Windows 8.1 problems? (1 Viewer)

[MHVirgins]

I've just recently upgraded from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1 and have been having a couple of problems with laptop either not starting or being very slow to start up........just wondered if anyone else has experienced a similar problem.

Bill

 

[pappajohn]

revert to win 7 Bill.

Win 8 and updates will never be any good

 

[RS_rob]

yep....
after updates mine is slow to fire up & hangs on on a black screen while it does some configuration.

Have you got plenty of memory ?

the latest updates boot directly to the desktop & improve the performance.

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[MHVirgins]

revert to win 7 Bill.

Win 8 and updates will never be any good

The laptop (Lenovo G780) came with Windows 8 installed, but will look into your suggestion:thumb:

Bill

 

[MHVirgins]

yep....
after updates mine is slow to fire up & hangs on on a black screen while it does some configuration.

Have you got plenty of memory ?

the latest updates boot directly to the desktop & improve the performance.

Glad to hear it's not just us, we thought it was the laptop and were getting concerned as it's only 2 years old. As regards to memory......it's got a better memory than meoh:

We saw a thread on a computer forum and it appears that others have been having the same problems with Win 8.1 as well.
Have attached the link below for information.
http://www.eightforums.com/performa...8-8-1-painfully-slow-boot-take-10-15-min.html

 

[RS_rob]

Mine is not slow to boot unless its had a recent update.

The thing is with 8 & 8.1 they will automatically download updates in the background without you knowing then you go & shut it down as normal not noticing anything.
Nex time you switch it on it will install these updates & the result is a black screen @ some point during boot up, this is when you start to panic. I have learnt that when i see this its downloading or configuring an update & have to force myself to just leave it alone....

Its an 8.1 thing........

Id rather have xp but if over loook the sharp shiney stuff then you can see the xp underpinnings its just a shame they had to ruin the simple user interface of xp for this silly app style.
This is where I think I just happened to pick up the right laptop as I have buttons on the taskbar that if used correctly actually simulate the xp experience, I went to help the mother inlaw & she did not have these simple buttons & the same OS blew my mind away & left me lost n confused.....

but in a nutshell im putting up with it fer now until I launch it out the window

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[MHVirgins]

Mine is not slow to boot unless its had a recent update.

The thing is with 8 & 8.1 they will automatically download updates in the background without you knowing then you go & shut it down as normal not noticing anything.
Nex time you switch it on it will install these updates & the result is a black screen @ some point during boot up, this is when you start to panic. I have learnt that when i see this its downloading or configuring an update & have to force myself to just leave it alone....

Its an 8.1 thing........

Id rather have xp but if over loook the sharp shiney stuff then you can see the xp underpinnings its just a shame they had to ruin the simple user interface of xp for this silly app style.
This is where I think I just happened to pick up the right laptop as I have buttons on the taskbar that if used correctly actually simulate the xp experience, I went to help the mother inlaw & she did not have these simple buttons & the same OS blew my mind away & left me lost n confused.....

but in a nutshell im putting up with it fer now until I launch it out the window

Agree XP was great, but since we've had this new laptop we've have noticed that it automatically installs updates. Things have gone downhill since the 8.1 update the other day, so will probably look at trying to uninstall it if it continues to cause us problems, but the performance is great otherwise.
Will watch how I close it down tonight, given what I read on the Windows forum earlier today.

Bill

 

[RS_rob]

since you have only just upgraded from 8 to 8.1 I would suggest leaving it & periodically checking for further updates.

I personally wasnt over the moon with the 8.1 however found that further updates improoved it, the one that I received only last week was probably the best as it now boot directly to the desktop rather than the app screen without any after market software.

 

[TheBig1]

it sounds very much like the update to 8.1 failed for some reason. try downloading the update patch from the M$ website and manually install it with nothing else running

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows-8/update-from-windows-8-tutorial#update

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[RS_rob]

This is how my Desktop looks, the icons in the Taskbar are invalubale I just need to add a email shortcut.....

 

[OddSocks]

I think it is realy bad advice to tell someone who is not very capable with computers to downgrade from 8 to 7. There is a huge heap of trouble there for those who don't know what they are doing.

Much better to suck it up and get on with 8.1. Make sure all your updates are applied. The problem with auto update (Which is east o turn off by the way) is that sometimes people don't notice that updates are being run and they force the computer off during the update process. This is bad mmm kay?!

I have updated my W8 to W8.1 and I have set it up how I prefer it. I didn't want to but my old machine died. I am reluctantly pleased with this new one. It is lightening fast, boots very quickly, and only updates when I ask it to. Which I try and remember to do once a week - it does remind me now and then if I forget which is good.

