Windows 8.1 - computer will not shut down properly after upgrade

[Andrew6974]

Hi everyone

 

Yesterday I decided to 'take the plunge' and upgrade my laptop to 8.1.

 

Everything went well. It was all done in less than an hour. So I think great !  for once it all worked out okay and no problems...

 

...but no. That would be too simple.

 

Since I upgraded to 8.1 my laptop will now hang on shutdown and I now have to press the button to force it to shutdown.

 

I'm thinking it might be a driver issue or perhaps something has happened in the BIOS ?

 

Other than this nagging issue which at the moment is just an annoyance more than a problem the system is running fine on 8.1.

 

At this stage I'm thinking of three options...

 

1 - Revert back to Windows 8.0 and just stick with that

2 - Take it back to my local Sony store for support.

3 - Downgrade to Windows 7 and forget all about Windows 8 which I never really liked anyway.

 

Do any of you experts here have any advice on how I may diagnose the issue ?

 

Also - I'm seriously thinking of going for the downgrade route (to Windows 7). I would probably have someone do it for me, but in general is changing operating systems a straightforward process ?

 

Any opinions / advice would be most welcome...

[David H. Lipman]

I have seen that too with v8.1 preview.  It isn't that it hangs.  It takes an extraordinary long period to complete the shutdown process.

[Andrew6974]

Were you able to resolve or determine the exact cause of this ?

 

I'm just trying to figure out if it's a compatibility issue, an installation problem or a bug with 8.1 which hasn't been fixed yet.

 

Surely if it was a bug in 8.1 they would have fixed it before releasing the final version.

 

Regardless of whether it is truely 'hanging' or as you say taking an extraordinary long time to complete shutdown it is unacceptable.

 

The next time I shutdown I will leave it for a few hours and see if it does actually shut down eventually.

In all honesty usually after about 10 minutes I just lose patience and do a forced shutdown. A normal shutdown before I upgraded to 8.1 would take mere seconds - even a few minutes I would consider an unacceptable / abnormal length of time for a shutdown.

 

Thanks for responding.

[AdvancedSetup]

Unless it is a bug affecting many others I would not expect a fix from Microsoft anytime soon.

[Andrew6974]

I've done some checking around the net.

 

There were a cluster of these kind of complaints dated June / July with the 8.1 preview version, but there are also a number of new complaints now from people like me who have just upgraded with the wide release of 8.1.

 

It does not appear to be a widespread problem though. I just seem to be one of the lucky few to have been affected by this issue

 

I will report the issue to Sony. Mabye it's something to do with my particular VAIO model that Sony can resolve with an update.

 

I'm this close to taking the thing to my local computer store, throwing lots of money at them and begging them to wipe all trace of Windows 8 off my computer forever.

 

Windows 7 is much more user friendly for us people who still use actual real computers with keyboards and still has extended support until 2020. Seems like the best option.

 

Windows 8.1 - there's a halloween horror story for you

[CWB]

"I just seem to be one of the lucky few to have been affected by this issue"

better go buy that lottery ticket .

 

during one of the test installs with the 8.1 evaluation release , i had a machine that took an inordinate amount of time to shut down and after restarting (it was the last automated installation restart) took some time to "produce" a proper deskto ... err ... ummm ... whatever the hell that thing is .

there may be a partial common problem/connection here ...

keep checking for your model number of laptop (or even "sony laptop") and the problem .

 

i would think that it may be related to the particulars of the "sleep/hibernate" mode(s) ... have you tried changing this in the OS and/or bios ?

basically tell the machine that you do not want to hibernate or "fold back" (aka : go semi-comatose) ... rock-n-roll until you shut it down .

 

ps ... 8.1 with "classic shell" is better than W8 by a fair stretch ... but MS is going to have to pitch a few more balls before they win a cigar .

[Scoop]

Andrew,

 

I hope you get your PC issue resolved soon.

 

Windows 8, that's a hot button topic in a lot of forums.  I've been reading a long thread over at the WIndows 7 forum about it.

