need to rant, Windows 8.1 problems

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

arggggg ! :x

I give up.

After about 20 hours (minus about 8 hours of sleep), I am unable to correct an issue with my computer sound "The audio service not running" Bad Image error. After some research, I tried some Microsoft fixers, then when that didn't work, I tried a aftermarket Windows fixer from Tweaking dot com, that just generated hundreds of error windows that needed to be closed to continue. Then I tried to refresh Windows-FAIL, I get memory errors. same with Restore.

I tried SFC /scannow- error can't complete... some other stuff at ADMIN command prompt (info from MS Windows forums)-ALL Failed. I tried to download 8.1 to USB stick to do a "safe mode refresh"-FAIL, "RPC server unavailable".

There were some others things I tried, that are too numerous to mention, AND after every one I did a restart... then usually gave the refresh and restore a retry...I believe that is the THINK I need to get done, to fix, what appears to be several corrupt files.

SO ANYWAY, Beside no sound, I get an alert to "setup Windows update", which when attempted, I get "action center can't change update settings, then I try to manually do it, as prompted to do, I get blank window with "failed to load".
When I restart, there is one or more updates that attempt to load and fail, so the computer prompts that updates unsuccessful, undoing updates (or some word like that?).

But, everything else seems to work. I hope this Toshiba laptop and crippled Win 8.1 can hold out til Win 10 is released on July29ish....and I hope MS will except my Best Buy "vendor Key" for 8.0 as that is all I have, thank's to "Magic Jelly Bean Key finder" because when attempting to download either 8.1 or 8.0 from MS Online it was not accepted for "retail" downloads. The real question is, if this thing won't download an update, how is it going to download 3gig of 10 ?

OK rant off !

Time to go outside and split some firewood or go to the rifle range.

PS, if I am "off- line" for a few days, you all will know why...

[gsdelong]

I think you either have bad ram or a failing hard drive by your description. I don't think your problem is windows 8.

[tryNto]

^ I agree , Try to remove all ram but 1 stick and give it a try.
If that don't work try the other stick if it had multiples.

[Petrol & Powder]

I liked Windows 7. If they had stopped there everyone would be happy,.... well I'd be happy and that's all that matters.

[dragonrider]

Windows 8/8.1 is trash, I went through two laptops with it, one I destroyed out of sheer madness and the other gave up and died of fear that I would destroy it, I then bought a brand new machine from HP with windows 7, I am very happy with it. Virtual nirvana by caparison.

[gpidaho]

8 is a complete *** only good for facebook and the like. I run 7 and am happy with it. GP

[Certaindeaf]

I'm no help. I laid hands on an 8 machine once. shudder. I think the 10 essentially replicates 7.. which is a good thing.
Good luck.

[alamogunr]

I needed a new computer last fall and shopped the internet until I found what I wanted with Windows 7 loaded. I used my Windows XP machine for 8 years and only replaced it because it was no longer supported. Granted, my primary usage is internet and personal finance(checkbook & credit cards).

[DougGuy]

I went to win 8 strictly for the audio engine. 24bit 192KHz is crispy good sounding stuff!

8.1 is horrible with file moving and storage, and it has issues you cannot resolve with any degree of common sense. I mean simple stuff like making every folder display in details view. Instead it defaults to list or some stupid ****. It cannot remember the last folder something was downloaded into, and seems to choose at random a folder it thinks you should save something in. Takes 4x longer to download a simple file because of all the mouse clicking you have to do to navigate back to the folder you JUST downloaded to. Grrrrrrrr..

[BD]

I also ran XP for 8 years with no issues until they stopped supporting it. My wife had 7 and I hated it so I broke down and bought a Mac. Took on a new project and right out of the gate they handed me a new HP with 8 on it. Two weeks later I handed it back in trade for the bosses brother's old HP with 7. I gave the fancy new rig with 8 to the boss. One day later I saw it on his desk with the screen smashed in :). Meanwhile, the Mac still works, and works with my phone, and the I-Pad they just gave me at work, and the smart TV at home and at work, and the ProCore software that runs the job, and the security system, and the apps written for for Cisco operating systems and pretty much every thing I need a laptop for. And, I don't even need to think much about how to do it, or how to post pictures, or anything much really. I just turn it on, and it does the figuring out, and it just works.

[tryNto]

Guess I'm the only one who has had no problems with 8/8.1 on 2 different machines.
Started With Windows 3.1, then 98, Then used XP from when it first came out till the end.
Once I got 8 tweaked to my likeing, it has been smooth sailing.
I use Start Menu 8 to get away from the App thing and it looks mostly like XP/7
A whole lot faster then XP.

