Skyrim will not run in Windows 8.1

[Xaa1962]

Problem:

1) After anywhere from 10 seconds to 10 minutes, the game freezes with windows popup message "Application Tesv.exe has been blocked from accessing graphics hardware." On rare occasions, it will recover and continue on for a few seconds, then freeze or crash.
2) BSOD crash, with error message 0xa0000001

System & etc:

Operating System: Windows 8.1 64-bit (6.3, Build 9600)
System Manufacturer: Hewlett-Packard
System Model: 500-046
Processor: AMD A10-5700 APU with Radeon HD Graphics (4 CPUs), ~3.4GHz
Memory: 8192MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 7366MB RAM
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
Card name: AMD Radeon HD 7660D
Chip type: AMD Radeon HD 7660D (0x9901)
Display Memory: 4191 MB
Driver Version: 13.250.18.0

What I have tried so far:

I have tried disabling all services except the bare minimum necessary (steam, internet, audio, video). No change.

I have tried updating to the latest drivers (there are no drivers later than 13.250.18.0). No change.

I have tried uninstalling and downgrading to to earlier drivers. No change.

I have tried uninstalling all video drivers and software and just using the base MS drivers. No change.

I have tried re-installing directX. This was tricky - DX11 is part of the OS and Win8 automatically updates. No change.

I have tried setting the sound to the preferred sound setting of 24 bit 44.1khz. No change.

I have tried contacting Bethsoft support, and Steam support. They haven't replied.

I am utterly out of answers, but am still open to suggestions.

[rhowington]

I have no problem with Skyrim and Windows 8.1. As I have stated before, I actually got a boost of 1-2 fps. My Skyrim worked flawlessly on Windows 8 and nothing changed for me when I updated.

 

Here are a few tips for upgrading:

 

Download the latest graphics drivers before updating.

 

Disable Avast if it is your protection software.

 

Use express install.

 

Don't interrupt the installation. It takes a long time and reboots quite a few times.

 

Don't mess wit the DirectX install.

 

I hope one of these suggestions help.

[Xaa1962]

> Download the latest graphics drivers before updating.

 

 

 

> Disable Avast if it is your protection software.

 

 

There are no later drivers than what I have.

 

Currently using Windows Defender.

Edited October 30, 2013 by Xaa1962

[rhowington]

If this is a HP laptop, I believe you have to use their graphics drivers. Have you checked their support site for a driver upgrade?

[Xaa1962]

If this is a HP laptop, I believe you have to use their graphics drivers. Have you checked their support site for a driver upgrade?

Nope, it's a desktop. And there are no graphics drivers available for it from HP - only from AMD.

 

 

Wait - Skyrim will run on a laptop? Dude, I could have saved some money. =P

Edited October 30, 2013 by Xaa1962

[Xaa1962]

Okay. Ended up contacting AMD, because it's an AMD CPU/GPU setup. AMD's answer was "because you tried upgrading and downgrading several times, you may have conflicts between older and newer driver components. You need to run our uninstall tool to remove all AMD driver components, then make a clean driver install."

 

And you know, that made sense.

 

So I did it.

 

Mistake. It instantly turned the PC into a boat-anchor, would not boot, not even into SafeMode.

 

I just spent the majority of today re-installing Windows. I lost all my files, folders, bookmarks, passwords and updates, we're back to square one with a blank computer. Although I did have backups of critical files, I am now forced to use those backups, thanks to this.

 

As you can imagine, I have screamed many unpleasant things into the air at AMD.

 

I am left with only one conclusion: Skyrim will not run in Windows 8.1. And anyone who says "Oh, I have windows 8.1 and it works perfectly!" is lying. Lying and laughing at you. Because Skyrim does NOT run in Windows 8.1. Period. End of story.

 

I do not know if it will run in Windows 8.0, however. I'll find out, and let you all know.

Edited November 3, 2013 by Xaa1962

[Xaa1962]

Okay. Fresh install of Win8. No conflicting programs because the only program I installed was Skyrim. No mods. No nothing. Result: BSOD after about half an hour playing.

Yay.

[Georgiegril]

It definitely sounds like a driver issue to me. Have you looked at your GPU temps while playing?

Also, I am not sure how you are trying to update your drivers, but if you are attempting a clean GPU driver update with Windows driver update functions enabled, that could be what is messing with your update success.

[Xaa1962]

Well, folks, what I ended up doing was going back to Win7. Got my old box back from the shop, first thing I installed was Skyrim. Skyrim works fine, now - no crashes, errors, or other issues. Well, not any more than I already had with this GPU - it hates the forest just west of Riften, and it hates it alot. =P I appreciate everyone's comments and suggestions, but the Win8 box is basically gonna be turned into a file-server for our home network.

[djfullshred]

I have just stepped into this mess. Oh joy - all I wanted was the frickin' start button & ability to boot to desktop with 8.1. What I got in addition to that is a PC that no longer plays games due to performance problems.

 

I am still working on the issue - but what I found now with 8.1 is Skyrim (Steam version) only recognizes basic default video drivers & not my Nvidea drivers - that are up to date . The GeForce driver does not appear in the drop down in the game graphics settings.

 

Microsoft just keeps getting worse & worse. Never got stuck like this after a OS update.