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Windows 8.1 released


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Windows 8.1 released

 

posted by Thom Holwerda
on Thu 17th Oct 2013 13:33 UTC
 

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Less than a year ago we were preparing to launch Windows 8, which introduced our vision of highly personalized mobile computing. And here we are today announcing the global availability of Windows 8.1. Windows 8.1 demonstrates our commitment to continuously improving the product to create a richer customer experience. We are excited to have customers start updating their devices today and getting to experience new Windows devices this holiday season.

 

Out now for free for everyone with Windows 8.

 

Steve

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  • Root Admin

Thanks Steve.

 

I actually helped a user recently with an updating issue on Windows 8 that even doing a factory restore the updating issues would return.

It turns out the system came with McAfee antivirus and even after uninstalling it from the control panel and rebooting it apparently leaves enough files and registry entries behind that it interferes with normal Windows updates.  Using the manual removal tool to remove all traces of McAfee corrects the issue and Windows updates then work again without an error.

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Thanks Steve.

 

I actually helped a user recently with an updating issue on Windows 8 that even doing a factory restore the updating issues would return.

It turns out the system came with McAfee antivirus and even after uninstalling it from the control panel and rebooting it apparently leaves enough files and registry entries behind that it interferes with normal Windows updates.  Using the manual removal tool to remove all traces of McAfee corrects the issue and Windows updates then work again without an error.

 

I know I should have said something about my Updates Problem but I didn't want to go through running logs, etc, through our official channels here as I spend enough time as it is here. :P

 

MY Windows Update problems started with me using RevoPro uninstalled on the 90-day NORTON AV package that came with my computer and the uniinstall failed half-way through leaving garbage in its wake as well as ystem files that even "SFC Scannow" wouldn't fix.. I did use the M$ troubleshooter for the WinUpdate problem and it waid it fixed it but no joy.

 

I never made the connection between my NORTON fiasco and Windows Update until you posted the problem you had with McAfee... I was just lazy as it failed after the September updates and I knew that Windows 8.1 was coming and figured the new 8.1 system files would be a 50-50 chance off fixing my problem. It did..

 

But now I have 30-something Apps that need updating as well as I can't (user or ADMIN) change the "security services local status" from "disabled" to "delayed, auto-start" which is the Win 7 and Win 8.0 ACTION CENTER fix from most Googled sites. ????

 

I *am* going to see if NORTON has a similar tool for getting rid of crap left over; as McAfee goes, so goes NORTON, etc..

 

Thanks for the info Ron,

Steve

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@ ReviewAntivirus:

Make sure your Windows 8 is all current ( beforehand ) with Windows Updates.

One well-known 'net personality had to do that first ( as he had been out of town for the past few weeks and thus his box was not current for the last batch of updates from MS from October).

Also,

Why can't I find the update in the Store? - Microsoft Windows:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/why-can-t-find-update-store

Once that is out of the way, exit out of the Windows store tile. Then get back in ( fresh) and you ought to see the "new" offering to upgrade.

+

I would suggest you to reset Windows store cache memory and check if it helps.

You can follow the steps to do so:

a) On the desktop screen, pressWindows and R key to open run box.

b) Type WSReset.exe and hit Enter.

General notes on this free upgrade.

Do prep work ahead of time.

Make a WIN8 rescue disc just in case.

Do a full system image backup ( if possible) beforehand to offline storage media ( local external drive) that way if the upgrade fails, you can recover, and not just have a "brick".

How to create a Windows system image in Windows 7 and Windows 8

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/create-system-image-in-windows-7-8/

make a Windows 8 rescue disc and store away for safety

See Grinler's article http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/create-a-windows-system-repair-disc/

If laptop / notebook, connect to direct power source ( to prevent case of battery power loss).

I would advise closing all apps / programs beforehand and doing a fresh start of Windows.

Next, disable antivirus. Disable MBAM realtime protections. Same with any other security/realtime monitor. I'd even extend to turning off 3rd-party firewall ( and using Windows firewall instead) That is a tradition to prevent any possible interference.