 

My pov about this is that Windows 7 is a great OS platform for Desktops and Laptops.  My opinion is that MS got this one right.

 

Win 8, I think was a MS marketing mistake.  If they had targeted Win 8 for mobile / tablet users and hadn't tried to steer so many (desktop/laptop) PC customers into it with store-shelf PC's installed with 8, I think the Win 8 rollout would have gone smoother.

 

What I found interesting reading about this is that the "start button", etc, patches and 3rd-party software outlets ("Classic Shell") wasted no time in offering things that simulate a Win 7 environment, like booting to the Desktop etc.

 

I demo'ed Win 8 a few months ago at my local "Microcenter" store and wasn't impressed although to be fair, I wasn't in the market for a metro-style platform that, my take, is intended for the mobile market.

 

 

"I just seem to be one of the lucky few to have been affected by this issue"

better go buy that lottery ticket .

 

during one of the test installs with the 8.1 evaluation release , i had a machine that took an inordinate amount of time to shut down and after restarting (it was the last automated installation restart) took some time to "produce" a proper deskto ... err ... ummm ... whatever the hell that thing is .

there may be a partial common problem/connection here ...

keep checking for your model number of laptop (or even "sony laptop") and the problem .

 

i would think that it may be related to the particulars of the "sleep/hibernate" mode(s) ... have you tried changing this in the OS and/or bios ?

basically tell the machine that you do not want to hibernate or "fold back" (aka : go semi-comatose) ... rock-n-roll until you shut it down .

 

ps ... 8.1 with "classic shell" is better than W8 by a fair stretch ... but MS is going to have to pitch a few more balls before they win a cigar .

 

That's interesting info about the "sleep" mode.  I've been reading about that recently.

 

Yes, that's sort of ironic to me,  "Classic Shell", 8.1 release....seems to say something about the original Win 8 rollout going less successful than MS had planned.

[Andrew6974]

"I just seem to be one of the lucky few to have been affected by this issue"

better go buy that lottery ticket .

 

 

Yeah I wish I'd bought one yesterday. I would have hit the jackpot

 

Seriously, you can't make this stuff up. Out of MILLIONS of people worldwide who have upgraded to 8.1

I am quite possibly one of just a few hundred people who have been affected in this way.

 

It's definitely hanging though. After several hours it had still not shut down.

The screen goes black but the keyboard is still backlit and you can still hear that it is on. So it definitly is not in hibernation or sleep mode.

 

Other than this issue though there is no doubt that 8.1 with classic shell is an improvement.

 

I suspect this may be an issue specific to a few isolated models of computers including (unfortunately) my VAIO. I'm going to get in touch with tech support at Sony later to make them aware of this. Hopefully they can look into it, replicate the problem and issue some sort of patch / update. This is likely to take some time though. I may be better off just rolling back to 8.0 for now.

[Andrew6974]

Andrew,

 

I hope you get your PC issue resolved soon.

 

Windows 8, that's a hot button topic in a lot of forums.  I've been reading a long thread over at the WIndows 7 forum about it.

 

My pov about this is that Windows 7 is a great OS platform for Desktops and Laptops.  My opinion is that MS got this one right.

 

Win 8, I think was a MS marketing mistake.  If they had targeted Win 8 for mobile / tablet users and hadn't tried to steer so many (desktop/laptop) PC customers into it with store-shelf PC's installed with 8, I think the Win 8 rollout would have gone smoother.

 

Thanks Scoop.

 

The annoying thing is that I held off buying a new laptop early last year knowing that Windows 8 was just around the corner.

Makes sense to wait a few months longer to get the latest and most secure OS right ?

Oh how I regret that decision now !!

 

I would have been much happier with Windows 7.

 

I just don't understand why Microsoft didn't develop a seperate product to specifically target the tablet / smartphone market rather than trying to force an 'unnatural' environment upon traditional PC users, which still number in the hundreds of millions by the way !!

Do you hear that Microsoft ?!