Going to try 10 in July.

[MaryB]

I tried to fix a friends Win 8 issues and gave up... it had so many problems doin geven something simple that I finally told him to trash the hard drive and start over with Win 7

[dragon813gt]

Guess I'm the only one who has had no problems with 8/8.1 on 2 different machines.


No, you're not. These threads always amuse me. I really like Windows 8 but my laptop is also touchscreen. Haven't had one blue screen of death or any major issues. I recently upgraded to 8.1 so I could download Win10 for free if I want to. Only hiccup was that there is no driver for my wireless USB adapter. No big deal, bought a new one off Amazon which is fine because the new one doesn't block the other USB slot. Windows 7 was garbage just like Vista. I had nothing but constant crashes at the most inopportune moments.

[MediumCore358]

Windows 8 and 8.1 stink! 7 was okay. I'll never understand why company's constantly release new versions of programs when the old one ain't broke.

[cuzinbruce]

About holding out for the release on Win10; I, personally, would never get a release of Windows right at the start. I have always waited until the first service packs or updated version comes out. Windows always has issues when it first comes out. They never have it right from the start and I don't want to be their beta tester. I have spent too many hours in computer hell for that.
Good Luck!

[Ken in Iowa]

About holding out for the release on Win10; I, personally, would never get a release of Windows right at the start. I have always waited until the first service packs or updated version comes out. Windows always has issues when it first comes out. They never have it right from the start and I don't want to be their beta tester. I have spent too many hours in computer hell for that.
Good Luck!

That is very wise.

[pmer]

http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop

I'm still running Linux on my old 32 bit HP. Its XP operating system was on the fritz with tons of malware. I thought i'd run Linux till the HP died and then get a new PC but it keeps ticking and the Linux works good execpt for some compatibility issues here and there. No virus programs other than what is in the operating system.

[cajun shooter]

My computer repair man told me when I was having a terrible virus removed, what ever you do, don't download W 8 as it is nothing but trouble. Stay with Win 7 as long as you can. I have used that advise to the max and refuse to read any material about other programs.
To answer the posting that stated why would a company replace a program that was trouble free and working. The answer to that is covered with one word my friend "GREED"


Later David

[kfarm]

Bought an HP lap top just to have quickload on. In the year I've had it I have had it lock up 3 times and have had to do a restore on it. Gotta love windows.

[Moonie]

Interestingly enough, I'm a UNIX/Linux admin so one would think I would hate anything associated with M$. I actually like win7 and 8.1. But I do add a real start button to 8.1 by using classic shell. My preference is Linux of course, but for some things (programs) it really is just easier to run windows. I've upgraded my main laptop from 7 to 8.1, it dual boots Fedora 20 to get real stuff done.

I currently do UNIX security for Wells Fargo, don't get me started on the security issues associated with windows...

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I think you either have bad ram or a failing hard drive by your description. I don't think your problem is windows 8.


^ I agree , Try to remove all ram but 1 stick and give it a try.
If that don't work try the other stick if it had multiples.
2 years ago, when I bought this Laptop, I did add RAM, So I know there are more than one stick in there. Thanks for the hint.

[MaryB]

I would run linux but the laser engraver drivers are NOT compatible. And they will not run in a virtual machine, they lock up(I tried).

[khmer6]

Jon sounds like you may have the bad patch that crippled wsus and other updates. Don't have a link or kb for you to check. Also if you are desperate why not just refresh the laptop? Usually there is a partition from Oem with the WIM image file that came with out of the box.

[Cmm_3940]

I would back up whatever work product I needed to to usb/cloud/external HDD/whatever, then wipe the drive and do a clean install of W7. You have already put more time and aggravation into it than it's worth.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832416806

[tryNto]

Jon have you tried > http://www.howtogeek.com/206271/how-to-roll-back-or-uninstall-a-problematic-windows-update/

[Moonie]

As someone that gets calls constantly to fix friends computers I love 8.1. The reason? The ability to refresh. You can set the computer up exactly the way the person wants, then create a custom restore/refresh image very easily. If something breaks, you do a refresh, it keeps the users files intact and refreshes the OS. It works very well and saves a ton of time over installing from scratch. To setup the image is as simple as this:

recimg -CreateImage C:\RefreshImage
recimg /setcurrent "C:\RefreshImage"

The absolutely best feature of 8.x in my opinion. With Classic Shell it is actually tolerable.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

thanks for the tips...
As stated in the OP, I can't refresh, I can't restore...I get error messages.
2 years ago, when I bought this laptop, I clicked on a advertisement that said I needed to update drivers...I did, and it goofed them up. I learned about refresh and restore back then. I had setup refresh points back then ...BUT, they seem to have an expiration date, as there are now none listed (2 years later)?

