Upgraded inspiron 14z (5423) to Win 10 and having boot up issues, can't go back

Hi,

Thank you for being part of Windows 10.

We are sorry for the inconvenience caused to you.

Before proceeding, we need to know more information to help you better.

1. Are you able to boot into safe mode?
2. Have you made any changes to the hardware on Windows 10?

Kindly follow the below methods and check if it helps.

Method 1:

Kindly follow the below step if you get black screen before sign in to Windows 10.

1. Try connecting to different video outputs on the PC. Sometimes      a change in driver can cause the video to be sent:
   • To a different Adapter: from integrated graphics to a       discrete card or vice versa.
   • To a different output: from HDMI to DVI, DisplayPort to VGA,       or any other combination.
2. Try to boot into Safe Mode with Networking or Enable      low-resolution video.

1.  Advanced boot options, Safe Mode with Networking, or Low Resolution Video

2.  Check Device Manager and look for Display Adapters.

3.  If you see 2 items under Display Adapters, disable to integrated video card (e.g. Intel HD 4000 or AMD Radeon HD 4200) and restart. (try vice versa if it does not work)

4.  If you see 1 item under Display Adapters, rollback the driver or uninstall the display adapter in Device Manager, and enable the option to delete driver software.

Note: Check the PC or display adapter manufacturer’s site for an updated driver.

Reference: Refer the below link for more information about advanced startup settings.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/windows-startup-settings-safe-mode

The steps for Windows 8.1 applies well to Windows 10 also.

Method 2:

Yes, you can roll back to the Windows 8. I suggest you to refer the below article on How to go back to the previous operating system (Windows 7/8.1) from Windows 10.

How to recover a previous build(s) or your original version of Windows using the Recovery or Rollback feature - Revised July 23rd, 2015

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/wiki/insider_wintp-insider_install/how-to-recover-a-previous-builds-or-your-original/76b6750c-5bb2-40bc-a7e3-f03cec62338b

Reference:

Windows 10 FAQ:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/wiki/insider_wintp-insider_install/frequently-asked-questions-windows-10/5c0b9368-a9e8-4238-b1e4-45f4b7ed2fb9

I hope the above information helps. Kindly let us know if you need any further assistance with Windows. We are glad to assist you.

Thank you.

Thanks Kishore.

Here's what I had to do:

After my laptop ended up with the blank screen and beeped when I restarted, I was left with no option but to dissemble everything. I checked some dell forums that suggested to remove RAM, keyboard, memory, hard drive and disconnect the coin cell, discharge the battery, press the reset button and let the charge drain for about 10 minutes. Then I put everything back and tried to restart.

I got to the blank screen with no beeping sound. Connected an external display and left the laptop with blank screen. After a few minutes, it started booting up (I think the batteries needed some time to charge up and the external display was required due to driver issues). I wasn't able to select to safe mode boot option, it never allowed me to.

Next step was to try to disable the device driver, tried the Intel HD one and everything went blank for some time, the laptop screen came back with a weird resolution but the external one was gone. Switched to enabling the Intel HD and disabled AMD Radeon and both monitors seemed to work. Pulled out the external display and tried to reboot, that worked. 

Now I tried to shut down and restart the laptop. Again, ran into the blank screen issue. No use connecting the external display too this time. Finally put a windows 10 install USB media and rebooted, and the laptop booted back.

Unfortunately, I don't see the rollback option on my PC. The only option was to factory reset the laptop. I did not create a rescue disk before upgrading to Win 10. Never thought it would be so bad :(.

With no other option left, I had to factory reset my laptop to Win 8, then upgrade to Win8.1. Has been a really long process to do this, but as of now things seem working. Haven't finished installing everything to say I'm successfully back to the state prior to upgrading to Win 10. 

Thanks,

Vidya

Hi,

I just finished upgrading my Inspiron 14Z from Win 7 to Win 10, and the display kept blinking at different intervals, and then it would just go weird (shrink to the left...kind of scrambled...color all whacked out...right 20% of the screen with narrow yellow, red, and black horizontal bands)  and still be sort of readable, but not usable.  If I  reduced the number of open windows/browser tabs, it would be OK for a little while, but the weirdness kept returning.  I could get the display to return to normal by also minimizing all windows (Windows Key + D) and then waiting 20 seconds or so.

I first tried changing the screen resolution from the factory recommended 1366 x 768 to a couple of other sizes, none of which solved the problem.  It was still 'blinking' and getting weird after a short while.

I then changed the display adapter refresh rate from from 60 Hz to 40 Hz with the full 1366 x 768, and now the display has been as normal for several hours.

In Windows 10, right click on the desktop and select Display Settings

Scroll all the way down and select Advance Display Settings

The resolution is probably already set to the recommended 1366 x 768

Scroll all the way down and select Display Adapter Properties

Then click the button to List All Modes

Now you can change the refresh rate from 60 to 40 Hz.

If I didn't figure this out, I would likely have had to revert my laptop back to Win 7.  Dell seems not to be interested in providing updates to make the 14z Win 10 compatible, so this 'trick' could really come in handy for those who want to make the jump to Windows 10. (See this page on Dell's site:  Computers tested for upgrade to Windows 10  Link <http://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/04/SLN297954#Inspiron-NB>

I hope this helps someone else. 

C