 

And really Windows 8 should have come with a built-in "classic mode" option right from the get-go.

 

Yep, Windows 7 is looking really tempting right now. Amazon are still selling OEM copies of Windows 7. I'm thinking about buying one and having someone install it for me.

[Scoop]

Thanks Scoop.

 

The annoying thing is that I held off buying a new laptop early last year knowing that Windows 8 was just around the corner.

Makes sense to wait a few months longer to get the latest and most secure OS right ?

Oh how I regret that decision now !!

 

I would have been much happier with Windows 7.

 

I just don't understand why Microsoft didn't develop a seperate product to specifically target the tablet / smartphone market rather than trying to force an 'unnatural' environment upon traditional PC users, which still number in the hundreds of millions by the way !!

Do you hear that Microsoft ?!

 

And really Windows 8 should have come with a built-in "classic mode" option right from the get-go.

 

Yep, Windows 7 is looking really tempting right now. Amazon are still selling OEM copies of Windows 7. I'm thinking about buying one and having someone install it for me.

 

My friend bought a new Win 8 Laptop for his wife recently and the first thing he did was to load Classic Shell onto it

 

I know what you mean about that Amazon item.  I might ask for a special delivery in a few weeks

[Andrew6974]

Problem solved it would seem.

Sony issued a bunch of new driver updates through VAIO update yesterday. The shutdown problem has now completely disappeared.

 

I also noticed the other day that the upgrade to 8.1 corrupted my PowerDVD program leaving it completly unusable.

I had to uninstall / reinstall that to get it working again.

 

Looks like I've managed to work through the 'teething problems' with 8.1 and get my system running smoothly.

 

I don't think I'll ever be a true convert / fan of Windows 8, I'm especially annoyed by the way they are trying to force microsoft accounts on eveyone and steer us towards cloud storage, but it's not so bad once you work out the kinks and get used to it.

 

[AdvancedSetup]

If you pay attention when setting up the account you can use a local account and bypass the "cloud" account.  Most people seem to miss that option though.
 
How to Switch from a Microsoft Account to a Local Account in Windows 8 and 8.1

How to bypass the Windows 8 lock screen

How to Disable the Lock Screen on Windows 8 Without Using Group Policy

Windows 8 start menu by Stardock

Classic Shell

[Andrew6974]

Hi Ron, thanks for all the links.

 

Unless I missed something the Microsoft account is forced upon you during the setup process for 8.1 (unless there was an opt-out that I missed ?), but the first things I did after setup was to log out of the Microsoft account, revert back to my local user account, setup 'boot to desktop' mode and install classic shell.

 

I then went to Microsoft and closed down the account they forced me to set up just 30 minutes earlier 

 

Uploading files to Skydrive is turned off by default I believe. At least it was on my computer when I checked.

 

Annoyingly I had previously uninstalled the Skydrive app when I first got the computer. But 8.1 puts it right back in there - and not surprisingly there's no uninstall option this time.

[CWB]

i thought it was a "requirement" as well and i got to thinking (a scary process if there ever was one) ; "what about machines with no internet access ?" .

i let it slide and moved forward .

during an install i got sidetracked and managed to "bypass" the supposed requirement .

the first link ron posted explains how to do away with that *supposed* requirement .

what chaffs me is that this whole process is somewhat less than upfront ...

some might use the word "obfuscated" while others would use the term "clear as mud" .

this is but one more aspect of why W8/8.1 is in need of some fairly serious overhauling .

[AdvancedSetup]

During the initial install it does give you the option to "not" use a Microsoft account but again it's not prominent is all.

[hoople]

My only problem with 8.1 is that the search from the start screen has been changed somehow. It says that it is set to "Everything", which is painfully slow despite having "Use Bing to search online" disabled.

I do have indexing turned off, but really the only results I want to have pop up are Applications+Settings+Files and Windows 8 appeared to handle this fine. Windows Explorer jumps to 100% CPU, and I'm not sure why unless it's trying to scan my external drives.