Obviously, I have all important files saved on a ext Hard drive.

Also, I have uninstalled a few 8.1 updates. While searching on various fourms, I found a couple of updates that could cause some of the issues I am having, didn't help.

AVG shows my laptop is clean.
...It did have a "driver" file (dated 2013) quarantined (it was quarantined near the date of my issues starting), I thought it may have been my issue with having no sound. I unquarantined it, no help, but didn't cause any other problems.

I do like 8.1
I don't know what exactly happened here, I did read somewhere that some people have issues with AVG clashing with 8.1 ...much like quarantine thing I mentioned.
I have ordered new software, since I am unable to download anything MS. and it seems I would have issues with using the Best Buy Vendor Key in doing a download. I called Best Buy, I can't get a New key from them, without having them fix it for $$$.
SO, I ordered 8.1 pro with USB install media and a retail "Key".

Now the question is, when I get the new software, do I need to "wipe" the HD clean before I install, or does the install do all that ?
...The last time I did a full install of an operating system, it was in DOS ...I recall I did a "Format C:"

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

OH, also, I figure It would be better to have a "retail" Key for an upgrade to 10

OR, if I can't straighten out this laptop, I may build a desktop, then I'll already have this new 8.1 and then upgrade to 10

[Cmm_3940]

I would not trust the OS install to wipe all existing files, especially if you have something malicious hiding in there. I would consider creating a bootable USB stick and running a disk wiper program from there immediately before installing the new OS.

[khmer6]

You can boot from usb and do a clean install. It will give you the option to format and partition. You might have to turn off secureboot though. Windows 8 OEM doesn't really have keys. It's embedded into the chip

[shooterg]

I'm STILL using a desktop with XP ! The touchscreen laptop with 8.1 is OK for searching the web stuff, but for file management stuff it major sucks IMHO.

[Duckiller]

#1 son set up latest computer with Linex. Works great! have had few problems, fewer than microsoft.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

2 years ago, when I bought this Laptop, I did add RAM, So I know there are more than one stick in there. Thanks for the hint.
The mailman hand delivered my 8.1 Pro software today.
Before I started with the software, I removed one card (4gig) of RAM, then swapped that one out for the other(also 4 gig)...still have all the error messages when trying to restore or refresh...and all the other things that gave error messages.

So I proceeded to install the new software.
Doing a clean install of 8.1 Pro with a USB wasn't easy...although, once I figured out all the little things I needed to change in the Bios/Boot setup, as well as figuring out I needed to Delete "all" the partitions on the HD in the prelim to the advanced install ...then it didn't take long at all.

Success ! and Google chrome saved all my bookmarks and passwords, that is a mixed blessing for sure :veryconfu

I did have one issue when it was all done, I had sound but the headphone jack didn't work for my external speakers. That took some reading and finding the right driver to install from the Toshiba website, as the audio driver MS put in the software package was the problem with that. The weird thing was, that driver was 205MB and took 30 minutes to download:shock: -that much time just didn't seem right. Anyway, after it was installed(that took quite a while as well), Headphone Jack functions as it should.

ALL this to get sound back.
And then guess what, I bump the speakers off the table, they fall to the floor, one quits working. They were cheapo quality and I had bought them 'used' from a thrift store, so I chose to upgrade to a set of Yamaha's, I decided I use remote speakers way too much to have poor quality(mostly talk radio and podcasts). These Yamaha's have dual inputs, (I have a TV with the poorest audio, that also doubles as a monitor for watching youtube videos and such) I think I can have everything connected and the "auto-mix" feature on these yamaha's will play both sources at once...or (what I want) play one "or" the other without manual switches or changing connections/connectors.

Well another day spend fixing computer stuff. I am DONE for a while (I hope).

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

FYI, I am more convinced now, that my guess about AVG clashing with WIN 8.1 was my problem. I stumbled onto some complaints brought to AVG, and they replied that they were working on a fix. I can't remember where that was, their website forum or their FB page. Anyway, it makes sense as WIN 8.1 have virus software build into 8.1 called Defender...I think they fight each other if they are both on one computer and one isn't disabled.

[Cmm_3940]

So... When are you planning to upgrade to Windows 10? :kidding:

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I see you are pulling my chain, that's fine, and seriously, I'll probably ride the "8.1 pro" train, til I have another derailment :shock: or til sometime in the last month that 10 is offered for free as an upgrade :bigsmyl2: