Windows 8.1 Discussion

can I install 8.1 as a standalone using the iso file or do I need to have Windows 8 installed first?
 
Has anyone else had a problem with the install hanging at "Getting Devices Ready"?
 
heatlesssun said:
You can do a clean install with the ISO.
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cool...for a second I thought the install would only be available via the Windows Store for those with W8 already installed...then I realized that for some strange reason MS wants everyone to install via the Store and is delaying the iso release
 
There are some definite quirks. Setting your display at 125% or 150% seems to mess with things that used to display normally. Game launchers in particular seem not play nice.
My GTX680's HDMI audio didn't want to work without some tinkering and eventually the system asked me if I wanted to disable "driver optimization" which eventually fixed it.

I wish I could change the background colors to the tiles. Right now it seems like they're chosen at random and some of them look full-on weird.
 
So is a clean installation recommended for the final version too? I wonder if Microsoft will let Windows 8 owners use their old serial keys for 8.1 images. But since I have 8 up and running I would probably prefer to update in a similar fashion like service packs.
 
So far Win8.1 runs great as a VM with VMware Workstation 9.0.2. Its actually is quite fast in VM. My only gripe is the start button/psuedo start screen functionality. I want the choice of a start menu OR start screen, not apps only OR full start screen. MS still doesn't get it, I think.
 
I'm on a SSD and I only have 1 add-in card, but the "Getting Devices Ready" still took 5-6 minutes for me. I was starting to gen concerned, but luckily the counter kept going up.
 
ComputerBox34 said:
As for 8.1 - it's an improvement but not quite there yet. MS still needs a better "wall" between "metro" apps and desktop apps. I should not be opening JPEG's or MP3's in full screen apps when I click on them in desktop mode. I also should see ALL of my apps when I use the upper left hand corner of my screen - not just the metro apps and "Desktop" - that's way too big of a pet peeve to overlook.
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Then set your preferred desktop app to be the default for that file type. My mp3's open in mediamonkey, images in picassa etc

Moving your mouse to the upper left corner shows only recently used apps, not sure why you would want them all displayed. with 8.1 you can set the "start button" to display the all apps panel when you click on it rather then the metro tiles panel.
 
PinchedNerve said:
Win 8.1 uninstalled my Avast & now I can not instal Avast or AVG anti-virus. Fucking MS!
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I'm not sure MS is blame here. :p If Avast and AVG don't have Windows 8.1 compatible versions yet, rage should probably be directed elsewhere. (I suggest: nowhere.)

And you know this is just a preview release, right? It's for evaluation and testing, and not a production ready OS.
 
pxc said:
I'm not sure MS is blame here. :p If Avast and AVG don't have Windows 8.1 compatible versions yet, rage should probably be directed elsewhere. (I suggest: nowhere.)

And you know this is just a preview release, right? It's for evaluation and testing, and not a production ready OS.
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Let me know which of the following "Windows 8.1 complete list of changes" leads you to believe multiple programs will stop working correctly as a result. Preview or not.

Currently I had Display driver issues on my main system that seem to be fixed.

Had to uninstall my Death Adder drivers.

Printer software no longer works so I can't scan anything to a file but, I can print. Same result even with a un-install & reinstall of the printer drivers/software. Oddly enough the Scan software worked until I rebooted after the reinstall. So, basically I can uninstall & then reinstall for all scanning & it will remain working as long as my computer never shuts off.

Antivirus? doesn't install at all.

Perfect Disk 12.5 will start up but won't defrag.

Reinstalled the display drivers on my wifes system after learning I had to on mine. Nvidia control Panel as well as Windows screen resolution reported that it was 1920x1080 but you could clearly see it wasn't & as a result you could only click on certain things. Had to use keyboard to navigate & resize the desktop down, then back to the real 1920x1080 resolution.

The more time I spend on 8.1 the more I find broke. I've been on Win8 since release, hating the navigation the entire time hoping they would eventually give an option for traditional menus. 8.1 may have just been the final straw to put Win7 back on my system. "Preview" or not, its breaking far more then it fixed.

To quoteCrimsonKnight13
CrimsonKnight13 said:
My only gripe is the start button/psuedo start screen functionality. I want the choice of a start menu OR start screen, not apps only OR full start screen. MS still doesn't get it, I think.
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A 2.44 gig update did a hell of a lot more then Extreme Tech's "complete list of changes" suggests.
 
