re: Win 8 Drivers and Licensing questions

Sun May 03, 2015 5:52 am

Yeah, verify the processor isn't overheating, that the RAM is running at the correct settings and voltage, and try the most recent graphics driver direct from Intel's site (which should always be version equal or newer than what MS offers).

After ya make sure it isn't overheating, next thing ya can do is boot to a copy of memtest86+ and let it do a full pass just to rule that out. http://www.memtest.org/

Regarding the license issue you mention, if it comes down to that then you can call the number that pops up during registration failure. MS usually will allow you to transfer the license when having to replace the motherboard.

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