OK ... That's ENOUGH for now.

Max Peck

Developer Emeritus
Member
Messages
380
Location
DeLand, FL
After using Win8 for about a month, spending the last 3 weeks trying to avoid it I've re-imaged my machine back to Win7. Generally speaking "8" was working OK but I've been accumulating little problems and finally decided this morning that I just have better things to do.

- Metro is pretty useless on a desktop machine. It works OK but the most I was doing with it was playing the Solitaire game.
- I could live with the loss of Aero and had gotten the desktop back to the way I want it using Start8. However:
- Neither of my photo printers work under Windows 8. I was having to go use another machine on the network for this. Not a huge deal (none of these points are) but I do all my photography from this machine. I'd like to use the printer sitting 18 inches away from this machine without having to copy photos to the network and go print from somewhere else.
- Metro is useless. My machine is on the desktop all the time.
- The font system in the desktop is a bit screwed up. Another minor one but my favorite font in Visual Studio doesn't work anymore.
- Metro is useless.
- Having trouble synchronizing my eWallets with my iPhone and iPad devices. Finally worked that out but I'm concerned with the flakiness of it.
- Metro is useless.
- My MSDN help system keeps coming up with linkage errors when trying to look things up. This never happened in Win7 Ultimate.
- Metro is useless.
- Oh oh ... the connection between this machine and my machine down at the office keeps timing out if I type more than 10 keystrokes at one time. Have tried updating drivers, etc. No go. This was the straw.
- Oh yeah ... Metro is useless.

If you've followed my posts on the board I have gone from outright hate of Win8 as I watched it develop to finally installing it live on my machine to, now, finally throwing up my hands and realizing that it just doesn't provide me any additional value and is forcing me to make compromises in my system's performance.

There are a handful of things about the Win8 desktop I do like - like File Explorer. It's got a few new features I like, however I've got Explorer++ that does all that in the Win7 desktop so that one is negated. Beyond that I can't sit here and honestly tell anyone that Win8 adds anything to a desktop system. Sorry ... I just can't. It's been fun playing with it but now I need to go get some work done on my product development. I can't afford to waste any more time with this.

-Max
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 17R / Dell XPS 8300
    CPU
    Intel i5 (17R) / Intel i7 (XPS)
    Memory
    8GB / 8GB
You forgot one point, and I'm surprised in an otherwise thorough review. Here it is: Metro is useless. :)

On another thread someone pointed out something called "Exp7ForW8", which actually pulls the Windows 7 Explorer off the installation disc and sticks it into Win8. It also completely bypasses Metro - doesn't even load it. I am going to give it a try when I get a chance...
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Compac Presario SR5518F
    CPU
    Dual Pentium E2180 (2 GHz)
    Motherboard
    MS-7525 (Boston)
    Memory
    4 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GeForce 8500 GT
How did you feel about Metro on your desktop machine? :roflmao: I feel generally the same as you about Win8, but I am having fun learning more about it primarily so I'll have the ability to talk about it somewhat intelligently and can advise and help family, friends, and forumies.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win7 Ult on DIY; Win8 Pro on MBP/Parallels; Win7 Ult on MBP/Boot Camp; Win7 Ult/Win8 Pro on HP
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    DIY Rig; MacBook Pro (MBP)/Parallels/Boot Camp; HP Pavilion dv6500t Laptop
    CPU
    Intel i7-2600K (sometimes OC'd to 4.8 GHz)
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8P67 Deluxe Rev B3
    Memory
    16 GB Corsair Vengeance
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 570 SC
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Gateway
    Hard Drives
    Dual Boot:
    Win7 Ult RAID 0 on OCZ Revo x2 and
    Win7 Ult RAID 0 on Caviar Black SATA 3's
    PSU
    Cooler Master Silent Pro 1000W
    Case
    Cooler Master 932 HAF
    Cooling
    Zalman CNPS9900MAX-B CPU Fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500
    Mouse
    Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500
    Internet Speed
    20 Mbps Download/2+ Mbps Upload
    Other Info
    Pioneer Blu-ray Burner/DVD Burner
You forgot one point, and I'm surprised in an otherwise thorough review. Here it is: Metro is useless. :)

