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Windows 8.1 |OT| There's your start button

J

joshschw

Member
Deadly Cyclone said:
Well I went out to the web and found which update you needed to prepare your machine for Win 8 and installed that, and just a bit ago ran Win update and updated everything and still nothing.

Typically our main IT group handles all PC updates for the company but we're basically testing Win 8 so I'm just working through issues like this myself, not sure if their software has blocked some of the needed updates though (although it worked fine on my work Surface Pro). Anywhere online I can get the updates needed?
Click to expand...

You are probably on a volume license of windows 8. You can not do a store update for 8.1, sorry. It sucks
 
D

dLMN8R

Member
Deadly Cyclone said:
Possibly, yes. It's Pro I believe but it could be from a volume license. The Surface would have come with Win 8 so it wouldn't be from a volume.

Can I not get 8.1 then?

Any help on the weird lag issue?
Click to expand...

I don't know about the lag issue, but I do know that volume licensed versions of Windows cannot be updated to 8.1 through the Store. License agreements and such prohibit it. Your IT admin will have to provide the upgrade through an image or other supported method.
 
A

aasoncott

Member
I installed 8.1 a few days after release, and ever since I haven't had icon overlays on my SkyDrive files. Absolutely no indication as to when a file is syncing. It's driving me insane. I've tried everything imaginable short of completely reinstalling Windows. I've pretty much given up at this point, but just in case someone else has had this problem and knows of a solution, I thought I'd ask here. And no, the problem doesn't go away when I create a new user account, and it isn't a problem with having too many registry values for icon overlays.
 
P

PetriP-TNT

Member
aasoncott said:
I installed 8.1 a few days after release, and ever since I haven't had icon overlays on my SkyDrive files. Absolutely no indication as to when a file is syncing. It's driving me insane. I've tried everything imaginable short of completely reinstalling Windows. I've pretty much given up at this point, but just in case someone else has had this problem and knows of a solution, I thought I'd ask here. And no, the problem doesn't go away when I create a new user account, and it isn't a problem with having too many registry values for icon overlays.
Click to expand...

If the file is syncing there's a gray overlay icon, if not it's already synced. Dunno why.
 
A

Azih

Member
aasoncott said:
I don't get the grey overlay icon. There's absolutely no way for me to tell what files have synced :(
Click to expand...

Well what I do is I log into skydrive from a browser and check that way. There is no overlay if everything is synced from my understanding.
 
W

Windu

never heard about the cat, apparently
soooo...so far i have seen these in the next update


  • Title Bar for Metro apps when moving mouse to top. Minimize/Close in top right, right click menu in top left with close/minimize and snap/split options.
  • Pin metro apps to the taskbar, shows preview window, media controls, jumplists like desktop apps.
  • View currently running metro apps on the taskbar
  • Mouse down to the bottom when in a metro app and the taskbar will appear.
  • Search and Power button on Start Screen near profile image.
  • Mouse right click menus in metro bring up classic right click type menu instead of bar at the top/bottom. touch still the same.
  • Desktop Control Panel link in Metro Settings
  • Disk space utility for metro apps in metro settings (Apps, Media and Files, Recycle Bin)
  • "(#) new apps installed" notification on start screen near the arrow icon in the bottom left. Clicking it will apparently sort the apps screen by recently installed apps.
  • Show more apps option on app screen for large displays.
  • Apps Screen updated to make it like Windows Phone, click on a letter and it will bring up that view of all the letters and sub-sections.
  • Skydrive system tray icon is back (skydrive re-named to onedrive)

anything else?
 
S

Steelyuhas

Member
Windu said:
soooo...so far i have seen these in the next update


  • Title Bar for Metro apps when moving mouse to top. Minimize/Close in top right, right click menu in top left with close/minimize and snap/split options.
  • Pin metro apps to the taskbar, shows preview window, media controls, jumplists like desktop apps.
  • View currently running metro apps on the taskbar
  • Mouse down to the bottom when in a metro app and the taskbar will appear.
  • Search and Power button on Start Screen near profile image.
  • Mouse right click menus in metro bring up classic right click type menu instead of bar at the top/bottom. touch still the same.
  • Desktop Control Panel link in Metro Settings
  • Disk space utility for metro apps in metro settings (Apps, Media and Files, Recycle Bin)
  • "(#) new apps installed" notification on start screen near the arrow icon in the bottom left. Clicking it will apparently sort the apps screen by recently installed apps.
  • Show more apps option on app screen for large displays.
  • Apps Screen updated to make it like Windows Phone, click on a letter and it will bring up that view of all the letters and sub-sections.
  • Skydrive system tray icon is back (skydrive re-named to onedrive)

anything else?
Click to expand...