PinchedNerve said:
A 2.44 gig update did a hell of a lot more then Extreme Tech's "complete list of changes" suggests.
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It's a lot closer to an incomplete list of changes... There's a ton more involved than that. It appears that the networking stack & WDDM have been improved upon.
 
PinchedNerve said:
My wife thought her install froze as well. I kept telling her its not froze its just taking a long time. How long is yours taking?
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From start of actual installing it was at 45-50 minutes when I had to leave for work. I don't know if it's still sitting there... :rolleyes:
 
PinchedNerve said:
Let me know which of the following
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Again, it's a preview for testing and evaluation. From that prominent FAQ on the 8.1 preview page:

Windows 8.1 Preview: FAQ

What is Windows 8.1 Preview?

Is Windows 8.1 Preview ready for everyone to try?
We strongly recommend that only experienced PC users download Windows 8.1 Preview or Windows RT 8.1 Preview. Before you download the preview, you should weigh the pros and cons of installing software that's still in development. If you install the preview release, you'll get to try out the many new features, but you might also encounter errors that you wouldn't encounter using a released version of Windows.

You should consider downloading the preview only if all of the following apply to you:

You like to use the latest software and enjoy experimenting with new technology.
You're comfortable backing up a PC, formatting a hard drive, and installing an operating system from scratch.
You feel comfortable troubleshooting PC problems yourself.
You don't mind updating software frequently.
You have or can create installation or recovery media and have the knowledge to restore your previous operating system after you're done testing Windows 8.1 Preview.
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This is nothing new, just standard expectations for a preview release.

It's in a state 1.5-2 months (at least) away from being finished. Many device manufacturers and AV makers are not going to support a pre-release version. Again, that's nothing new.

edit: the upgrade install did no favors either. I imagine many programs with a driver component would need to be repaired, and that may not be a trivial challenge.
 
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I had Unreal Tournament installed on my Windows 8 and worked perfectly before 8.1, but after it crashed right after I clicked on the app. Wouldn't even get to menu or intro or anything after update. Said the display adapter crashed. Then the desktop background stayed black until I restarted.

I had to go to Intel's website and download the latest HD 3000 driver to get it to work again, but after that it's no problem. I also noticed that the laptop doesn't start up as fast anymore. It is more jittery as it loads everything.

Also, where are the motion wallpapers for the start screen? Will that only be in the full release?
 
mmtom said:
You know that all of the stuff you mentioned has nothing to do with the OS and has everything to do with the vendor not writing a Win8.1 specific driver, right? Drivers tend to be OS version specific...
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When you're right you're right, & you sir are dead on. I must admit I completely forgot about all those posts about Windows 8 being mostly scrapped & 8.1 being mostly new/different kernel & replacing Win 8 while keeping most of the Win8ish feel/look that everyone loved so much.

I must add, I also completely forgot that Vista to Win 7 was a driver nightmare just as Win 7 to Win 8 was a driver nightmare. I really should have known better that Win 8.1 would effect Win 8 so much.

CrimsonKnight13 said:
It's a lot closer to an incomplete list of changes... There's a ton more involved than that. It appears that the networking stack & WDDM have been improved upon.
Click to expand...

I agree that its "closer to an incomplete list of changes..." Preview the new MS term for rough beta?
 
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installed, i hate you have to use a MS account to get in on the wizard, but you can skype on using skydrive

8 mins from booting to usb stick at 8:34pm to 8:43pm at desktop\


created a new user to use and not my MS account, sucs they force you to do that, win 8 you could skip it, unless i missed it
 
So is this only available through the preview, or is there a beta service pack we can install on already-configured Win8 systems?

MrGuvernment said:
installed, i hate you have to use a MS account to get in on the wizard, but you can skype on using skydrive

8 mins from booting to usb stick at 8:34pm to 8:43pm at desktop\


created a new user to use and not my MS account, sucs they force you to do that, win 8 you could skip it, unless i missed it
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I installed a licensed copy of Win8 yesterday, I couldn't figure out a way to skip that until I accidentally hit something and it stopped asking. I never set up a Microsoft account for the machine. Maybe try Win+D? Or force closing it?
 
