How to solve Windows 8.1 Update BSOD

Windows 8.1 BSOD

So Windows 8.1 update was released – I’ve actually forgotten about it but my Twitter feeds reminded me about the public release and how every one was updating their Windows 8 powered machines. Have you downloaded the Windows 8.1 update yet?

Not planning to be left alone, I followed the crowd and tried to update my Windows 8 desktop. Downloaded the update and left my machine running overnight. All I got was…. a BSOD (Blue Screen of Death). Twice.

The BSOD error said:

Couldn’t update to Windows 8.1

Sorry, we couldn’t complete the update to Windows 8.1. We’ve restored your previous version of Windows to this PC.

0xC1900101 – 0x40017

As always, BSOD error is never clear so after I did some Googling around, it appears that lots of others have a similar problem. There seem to be some suggestions to solve the Windows 8.1 update error but the second one does the trick for me.

How to solve Windows 8.1 Update BSOD issue/error

[1] Update your NVIDIA display driver (if you are using an NVIDIA graphics card) to the latest from nvidia.com

[2] If you are using a SteelSeries product (mouse/keyboard/headset) and have the SteelSeries Engine installed, UNINSTALL it. There is an issue at the moment with the SteelSeries Engine on Windows 8.1.

Apparently, after I did the second suggestion from the community, I could manage to get the Windows 8.1 update installed successfully. So try that one out if you’ve been getting the same Blue Screen of Death upon the update.

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