Suggest you not use a wireless connection but have a direct connection to the hardware router/modem.

The download bits are quite time consuming. Meaning slow.

There are hundreds of thousands ( if not multiple millions) trying or will try to get the same bits.

Also, see this article at MS http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/update-from-windows-8-tutorial

Lastly, after the upgrade to Blue is completed, do a new run of Windows Update to get a few new applicable updates.

When all completed, re-enable the antivirus, and MBAM-PRO

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List of Uninstaller Tools

 

Norton Antivirus  File

 

Thanks @Ron - I found the tool before I saw your note. It did its thing but left the Norton app picture in the start.. Just went to the tiny apps icons below the BIG screen to uninstall that picture.

 

I agree with everything @Maurice said but since my system (especially WinUpdates) was only up-to-date since the initial September Tuesday updates (due to failure of the Update module) I took a chance and installed Win 8.1 anyway and it fixed all my missing updates. I just had to update the 4 from today (after 8.1) and hide the optional BING Desktop again..

 

Windows 8.1 broke a few of my pre-installed Apps but I just had to update 18 of them and repair 6 via the Store..

 

My Action Center service still can't start because both a logon via system and a try as ADMIN just wouldn't let me set the disabled service to start automatically with delay.  This problem started only after the Win 8.1 upgrade and the way to fix it only mention how with Win7 and how with Win8.. nothing on how with Win8.1.. No biggie..

 

 

Steve

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yessir ... just waiting for my copies of 8.1 to show up .

 

@ steve :

revo makes a backup of stuff ... you may have been able to re-install and get the updates back .

nice ... one removes an (-ahem-) AV/AM program and it pooches *something* ... just wonderful .

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I would think the SERVICES.MSC GUI would allow the change but if not then you may be able to change it using SC.EXE

 

Ron; I tried going through ADMIN TOOLS in the control panel - no joy.. Then I did a Windows-R, then "services.msc" and got the same GUI; same "no joy".. I went Windows-R and "sc.exe" but couldn't figure out where to go from there as I didn't see "auto delay start" as an option from the command line. I mean, I could Windows-X and run the command line as an ADMIN but I still don't know enough to set up the query/parameters..

 

If it helps, in all instances I had no ability to toggle or start the service in any of the GUIes - I had to go into "Properties" for the service to attempt to change the service from stopped to auto delay start..

 

You forget; I'm old and dumb.. :P

 

I did finally figure out how to auto-logon direct to the desktop tho' (only took 78 minutes and dumb luck - I'm great on dumb but short on luck, it seems. :))

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  • Root Admin

Hi Steve,
 
Hopefully this is the type of information you're looking for.
 

Error message: "Security Center service can't be started"

You can also do the following from an Elevated Admin command prompt
 

SC QC wscsvcSC QUERYEX wscsvcSC CONFIG wscsvc start= delayed-auto

You can also launch the Acttion Center from that same command line using the following
 

control.exe /name Microsoft.ActionCenter

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\wscsvc

 

 

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Ron; thanks for helping..

 

I have one of those enigmas wrapped in a conundrum.. I forgot to originally mention this.. Look at the pix below.. The only reason I know that the action center didn't start is the action center icon with a red X..

 

rzj.gif

 

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And naturally yesterday when I was messing around I changed my regular command prompt to Windows Powershell prompt.

 

I did try those commands you gave me but no joy.. Only on MY computer can a person have the Action center running telling me it can't be started. ;)

 

Ron; I don't want you to waste what little time you have available on this second job on me. I sincerely appreciate the effort but right now it's not really a "problem" compared to normal user problems here. I'm game; don't get me wrong; I just don't want you to feel you have to waste time if you need to spend it elsewhere.

 

A TootsieRollPop goes a long way in soothing the soul.. :D:lol:

K

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"A TootsieRollPop goes a long way in soothing the soul.." ... especially if it has morphine in it !

"how many licks does it take to get to the center of ..."

"wow man , i don't know and i don't care"

:wacko::blink::lol:

 

back in april in the ICU they gave me a hard candy laced with morphine ...

it was for the all encompassing radiating chest pain .

