My windows 8 experience-My opinions, views, and some little issues

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sram

[H]ard|Gawd
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Jul 30, 2007
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Okay, so I pulled the trigger and decided to upgrade to windows 8. I went with the upgrade from windows 7 route instead of clean install to see how seamless it will be. Here are my comments:

- The install process was problem free and was quick. I expected it to be shorter based on my readings, but it was no biggie. The pc restarted too many times though.

- I don't see why the new UI is a big issue or a deciding factor when it comes to upgrading to windows 8. You can easily get into the desktop in so many ways, and use the pc the same you used to. I didn't even feel the need to use third party software to overcome this or to bring back the start menu.

- My avast antivirus didn't work properly until Re-installed/repaired. It is about the only software I needed to deal with. All others seem to be working fine.

- I had to uninstall/reinstall some of my hardware drivers, so that they work. Again, no biggie in my opinion.

- I had to disable windows defender also, so that I can use my avast properly because windows defender is now different and contains an antivirus software.

- I had problems running utorrent properly, and eventually found out that the problem is actually with windows firewall. When I turn it off, utorrent works fine. When it is on, it just doesn't work even it is added to the allowed apps list. It is weird. I noticed also that firefox doesn't connect well sometimes to the internet, however, when the firewall is off, I don't see the issue. Any body have problems/issues with windows 8 firewall ?? What do you suggest me to do?
 
There should have been a firewall firewall exception added when you installed uTorrent. If you go to Control Panel\System and Security\Windows Firewall\Allowed apps do you see a couple of rules for uTorrent?
 
heatlesssun said:
There should have been a firewall firewall exception added when you installed uTorrent. If you go to Control Panel\System and Security\Windows Firewall\Allowed apps do you see a couple of rules for uTorrent?
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I added it myself, but it didn't work which is weird. Even firefox which should naturally be excepted disconnects from the internet occasionally, and when I turn the firewall off, it works fine. Weird !
 
Interesting. I don't really do upgrade installs but I've not had this problem with uTorrent when installing it fresh on a Windows 8 machine.
 
I think the problem is related to the upgrade install.
No issues with a clean install and utorrent for me.
 
thedocta45 said:
I think the problem is related to the upgrade install.
No issues with a clean install and utorrent for me.
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Sheesh, if this is true. It is just too much to start from zero and do a clean install just to deal with only one stupid issue. I'd rather find a fix. I will try different things and tell you what happens.
 
I don't seem to be able to find a solution for this firewall problem. Clean install sounds to be my only option. Will do it next weekend:(
 
wonderfield said:
I think this warrants a new thread (or several). What do you think?
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There are already too many threads and they all say the same thing and same people.

The only question I have is why cant MS let you choose the install or theme(non metro anything) on windows.
 
Hagrid said:
There are already too many threads and they all say the same thing and same people.

The only question I have is why cant MS let you choose the install or theme(non metro anything) on windows.
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You can choose, Microsoft didn't lock out 3rd party programs.

I agree though, native choice would have been better.
 
AndreRio said:
This "tale" is all fake. You are being paid to say this or you just a SUCKER sram, maybe just a "Oh there is nothing wrong with windows 8 to me, why you guys having such a problem with win8, win8 is so good." I really think this is fake. This only shows how far will MS go.
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I read countless articles on this new windows 8 UI, and I can't say that I haven't been influenced by them. Because of the way they were written, I really thought it is understandable how people can hate windows 8 because of the "stupid ceramic floor tiles" shape the supposedly latest & greatest MS OS went with. But--and like is the case with everything else in our life--actually using something is different from hearing about it.

What did I find out? You are only one click away from the usual desktop we have been used to for years. How hard is that? It is super easy. Maybe they screwed up when they omitted the start menu because I think its location was convenient, but it is no biggie, OR not big enough to tell somebody: NO, Don't upgrade. Add to that the fact that you can use third party software to overcome all this, and guess what? The whole UI issue is gone.

And LOL at you thinking I'm getting paid for a little tiny thread I thought I would create to share my views in this huge cyberspace.

You insulted me, so you owe me an apology. I actually can't believe you are doing this here when I compare my thread to other threads defending windows 8 as if their life is depending on it.
 
sram said:
I read countless articles on this new windows 8 UI, and I can't say that I haven't been influenced by them. Because of the way they were written, I really thought it is understandable how people can hate windows 8 because of the "stupid ceramic floor tiles" shape the supposedly latest & greatest MS OS went with. But--and like is the case with everything else in our life--actually using something is different from hearing about it.

What did I find out? You are only one click away from the usual desktop we have been used to for years. How hard is that? It is super easy. Maybe they screwed up when they omitted the start menu because I think its location was convenient, but it is no biggie, OR not big enough to tell somebody: NO, Don't upgrade.

And LOL at you thinking I'm getting paid for a little tiny thread I thought I would create to share my views in this huge cyberspace.

You insulted me, so you owe me an apology. I actually can't believe you are doing this here when I compare my thread to other threads defending windows 8 as if their life is depending on it.
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There is alot more then just the start button, but for people who know computers, it isnt bad but I would like the option to totally make it like the previous GUI's have been.(Like Tsumi said, natively would be best)
 
Hagrid said:
There is alot more then just the start button, but for people who know computers, it isnt bad but I would like the option to totally make it like the previous GUI's have been.(Like Tsumi said, natively would be best)
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Unless you really look for differences, I think you won't notice much difficulty in using windows 8, specially if you know computers.
 
sram said:
Unless you really look for differences, I think you won't notice much difficulty in using windows 8, specially if you know computers.
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You dont need to look very hard, but yes. I like it the same way as before though, its easy to use and everything is a click away. I dont need anything moved around or big blocks to click. Some people like metro better, some dont.
 
Why do troll white and the 7 dweebs always have to enter all windows 8 threads. :rolleyes: Thank you sram, I do appreciate your opinion and tend to agree with it. (Even if I did not agree with it, I still appreciate it.)
 
I did a clean installation of 8 on an HP Elitebook 8730w and Windows 8 wouldn't enable the wireless adapter. I finally got it working but what a pain in the ass. Windows 8 not being able to use the wireless adapter is just inexcusable.
 
JayteeBates said:
I did a clean installation of 8 on an HP Elitebook 8730w and Windows 8 wouldn't enable the wireless adapter. I finally got it working but what a pain in the ass. Windows 8 not being able to use the wireless adapter is just inexcusable.
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Was it a driver issue? I dont expect everything at first to work with a new OS, just have to wait for updated drivers and such.
I actually installed win 8 on my server machine and at the time, there were no win 8 drivers and now there is which was nice.
 
JayteeBates said:
I did a clean installation of 8 on an HP Elitebook 8730w and Windows 8 wouldn't enable the wireless adapter. I finally got it working but what a pain in the ass. Windows 8 not being able to use the wireless adapter is just inexcusable.
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I've had the same experiences, but in those cases it's been a driver issue ( I think ). As in, I get the latest drivers from the manufacturer ( not always the easiest thing in the world ), and the device starts behaving itself.

Not sure W8 can be blamed for that.
 
I have a computer with a wireless PCI adapter that won't work with Windows 8. I blame drivers for that as well. The drivers for the adapter haven't been updated in like 2 years.
 
If the same hardware works in W7, it should have worked in W8. Unfortunately many times its a question of whats marked compatible even if the actual driver model is the same.
 
MrCrispy said:
If the same hardware works in W7, it should have worked in W8. Unfortunately many times its a question of whats marked compatible even if the actual driver model is the same.
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It should, but it doesn't. My Asus BT211 bluetooth adapter doesn't work with Windows 8 either.
 
I was thinking about starting a similar thread myself. I also decided to risk installing Windows 8 over an existing Windows 7 installation.

Gotta say I was pleasantly surprised at how smooth it was. I've been using the CP a bit, so I knew I wanted a third party start menu myself, but other than installing that, pretty much everything was ready to go immediately, all program defaults were set as before (including things like the desktop image viewer for pictures).

Drivers all seem up to date, I've had no problems so not bothered doing much checking but it kept the most recent whql catalyst drivers from windows 7.

Had to do a bit of messing around with permissions so I could move the windows.old folder off my SSD. And changing the lock screen that comes up when switching users is proving annoying, other than that its been smooth sailing.

If it weren't for the new log in screen I doubt my wife would even realise anything had changed, apart from the fact windows now loads in 45-50 seconds (30 of which is the POST)
 
Hagrid said:
Was it a driver issue? I dont expect everything at first to work with a new OS, just have to wait for updated drivers and such.
I actually installed win 8 on my server machine and at the time, there were no win 8 drivers and now there is which was nice.
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Actually it was a software issue. The intel and MS drivers for the hardware do not work - you have to have the HP connection assistant software to actually "enable" the wireless adapter even though it is already physically on. If you run the troubleshoot it says to "Turn the wireless on". Which you cannot do without the hp connection software. Windows 7 didn't seem to have this issue.

As to metro - Don't like it - can live with it but Classic Shell is the best. The otherwise improvements are worth upgrading for. The task manager alone is something we have all wanted for over a decade.
 
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I've never liked the Action center/Troubleshooter/Update driver UI in Windows. It's needlessly complex and confusing, instead of it all being 1 dialog in Control panel.

Windows update is still not reliable for finding updated drivers.
 
i was on the hate-W8 bandwagon for quite some time until i actually ate the bullet and started to use it. that was when i learned to like it and figured that it was basically a more efficient W7 with the metro tiles. i got over the tiles really quick and now i use it every day without issue.

if you are a keyboard shortcut user like me and not so much a mouse clicker, W8 is a piece of cake to maneuver around. for example, the whole shutdown click process, i just use alt+f4.
 
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