Guide to Upgrading to Windows 8 on the T540p (+fix for brightness/black screen on wake)

Question

Hello all. I recently received my new T540p running Windows 7. Although I probably would have qualified for receiving Windows 8 recovery media from Lenovo, I went ahead and did the upgrade myself since I had a copy of Windows 8 laying around (and because I'm impatient). I'm fairly tech-savvy and expected the process to go smoothly; boy was I wrong. I decided to write up this little guide after having a thoroughly annoying time upgrading in the hopes of saving someone else out there from the hassles I underwent.
NOTE: The most troublesome part of the whole process was figuring out why the screen brightness was no longer adjustable and the display would not turn on after waking from sleep (black screen) after upgrading to Windows 8. Skip ahead to step #9 if that's the issue you're having.
Step #1: Make a bootable recovery disc or USB drive
This is important in case anything goes wrong during the upgrade or you decide you despise Windows 8 and want to bring back Windows 7. The T540p comes with a recovery partition in the hard drive (like most laptops nowadays I assume) which allows you to completely wipe your computer and reset it to its original factory state (the same as when you first received your computer). This is normally done by restarting your computer and hitting the enter key to interrupt normal startup and selecting the recovery option from a menu. I wrongly assumed that I would still be able to conduct the recovery after installing Windows 8, but for some reason after upgrading I was unable to start a recovery from the recovery partition. Thus it's important to create a set of recovery discs or a recovery USB drive yourself BEFORE starting the upgrade. Lenovo includes a program which makes this step very easy; see this page for details: http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/documents/ht004960
Step #2: Uninstall certain programs BEFORE upgrading
I skipped this step because I forgot about it. I haven't noticed anything adverse (aside from the brightness/display problem which I assume is completely unrelated), but Lenovo does suggest to uninstall certain programs before upgrading so it's probably wise to do so. Here's the list:
    - DisplayLink Core Software
    - Intel(R) USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller Driver
    - Lenovo Solution Center
    - RapidBoot
    - ThinkPad(R) Bluetooth with Enhanced Data Rate Software
See this page for details: http://download.lenovo.com/lenovo/content/windows8/upgrade/think/notebook2_en.html
Step #3: Download and save wireless drivers to external media BEFORE upgrading
After upgrading, I discovered my wireless didn't work and thus I couldn't connect to the internet. I wound up downloading the wireless driver to my phone and transferring it to my T540p. You could also use an ethernet cable to connect to your wireless router or cable modem. But if you have a USB drive, CD, DVD, external hard drive, whatever, save yourself the hassle and download the wireless driver ahead of time. You will need to know the brand of the wireless device (Intel or Realtek); look it up in your email receipt or from the Windows Device Manager under "Network Adapters". Mine was Intel. After figuring out the brand of your wireless device, go to the T540p drivers page here: http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/products/laptops-and-netbooks/thinkpad-t-series-laptops/thinkpad-t54... Look for a drop-down menu that says "Component" and select the option "Networking: Wireless LAN" (LAN, not WAN!). The page will refresh to show only the wireless drivers. Select the Windows 8 64-bit driver that matches your brand (I'm assuming all T540p laptops are 64-bit. If I'm wrong, please correct me). Download that sucker and put it to on the external media of your choice to use later!
Step #4: Begin Windows 8 upgrade
You'll obviously need to have a valid Windows 8 key or purchase a copy of Windows 8 for this step. I had a valid Windows 8 key that had been used on an old computer which died (hence my new Lenovo), so I reused it. This requires Windows 8 to be activated by phone which isn't nearly as scary as it sounds. We'll get to that later.
There are two ways to do upgrade: use a Windows 8 installation DVD or download a web installer. I had a Windows 8 key from a previous web installation and went with downloading a web installer. If you have an installation DVD, just insert it and get started. If you prefer to download a web installer, go to this page: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/upgrade-product-key-only  I think product keys are tied to either Windows 8 or Windows 8.1, so select the one that you have a key for and download the appropriate one. If you're not sure, you may have to try both.
During the upgrade, you will be asked whether you want to download updates (I assume this updates the installer) and afterward you will be asked to enter your product key. For some reason, when I downloaded the updates my product key would get rejected. I just restarted the Windows 8 installation, skipped the updates and then my product key was accepted. I don't know if this is tied to the fact that I was reusing a Windows 8 key (again, which had been used on a now dead computer) but if you find your key getting rejected then you may find skipping the updates helps. If this doesn't work and you're using the web installer, try downloading the other web installer (e.g. if you're using the Windows 8.1 web installer and find the key is rejected even after skipping updates, your key may actually be for Windows 8 and you should try downloading the Windows 8 web installer).
The installation itself should be a fairly straight-forward process. There are lots of guides online in case things go awry. If you have any trouble or errors, you should hopefully have made recovery media for worst case scenarios where you need to start from scratch.
Step #5: Install wireless driver & connect to your router
You should now have Windows 8 up and running on your system, but no wireless. Now's the time to use that driver you downloaded earlier. Install it and you should now have wireless access. Connect to your router and get online so we can start some badly needed updating!
NOTE1: your touchpad/trackpoint/keyboard experience will be especially funky at this point. That's because the drivers for them haven't been installed. Normally the touchpad won't be active while you're typing, but because the drivers haven't been installed you'll notice you'll accidentally move the mouse or click while typing (e.g. when entering passwords). Not to worry: this will go away when we install the Lenovo drivers now.
NOTE2: your function keys won't work (adjust sound, adjust brightness, etc.). That's also because of the drivers.
NOTE3: you may notice your screen's brightness may not be adjustable even from the Windows menu. Again, that's also because of the drivers. Hang in there!
Step #6: Activate Windows
Now that we're connected to the interwebs, it's time to activate Windows. If you're completely new to Windows 8, here's where you go:
-move your mouse to the upper right corner then move down
-select "Settings"
-select "Change PC settings" at the bottom
-select "Activate Windows"
This is where you'll enter your product key. As I've said before, my product key had already been used on an old, now dead, laptop. Reusing a key requires you to do a phone activation. If you find your product key gets rejected, go to the phone activation option and follow the instructions. An important note: at some point you will probably be asked how many devices/computers you installed Windows on. The correct answer is "one"; if you accidentally give another number, you'll need to call again and start over. (I'm assuming you're not doing anything illegal. As far as I know, there's nothing wrong with you reusing your key so long as you're no longer using the old computer Windows 8 was installed on, e.g. when that old computer no longer works. But if you're trying to install Windows 8 on multiple computers and you can afford to buy a new copy of Windows 8, shame on you. It takes a huge team of coders and support staff to make a product like Windows happen; help them pay their bills by purchasing a legal copy of Windows 8. Students can even get a copy for less than $70 with proof of student status. http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/Windows-8.1-Pro-for-Students/productID.288769600...
Step #7: Install Lenovo-specific updates and drivers
I typically hate all the crapware and bloatware companies include with new laptops, but Lenovo does make some which are useful. Their system updater should take care of downloading the rest of the drivers you'll need instead of having to download them all individually (with one exception: the graphics drivers may require a separate download later). Download the system updater here and keep running it until there are no more updates to download: http://support.lenovo.com/en/documents/ht080136
Step #8: Install Windows Updates
Load up Windows Update and start installing. If you're completely new to Windows 8:
-move your mouse to the upper right corner then move down
-select "Settings"
-select "Change PC settings" at the bottom
-select "Update and recovery"
-click the "Check now" button to check for updates
-click the "View details" text link to see the available updates
-click the "Install now" button to begin installing immediately
(Yes, the Windows 8 interface is dreadfully unintuitive unfortunately. Watch some Windows 8 tutorials on YouTube if you find yourself having trouble. Already looking forward to the next version of Windows!)
You'll also want to download the Windows 8.1 update if you installed only Windows 8 (the update to 8.1 is free). The download is available from the Windows Store.
Step #9: Install graphics drivers (if you're having display problems: unadjustable brightness, black screen on wake from sleep)
As I stated earlier, this was the most frustrating part of the installation process. My T540p came with only an Intel HD Graphics 4600 card, but it seems some others include a dedicated NVIDIA card. Whatever updates were installed with Lenovo's System Updater and via Windows Updates didn't seem to do the trick. I even updated the driver with the latest from the Intel website to no avail.
The solution, at least in my case, was simple: go to the T540p driver's download page and download the graphic card drivers appropriate for your system. Go here: http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/products/laptops-and-netbooks/thinkpad-t-series-laptops/thinkpad-t54... Look for the "Component" drop-down menu and select the "Display and Video Graphics" option and download the Intel and/or NVIDIA drivers appropriate for your system. (I have no idea what the Intel Wireless Display driver is for, so I avoided it thinking I don't need it)
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Answer 1

Hello Yolanda,
a) I noticed that I can´t install MediaCenter on Win8, but just on Win8 Pro.
b) My problem is, as described, that installing "MediaCenter" on either "Win8 Pro" or "Win8.1 pro", though the "Media Center" key is accepted,
which I once 2 years ago downloaded on ANOTHER "Windows 8 Pro" computer, for free as it was a gift of Microsoft  at that time - You could reserve = get up to 5 Media Center licenses per "Windows 8  Pro" computer for later use
on OTHER "Windows 8 Pro" computers - but never used ( i.e. NEVER USED FOR ACTIVATION ),
but after the first reboot, I am running "Windows 8 Pro with Media Center" WITHOUT LICENSE, as shown in the system screen.
Neither my "Windows Media Center Key" nor my "WIndows 8 Pro key" is then accepted to change the situation - I mean the keys I entered just before during the installation process of "Windows 8 Pro" and "Windows Media Center".
I am shure that I did not use the "Windos Media Center" key, as I have a list of personal keys I got for free from Microsoft, and I marked those 2, I used for other "Windows 8 Pro" computers.
So fact is, that with my brand-new computer, 32 Gigabytes of RAM, 4 Cores, "Win8 Pro" installed, I am forced to avoid the installation of "Windows Media Center", though I got valid licenses.
So your answer was not quiet helpful, as it does not change anything.
Sincerely
Rolf