Yeah I think that about covers it.

Here is a pretty solid video that goes through what I think is the most recent leaked build. Link
 
K

Kabuto

Member
I just tried starting my computer up three times and it would just go to the WIndows logo screen then both of my monitors would just go to a black screen two of those times. It's working now but any suggestions on what happened?
 
L

LukasTaves

Member
Windu said:
soooo...so far i have seen these in the next update


  • Title Bar for Metro apps when moving mouse to top. Minimize/Close in top right, right click menu in top left with close/minimize and snap/split options.
  • Pin metro apps to the taskbar, shows preview window, media controls, jumplists like desktop apps.
  • View currently running metro apps on the taskbar
  • Mouse down to the bottom when in a metro app and the taskbar will appear.
  • Search and Power button on Start Screen near profile image.
  • Mouse right click menus in metro bring up classic right click type menu instead of bar at the top/bottom. touch still the same.
  • Desktop Control Panel link in Metro Settings
  • Disk space utility for metro apps in metro settings (Apps, Media and Files, Recycle Bin)
  • "(#) new apps installed" notification on start screen near the arrow icon in the bottom left. Clicking it will apparently sort the apps screen by recently installed apps.
  • Show more apps option on app screen for large displays.
  • Apps Screen updated to make it like Windows Phone, click on a letter and it will bring up that view of all the letters and sub-sections.
  • Skydrive system tray icon is back (skydrive re-named to onedrive)

anything else?
Click to expand...

I hope there's still time for them to make the live tiles as live as they are on windows phone (both the titles and content).

Having your Xbox music library (even the ones you haven't downloaded) appear on the video library is another thing I hope they eventually port over from WP.
 
M

maeh2k

Member
Surprisingly harsh words on Windows 8 even for Thurrott:
Windows 8 is not well-designed. It's a mess. But Windows 8 is a bigger problem than that. Windows 8 is a disaster in every sense of the word.

This is not open to debate, is not part of some cute imaginary world where everyone's opinion is equally valid or whatever. Windows 8 is a disaster. Period.
Click to expand...
(source)
 
J

jagowar

Member
We won't know till it officially gets talked about but doesn't update 1 only show a lot of the new stuff when it detects there is no touch screen? If so that's the way it always should have been imo.... optimized for the way it is being used.
 
D

dLMN8R

Member
It's funny cause Paul was vehemently defending Windows 8 against that exact type of complaint around 1-2 years ago. The product didn't change, he just did, but instead of simply admitting he was wrong with a mea culpa, he describes it in such a way that implies that anyone who disagrees with him is an idiot, and has always been an idiot.

Charming.

(But, well, expected)
 
S

Steelyuhas

Member
jagowar said:
We won't know till it officially gets talked about but doesn't update 1 only show a lot of the new stuff when it detects there is no touch screen? If so that's the way it always should have been imo.... optimized for the way it is being used.
Click to expand...

Yeah I mean that's obviously what it looks like they are going for and it makes sense.

We'll see how Update 1 goes, I get the feeling we won't truly see the vision of that until the 2015 update though.
 
C

Chairhome

Member
This is probably not the best place for me to ask, but I'm at my wits' end.

Is there anyone here who upgraded to Windows 8 from Windows 7 and has some sample language from the email so I can search for it in my inbox? I know I paid for the upgrade from Win 7 to Win 8, but I can't find any email with the product key. I need it to reinstall win 8 on my pc, which crashed and won't let me recover through the traditional methods. I called MS and the tech had no idea what she was talking about, and said I would have to pay another $40 for another key. No thanks.

From my understanding, the win 8 upgrade utility pulled my product info from my BIOS or something, so it never asked me for the information. I have tried to do some command prompt magic to find my product key but it keeps coming up blank, even looking at the registry. Any help is appreciated. Sorry to go off-topic :-(
 
W

Windu

never heard about the cat, apparently
Chairhome said:
This is probably not the best place for me to ask, but I'm at my wits' end.

