Originally posted by Sysman
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Reply to: Windows 8.1 - verdict?
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Previously on "Windows 8.1 - verdict?"
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A path less travelled
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Originally posted by d000hg View PostI've 8.0 installed in parallels on my Mac since it was the cheapest way to get a legit copy of Windows at the time (£25 IIRC). Works OK, even in a VM on a low-spec machine, but I might as well upgrade.
Anyone know if upgrading a VM would be any different to a regular PC? I don't have much installed on it - VC++, Office basically, but an in-place upgrade would be preferable.
No VM specific problems seen here. I'm using VMware Fusion but don't see how Parallels should be any different.
For anyone upgrading a VM I'd recommend taking snapshots at convenient points in case of host crashes, loss of internet connection etc. I took snapshots:
- before I began the download
- somewhere at the end of the download - not sure I got this exactly at the right point but I didn't want to start the lot again from scratch
- while sitting on the licence agreement yes/no bit - this way I could try out what happened if I said No.
- before the first login after the update - this is how I managed to back out of having my login linked to an MS online account
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I've 8.0 installed in parallels on my Mac since it was the cheapest way to get a legit copy of Windows at the time (£25 IIRC). Works OK, even in a VM on a low-spec machine, but I might as well upgrade.
Anyone know if upgrading a VM would be any different to a regular PC? I don't have much installed on it - VC++, Office basically, but an in-place upgrade would be preferable.
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For those that want the ISO to do a clean install here is a way to download the Win 8.1 ISO -
http://winsupersite.com/windows-8/wi...-8-product-key
If you don't have a Windows 8.1 Product Key then you need to use one of the generic keys to install the OS and then activate using your Windows 8 product key. You can find the generic keys here - Appendix A: KMS Client Setup Keys
Why do MS make such a simple things so difficult? I shouldn't be surprised but after how easy it was to get Win8 installed using an ISO this is a PITA in comparison.
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Installed mine with defaults - I already sign in with my MS account.
On a Dell desktop PC originally Visa but clean installed to W8 last year.
First impressions - new Start button is just about usable.
Click on it and go down to Apps to get a tiled Start Menu.
Right click and get useful stuff including shut down
Will leave Start replacement, Start-X, off for a while and see if I can live with it.
SkyDrive looks useful - I use SugarSync for cloud backup at the moment.
Tried SugarSync for sync between PC and two Android devices but had too many issues with duplicate files turning up when it gets confused so might see how SkyDrive compares.
Other than that, it installed and works!
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Originally posted by Sysman View PostIf you are intending to upgrade to 8.1, wait. Someone will probably come up with a workaround for the MS account sign up.
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Originally posted by Sysman View PostSkydrive for all documents is enabled by default.
Ah, I didn't mention that bit, did I?
Because I bought the German version originally and then added the English-GB language pack, I got all the licencing crap and installation dialogue in German. The only warning of that was a message during the upgrade that I'd need to reinstall my language packs after the upgrade.
For some reason MS seem to be completely anal about multilingual support...
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Originally posted by stek View PostSeems the trick is to disable the internet during setup...
I can't say I'm overwhelmed by them trying to make a pseudo corporate net from a bunch of private machines, even if it is just at the login level, too much a case of the thin edge of a massive wedge.
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I installed 8.1 on my Lenovo Helix running win 8. So far...
1. Had to install old graphics driver from Lenovo website. I had issues with one of my dual monitors and a matrox box showing out of range message. Spent a morning attempting various things before reverting to an old driver.
2. Old Cisco VPN software didn't work, ended up editing the registry to get it working. To be fair this is a really old bit of software not supported by Cisco.
3. Sleep mode no longer works and all my power saving settings had been reset. I have to hold the power button down to reset the machine, really annoying.
On reflection I should have waited a while. Still like window 8 though.
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Have done a fresh 8.0 install, an XP to 8.0 upgrade and an 8.0 to 8.1 upgrade and confirm the bit about pulling the cable out during the setup of the options. You can use the back buttons if you hit the screen and it will still work. It thinks about it for 60 secs then logs in with your previously setup local account.
Search is better as you dont have to pick which category you're searching on, and you can boot straight to desktop and skip Start by using the properties box launched from the toolbar. The return of the Start Button was a bit of a fudge. You can shut down and set options but if you need apps, it's off to the Start screen again.
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Originally posted by stek View PostSeems the trick is to disable the internet during setup...
Virtual machines with the ability to revert to snapshots are nifty things...
Edit: Found an easier way than yanking the cable.
The first login appears to default to the last user you logged in as under 8.0 (i.e. the one you invoked the 8.1 update from).
Beneath that is a prompt "I am not <username>". Click on that and it chugs away without asking you for a Microsoft account.
Further digging around reveals that they appear to have "forgotten" about the EU mandated browser choice. There's a patch up the spout to fix that, dated 1st October, but it wasn't there yesterday when I looked.Last edited by Sysman; 20 October 2013, 05:55.
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I tried hard to like 8 and eventually binned it so 8.1 won't get an airing here. Most of the machines here are Linux with a couple of boxes with XP and 7. The XP box will shortly become a FreeNAS server leaving just the 7 machine to do the music stuff I need it for.
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Hmm, that's a concern, one of my sons is getting a new laptop in the next week (Dell replacement since they failed horribly to fix his old one under the warranty) and it comes with Windows 8.
I'm likely to be on site when it arrives so I won't be able to intercept the junk if it tries to make him jump through hoops.
I may well have to downgrade the damn thing to Win 7 when I'm back home if it appears to take the mickey too much.
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