Sheridan Posted October 18, 2013 Posted October 18, 2013 I know I've never been a fan of Windows 8 (understatement of the year 2013) but recent experiences have made me wonder what on earth MS have done with this! Today, I did a fresh install from DVD (iso from VLSC) onto a 2 year old good spec PC. Installation went ok but thats it - in the first stages of configuration I noticed the following: - You can't change the product key for activation (oh, unless of course you search for slui.exe 0x3, which is obvious really!) - IE10 hung on every page for ages - Enter a website on IE10 address bar, hit return and it doesn't do anything - Windows update doesn't work, hangs the machine (via metro or desktop) - Can't use the store as I have no internet access, despite entering the proxy settings Now I've installed 8 on several differing bits of kit for testing, and all of the above have become common annoyances. What a contrast to the 140 Windows 7 installs we've just completed!
free780 Posted October 18, 2013 Posted October 18, 2013 Well internet may seem slow if the auto detect proxy box is ticked.
casey Posted October 19, 2013 Posted October 19, 2013 (edited) I've only installed the VL version on 1 machine (mine, shortly after release last year). You are right about the product key problem, but on the full retail versions I have installed you can change the product key no problem. Never use IE so can't comment on those problems. The Windows Update thing is strange, both the VL version and retail/OEM versions lock the machine when trying Windows Update at work but if I try the same thing from home on the very same machines everything works fine. (Ports blocked? We are on South West Grid for Learning as our ISP) At first I couldn't access the store on my work machine, but I didn't need to. Then recently I wanted to look at something on the store and it worked fine. My conclusion is I don't mind Windows 8/8.1 for my own use but I hope never to deploy it on over 100 pc's at my school. Far too much work for little or no gain. Edit, update works fine through WSUS, you just have to wait for the updates to be 'noticed' by the computer, you can't hit the update button and get the patches from WSUS, that hangs/freezes the computer too. Edited October 19, 2013 by casey
Sheridan Posted October 21, 2013 Author Posted October 21, 2013 As far as I can tell update is completely broken for 8 if you're behind a proxy. It just hangs/crashes no matter how I do it!
themightymrp Posted October 21, 2013 Posted October 21, 2013 Ours update fine via WSUS, not sure about normally though as we do all our updates via WSUS. I hate the slui.exe 0x3 thing though - what plonker thought that one up??!!
Sheridan Posted October 21, 2013 Author Posted October 21, 2013 I know, how backwards is that! Remove the 'Change Product Key' link and force you use slui.exe (with 0x3 naturally!)
sted Posted October 21, 2013 Posted October 21, 2013 I know, how backwards is that! Remove the 'Change Product Key' link and force you use slui.exe (with 0x3 naturally!) I presume its to try to get people to put it in at install time or for it to be on the BIOS so you never know it (most new pcs just have a sticker that says win 8 there is no code)
tmcd35 Posted October 21, 2013 Posted October 21, 2013 I know, how backwards is that! Remove the 'Change Product Key' link and force you use slui.exe (with 0x3 naturally!) Does't the VL version default to using a KMS key? So by default it's looking for a KMS server? Same as Windows 7 Pro VL.
gshaw Posted October 21, 2013 Posted October 21, 2013 On a related note the Windows Store seems to be causing headaches for lots of users, I posted a fix I found on the 8.1 Beta on my blog ad had comments from quite a few people since all having connection issues. The dangers of relying on the Cloud eh...
SYNACK Posted October 21, 2013 Posted October 21, 2013 The key UI is understandable, it is the volume licence version designed to be activated by a kms server not manually, if done manually they would just expect you to use slmgr.vbs like all the other volume products. The proxy thing is stupid but you probably need to use the netsh proxy import command to bind it to apps etc, again it is designed for transparent proxies or direct connections but at least it can do it if you set it right, this should help with the store and speed too. Not sure about the IE11 issue as it has worked fine on my machines. I will say that 8.1 seems to be a massive hash with regards to drivers as 8 was way more responsive than 8.1 to the point I'm considering a roll back to 8.
sparkeh Posted October 21, 2013 Posted October 21, 2013 The proxy thing is stupid but you probably need to use the netsh proxy import command to bind it to apps etc, again it is designed for transparent proxies or direct connections but at least it can do it if you set it right, this should help with the store and speed too. Just faced this. God knows why we are still dealing with this kind of nonsense, why can't we set a proxy in *one place* and that be the end of it? For some reason, for me, importing the proxy didn't work, it imported the wrong port number, which was quite odd. Anyway, setting the proxy manually on the commandline got the Windows Store working.
sparkeh Posted October 21, 2013 Posted October 21, 2013 *sigh* spoke too soon, I can now open the store but updates stick at 'pending' and 8.1 is nowhere to be seen...