On another thread someone pointed out something called "Exp7ForW8", which actually pulls the Windows 7 Explorer off the installation disc and sticks it into Win8. It also completely bypasses Metro - doesn't even load it. I am going to give it a try when I get a chance...
That would be useful for sure at least if, for example, one is concerned about eventually losing support of Win7. I may end up in that position of my desktop machine(s) one day. Otherwise, I don't think Win8 offers me anything of great significance beyond Win7 except the ability to play around with Metro.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win7 Ult on DIY; Win8 Pro on MBP/Parallels; Win7 Ult on MBP/Boot Camp; Win7 Ult/Win8 Pro on HP
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    DIY Rig; MacBook Pro (MBP)/Parallels/Boot Camp; HP Pavilion dv6500t Laptop
    CPU
    Intel i7-2600K (sometimes OC'd to 4.8 GHz)
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8P67 Deluxe Rev B3
    Memory
    16 GB Corsair Vengeance
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 570 SC
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Gateway
    Hard Drives
    Dual Boot:
    Win7 Ult RAID 0 on OCZ Revo x2 and
    Win7 Ult RAID 0 on Caviar Black SATA 3's
    PSU
    Cooler Master Silent Pro 1000W
    Case
    Cooler Master 932 HAF
    Cooling
    Zalman CNPS9900MAX-B CPU Fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500
    Mouse
    Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500
    Internet Speed
    20 Mbps Download/2+ Mbps Upload
    Other Info
    Pioneer Blu-ray Burner/DVD Burner
How did you feel about Metro on your desktop machine? :roflmao: I feel generally the same as you about Win8, but I am having fun learning more about it primarily so I'll have the ability to talk about it somewhat intelligently and can advise and help family, friends, and forumies.

Having the Metro there didn't really bother me, I didn't mind it. The main problem with it was that I just didn't find it useful for anything. More than anything else I found myself going into one or two Metro apps "because they were there" but not because I needed them for anything. If I wasn't having the compatibility problems I listed I probably would have left it on here. However I just got tired of making excuses for it when my Win7 installations don't need any excuses: they just work.

Win8 really isn't bad at all. I think that once some time passes the issues with the drivers and things will get settled down but I don't want to continue to Beta test it. I normally don't move that fast to upgrade but this time I had the time to do it. I really wanted it to be OK and it was ... almost.

-Max
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 17R / Dell XPS 8300
    CPU
    Intel i5 (17R) / Intel i7 (XPS)
    Memory
    8GB / 8GB
You forgot one point, and I'm surprised in an otherwise thorough review. Here it is: Metro is useless. :)

On another thread someone pointed out something called "Exp7ForW8", which actually pulls the Windows 7 Explorer off the installation disc and sticks it into Win8. It also completely bypasses Metro - doesn't even load it. I am going to give it a try when I get a chance...
That would be useful for sure at least if, for example, one is concerned about eventually losing support of Win7. I may end up in that position of my desktop machine(s) one day. Otherwise, I don't think Win8 offers me anything of great significance beyond Win7 except the ability to play around with Metro.

That's just my point. I don't feel like "playing" with it any more. I have a product I'm trying to finish building and this was becoming a distraction.

-Max
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 17R / Dell XPS 8300
    CPU
    Intel i5 (17R) / Intel i7 (XPS)
    Memory
    8GB / 8GB
I ain't gonna eat out my heart anymore...

As quirky as Metro is, and I fully agree, it's useless, I have to say I've been enjoying my upgrades to Win 8. My Win 7 machines were starting to act a bit funky (probably just needed a start-from-scratch re-install). So far Win 8 has been working fine for me, faster, no weird Explorer crashes and such.

However, Max, if I was having the problems you described :think:, I would very likely have junked it as well.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 10 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Built (ASUS/Intel Based)
    CPU
    i7 4790 4.0GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS Sabertrooth Z-97 Mark 1
    Memory
    32 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Twin Radeon HD 7900 Crossfired
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Sharp LC42D62U
    Screen Resolution
    1080p
    Hard Drives
    Seagate SATA III, 1 TB HDD
    2 X 1TB HDD Dynamic Array
    Case
    Thermaltake
    Cooling
    Corsair H-110 water for cpu
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Internet Speed
    14 MB/s on a good day
    Browser
    Various, mostly Chrome
    Antivirus
    Kaspersky Internet Security
@Max Peck: I agree with what you say in both of your posts. I tired to make Win8 more like Win7 without using third party software. No big deal, but if interested, then go here. At the time, I didn't know about toggling between Desktop and Metro using the Windows key and using Windows+i to bring up the "Power" button for shutdown, etc. Using both of these options eliminated additional Metro pain.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win7 Ult on DIY; Win8 Pro on MBP/Parallels; Win7 Ult on MBP/Boot Camp; Win7 Ult/Win8 Pro on HP
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    DIY Rig; MacBook Pro (MBP)/Parallels/Boot Camp; HP Pavilion dv6500t Laptop
    CPU
    Intel i7-2600K (sometimes OC'd to 4.8 GHz)
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8P67 Deluxe Rev B3
    Memory
    16 GB Corsair Vengeance
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 570 SC
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Gateway
    Hard Drives
    Dual Boot:
    Win7 Ult RAID 0 on OCZ Revo x2 and
    Win7 Ult RAID 0 on Caviar Black SATA 3's
    PSU
    Cooler Master Silent Pro 1000W
    Case
    Cooler Master 932 HAF
    Cooling
    Zalman CNPS9900MAX-B CPU Fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500
    Mouse
    Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500
    Internet Speed
    20 Mbps Download/2+ Mbps Upload
    Other Info
    Pioneer Blu-ray Burner/DVD Burner
As quirky as Metro is, and I fully agree, it's useless, I have to say I've been enjoying my upgrades to Win 8. My Win 7 machines were starting to act a bit funky (probably just needed a start-from-scratch re-install). So far Win 8 has been working fine for me, faster, no weird Explorer crashes and such.

