I'm curious, what do the CG members think of Windows 8? There is so much negative feedback all over the net that I start to wonder if I'm the only one that actually find it pretty nice?
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I'm curious, what do the CG members think of Windows 8? There is so much negative feedback all over the net that I start to wonder if I'm the only one that actually find it pretty nice?
No, you are not the only one. I like Windows 8. I've been using it as my main OS since September 2012, and didn't have any real problems yet.
I'm still happy about Win8 but since I did the mistake using sysprep to move /users to another drive, well I'm not 100% happy anymore. Has anybody found a way (except a full reinstall) of making 8.1 installable when using a sysprepd configuration where everything is located on c:\ except users that is on d:\users
IMHO, that this should be an issue at all is quite amazing. My Linux machine has no issues whatsoever over that /home/... is located on another physical drive... MS, what's the reason?
Usually easy. Create the image with D:\users and then sysprep from there.
Can you elaborate that a bit?
If possible I prefer not to have to make a complete reinstall.
MSDN has all the tools, except they aren't freely distributable. No reason to sysprep unless you are deploying to many machines (which requires a license [MSDN].
Ah, well I don't have a MSDN subscription. My employer think it's too expensive... :(
The reason I used sysprep was that I built a new machine and didn't want all temporaries and other junk to write to my SSD as I have as C. I know, everybody talks about speed loss when using a regular spin disk but I also have quite a lot of RAM (16 Gb) so the disk cache combined with a quite a modern spin disk doesn't slow things down for everyday use as far as I can tell.
Well, there are a lot of suggestions on the net on how to overcome this. Sooner or later I guess I'll try one of the methods and cross my fingers that it wont end up with a full reinstall.
File & Settings Transfer Wizard might be able to help
I find Windows 8 (strictly speaking, 8.1) to be quite reliable and it's a real joy to have an OS that boots up so quickly but it definitely has its irritations. For one thing, I can't stand the general "look" of Windows 8. To me, it's very reminiscent of Windows 2000 with its very 'square' windows and a generally unsophisticated appearance. However, there's a utility you can get from Berlios which makes it look a bit more like Windows 7. I also don't like the networking strategy which is much more complex than previous versions of Windows. In fact, if I share a Win8.1 folder, I've still not found a way of accessing it from some other machine on the network :-( I'm sure it's possible but this was much simpler in previous versions.
I also suffer from the (much reported) problem with folder permissions - where a folder seems to have all the relevant permissions but I can't access it properly for some reason. For example if I write a program using MSVC I can run the program successfully from within Explorer - but if I try to run it from within MSVC's IDE I don't seem to have the right permissions (not even if I run MSVC as an Administrator). I still haven't figured out how to fix that :-(
I also use a dual monitor setup and that's by no means perfect either. I seem to get 2 x launch bars (one on each monitor) instead of the single launch bar that I've always been used to seeing. But the most annoying thing must surely be viewing graphic images. If I double-click on (say) a jpeg file) some kind of app comes up which blackens both monitors and shows me the jpeg - but I'm blowed if I can find a reliable way to dismiss the app. ESC doesn't work. CTRL+ALT+DEL doesn't work. I usually end up pressing keys at random until I get back to the desktop.
Win 8 certainly has its good points but it can be extremely irritating IMHO.
Sharing in Win8.1 for me works the same way as its always done - no problems. File Explorer, select folder/drive, properties, sharing, advanced sharing. Enter share name then click Permissions. By default the in-built 'Everyone' group has read-only permission for the share. I usually remove this and add 'Authenticated Users' full permission.Quote:
In fact, if I share a Win8.1 folder, I've still not found a way of accessing it from some other machine on the network :( I'm sure it's possible but this was much simpler in previous versions.
Hmmm... on my home network I have just 2 x PC's - one running Windows 7 and the other running Windows 8.1. From the 8.1 machine I've only shared 1 x folder and I've set it up such that all classes of user have full control.
I can see the shared folder on my Windows 7 machine. But when I try to access it a dialog box appears saying "Windows Security - Enter Network Password". I get asked to provide a user name and password, even though neither machine requires me to enter a user name or password for normal login. I've got no idea what to enter - but trying to dismiss the dialog without entering anything doesn't work.
At home I have XP Professional SP1, XP Professional SP3, Vista Business, 7 Ultimate & 8.1 Pro. I share data between them no problem without being asked for credentials when accessing shared folders. However, I have them set up so that I need to login with a user name and password for each one (I have several users per computer) and I keep the names and passwords in sync between them all. They are all in the same workgroup. If the username/passwords are different between the computers, then when you map a drive letter to the share you will need to provide a valid login set of credentials for the computer on which the share resides.
Aaaargh! It seems that I'd simply forgotten to join the Win8.1 machine to my Windows 7 Homegroup. Having just joined the Homegroup, networking is now working as expected. So that's one issue solved. Somehow, I don't think the others will be quite so simple though.... :(
Just use the same credentials for both machines, and they will try that FIRST, before prompting you. It's been that way since win95