Haven't gotten around to upgrading yet. Due to the reports of being stuck in the installer, is it better to upgrade (from within Win 8) or do a fresh install?
 
I'm not sure about better, but I was able to upgrade my 8.0 to 8.1 preview.

1. Install KB that enables it in the Marketplace.
2. Download.
3. Install
4. Configure/reboot etc.

It took me somewhere around 1 1/2 hours to update a relatively fast laptop with SSD.
 
MrCrispy said:
Haven't gotten around to upgrading yet. Due to the reports of being stuck in the installer, is it better to upgrade (from within Win 8) or do a fresh install?
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With the ISO I did both a fresh install on a Lenovo x220t convertible and an upgrade on my Asus EP121 tablet and both went fine though the EP121 did bluescreen on the first reboot but the install proceeded fine after that.
 
I put my system clock ahead to 2014 with this 8.1 and it didn't expire or anything so will it matter even? I don't think it would stop working.....
Maybe it will stop working for those without a valid copy or something? I have no idea I know there were problems with rebooting and asking for money for a valid gold copy with the Original.

I wish I bought this damn thing when it was Cheap at launch though I wish I did that anyway.....
 
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Hey 1,000,000,000 wanted a start button and got it =) The right click on the start button is usefull but it seems implemented in a way in which a girl uses covergirl makeup in order to patch the thing.
 
I clean installed 8, then updated to 8.1 - Terrible! Unstable, apps were crashing...

Downloaded Iso, wiped it and install from 8.1 iso - works much better.

start button useless as is. Boot to desktop is nice. Gotta reinstall Start 8 still to fix the start menu. http://forums.stardock.com/446138
 
Nice so far, but I need to go through the driver archive because my test box uses a Radeon X1650. Once again the 10.2 Cats fail me. I need to go get the 9.9 ones as they've been good to me in 64-bit, so I'm hopeful 32-bit will be fine (32-bit OS only because rig has 1GB of RAM).
 
Comixbooks said:
The right click on the start button is usefull but it seems implemented in a way in which a girl uses covergirl makeup in order to patch the thing.
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When Windows 8 comes with 8.1 integrated:

e3d9d7b886.jpg


:)

Anyone tried ClassicShell, Start8, etc with 8.1 yet?
 
bdr529 said:
Anyone experience any obvious problems with drivers? I am downloading it now :)
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I had a problem with my USB 3.0 not reading any kind of device. It still charged my phone and tablet. also some installers would not work. See signature for system specs
 
I also have a problem with some of my USB 3.0 ports not working correctly. There's an easy fix though. Find the misbehaving ports (yellow caution flag) in Device manager and uninstall them. Then at the Menu bar in Device manager go to Action->Scan for Hardware changes and viola! Your items plugged in should work. This is a workaround I discovered due to similar issues. No complaint since it is only a preview edition and most everything else works pretty well.
 
jlobue10 said:
I also have a problem with some of my USB 3.0 ports not working correctly. There's an easy fix though. Find the misbehaving ports (yellow caution flag) in Device manager and uninstall them. Then at the Menu bar in Device manager go to Action->Scan for Hardware changes and viola! Your items plugged in should work. This is a workaround I discovered due to similar issues. No complaint since it is only a preview edition and most everything else works pretty well.
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I did a clean install and everything worked then Norton Security from Comcast wouldn't install. Comcast gave me a download link to try but I may just wait for the official release on my Technet account.
 
I'm really pleased with the changes to the search within the start page. That was my main complaint. I still don't care for the start page itself, but it wouldn't keep me from moving to win8. Currently, I just have it in a VM.

There seems to be some native touch rdp setting. Android tablet > rdp win8 VM = very slick experience.
 
Testing on my VMware ESXi 5.1 box. Its choppy to navigate, which is to be expected. We'll see if my video card will pass through. :p
 
Comixbooks said:
I put my system clock ahead to 2014 with this 8.1 and it didn't expire or anything so will it matter even? I don't think it would stop working.....
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The expiration behavior may be to restart every two hours (or whatever) like the Windows 8 preview did. The last update may have extended the expire date too, but I haven't heard any such thing.

If you set the date forward, the status message on whether it's expired or not is in the Activate Windows screen from Control Panel. It's just keeping with the plan to hide everything from the user. ;)
 
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