Michael Posted October 21, 2013 Posted October 21, 2013 It's pretty clear Microsoft doesn't want its users using proxies, I have to agree. You lot are pretty brave rolling out Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 in a live environment - there just isn't the GPOs there (last I checked), to give that 'real' locked down, yet functional experience offered with Windows 7. 1
sparkeh Posted October 21, 2013 Posted October 21, 2013 It's pretty clear Microsoft doesn't want its users using proxies, I have to agree. You lot are pretty brave rolling out Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 in a live environment - there just isn't the GPOs there (last I checked), to give that 'real' locked down, yet functional experience offered with Windows 7. Woah let me excuse myself from that We have 1 Win 8 laptop, mine, and its driven me back to using Linux
Michael Posted October 21, 2013 Posted October 21, 2013 I agree also with Sheridan that Windows 8's Update function is problematic. In some cases I've manually downloaded and applied the update. I remember seeing the same problems with Windows Vista Argghh!!
sparkeh Posted October 21, 2013 Posted October 21, 2013 I agree also with Sheridan that Windows 8's Update function is problematic. In some cases I've manually downloaded and applied the update. I remember seeing the same problems with Windows Vista Argghh!! Yes! That's right. Gives weight to the old 'one bad release/one good release' theory I am hoping that 8.1 makes some improvements, I'll see if I manage to get it installed
SHimmer45 Posted October 21, 2013 Posted October 21, 2013 not done much with win8 yet but was appalled when i installed the 8.1 update and found that it does the windows.old folder trick and completely nuked the wireless on the laptop (HP 250G1) system restore and it works right out of the box. i think they REALLY have dropped a massive b*llock with win 8 on none touch devices
themightymrp Posted October 21, 2013 Posted October 21, 2013 How do you mean nuked the wireless? The 4 machines I'm testing with Windows 8 on (not updated as yet) are the same model of laptop!! I don't want to upgrade them if it's going to screw up!
SHimmer45 Posted October 21, 2013 Posted October 21, 2013 How do you mean nuked the wireless? The 4 machines I'm testing with Windows 8 on (not updated as yet) are the same model of laptop!! I don't want to upgrade them if it's going to screw up! as in after the upgrade it was not able to even see any available AP's and it have changed the driver for the Wlan card. possibly the driver support for 8.1 isnt quite there for some hardware ( RALINK RT320) 1
SHimmer45 Posted October 21, 2013 Posted October 21, 2013 it might not be an issue for you but i just hate the fact there is a 10GB folder sat about doing nothing. and its for this reason i dont do upgrades...
Sheridan Posted October 21, 2013 Author Posted October 21, 2013 God I would never put this out live! I'm deploying 7 now and just testing 8, although I've found enough problems to put me off for a good while
SHimmer45 Posted October 21, 2013 Posted October 21, 2013 its pretty much put me off even thinking about windows 8 in any kind of professional environment.
sted Posted October 22, 2013 Posted October 22, 2013 its pretty much put me off even thinking about windows 8 in any kind of professional environment. 8.1 has completely changed my mind about that 8.0 no way would i deploy it 8.1 i already have trial pcs out there and am seriously contemplating doping full refeshes to it
sparkeh Posted October 22, 2013 Posted October 22, 2013 Ok progress. I followed some suggestions from *a lot* of people having the same issue and ran the windows update troubleshooter which apparently fixed the update database and repaired some component. Now the updates are starting, then failing but at least giving me an error: "Something happened and this app couldn't be installed. Error Code: 0x80248014" Something happened - another great MS error message 1
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