[Andrew6974]

My only problem with 8.1 is that the search from the start screen has been changed somehow. It says that it is set to "Everything", which is painfully slow despite having "Use Bing to search online" disabled.

I do have indexing turned off, but really the only results I want to have pop up are Applications+Settings+Files and Windows 8 appeared to handle this fine. Windows Explorer jumps to 100% CPU, and I'm not sure why unless it's trying to scan my external drives.

 

 

Hi hoople,

 

Sorry to hear about your own problems with 8.1.

I haven't experienced any problems with search functions myself but I have heard that others are experiencing problems similar to yours.

 

This is almost identical to the problem you describe...

http://superuser.com/questions/666787/windows-8-1-search-charm-slow-with-explorer-exe-cpu-usage-at-100

 

There is also a good tutorial here about optimising search functions, updated for Windows 8.1...

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/4595-search-windows-8-a.html

 

It might be worth registering and starting a new thread about your problem over at eightforums. They might be able to offer more assistance.

 

You could also try the help forums here...

 

http://answers.microsoft.com

http://bleepingcomputer.com

http://tomshardware.com

 

Hopefully there is a solution to your problem out there somewhere !

[hoople]

Yeah I did find that StackExchange post and re-enabling/rebuilding/adding AppData to the index didn't fix it. It's really a minor issue so I'm not too concerned, but the search is really quite inefficient now as it takes almost a minute for the CPU usage to go back to normal after making a selection OR canceling the search.

[Andrew6974]

Sorry I couldn't be more helpful hoople.

I'm not one of experts, just a regular member, and as such not qualified to help troubleshoot / solve technical problems.

 

The best suggestion I can give if you have not already done so is head over to the Windows 8 forums and start a thread there.

There will be plenty of people who are experts in Windows 8 / 8.1 matters. And as you can expect 8.1 is the hottest topic over there right now

 

http://eightforums.com

 

In more general terms though a lot of people are complaining that certain aspects of Windows 8.1, such as the search function, are not working as efficiently as before. Even though my shutdown problem was resolved by some driver updates from Sony I have noticed there is still a bit of a lag when booting straight to desktop. It takes about a minute longer now, but like you said with your problem it's a minor thing and I'm not too concerned about it just now. Just annoying.

 

 

[Tomlee]

Create a shutdown shortcut on desktop. right click on desktop, new, shortcut. type I - shutdown.exe -s -t 05  , next, name = shutdown, finish. Right click on the shortcut you created, select properties, change icon, ok, select shutdown icon, finish. This will shutdown computer in 5 second, to increase or decrease time change the 05 to what you want. to create restart change s to r.

[thais]

I, too, have a Windows 8.1 machine.  Was bought as Windows 8 and then upgraded to Windows 8.1.  I have used Malwarebytes AntiMalware Free for years on previous machines and now, also on this machine with no problems.  I am considering purchasing the Malwarebytes Antimalware Pro and am wondering if anyone is still having issues with Win 8.1 and Pro?

Also, does the license cost cover lifetime use or does it have to be renewed yearly?

 

Thanks...............thais

[daledoc1]

Hi, thais:

 

I can't address the 8.1 issues, as I run 7 on all my rigs, but AFAIK the VAST majority of users with 8.1 have no problems with MBAM PRO.

(A single forum thread doesn't accurately reflect the experiences of most users....)

 

Re: licensing:

If you are running 1.75 PRO with a current, valid, lifetime, 1-computer, consumer license, it will be automatically migrated to a similar license for 2.00 when the new version is released in the next few weeks.

Any new consumer licenses for 2.00 will cover 3 computers each, but they will need to renewed annually on a subscription basis.

 

So, if you want lifetime license(s) for your computer(s), it would be advisable to purchase them now, while they are still available.

(There is a discount for multiple licenses purchased at the same transaction.)

 

HTH,

 

daledoc1

[CWB]

one of my machines was XP , it has been 8.1 (full format and install with classic shell) .

i have been running the beta versions of the new MBAM flavor on it ... no problems .