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So I switched to Windows 8

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Sorry for this wall of a post, but for anyone considering switching to Windows 8 and you are contemplating it.

 

Ok so I got my self a free copy of windows 8 from onthehub and I thought might as well. Lately I've been installing all soft ware to a separate hard drive and also storing media there as well. So just in case things go nasty I can just format drive c and go back to windows 7.

 

The install went smooth but I ran into some issues:

 

Internet Download Manager somehow found out it was a cracked copy and whined like a bitch, I had to re install that.

 

But more importantly many of my programs that use an active internet connection didn't seem to work. When I tried using my web browsers they also were really fked up, at first I thought no connection at all but I later found out that some major websites did work such as google etc. But even google only the root page worked, I couldn't click on results (only google cache)

I am using the google DNS so I thought I'l get rid of that, still no go. After doing some research on a computer without windows 8 and a little through google caches I managed to fix the issue and for those who wonder what I did here it is:

 

go to cmd as administrator

type "netsh winsock reset catalog" without quotes and enter

type "netsh int ip reset reset.log hit" without quotes and enter

hit enter again and reboot. If you are getting the command not found just copy paste these in directly (to paste into cmd you need to right click)

 

Ok so the next thing, before I wanted to reboot I noticed there is no start button. Now I have nothing against that because when you click the windows key it pops up the metro thing and it works as an effective start menu and it is quite snappy so no issues there BUT there was no restart or power down options etc there. I found out if you wanna do that you have to move your mouse to the bottom right or top right of your monitors and hover there for a new menu to pop up. Then you need to click settings for some reason and there you have a power button and then you can click power and then the option to restart is shown. That is WAYY too much so I found a way to get the classic start button back.

 

Its called Classic Shell heres the URL:

http://www.classicshell.net/

This is a clean (by that I mean looks good and is virus free) application that is very light weight and runs smoothly . It did every thing I could ask for and I am okay with that now.

 

After the reboot my internet began to work properly as well and I noticed it wasn't as snappy as before but I forgot I had taken off my google DNS (my local isp DNS is SHIIIIT) but I quickly switched it back and things began to feel like windows 7 again.

 

I tested some games (LoL, SC2, BF3 so far) LoL and SC2 worked with no problems and all hacks I use for these games worked fine as well. SC2 I noticed began to lag but the funny thing was this is not Windows 8's fault. I did NOT install any graphics card drivers and it worked for LoL so I completely forgot about that. After an update of my gfx drivers things were smooth. BF3 worked fine to for a couple seconds but then I got a punk buster error. Now I got BF3 through origin so I had installed that to drive c, and I guess the pb files weren't configured properly so I had to fix that.

 

I did so by going into C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\Battlefield 3\__Installer\punkbuster\redist and then copy the pbsvc into the root bf3 folder and run it and run for repairs.

After that I got some error but PB insisted that it was successful so I said fk it who am I to judge. I tried to go in que for BF3 agfain but I got a blue screen with a dump log shown to me, no 1 second flash this one prompted me to click restart and I did and it rebooted and asked me to submit user info to M$ if I want and I did to help out others in the same issue. Then BF3 worked fine and no more issues.

 

At this point I have used Windows 8 for about a week now and things are very stable and it feels like windows 7 again. Now you might ask wtf why go to 8 if it is stable and feels like 7. Well my answer to that is honestly if you have a pretty good rig you probably don't need to. But I have noticed windows 8 does use about 0.8 GB less ram, it boots faster, there are some neat features, obviously it is more future ready, for those of you who have access to onthehub this is a free legal copy eligible for legit windows support and updates. These kind of factors are kind of worthwhile imho. Also every other thing I do transfered flawlessly. I have not noticed any HUGE issues but I think some one who is not as effective with computer troubleshooting would have had a terrible time. I honestly think 90% of the nubs out there would have been raging at the internet connection issue I described had they go that problem. I doubt that happens to every windows installation and most likely it was something unique to my experience but still it was pretty gay.

 

I still don't regret the switch over, at least not yet.

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Very informative. I still probably won't switch over for a little while longer. Possibly for another year.

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Did you at least install 8.1? And why would you have a cracked OS? Aren't you old by now?

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Did you at least install 8.1? And why would you have a cracked OS? Aren't you old by now?

