So posting this here. For both my older Dell laptop and my newer Alienware (though 4 years old), it took until early/mid Sept. last year before I got the msg that my computers were now ready for the Win 10 upgrade.
I did the older one, 1st, as it is used primarily for hobby things. All went well, no issues, and still none. With that success, I did the Alienware. All seemed fine, at first, but a week or so later, happened to find out I was running on the Intel graphics, not my Nvidia card. When I checked Device Manager, it didn't even list the card.
Did some research, found some very convoluted fix advice, but also some info recommending that one make sure the device had the latest updated drivers. I thought I had checked recently, but decided it was worth checking again.
So restored Win 7, made sure all was normal, and checked the driver. There was a new one, so did the update for it. Re-booted, and did the Win 10 update again. Again, all seemed fine, but 2 weeks later, same problem. So back to Win 7 once more.
Couldn't try the Win 10 update again for a few weeks, early Nov. Checked Invidia again, there was a new driver, did that update.
Another thing I had read regarding the Win 10 update, was to not do anything with the computer for about 15 minutes or so, after it says it is done, as it is still working in the background, doing it's own driver updates.
So, did the Win 10 update again, and after the msg saying it was all done, I left the computer on, and ran some errands. Took about 1 hour, came back, and uh oh. The Nvidia card was listed, though it had been the second attempt, as well. But, most of my desktop shortcut icons were MIA. Shut the computer off, booted again, same thing. Also, when at home, I use a larger monitor. When I booted, could not get display to move to the monitor, only had the lappy screen.
So back to 7 again.
Needless to say, I have been hesitant to try the Win 10 update again.
Does all this sound like a graphics card issue? I don't want to miss the free Win 10 update, but each attempt, the results have been worse than the previous.
Thanks.
Jim F
Hi Jim.So posting this here. For both my older Dell laptop and my newer Alienware (though 4 years old), it took until early/mid Sept. last year before I got the msg that my computers were now ready for the Win 10 upgrade.
I did the older one, 1st, as it is used primarily for hobby things. All went well, no issues, and still none. With that success, I did the Alienware. All seemed fine, at first, but a week or so later, happened to find out I was running on the Intel graphics, not my Nvidia card. When I checked Device Manager, it didn't even list the card.
Did some research, found some very convoluted fix advice, but also some info recommending that one make sure the device had the latest updated drivers. I thought I had checked recently, but decided it was worth checking again.
So restored Win 7, made sure all was normal, and checked the driver. There was a new one, so did the update for it. Re-booted, and did the Win 10 update again. Again, all seemed fine, but 2 weeks later, same problem. So back to Win 7 once more.
Couldn't try the Win 10 update again for a few weeks, early Nov. Checked Invidia again, there was a new driver, did that update.
Another thing I had read regarding the Win 10 update, was to not do anything with the computer for about 15 minutes or so, after it says it is done, as it is still working in the background, doing it's own driver updates.
So, did the Win 10 update again, and after the msg saying it was all done, I left the computer on, and ran some errands. Took about 1 hour, came back, and uh oh. The Nvidia card was listed, though it had been the second attempt, as well. But, most of my desktop shortcut icons were MIA. Shut the computer off, booted again, same thing. Also, when at home, I use a larger monitor. When I booted, could not get display to move to the monitor, only had the lappy screen.
So back to 7 again.
Needless to say, I have been hesitant to try the Win 10 update again.
Does all this sound like a graphics card issue? I don't want to miss the free Win 10 update, but each attempt, the results have been worse than the previous.
Thanks.
Jim F
First, let me point you in the direction of our nVidia thread, which has the most current drivers link in the first post, and is constantly updated as necessary. There is a lot of good historical information in that thread, so you might want to have a read through it as well.
Latest NVIDIA GeForce Graphics Drivers for Windows 10 - Windows 10 blog
For upgrading your system, It's recommended that you disconnect all peripherals, uninstall any 3rd-party AV software, remove monitoring software (i.e. Speccy), and run sfc /scannow to make sure all system files are intact. You can also check drivers in Device Manager, right-clicking each one and having Windows auto-check for updates. If sfc /scannow says it's unable to fix corruptions, reboot and run again. Sometimes it can take 3 runs with reboots in-between before thing gets fixed. We're looking for "no integrity violations found" result.
If driver updates do not put the most recent nVidia driver in your W7 system, download the current one to your desktop and have it ready for your W10 upgrade.
Make sure you have a good image of your W7 OS, then download the ISO from MSTechBench, extract to desktop, and run setup.exe to upgrade the system.
You are correct, that the system should be run for a little while after the upgrade, as things are running/updating/indexing in the background after the update.
Once the upgrade is completed, turn off Fast Startup.
Turn System Restore on. Set a restore point.
Once the activity on the C drive has calmed down, do a shutdown/startup (not reboot) or two.
If the nVidia card is working and everything seems fine, connect your external monitor.
If you have video issues, install the latest driver. Make sure everything is working, then connect your external monitor.
Check if Windows is activated. It probably will be, since you've upgraded already. If not, use your W7 key to activate the OS.
Good luck and let us know how it goes.
