Window 8 has (presumably) hijacked my whole computer

So first off, I'm an online hermit and have very rarely posted forums, so please forgive me if I break any forms etiquette.

I have a tendency to jump into things head first and deal with the negative consequences later, since that's how I feel I learn best. The only backing up I bother with is keeping my personal files on Dropbox. In this case, I feel Windows 8 may have bested me.

About two weeks ago, I performed a complete upgrade of my primary OS from Windows 7 to Window 8 (I agree, it is foolish. Refer to back to first sentence above). I figured that if I didn't like the OS, it would give me a good excuse to use my neglected Ubuntu installation or I would just wipe the primary HD. After the installation, I upgraded to the latest ATI Beta drivers, re-enabled Eyefinity, configured and tried out some of the new apps, and then played lengthy amounts of D3... all seemed right in the world. Those feelings started to sour when I noticed that my disc drives where not being recognized and attempting to play Skryim for a period longer than 10 minutes resulted in a complete power down. Ok... lesson learned, I'll just revert.

The horror starts here. During boot-up, if I try to lead from a disc or USB thumb drive or even log into Ubuntu, after a random but short amount of time my monitors go into power saving mode and I am unable to see anything. The only thing that seems to be immune from my monitors going blank is to boot into Windows 8, where it never happens. Needless to say, this is something new and unexpected. Even worse, since my disc drives aren't even recognized, I can't re-install Windows 7 from within Windows 8. I feel like the OS is actively taking steps to become my overly attache OS.

I'm out of ideas and so, out of desperation, I bring my sob story to the internet with a plea for help.

Specs:
OS: Windows 8 Preview v.6.2.8400
CPU: Intel Core i7
GFX: ATI Radeon HD 5700 v.8.972.4.0
BIOS:Dell Inc. A03

Are the disk drives detected and read in the BIOS, and also your issues seem to be related to either a dying motherboard or a dying video card.

The disc drive are read in the BIOS. But after a random, period of between 1-2 minutes the monitors go into sleep mode. I am doubtful that the graphics card or motherboard are dying (though I won't rule out the possibility).

Hmm..
Download speccy and publish a snapshot and post the link here. That will help us get more details.
Also, try going into device manager, right-click on your CD/DVD ROM and uninstall it and restart and see if it starts working.

..But after a random, period of between 1-2 minutes the monitors go into sleep mode..

And then what happens? Does the computer itself also shut down? Do you have to restart to get it back to boot? Or is it that the computer keeps running and just the monitor shuts itself down? What...what happens exactly?

@bosspatrone
<kibbitz>
re

I can't re-install Windows 7 from within Windows 8.

If needed, you will have to do it from outside Win8. eg, by booting from Win7 o.s. DVD; otherwise, if OEM pc preloaded with Win7 from factory, by using the factory restore partition.

@Alvas -
Here is the Speccy screen:


The computer does not shut down. The machine operates as normal but the monitors go into power saving mode and then I am unable to see to interface with the computer.

@Maurice
I would love to install any OS or even use my Ubuntu installation but, as I've said, when running anything other than Windows 8, the monitors will go into hibernation mode.

edit:
I am seeing the the GPU is apparently running hot. I'm going in to investigate further.

Your image was not attached (and is not showing)

Try to go into the BIOS see if there's anything there on power saving.

If you can start Win8, download Listparts
Run the tool, click Scan and post the log (Result.txt) it makes.

go to File in Speccy and then select Publish Snapshot it will provide you with a link, and just paste that link in your next post.

Sorry about the broken link on the last post... as an internet recluse, I use many of these sharing services. The last post was editing to have a good picture. I noticed that the graphics card was running hot, so I took some time to clean out the hardware and make some changes to improve air flow. Everything is well within tolerance now, but I'll run stress tests a little later. Here is another Speccy shot:



Thank you Maurice and cryptodan for the tips. Apparently, when I use the Speccy Publish feature, I am told that I am not allowed to use that image extension when I try to post. I will use Photobucket again.

I checked the BIOS and no nothing was out of the ordinary. The Listparts scan is attached

this is the output of the publish snapshot via the file menu in speccy:

http://speccy.piriform.com/results/nkBrjhzstnncUTucXcXPCGx

The problem with the drive letters has been resolved and they appear to be functioning correctly. I found the error code and was recommended to clear out the registry values for the upper and lower limits for my optical drives. After a quick back up, deletion and restart, we are good to go.

Thanks to everyone's help here, I believe that the problem with the sudden shut downs was an overheating of the GPU, which I have also taken steps to remedy. If I need to, then I will replace it, but for now the extra fans and ventilation should do the trick.

Given all of this, I would say that I can live with Windows 8. My deepest thanks to everyone here who took the time out point me in the right direction. I haven't tested to see if the monitors will go into power saving mode when outside of Win 8, but I can live with how things are now.

Just for fun, I will test that after I finish this post, but I don't think I am going to pursue trying to fix the problem if it is still happening. I'll let everyone know how it goes regardless.

Again, thank you all!

edit:

I played around in Ubuntu for almost ten full full minutes! Life is good again.

...
The horror starts here. During boot-up, if I try to lead from a disc or USB thumb drive or even log into Ubuntu, after a random but short amount of time my monitors go into power saving mode and I am unable to see anything...

edit:
I am seeing the the GPU is apparently running hot. I'm going in to investigate further.

They all pointed to the same thing - overheating of the GPU. And you promptly did the right thing.

..The problem with the drive letters has been resolved and they appear to be functioning correctly. I found the error code and was recommended to clear out the registry values for the upper and lower limits for my optical drives. After a quick back up, deletion and restart, we are good to go..

Oh, that seemed like a mess-up during installation(or shortly, after). Did uninstalling the drive and restarting via device manager didn't help(like I said before)? Or you just tried this first?
Either way it doesn't matter. I'm just a little curious.

If I understand correctly, Win8 is still working on that PC, right? it seems that during installation win8 setup has overwritten your master boot records, that is the section of your hard drive that tells your computer that the X operating system is located at partition Y...etc

if you want to get rid of windows8 you would need to fix the master boot record, if you have a back up image of your hard drive, restoring it would fix this, or download any dual boot program or master boot record fixer.

If I understand correctly, Win8 is still working on that PC, right? it seems that during installation win8 setup has overwritten your master boot records, that is the section of your hard drive that tells your computer that the X operating system is located at partition Y...etc

if you want to get rid of windows8 you would need to fix the master boot record, if you have a back up image of your hard drive, restoring it would fix this, or download any dual boot program or master boot record fixer.

Maybe, but that still doesn't help explain the constant re-starts he had of his system. Only this does.