Windows 8.1 Update Causes Lost Brightness Settings / Screen is Dim

Sometimes Windows updates will break your graphics driver. That is because Intel and NVidia do not update their graphics drivers on the same schedule that Microsoft updates Windows, and sometimes the updates are incompatible and cause the graphics driver to do wonky things. In my case that came in the form of lost brightness settings.

I searched these forums for a fix and I could not find one, so now that I know the answer, I am sharing it here.

How do you fix it? You have to reinstall the graphics driver. This is how I did it.

I found the graphics driver install file that was already on my computer and I ran it. It reinstalled the driver in about 5 seconds and my screen brightness functionality was restored.

Where is my graphics driver install file? On my computer it is here:

D:driversVGAIntelx649.17.10.2932\Setup.exe

Yours is probably in a different but similar location depending on how it was installed and what brand it is, etc. I have a Lenovo P400 touchscreen laptop with an Intel HD 4000 Graphics.




October 22nd, 2013 6:27am

Sometimes Windows updates will break your graphics driver. That is because Intel and NVidia do not update their graphics drivers on the same schedule that Microsoft updates Windows, and sometimes the updates are incompatible and cause the graphics driver to do wonky things. In my case that came in the form of lost brightness settings.

I searched these forums for a fix and I could not find one, so now that I know the answer, I am sharing it here.

How do you fix it? You have to reinstall the graphics driver. This is how I did it.

I found the graphics driver install file that was already on my computer and I ran it. It reinstalled the driver in about 5 seconds and my screen brightness functionality was restored.

Where is my graphics driver install file? On my computer it is here:

D:driversVGAIntelx649.17.10.2932\Setup.exe

Yours is probably in a different but similar location depending on how it was installed and what brand it is, etc. I have a Lenovo P400 touchscreen laptop with an Intel HD 4000 Graphics.




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October 22nd, 2013 6:27am

 I updated from Windows 8 to 8.1 and the next day my screen went dim and I could not adjust it neither with the keyboard +/-, nor with the onscreen graphics dashboard, nor within the power settings.

How do you fix it? 

October 22nd, 2013 9:24am

Sometimes Windows updates will break your graphics driver. That is because Intel and NVidia do not update their graphics drivers on the same schedule that Microsoft updates Windows, and sometimes the updates are incompatible and cause the graphics driver to do wonky things. In my case that came in the form of lost brightness settings.

I searched these forums for a fix and I could not find one, so now that I know the answer, I am sharing it here.

How do you fix it? You have to reinstall the graphics driver. This is how I did it.

I found the graphics driver install file that was already on my computer and I ran it. It reinstalled the driver in about 5 seconds and my screen brightness functionality was restored.

Where is my graphics driver install file? On my computer it is here:

D:driversVGAIntelx649.17.10.2932\Setup.exe

Yours is probably in a different but similar location depending on how it was installed and what brand it is, etc. I have a Lenovo P400 touchscreen laptop with an Intel HD 4000 Graphics.




Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
October 22nd, 2013 9:27am

I have the same problem. My screen went dark immediately after installing the 8.1 update and nothing is changing it including keyboard -/+ or even working through the contrast/brightness menu. I'd like to try the graphic card reinstall option but I'm a bit of a newbie and I can't find the graphics driver on my hard drive to do a reinstall. I have a Samsung NP470R5E laptop, just a few months old. Looking at specs online it looks like I have a AMD Radeon HD 8750M  graphics card. Can anyone walk me through the steps to reinstall this driver?

Thanks!

October 31st, 2013 9:01pm

This worked great. I have a Lenovo P500 laptop with Intel core i7 and I updated the driver and it did nothing so I re-installed it and it asked if I wanted to "down grade" back I agreed and now it is beautifully bright again!! 

Thank you

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January 21st, 2014 9:08pm

Your fix worked perfectly for me! Thank you!!!
February 24th, 2014 12:17am

I have the same problem on the same laptop...Can you please tell me where the file was on your laptop. I can't find the folder with the file in it. Also, can you please tell me specific steps you took to fix the brightness issue. 

Thanks

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April 28th, 2014 4:48pm

This totally fixed my dimmed screen issue on my Dell Precision M3800 after installing Windows 8.1! My graphic card is NVIDIA Quadro K1100M, so I went to the NVIDIA site to download the latest driver. As soon as the latest driver was installed, my brightness came back!  Thank you!!!!!!!

To find your graphic card info, click the Windows key + x to bring up menu, then select "Device Manager". Under the Device Manager, expand "Display adapters" to find your graphic card info. Once you find that, just go to that manufacture's site to download a specific driver for your graphic card.  Good luck!

May 2nd, 2014 1:03pm

Same problem as above ^ (Dell m3800). Installed 8.1 from 7 Pro, within a few hours, suddenly starting dinging, the display became much dimmer, and the resolution became so tiny that I could barely read anything (3200x1800 QHD+ display). So it appears to affect that as well. 

However, I followed your advice, went to the Nvidia website and downloaded that latest driver for the Quadro K1100M for 64 bit Windows 8.1 and suddenly the 'on/off' button for Automatic brightness was available again where it was not after the auto-update. Turned it off and my screen is back to full brightness. I may adjust it to save energy at some point, but for now I'm awing at my new QHD display :).

Thanks.

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May 7th, 2014 9:39am

I need a little help with mine. I think I found it but when I run it doesn't do any thing so please help me I have a Lenovo intel i5 idea pad but i don't know much more about my computer but I hope it will do

 
November 18th, 2014 6:31pm

I did this with my Asus, to no avail. Currently, I go into Display Adapters, click my AMD Radeon HD7660G + HD 7700M Dual Graphics card, hit the Driver tab, click Update Driver, select Browse for Driver Software on Your Computer, click Let Me Pick From A List of Drivers, and then click the most recent version of my current driver on my computer. It reinstalls it, but then makes my screen flash for a long time until I turn off my computer and turn it on again. THEN the screen is finally bright again. But I have to go through this EVERY SINGLE TIME I open my laptop. I went to the website to download the most current version of my driver, but that did nothing. SO. Any ideas for a more permanent fix?
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February 25th, 2015 11:54am

this totally fixed my problem. thanks man. your a life saver.
April 16th, 2015 4:12am

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