Upgrade failure: Surface Pro to Windows 10 version 1809

Steel Contributor

Upgrading to version 1809 presents me with black screen with flashing task bar.

I have a Surface Pro (2017) running Win10 version 1803. At work my machine connects to the domain and uses an upgrade server. I decided to try out Windows 10 version 1809 before IT makes it available. A link took me to the Windows Upgrade Assistant which allowed me to install it manually.

After the download and a few restarts I was presented with the log in screen. I was able to log in and then got a message that there are a few more tweaks (my own rendering). At the time the keyboard was not attached so it opened in tablet mode. I tried to access the Action Center to change to desktop mode but no avail. Eventually I set it to use Desktop mode upon restart (It was set to use the appropriate mode for my hardware).

Upon restarting and logging in I was presented with a black screen with the task bar flashing. I was able to open the Task Manager but wasn't able to do anything else. Even upon restarting - it was the same story. I contacted support - but they were not able to help.

I was able to start in safe mode and roll back the installation to the previous version. Everything was back to normal. I decided to retry the installation - incase the problem was that I did not have the keyboard attached or perhaps any other random problem. Same story.

Eventually I just had to roll back the installation. It seems that it has something to do with the desktop mode because the first time it opened in tablet mode but couldn't switch and when I tried to force it the error resulted. Any thoughts …?

8 Replies
Just tried a third time after running the Surface drivers and firmware update. Same result. When the desktop should load, it shows a black screen with a flashing task bar.

I've gone through the process several times now. I have been able to start in safe mode but then had no WiFi networking. I have a Surface Pro (2017) with Core i5, 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD. Tried disabling and enabling some services but haven't struck on the solution yet. Eventually I rolled back to the previous version.

What I haven't tried yet is a clean install. It will probably come to that yet.

a clean install will re download the pointers you need and want ,I had a similar experience .

Thanks, @Deleted, as you are the first, and only one, to reply (so far) - do you care to elaborate a bit. Do you also have a Surface Pro, or which machine do you run? When did this happen to you, now with the upgrade to 1809 or a previous upgrade? What do you mean by downloading "pointers"?

 

Thanks!

currently installing a larger memory and separate ssd's on the surface pro ,so its down I build my own computers ,problems I have had on a highly modified device with 8 logical cores is that after an up date where insider preview actually downloads and installs pretty quickly ,I have to re download the mouse pointer stuff from Microsoft ,.this pc used to be an hp omen but I did some modifications on and in it by increasing how much internal memory is in it and changed the intel 7700 chipsets to 8 series which are much faster ,it is a costly project but it runs at 5 gigahertz and I did not use the turbo mode or  re bench mark it since the new chipsets were installed,everything Microsoft has done so far since 2014 is marvelous.there are  many small bugs but nothing is that problematic,i am using 18282  (1809) and its almost trouble free since the minor update a few days ago ,the pointers I am referring to are the mouse pointers ,I also run an array of just surface bottoms .all quad ( 4 logical cores) chipped and very fast indeed ,when hooked into a lattice type connection,keep up the good work ,I found that a clean install leaves out the corrupted files ,so this is something that I do quite often ,good luck and I hope you fare the well in your pc/Microsoft ventures.( have had sev,download problems with the surface pc.) the kids use it to do research and talk to friends I think.its fine for that but it could be and will be faster ,when im finished with it .and no its not under warranty anymore ,nice to converse with you marius Pretorius.oh and before I forget it have a very merry christmas holiday.( when in doubt download and use an iso image for insider previews ),during a server out put from msft there are many ip's that throttle back to save band width.this is why there is so much data corruption.

Hi @Marius Pretorius ! I have the same issue right now on the same HW/SW. Did you find a solution yet? thanks!

No, gave up on it at that time. It ate a lot of my time. I didn't have time to get back to it again.