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Windows 8.1 |OT| There's your start button

3

3phemeral

Member
I had to skip account verification because it wasn't sending my phone a code at all but now that I've completed the setup, I can't seem to figure out how to get it to pop up again. Doesn't seem to have affected me at all, but I'm worried that I might have to deal with this some time later.

Also this isn't necessarily Win 8.1 related, but does anyone know how to keep my extended monitor from getting disconnected every time a system prompt is activated? I originally thought it was UAC dim-screen related but even after disabling that, my second monitor gets disconnected. Prior to refreshing a week ago, this never happened. I'm not sure what's changed now.
 
cyberheater

cyberheater

PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 Xbone PS4 PS4
Still a horrible OS to navigate around if you're using a standard desktop PC. Swipe this, swipe that. Yeah. I haven't got a huge touchscreen MS.

Also. What's with the half baked start button. If you're going to add a start button MS, do it properly.
 
B

brainzelda

Member
Literally THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERED was a start menu, so this update is a farce for me. Also, before I used to be able to right click a file explorer folder icon on my taskbar and manually set the folder location, but now that field is grayed out. WTF? I don't want to open the generic This PC folder everytime.
 
DeSo

DeSo

Banned
spindoctor said:
Try running Windows update once. I read yesterday that you needed to have certain updates installed before the store would offer you the upgrade option.
Click to expand...
I've done this, no go, same with the Verge link. Thanks though guys, might format.
 
M

Mindwipe

Member
It is kinda funny that they put a completely superflous start button on the Metro app switcher.

Start buttons everywhere in a way nobody actually asked for!
 
B

bro1

Banned
I can't get it to even download. I have W8 64 Pro with Media Center installed. I bought W8 back during the upgrade sale and have all of the paperwork. Can somebody help? This is the message I am getting.

"Your Windows 8 install couldn't be completed. Something happened and the install of Window's 8 could be completed"

What kind of error message is that???
 
The Cowboy

The Cowboy

Member
If anyone is having major issues using the Store 8.1 upgrade I suggest doing the below quote. Doing this you can download the full Windows 8.1.iso direct from MS, and then use it to do a full clean install or the regular upgrade install.
Bony Manifesto said:
Okay, so I was thinking about this, and thought 'hmm, if these two installers tread on each others toes like that, perhaps I can use it to my advantage'. So basically, I figured out how to trick it into authenticating the download for 8, but downloading the iso for 8.1.

1. Download both the 8 and the 8.1 installers from here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows-8/upgrade-product-key-only

2. (Possibly optional, but it's what I did) Run the 8.1 one, let it go through it's initial setup, and close it once it asks for a key.

3. Run the 8 one, enter your legitimate Windows 8 key, and proceed until you reach the point where it starts downloading.

4. Immediately close the 8 installer and run the 8.1 one again. It should skip past the authentication stuff and go straight to the download process.

5. It should download the 8.1 iso, which you can install at your leisure. The only slight problem is that you can't use your 8 key to install it, so you'll have to use a default key to install (see below) and change it to your legitimate one once you get into Windows.

Default 8.1 keys courtesy of Xyphie's post:
Core: 334NH-RXG76-64THK-C7CKG-D3VPT
Professional: XHQ8N-C3MCJ-RQXB6-WCHYG-C9WKB
---
I make no guarantees, but this worked for me and I've just successfully installed and activated a clean install of 8.1 with an 8 key.
Click to expand...
I did this last night using my Windows 8 upgrade key (the cheap one you could buy to upgrade Windows 7), during the install process just use one of the default 8.1 keys - and once your in Windows 8.1 hit Win+R and type SLUI 3 and put in your proper Windows 8 key, and it should activate.

As above, no guarantees, but it worked for him and it worked for me.
 
O

Osiris

I permanently banned my 6 year old daughter from using the PS4 for mistakenly sending grief reports as it's too hard to watch or talk to her
This update totally broke my USB drivers.

First reboot after updating I lost my mouse and access to my USB drives.

Fixing a PC with no mouse is a right royal pain in the ass, especially when all your drivers and Windows install media are on a USB stick :/

Luckily I had Splashtop set to run at boot, and so was able to fix it remotely, but man, if that hadn't been running I'm not sure how I would have fixed that other than a full re-install.

MS being MS I guess.
 
P

PogiJones

Banned
Guys, my favorite thing about Windows 8 is how relatively slick and snappy the search is. I just hit the Windows key, start typing "Half," hit enter, and I'm playing Half-Life 2. Now I'm seeing the search is worse/slower in 8.1? Is that what everyone is experiencing, or just a handful of people?

If it really will be worse, is there anything in 8.1 that's a large enough benefit that I should still consider the upgrade? (Note: I've already scripted Explorer to start (and thus, the Desktop) upon login, so I already pretty much boot straight to desktop.)
 
