screen brightness function keys not working on windows 8.1

coombrh

Honorable
Jan 8, 2014
2
0
10,510
I have a Lenovo laptop that I purchased with Windows 8. I recently upgraded to 8.1 and now the function key to adjust brightness does not affect brightness. I went into the power settings and made sure the slider on the brightness level was at its highest level. Cannot seem to figure out why my screen is so dark
 
Solution
lenovo puts in special device drivers on their laptops to enable special lenovo only functions. They made a custom build image of windows 8 for your machine and added these features (drivers). To have these work you need to get device drivers from Lenovo web site and the upgrade from them.
It is easier for them to tell you to go back to windows 8 and never upgrade and they put out a list of laptops that they will not support if upgraded.
Also, a nice list of what will not work if you do upgrade. I would recommend that you complain and get them to provide drivers with proper setup programs for them.
to work around the problem, see lenovo has a driver update for your computer to make your button work. If you can not get it, then...

t4akawolf

Distinguished
Feb 12, 2013
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18,660

. . . . Have you tried turning it off, then turning it back on?

Sorry, that really is the first thing that comes to mind.

If the answer is "Yes, I have, smartass, but the problem isn't gone", then it sounds like the display driver somehow got corrupted. This might be a long shot (that too in the dark) but do you use TeamViewer, and if so, did you recently try installing its monitor driver?

- Nick
 
lenovo puts in special device drivers on their laptops to enable special lenovo only functions. They made a custom build image of windows 8 for your machine and added these features (drivers). To have these work you need to get device drivers from Lenovo web site and the upgrade from them.
It is easier for them to tell you to go back to windows 8 and never upgrade and they put out a list of laptops that they will not support if upgraded.
Also, a nice list of what will not work if you do upgrade. I would recommend that you complain and get them to provide drivers with proper setup programs for them.
to work around the problem, see lenovo has a driver update for your computer to make your button work. If you can not get it, then you have to use the graphics vendors control app to tune your graphics adapter's setting to the way you like it. (download app from the graphics chip vendor)

 
Solution

maitrikgpanchal

Honorable
Sep 18, 2012
25
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10,530
Hey t4akawolf.

I had a same problem that i was not able to change screen brightness of my laptop.

I spent almost 4-5 hours searching for the same on google but could not find it. Most of the people suggested to re-install the graphics driver or switch to basic display driver etc. But nothing helped.

Just uninstalled team viewer monitor driver after seeing your post and it solved everything in a minute.

So your post helped me a lot and saved my time.

Thanks.... :)
 

t4akawolf

Distinguished
Feb 12, 2013
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18,660


You're quite welcome. I am glad my post helped you.

Do come back to tHW for any future problems you may face!

- Nick
 

spirodave

Reputable
Mar 18, 2014
1
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4,510

You solved my problem . I recently reinstalled team viewer again and while insta;lling VPN driver i also installed the monitoor driver .. I would have never even thought of this since i installed it a few weeks ago
 

nayabnaseer

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Sep 8, 2014
1
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4,510


Hey Nick,

As soon as I uninstalled the freaking monitor driver from both my laptops the adjust screen brightness is back. Thanks man, that was a huge catch.
 

gentlelove

Honorable
Jan 12, 2013
2
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10,510


now that resolves my issue as soon as i uninstall my Teamviewer Monitor driver the adjust screen brightness option came back :p
 

turok14

Reputable
Sep 22, 2014
2
0
4,510


Try this out:
You go to Device Manager and select the display adapters and click on update the driver (native motherboard graphics driver)
 

ckneville1

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Oct 13, 2014
1
0
4,510
I have a Samsung Ativ Book 8 that I am running Windows 8.1 on. Its screen brightness was stuck on bright, as in bright enough to confuse it with a small star. This is only a slight exaggeration, I can assure you. The problem was that Microsoft changed the programming behind how the display drivers worked and did not include the driver update in any part of Windows 8.1. However, when I logged into the AMD website (old fashioned, I know) and downloaded the new driver manually, after changing the AMD catalyst control center settings, everything works beautifully with changing brightness and is universal across all applications/programs. Therefore, with anyone having problems like this, I recommend going to AMD , Intel or NVidia websites, depending upon your hardware and manually installing new driver updates.
I hope this helps.
Cecil Neville III
 

sdhkckdhck

Reputable
Nov 10, 2014
1
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4,510
Lenovo -->Windows 8.1 Machine ---> Update your Display adapter. Select Device \manager-->open-->search the display adapter on your machine-->select the option from the list --> Microsoft Basic Display Adapter” and apply.
 

hannah5tepanek

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Feb 13, 2015
1
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4,510
I couldn't adjust my screen brightness either. I uninstalled the intel display driver: I noticed it was intel hd 4000 and when I uninstalled it it now says Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000 (Microsoft Corporation - WDDM 1.2). After that I could adjust my screen brightness.
 

terraslate

Reputable
Feb 15, 2015
1
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4,510


thanks man. that for me really was the answer, teamviewer. it seems this takes away the slider for brightness and leaves my monitor in a permanent state of full brightness. uninstalled the monitor driver only and voila immediately upon removing everything came back to normal.
 

hawkenstein

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Mar 4, 2015
1
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4,510
I spent several hours dealing with this issue--even taking some of the advice offered here. My HD Graphics for 64-bit OS was working fine, etc. For whatever reason, there was no slider adjuster available. I have created a step-by-step method of fixing it complete with screen shots, and if you want it, you can email me at holly.hrh@gmail.com I appreciate the recommendations here, though, for sure.
 

nshenning

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Apr 14, 2015
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4,510


I was looking for the solution to this problem for days, and then I came across this thread, and your reply. Without question, it was the Teamviewer monitor adapter. I uninstalled it, and without even needing to reboot my brightness toggles were working again. Thank you sir!
 

Sonik69

Reputable
May 19, 2015
1
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4,510


Hi Nick

You Sir, are a Super Star... Went into TeamViewer... Extras... Options... Advanced... Show Advanced Options... Scroll down to "Advanced network settings" and clicked "Uninstall" next to "Install monitor driver"... And Voila. Immediately my eyes weren't straining anymore... I can see clearly again. I wouldn't even have thought of TeamViewer since I've done this on many other PC's with no problems. What a relief.

Thanks
 
Jun 7, 2015
8
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4,510
he above method works but if you restart your computer same problem again
HERE A SOLUTION FOR THIS ANNOYING PROBLEM ONCE AND FOR ALL

GO TO CONTROL PANEL
<HARWARE AND SOUND
<POWER OPTIONS
<CHANGE BATTERY SETTINGS
< CHANG PLAN SETTINGS
< CHANGE ADVANCED POWER SETTINGS
ON THE LIST go to DISPLAY <ENABLE ADAPTIVE BRIGHTNESS TURN ALL OPTIONS OFF
there you go(you need to restart to get the results )
you can now adjust brightness as you like anytime

NOTE:YOU NEED TO CHANGE EACH PLAN SETTINGS
if anybody doesn't understand please reply
 

DianaFire11

Commendable
Nov 4, 2016
1
0
1,510


I did this - the power setting was bizarrely at brightness on low when on charge. Also updated the driver in the Windows Update bit of the control panel.

Many thanks to everyone who posted advice. I can see my screen again!