 

good luck on the fix .

 

ps ... as long as this thread has wandered a bit ...

is the free upgrade from W8 to W8.1 in place/in effect ?

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • Root Admin

Just a note I had posted on another forum but figure I'd post here as well.

 

 

Let me first say that my reply is not meant as an OS wars post.  I think all 3 of the major players Windows/Macintosh/Linux are all great operating systems and if you're happy with what you're using that's what really matters I think.


I'm just trying to point out that neither Windows or Machintosh are free like Linux yet both vastly out number Linux on market share listed by
Desktop Operating System Market Share

That means that users spoke with their wallet and had to purchase either Windows or Macinthosh.  These figures are from netmarketshare but similar numbers come from StatCounter as well but based on a lower overall volume count.

Netmarketshare is based on 1.5 billion machines
StatCounter is based on 1.25 billion machines



Windows all versions combined: = 90.47%
Mac all versions combined: = 7.73%
Windows 8 both versions: = 9.25%



Windows Vista was released on January 30, 2007 and ended main stream support on April 10, 2012 but still has more users using it (have not upgraded to a newer Windows version) than the most used version of Macintosh OS X 10.8
Vista: 3.63% Mac OS X 10.8: 3.31%
Including all Mac versions at 7.73% only makes up roughly 24.74% of the number from Windows XP

Obviously most users would seem to prefer Windows for one reason or another when you look at the numbers.

Back to the dismal figures for Windows 8

(from Wikipedia on Windows_7)
When it comes to acceptance or proliferation of Windows 8 is has now been out on the market for over a year and has only reached 9.25% of market share.

In comparison, according to Net Applications, Windows 7 reached a 4% market share in less than three weeks.

As of July 9, 2012, over 630 million licenses of Windows 7 have been sold; this number includes licenses sold to OEMs for new PCs


From another article on market share written 6 months ago (shows that sales increase is slowing at 3.73% since that article was written vs the 3.82% it had reached at the time of the article)

 Windows 8: forget 100m licences 'sold', here's how many PCs are running it
 

NetMarketShare: 3.82% of 1.5bn = 57.3m Windows 8 machines in use.

StatCounter: 4.74% of 1.25bn = 59.25m Windows 8 machines in use.

Suddenly, we seem to have converged on a much more reasonable number, with only a 3% variation between them; the average is 58.2m. Almost exactly the same as Moorhead's number, but arguably more robust because we're using multiple data points to reach it.



There are certainly many factors and reasons that play into those numbers but when you have users actually willing to return their device and pay an additional cost to purchase a different unit that is running Windows 7 - THAT IS A PROBLEM that Microsoft has to wake up to and address or sales will continue to remain low.

 

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yer right ron ... and like you i am not OS bashing .

with the small number of machines i have converted to 8.1 i have seen a pattern developing , or perhaps i should say that something is becoming apparent ; 8.1 is not all it's cracked up to be .

forget the "golly gee whiz" and "brand spankin' new" factors , as far as i am concerned the honeymoon is over .

 

i will say that is is faster than W7 (mind you this is based on my own unscientific methods) even with being "loaded down" with the same programs running as were running on the same machines as before .

i do like the fact that it will run on machines that will not move from XP or vista(less) to W7 .

 

as you mentioned , i too , do not like the price disparity between the different flavors of 8.1 and paying for things that were included before .

i will admit that i am not a fan of media player (i honestly tried to be) ... however ... it seems to me that this was one item that was an attraction to many users , and now it is an "extra" or you pony up for the "big brother" flavor(s) of 8.1 .

then again , maybe it is a sign that M$ has finally realized that users are more "sophisticated" than they were 20 years ago (aka : hip) and "stripping down" an OS is a way to market it at a lower price .

 

i am recommending to my friends and acquaintances to stick/go with W7 if at all possible and changing over to 8.1 only if absolutely necessary . 

i can pick up a copy of W7 for about 75 bucks (and is not nearly as trying to clean up as W8.1) .

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