Is there anyone here who upgraded to Windows 8 from Windows 7 and has some sample language from the email so I can search for it in my inbox? I know I paid for the upgrade from Win 7 to Win 8, but I can't find any email with the product key. I need it to reinstall win 8 on my pc, which crashed and won't let me recover through the traditional methods. I called MS and the tech had no idea what she was talking about, and said I would have to pay another $40 for another key. No thanks.

From my understanding, the win 8 upgrade utility pulled my product info from my BIOS or something, so it never asked me for the information. I have tried to do some command prompt magic to find my product key but it keeps coming up blank, even looking at the registry. Any help is appreciated. Sorry to go off-topic :-(
Click to expand...
the upgrade key from the windows 8 media center pack is from Windows@e-mail.microsoft.com
 
C

Chairhome

Member
Windu said:
the upgrade key from the windows 8 media center pack is from Windows@e-mail.microsoft.com
Click to expand...

That's the key, though? I thought that was just for the Media Center add on? Or is that serial number for win 8?
"Here’s your free Windows 8 Media Center Pack product key:

xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx

Follow these steps to add Windows 8 Media Center Pack to your PC running Windows 8 Pro:"

-----------------------------------------
Never mind! Its in a separate email that I got on the same day. THank you!!!!!!!
 
M

maeh2k

Member
Thurrott has a small follow-up article: http://windowsitpro.com/windows/microsoft-windows-veritas

Since writing the article, I've heard from a number of current and ex Microsofties. Although it's perhaps notable that all of them agreed wholeheartedly with my assessment
Click to expand...

Wow, so now even current and ex Microsoft employees agree ^^
Does anyone still like Windows or Microsoft's direction in general?

His recommendation is to focus fully on business needs. I'm not quite sure what that means exactly. Drop Metro? Re-releasing Windows 7 with the nicer Task Manager?
 
M

Megasoum

Banned
So I installed Win8.1 yesterday (from 7) and I'm liking it so far. I've been using it like a Win7 machine. Aka I haven't opened a metro app yet.

A small thing that bugs me is with the new taskbar. I REALLY love the fact that it extends to the second screen. This is something I had to add the feature manually using the ultramon tool in Win7 so it's great that this is built in now. So here comes my little gripe, they put a start button on both screen. There's really no reason to have it on the second monitor... Is there anyway to disable it? I still want it on my main screen but not on my second.
 
A

Astral/H3X

Member
Megasoum said:
So I installed Win8.1 yesterday (from 7) and I'm liking it so far. I've been using it like a Win7 machine. Aka I haven't opened a metro app yet.

A small thing that bugs me is with the new taskbar. I REALLY love the fact that it extends to the second screen. This is something I had to add the feature manually using the ultramon tool in Win7 so it's great that this is built in now. So here comes my little gripe, they put a start button on both screen. There's really no reason to have it on the second monitor... Is there anyway to disable it? I still want it on my main screen but not on my second.
Click to expand...

Is there really a reason not to have it? It's not like it's huge or anything, probably about the same size as any other icon.
 
C

Chairmanchuck

Member
Anyone can help me with a little problem?
I cloned the tft, so I have the same image on the TFT and the TV. The strange thing though is some programs look totally strange and it seems Windows activated some sort of "mode for older people", since the fonts and the icons became totally big. Here is a screen:

U0zQ3Dg.jpg


And some programs look totally blurry now like Steam:

WEfOaQH.jpg



The strange thing though is, if I use the TV as an extended desktop everything looks normal. As soon as I clone it though, it looks totally strange.
 
M

maeh2k

Member
Chairmanchuck said:
Anyone can help me with a little problem?
I cloned the tft, so I have the same image on the TFT and the TV. The strange thing though is some programs look totally strange and it seems Windows activated some sort of "mode for older people", since the fonts and the icons became totally big. Here is a screen:

U0zQ3Dg.jpg


And some programs look totally blurry now like Steam:

WEfOaQH.jpg



The strange thing though is, if I use the TV as an extended desktop everything looks normal. As soon as I clone it though, it looks totally strange.
Click to expand...

Windows 8.1 decides the scaling automatically per display depending on its size and resolution and if you clone the display it apparently chooses the scaling for the TV. If you click Bildschirmauflösung there'll be an option at the bottom to make the text and other items larger or smaller. There you can manually select the scaling factor.
 