I don't really know what to say to the old factor. If you mean that I can afford buying / contributing to M$ because I am old enough then I guess I am. But I still would rather pirate. For the past 10 years or so I've had legal copies of OS but tbh installing pirated versions are less hassle imo. I've usually stripped down my iso, splitstreamed updates and software . I realize I could have done that with legal copies too but I didn't wan to have to rip the disc. And besides I had pirated copies before legal ones.

 

 

As far as the 8.1 goes, tbh with you I haven't an idea as to if I have or not. I believe I haven't because it didn't come with a start button. I just installed w.e onthehub gave me.

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I've been running windows 8 since rc1. The only thing that has wowed me is the new task manager and the fact that the troubleshooter actually does something %25 of the time. Apart from that it's pretty "meh." I have a touch screen and I still just hit the desktop as fast as I can. Get used to hitting the windows key and just typing whatever you want because metro is boo-boo. I only got it because it was $15 :\

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I found a recent issue with the browser I am using + youtube.

 

Its really weird, occasionally youtube will play the same video over and over no matter what I click. I can even go to the youtube home page with no video playing but it will still play the video.

 

This issue isn't there with the major browsers like FF, IE or Chrome. I am using Maxthon 3. I have too much vested to switch browsers. As a remedy I am using Chrome when I wanna browse youtube.

 

Some things I tried was re-installing flash player. Re-installing maxthon 3, and I even tried Maxthon Cloud browser no go. I also tried entering the HTML5 trial youtube offers as Maxthon is one of the best supported browsers for HTML5. But the issue remains. This isn't major, not a factor for me to get rid of windows 8 but it is concerning. Especially since I am only in the testing phases of this OS, I hope I don't find too many new surprises.

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Windows key should not be new to you with Windows 8. How else would you run your commands on Windows 3.1-Windows 7?

 

Windows+R, type program...

 

Using a stripped down version, or anything non-TechNet md5 checked is leaving yourself open for issues. Even the activators while not "viruses" can still install report home functions.

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Alright... Time for Cripp's Shitty post with alot of spelling errors! Woo! Anyways, I personally do not have windows 8 but I have worked with it through a friends lap top and to be completely honest its not half bad. I do feel that windows rushed windows 8; more for its tablet users and lap top users than for desk top users. So I dont want to repeat what everyone has said already... I just feel like for someone new using a computer for the first time Windows 8 is confusing. I know it wouldnt seem that way but I feel you have to do extra "work" to navigate around in window 8. What I mean by that is my friend is not really good with computers and he could not tell me how to get to the Control panel. Once I googled it.... I just felt windows added more steps to get to the basic controls and the whole outlook looks/feels more for a tablet than for a desktop... That being said I dont believe its bad and agree with most of the post here....

 

 

 

Just for the lawls:

 

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Edited by Cripp

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When I purchased my laptop a couple months ago, I was forced to use Windows 8. The MSI GT70 with the specs I wanted just wouldn't allow anything but win8.

 

I miss the ease of the Windows 7 because it's a pretty stout OS, but Windows 8 isn't too bad. Although I almost sent the laptop back because of the bugs. Looking back now, I think it had more to do with MSI's shitty software than anything Microsoft did. After fighting with it for a month and finding a way to get my start menu back, I finally came to the point where it was a reliable system. Few hiccups here and there but for the most part I enjoy it. Not sure how it will run on a lesser system tho. I'm using an i7/670mx/16gb pc12800.

 

lol, as I just try to click the start button, the computer freezes. ha ha very funny,

 

I am having a slightly annoying problem that I may post tomorrow. I don't think it has anything to do with Win8 though. Just trying to move into the 802.11ac realm.

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When I purchased my laptop a couple months ago, I was forced to use Windows 8. The MSI GT70 with the specs I wanted just wouldn't allow anything but win8.

 

Lies! They have drivers right on there site for Win7 32& 64

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I'm sticking with Windows 7 until I'm forced out of it. I still have moments where I miss WindowsXP.

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I'm sticking with Windows 7 until I'm forced out of it. I still have moments where I miss WindowsXP.

 

Lies!

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I'm sticking with Windows 7 until I'm forced out of it. I still have moments where I miss WindowsXP.

 

Lies!

 

I haven't looked back at xp since 7 got pretty stable. However I do have certain moments when I miss 7 BUT all of those issues had quick fixes.

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I will not be using 8 anytime soon. No thanks

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