C

clav

Member
PogiJones said:
Guys, my favorite thing about Windows 8 is how relatively slick and snappy the search is. I just hit the Windows key, start typing "Half," hit enter, and I'm playing Half-Life 2. Now I'm seeing the search is worse/slower in 8.1? Is that what everyone is experiencing, or just a handful of people?

If it really will be worse, is there anything in 8.1 that's a large enough benefit that I should still consider the upgrade? (Note: I've already scripted Explorer to start (and thus, the Desktop) upon login, so I already pretty much boot straight to desktop.)
Click to expand...

I don't see a difference in search speed with a SSD.

Upgrade to a SSD already.
 
D

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
Shit, Google Chrome is completely broken on 8.1 for me. Will have to investigate. :\

It just crashes constantly and is unusable.
 
U

UraMallas

Member
Installed it last night. Took about an hour and a half. After the full install, t asked me to log on to the computer like a new user but the keyboard would not function at all. Had to turn it off and reinstall 8.0. Will wait until next year to install this. I'm not wasting my time again.
 
K

Kinky John

Member
LDx.png


I don't know why Microsoft think that's a good default for the Mail app.
 
T

teiresias

Member
This sounds like a complete clusterf#%k. I JUST installed Windows 8 a few weeks ago (coming from Windows 7) and really don't have any complaints after installing Classic Shell and getting all my default file-handlers pointed to apps that ARE NOT metro apps. I only ever see metro if I want to see it.

Given that, and all the issues this upgrade seems to be causing, looks like I'm going to be waiting a while before even attempting this upgrade.
 
P

pestul

Member
teiresias said:
This sounds like a complete clusterf#%k. I JUST installed Windows 8 a few weeks ago (coming from Windows 7) and really don't have any complaints after installing Classic Shell and getting all my default file-handlers pointed to apps that ARE NOT metro apps. I only ever see metro if I want to see it.

Given that, and all the issues this upgrade seems to be causing, looks like I'm going to be waiting a while before even attempting this upgrade.
Click to expand...

Well, other than installing on it's own without prompting me thus severing my target display to iMac monitor connection.. mine when pretty smoothly (only took a few minutes to fix) I have yet to test everything but it seems to be great so far for me. It also didn't f up my folding@home work units as they resumed just fine after the update.. I hope to God Dark Souls isn't broken again though. Pain in the ass getting that game to run in different environments..

Even though I have it and it seems to be fine, yeah, I would wait a little while to see if they roll out any quick patches for those having issues. I had only installed Windows 8 last week to improve the BF4 beta performance.
 
A

Arksy

Member
Any windows 8 users with a multiple monitor set up?

Does Win8 allow separate taskbars for multiple monitors natively or do you have to install a hearth of addons?

I remember the 5 hour long horror where I spent time setting up programs to do a second monitor (multimon) and then a second start button and a clock (true launch bar)
 
W

Walshicus

Member
Arksy said:
Any windows 8 users with a multiple monitor set up?

Does Win8 allow separate taskbars for multiple monitors natively or do you have to install a hearth of addons?

I remember the 5 hour long horror where I spent time setting up programs to do a second monitor (multimon) and then a second start button and a clock (true launch bar)
Click to expand...

Separate task bars have been in since 8.0 so you should be fine.
 
D

Dug

Banned
David H Wong said:
No, it's a button that launches Metro, aka the thing everyone hates. The start button (that is, the thing that launches the start menu) is still gone. They did NOT bring it back.
Click to expand...
Yeah, after realizing that I just decided to install Classic Shell so I can actually have a real start button.
 
W

Walshicus

Member
David H Wong said:
No, it's a button that launches Metro, aka the thing everyone hates. The start button (that is, the thing that launches the start menu) is still gone. They did NOT bring it back.
Click to expand...

It launches the Start Screen with a left click. Right clicking on it brings up a Start Menu-like menu. Given the Start Screen can now (finally!) use the desktop wallpaper I don't see any functional loss between old and new.

I'd also say the idea that "everyone" hates the Modern UI is ludicrous.
 
S

Sordid

Member
Updated my laptop to 8.1 earlier, everything seems to have went fine. A few weird issues though... before the update when I pushed a volume key it increased/decreased my volume in increments of 2, now it's changed to increments of 4 for some reason :/ not good for slight volume changes at night! Does anyone know if I can change it back (or even change it to increments of 1)?

Edit: I also vastly preferred the old mail app, I doubt there's a way of getting that back though :(
 
M

Madness

Member
The best part is right clicking the new Windows button and shutting down from there.

Don't know why Microsoft just didn't give a start button from the start. Would help those with mouse/keyboard and power users. Helped reduce redundancy.

Also, can someone tell me, is the only way to close the new apps and stuff, still having to grab at the top and dragging it down to the right?
 
W

Windu

never heard about the cat, apparently
Madness said:
The best part is right clicking the new Windows button and shutting down from there.

Don't know why Microsoft just didn't give a start button from the start. Would help those with mouse/keyboard and power users. Helped reduce redundancy.

Also, can someone tell me, is the only way to close the new apps and stuff, still having to grab at the top and dragging it down to the right?
Click to expand...
alt-f4, right clicking in app bar, middle clicking in app bar, task manager etc..

same stuff as in 8.
 
P

PairOfFilthySocks

Member
So after installing 8.1, my computer BSODs ~30 seconds after startup everytime.

And I've a fuckton of assignments due next week.

GG Microsoft. Hurry the fuck up with that Steam OS, Valve.
 
M

megarockexe

Member
ricochetguro said:
That only put them in a suspended state(ie, if you Crtl+alt+Del they're still open), to actually close them you had to drag them to the bottom right corner.
Click to expand...
Oh man, is that it? I noticed apps never really closed and I've been doing that since 8. Was there ever any clear indication that its supposed to act this way? It all looks the same.
 
G

GhaleonEB

Member
Took nearly two hours to download and install last night. I was not expecting that long of a process given the relatively short list of upgrades.

Boot to desktop, using desktop background on start, and smaller tiles on start are the changes I've used already and they make a difference. Seems like a decent update.
 
D

diaspora

Member
The ability to use small tiles and organize apps/programs into groups on the start screen is so good. More functional than the old menu ever was.
 
A

a secret-boss

Banned
for Surface Pro users. there's a problem with brightness not adjusting after the update.
there's an extra patch at the Windows Update option that fixes this
 
C

Chance Hale

Member
Only real bummer is I've been in the preview since that came out so there's nothing really different now. Although I didn't use the wallpaper as metro screen feature until today so that might be exclusive to the final release.

Any big changes from the preview? And by the way, using the method posted above I was able to update to 8.1 from the preview without losing a single file. Was quite nice!
 
M

MrBig

Member
Bony Manifesto said:
Okay, so I was thinking about this, and thought 'hmm, if these two installers tread on each others toes like that, perhaps I can use it to my advantage'. So basically, I figured out how to trick it into authenticating the download for 8, but downloading the iso for 8.1.

1. Download both the 8 and the 8.1 installers from here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows-8/upgrade-product-key-only

2. (Possibly optional, but it's what I did) Run the 8.1 one, let it go through it's initial setup, and close it once it asks for a key.

3. Run the 8 one, enter your legitimate Windows 8 key, and proceed until you reach the point where it starts downloading.

4. Immediately close the 8 installer and run the 8.1 one again. It should skip past the authentication stuff and go straight to the download process.

5. It should download the 8.1 iso, which you can install at your leisure. The only slight problem is that you can't use your 8 key to install it, so you'll have to use a default key to install (see below) and change it to your legitimate one once you get into Windows.

Default 8.1 keys courtesy of Xyphie's post:
Core: 334NH-RXG76-64THK-C7CKG-D3VPT
Professional: XHQ8N-C3MCJ-RQXB6-WCHYG-C9WKB
Click to expand...

[6. Once 8.1 is running, press win+r to open run and type "slui 3" and enter your w8 key to activate the install]
I make no guarantees, but this worked for me and I've just successfully installed and activated a clean install of 8.1 with an 8 key.
Click to expand...

Thanks to this I was able to do a clean install in the way I wanted to, so that I was able to fix a few issues without first reinstalling w8.0 and all the requisite updates. Up and running smoothly now.

GhaleonEB said:
Took nearly two hours to download and install last night. I was not expecting that long of a process given the relatively short list of upgrades.
Click to expand...

This seems to have been an issue with the Windows Store servers and not with the update itself.
 
G

Gintoki313

Banned
I'm DEFINITELY not upgrading to Win 8.1 until at least a month or so. I updated and restarted my computer like directed to. Then my monitor showed up "no signal" when it restarted. So I unplugged the HDMI cable and plugged it back in to see if that would help it, it didn't. So then I powered off my computer, and powered it back on. Still "no signal." So after trying to enter safe mode, the boot menu, and almost everything I could do while the computer is booting to fix it. While trying to do this for the 4th time, I noticed my keyboard's light wasn't even on when the boot started. So I couldn't even boot to a boot menu, or safe mode if I tried. Finally my computer finally shows a screen after 20mins of the "no signal" appearing (I was looking for my VGA cord to see if that would fix it).

Once I entered my password I got a message that said "Windows 8.1 couldn't install on your computer, Windows 8 has been re-installed on your computer."

I was finally able to work on my computer again! I let out a huge sigh because I thought I was going to have to deal with Windows support. I like Windows 8 and think it's great, but it's rare moments like this that make me skeptical.

I'll give this update a little more time in the open before I try again, because that scared me when it happened.
 
P

Pops Maellard

Member
How's the gaming performance? Kind of an off topic question, but when I tried the preview this summer on my laptop I lost about 15 fps in BF3.
 
E

Enco

Member
I honestly don't understand how this update took them so long.

There's so little that's new.

Is there any way to change tile backgrounds? The colours are disgusting.
 
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