C

Chairmanchuck

Member
maeh2k said:
Windows 8.1 decides the scaling automatically per display depending on its size and resolution and if you clone the display it apparently chooses the scaling for the TV. If you click Bildschirmauflösung there'll be an option at the bottom to make the text and other items larger or smaller. There you can manually select the scaling factor.
Click to expand...

Thanks. That worked, though it still seems that a different font is used, but thats okay.

A few programs like Steam or iTunes e.g. are still that blurry though :(
 
M

Mr. Wonderful

Member
Chairmanchuck said:
Thanks. That worked, though it still seems that a different font is used, but thats okay.

A few programs like Steam or iTunes e.g. are still that blurry though :(
Click to expand...

That's because Steam and iTunes don't even try to meet Microsoft halfway for higher DPI screens.

Luckily, they'll be forced to sooner rather than later.

I remember the Steam icon not being vector-based (still isn't?) and not scaling up for Vista/Windows 7 and it wasn't until everyone had 7 and Valve basically had to do something about it that they upped the icon's resolution.
 
T

teh_pwn

"Saturated fat causes heart disease as much as Brawndo is what plants crave."
I installed Office 2013 recently. So damn pretty. All desktops should move to this UI.
 
Ahmed

Ahmed

Member
I am a windows 8.1 user since day one and really liked it. but it need more refinement specially regarding the metro applications. waiting for update 1 due in April.
 
K

keuja

Member
Windu said:
public beta of firefox windows 8 browser.

http://www.neowin.net/news/mozilla-finally-releases-beta-of-its-touch-friendly-firefox-for-windows-8

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/good-news-firefox-now-touch-friendly
Click to expand...

I've tried the beta on my windows 8.1 tablet. The add-ons and plug-ins (including Flash) don't work when in Touch mode.

I've always prefered FF for browsing on my PCs but I might switch to Chrome for tablets for now... Scrolling was much smoother on Chrome as well in both desktop and touch mode. The soft keyboard pop-up automatically in both mode. Unlike in FF, where it appears automatically only in touch mode.
 
M

Mike Works

Member
I've installed the most recent updates on both my laptop and PC and I'm finding windows explorer is crashing wayyyyy more now. Any ideas why?
 
M

Monkeylord

Member
Has anyone installed or played with "Project Sienna" yet? It's a beta for a Microsoft app that lets you build and share your own Win 8.1 apps without needing to know anything beyond some Excel and Powerpoint editing skills.


Seems pretty nifty with the 5mins I've spent on it so far. I'm hoping I'll be able to create an app to share with my friends that lists the songs I have available in my rhythm game collection (Guitar Hero's, Rock Bands, Singstars, etc.)

Would be very useful if I can pull it off. I need to make some small excel files so I can create something to my liking before going at it for real. Gonna be a while before I've figured everything out though.

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/projectsiena/default.aspx
 
L

LukasTaves

Member
Why do the media controls only appear when I press one of the media buttons (volume up/down, play pause, etc)? It makes so much more sense for It to appear when I bring the charms bar up (on touch screens at least XD)
 
S

StealthGoblin

Banned
Can't get this to download/install.

I have an activated copy of Windows 8 Pro.
I have installed all available/hidden windows updates.
I have cleared the cache for the Store.
I've done several things with admin command prompt's that websites offer as solutions.

Still getting the 'Your windows update cannot be completed' error.

Fuck this shit.
 
B

brotkasten

Member
camajise said:
not on amazon.

not on Microsoft Store either.
http://www.microsoftstore.com/store...T-Touchscreen-Tablet-32GB/productID.295784500
Click to expand...

It's not on the MS Store anymore, but they put it up a month ago, as it was reported by various tech blogs.

http://www.engadget.com/2014/02/10/asus-vivotab-note-8-now-available/
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/microsoft-asus-vivotab-intel-windows-8.1,25995.html

When you follow the link now, it says it's currently unavailable.
http://www.microsoftstore.com/store...T-Touchscreen-Tablet-32GB/productID.295784500
 
Stuggernaut

Stuggernaut

Grandma's Chippy
At this time, is there any reason to upgrade to 8.1 over Win 7 64bit?

I didn't think there was, but wondering if I might be missing something ;P
 
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