Upgrading to Windows 8.1 - your experience?

  • Thread starter Thread starter kingrob
  • Start date Start date
Did my desktop a few days ago. Went fine.
Did my Alienware this AM. Also fine.

Feels a bit snappier. Some decent new features. Nothing to write home about though.
 
Went smoothly for me - downloaded pretty quickly, rebooted, went out for a couple of hours, came back, asked me a few config questions and so far everything working exactly the way it did before.

Will live without classic shell for a while to see if I really need it.
 
I tred to update but it failed and now win 8 isn't activated anymore.
 
nfbs said:
I tred to update but it failed and now win 8 isn't activated anymore.
Click to expand...

Did the installation fail, or did the download fail?

Try to install it again?

If it's a Windows 8 notebook, then your Windows key is emprinted in your BIOS, it should pick it up when the installation is successful.
 
kingrob said:
Did the installation fail, or die the download fail?
Click to expand...
Just the installation I think. I left it overnight. Not sure if it was windows update unactivated me.
error.png

No I don't want to turn off my PC in case I can't log in.
 
For anyone getting the upgrade error 0xC1900101-0x40017, there are five known culprits at this stage:

1) Outdated Nvidia drivers -> Nvidia has the 8.1 drivers available on their site now.
2) Steelseries Engine 2.0 is installed -> Steelseries is working on the issue and will be sending out an update asap. In the meantime, don't upgrade, or use your hardware without the software.
3) Outdated Windows - search for new updates, install any that you find (even Silverlight), uninstall KB2849636 if it's on your system.
4) Upgrades on Windows 8 RT devices is completely borked. Microsoft will have pulled it from the store for all RT devices until they can fix it.
5) Some Intel systems using HD graphics need to disable HD graphics, install the update and then install latest drivers. For systems with Optimus or Enduro switching systems, disable the secondary GPUs and install their updated 8.1 drivers as well.
 
WIN 8.1 UPDATE EXPERIENCE

For the most part my upgrade to Win 8.1 on my Desktop PC on Thursday night was a breeze, except for the fact that the current drivers for my ZyXEL NWD2205 Wireless N Adaptor (used as an AP for my Smartphones and laptop) cause Win8.1 to BSOD with a BUGCODE_NDIS_DRIVER error.

I have un-installed them and will have to hunt for new drivers for the Wireless N adaptor, or source one that is Win 8.1 compatible.

I also had to re-install newer versions of Classic Shell (I see it retains the new Win 8.1 Start Button logo) as well as 8GadgetPack, so that these utilities would work on Win 8.1 as well.

I like the fact that you can use your current desktop wallpaper as a background for the Modern UI interface, as well as the scalable tiles that can now be categorised in groups - a welcome improvement over the original 8.0 version.

Also like that there is now an official Facebook UI tile available as an alternative to loading it in your browser every time.

Another welcome return is that Windows Media Player 12 is now included in Win 8.1 Pro, whereas it was an add-in before for 8.0, that required an additional purchase to get a licence key to enable it.

All in all - apart from the NDIS error issue - I am enjoying the subtle improvements in Win 8.1 so far.
 
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The first time I downloaded stupid App Store crashed while the process was at 57%, now I've just been wasting data. I cancelled the update after trying post losing ~5GB, and I can see a download in the background still going on. I'm on 3G, and I had to buy top-up data.

I'm quite frustrated with Microsoft and their decision not to make ISOs available. They should have learnt from the Windows XP days that their download management sucks, more than 10 years later, same rubbish. If I hadn't invested my money in Windows and Office, I'd just give up now and permanently boot to Ubuntu :(
 
I upped a Windows 8 to Windows 8.1

My biggest concern was my local account was changed into a Microsoft account. Closer inspection showed all my privacy settings to be set up to make me spam fodder, despite being as restrictive with permissions as possible.

In the end this necessitated me digging around in settings, researching, changing my Windose account back to a local account.

I really see this version flying in corporates like banks etc (not!). :sick:

This upgrade is dangerous as far as privacy goes!
 
Sollie said:
I upped a Windows 8 to Windows 8.1

My biggest concern was my local account was changed into a Microsoft account. Closer inspection showed all my privacy settings to be set up to make me spam fodder, despite being as restrictive with permissions as possible.

In the end this necessitated me digging around in settings, researching, changing my Windose account back to a local account.

I really see this version flying in corporates like banks etc (not!). :sick:

This upgrade is dangerous as far as privacy goes!
Click to expand...

which ones?
 
AfricanTech said:
which ones?
Click to expand...
Your local user (in Windows 8) is converted to a M$ user (in Windows8.1). This gives you the ability to have a Skydrive, sure, but I do not want one. Will M$ accept responsibility if they are hacked and passwords or info leaked? Yet this is the default.

Go to charms -> Settings -> PC Settings -> Privacy. All my options were on.

There are more. Unfortunately some were registry tweaks etc and I did not document all. I suggest use Google to search for "Windows 8.1 Privacy", not Bing ;)
 
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