It is all about set up.

I have used every version of windows the company has ever released, from 3.1 onwards. And most of their back office systems and server OS's too. They are all, every one of them, flawed and annoying to run. Just learn as much as you can about your current system and you will be able to get the best out of it.

Is your virus scanner up to date?
do you inadvertantly have two running by mistake? (You would have no idea how many times I see this error. And it does completely kill the performance of your computer.
Have you run a malwars scan recently? Even with the latest anti virus internet protection you WILL have malware you need to deal with.
SpyBot Search And Destroy is the best of the bunch in this respect. (But make sure you only get it from safernetworking.org and you deselct the all "I Aprove" buttons when you install it or you get a few other tune up programmes you don't need comes with it :Sad: )
Make sure you don't have programmes starting up every time you start your computer if you don't need them. TomTom is a great example. Do you need it to start up and monitor your computer in case you plug your satnav in, every day of the year, for the couple of times a year when you update your map? Not needed. Just slows you down. Especially if you have half a dozen other programmes all doing the same.
Don't have loads of stuff saved on your desktop. Just slows down your log in time.

With the 8.1 upgrade the OS is quick, stable and with some input from the user, actually quite usable too.

 

[Billy23]

I upgraded to 8.1 no problems at all, best advice..don't compare with win 7 or XP because it is of course different. Stick with it and all will be fine.:thumb:

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[Aikidomo]

Agree XP was great, but since we've had this new laptop we've have noticed that it automatically installs updates. Things have gone downhill since the 8.1 update the other day, so will probably look at trying to uninstall it if it continues to cause us problems, but the performance is great otherwise.
Will watch how I close it down tonight, given what I read on the Windows forum earlier today.

Bill

How many of you are running Google Chrome. I had a similar problem, installed Ch:thumb:rome and Whoosh!

 

[cmcardle75]

I have used every version of windows the company has ever released, from 3.1 onwards. And most of their back office systems and server OS's too. They are all, every one of them, flawed and annoying to run. Just learn as much as you can about your current system and you will be able to get the best out of it.

Windows 8.1 is fine, provided you install Classic Shell and accept that they have fatally broken OneDrive.

 

[dna]

Wrong display

I have a (older) Dell laptop with 8.1 installed. It has developed a strange random habit of trying to use a monitor connected to the VGA port rather than the built in screen (despite there being no monitor plugged in and not having been for months)

I have a boot password on the machine so now if nothing appears on the screen I type the boot password and hit enter. If the disk I/O list starts flashing I wait a few minutes and the log in screen appears.

Does this sound anything like your start up problem?

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[MHVirgins]

Windows 8.1 update!

I wanted to post an update and say thanks again to everyone who has taken the time to reply to my query.

I haven't been on the forum for well over a week now, but I will stick with 8.1 as it's behaving itself now. I am closing it down at night without any application updates pending on start-up in the morning. It's been starting up without any problems in the morning now and running very fast considering our humble, relatively slow downloads speeds from our rural exchange.

Oddsocks, I had worked for IBM since the mid 70's until retirement, from the days of OCRs through the personal computers era and endless DOS language commands, prior to the Windows days. In this case, it was a general query about 8.1 start-up and as to whether anyone else had experienced similar problems. Still early days with 8.1, but so far it seems to be running well:thumb:

Bill

 

[OddSocks]

Windows 8.1 is fine, provided you install Classic Shell and accept that they have fatally broken OneDrive.

Classic Shell is built in to 8.1 so no need for any additional installations. Yes, it is fine, but I still don't like it for personal reasons.

I wanted to post an update and say thanks again to everyone who has taken the time to reply to my query.

I haven't been on the forum for well over a week now, but I will stick with 8.1 as it's behaving itself now. I am closing it down at night without any application updates pending on start-up in the morning. It's been starting up without any problems in the morning now and running very fast considering our humble, relatively slow downloads speeds from our rural exchange.

Oddsocks, I had worked for IBM since the mid 70's until retirement, from the days of OCRs through the personal computers era and endless DOS language commands, prior to the Windows days. In this case, it was a general query about 8.1 start-up and as to whether anyone else had experienced similar problems. Still early days with 8.1, but so far it seems to be running well:thumb:

Bill

Hi Bill. I worked in IT from the Early 90's. Spent about 17 years of a 25 year career as an IT Manager, running systems for various companies in London. Didn't enjoy the job as much as the cash, which sadly lasted only a little longer than the job! Hey ho! Now I am foot loose and fancy free. And soon might be job hunting. Such is life. I'll never work in IT again though. Would rather stack shelves at the super market! :shout: