Reply to: Windows 8 unleashed ...

[fullyautomatix]

I bought and fitted a new SSD earlier in the week to try Win 8 out properly, assuming it would be happy dual booting with Win 7. All went pear shaped.

I installed Win 8 on the SSD fine, it finished and booted up and the first thing I noticed was there was no boot menu, just straight into Windows 8. Looking at startup options, (once I managed get out of metro to find where they'd ruddy hidden it) Win 7 was not listed as a startup OS and the Win 7 HDD was not even visible as a drive in explorer.

Restarted into BIOS and the Win 7 drive has also disappeared from the boot order list when in numpty mode but luckily I could select Advanced mode and boot from it. Win 7 could see Win 8's disk fine but not the other way round and for some bizarre reason, my Win 7 installation that has been running fine for years now suddenly needed its network adapter removing and reinstalling after each boot and shortcuts such as manage computer were broken.

So be careful if you are planning to dual boot, took me ages to sort the mess out. Win 8 itself was rubbish BTW.

UPDATE, after doing more googling I'm pretty sure this was because I was using Windows 7 in RAID to use another SSD cache drive enabled via Intel Smart Response. Guess this rendered the drive invisible to Win 8? The other weird errors though, I cant explain (cache corruption, dunno? Unlikely). Think I'll stick with the copy of Win 8 I've got running in Parallels on my Macbook for the time being.

I have installed Win8 on a tablet with a dual boot Win7 with no problems whatsover. No hitches and no glitches. Its on a different partition though. Win8 is pretty fast and even the install is very fast. Its a step up from Win7 but I think normal folks might take some time getting used to it.

[The Spartan]

Just used the Win8 on a tablet and it's pretty slick and fast in touch mode still won't be buying a tablet for it though as I already shelled out for a Nexus 7 and I don't do a whole lot of Windows based work these days

[Durbs]

Win 8 itself was rubbish BTW.
.

Actually, I take that back after spending all day yesterday doing some 'real' work in Win 8/VS2012, its fine. Bit quicker and slicker than Win 7 when in the desktop.

Didn't find myself using the Metro interface once during the day though so still not sure what its for.

[stek]

Congratulations on being the only other person in the world who remembers it !!

I gave up my IBM OS/2 accreditation after Warp Server but before Warp 4 !!

Mid 90's OS/2 was a big money maker for techies !!

Still going as eComStation!

eComStation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Remember Microsoft LAN Manager - still bits of that in Windows Server....

[Durbs]

I bought and fitted a new SSD earlier in the week to try Win 8 out properly, assuming it would be happy dual booting with Win 7. All went pear shaped.

I installed Win 8 on the SSD fine, it finished and booted up and the first thing I noticed was there was no boot menu, just straight into Windows 8. Looking at startup options, (once I managed get out of metro to find where they'd ruddy hidden it) Win 7 was not listed as a startup OS and the Win 7 HDD was not even visible as a drive in explorer.

Restarted into BIOS and the Win 7 drive has also disappeared from the boot order list when in numpty mode but luckily I could select Advanced mode and boot from it. Win 7 could see Win 8's disk fine but not the other way round and for some bizarre reason, my Win 7 installation that has been running fine for years now suddenly needed its network adapter removing and reinstalling after each boot and shortcuts such as manage computer were broken.

So be careful if you are planning to dual boot, took me ages to sort the mess out. Win 8 itself was rubbish BTW.

UPDATE, after doing more googling I'm pretty sure this was because I was using Windows 7 in RAID to use another SSD cache drive enabled via Intel Smart Response. Guess this rendered the drive invisible to Win 8? The other weird errors though, I cant explain (cache corruption, dunno? Unlikely). Think I'll stick with the copy of Win 8 I've got running in Parallels on my Macbook for the time being.

[The Spartan]

And miss out on the $14.99 upgrade price lol

I used it earlier this week for testing Metro mode (Yes I know they're not calling it that anymore) was a nightmare as it's plugin free

[kingcook]

I'm going to wait until it's been out for 12 months or SP1 is released, whichever occurs LAST.

[TestMangler]

Windows 8 is a mess! Early Learning Centre interface bolted onto what is still basically Win NT - OS/2...

I'm going SCO Openserver....

Congratulations on being the only other person in the world who remembers it !!

I gave up my IBM OS/2 accreditation after Warp Server but before Warp 4 !!

Mid 90's OS/2 was a big money maker for techies !!

[BoredBloke]

I installed windows 8 and think it is a complete crock. I logged in using my LiveID which is still attached to an old email I no longer use and I cannot change it on their website as it keeps complaining about a technical fault. But besides this, it looks bleedin awful

[thunderlizard]

I must have installed it about the same time as you, so you've probably worked out the same things as I have by now, but anyway...

Having to move the mouse to the corner to bring up various options is a bit unnecessary. So is not having a start button on the desktop to get into the control panel etc.

My favoured route to everything now is: press the window button, then start typing the name of the app you want, then press Enter when it's found it.

my dad's usb printer isn't installing properly and there's no sign of a driver for W8 or even W7.

Same for me (HP officejet in my case). This worked for me: Control Panel | Devices and remove the printer; download the drivers & software for whatever the latest supported Windows version is (sounds like Vista in your case); and run the installer in the appropriate compatibility mode

[Platypus]

I'm going SCO Openserver....

[PAH]

That thread doesn't say anything about how to get the 100 quid subscription.

Here's how I got it for £100.21 + vat (vat reclaimed ):

http://forums.contractoruk.com/techn...-products.html

Annual renewal is normally under a ton too.

Doesn't include Visual Studio but I find the free express editions are good enough for playing around with at home.

[note to mod: insert smug smilie here please, ta]

[gadgetman]

Previously Discussed here:

http://forums.contractoruk.com/techn...tion-pack.html

That thread doesn't say anything about how to get the 100 quid subscription.

[FarmerPalmer]

100 quid!!! Then why the **** have I just shelled out £300 to renew my Action Pack

Do you get Visual Studio etc with that?

Previously Discussed here:

http://forums.contractoruk.com/techn...tion-pack.html

[stek]

Windows 8 is a mess! Early Learning Centre interface bolted onto what is still basically Win NT - OS/2...

I'm going SCO Openserver....