However, Max, if I was having the problems you described :think:, I would very likely have junked it as well.

Yeah. The O/S is OK. Was fun to play with but I've let this kind of thing distract me before. I've given the thing a good run. Until and unless it offers something that will enhance my ability to get my work done I'm just going to have to set it aside. It was just dead-ending on me. I don't want to develop to Metro. All my mobile devices are iPhones and iPads and I develop to the desktop. Like I said ... I'd at-least have kept it on this machine had I not been having those issues - it's a nice system, but I had to get pragmatic about it and realize it just ain't solving any problems for me. Oh well. Maybe someday when I have absolutely nothing better to do.

-Max
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 17R / Dell XPS 8300
    CPU
    Intel i5 (17R) / Intel i7 (XPS)
    Memory
    8GB / 8GB
@Max Peck: I agree with what you say in both of your posts. I tired to make Win8 more like Win7 without using third party software. No big deal, but if interested, then go here. At the time, I didn't know about toggling between Desktop and Metro using the Windows key and using Windows+i to bring up the "Power" button for shutdown, etc. Using both of these options eliminated additional Metro pain.

Metro, itself, wasn't even the problem. From that aspect everything was running fine. It was some of the finer points - that font going away, inability to access that printer and, more seriously, the inability to stay connected with my machine at the office without going through a reconnect cycle every 2 minutes. All relatively minor things that would probably be fixed eventually but they just added up.

-Max
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 17R / Dell XPS 8300
    CPU
    Intel i5 (17R) / Intel i7 (XPS)
    Memory
    8GB / 8GB
I wish they would update the font system in windows 8. It feels the same and it just doesn't organize fonts well. It becomes an issue when fonts are categorized incorrectly. Metro does indeed get in the way depending on what you do. I think if they had done a bit more to the desktop and found a better way to design the user-interface everything could be great to use. But they focused too much on metro and even that side is pretty blah.
 

My Computer

I wish they would update the font system in windows 8. It feels the same and it just doesn't organize fonts well. It becomes an issue when fonts are categorized incorrectly. Metro does indeed get in the way depending on what you do. I think if they had done a bit more to the desktop and found a better way to design the user-interface everything could be great to use. But they focused too much on metro and even that side is pretty blah.

Yeah, it's unfortunate. It really is a good system. I was really beginning to believe it might work out in my situation: it seemed like a pretty cool machine environment. I liked being able to pop in and out of the desktop into another "world". But then the little gotchas started accumulating and I started the process of making it work. I went out and bought an entirely new photo printer. Not that much, but $125 I would not have spent otherwise. OK, so I'll give the old one to my daughter, she can use it. Then I noticed the font I prefer to code in no longer worked. OK ... just select another one. My eyes aren't crazy about it but what the heck? Then I started having problems with the MSDN help system. OK ... I can go to the web-based version. Then when I couldn't resolve the problem with the disconnect from the office machine I started to realize that it just wasn't going to fly right now. I also realized that I wasn't even using Metro, really. Like many folks I was just tweaking it so it was a later version of Windows 7. No sense in that.

I think that maybe, just maybe, Microsoft has tried to do too much by marrying the new GUI and keeping the old one. I really thought they might have pulled it off, and they still might. However it might have just made more sense to write a completely separate O/S for the tablet machines and leave desktop Windows alone and let it continue to be refined on its own path. Now that I've used the thing full-time for a month I'm more persuaded of my original position: that it's not a particularly good fit for a desktop system.

I was indeed impressed at how well the system updated my development environment. Most everything except a few drivers worked without any changes. Darn the thing is close ... however day by day I kept being tempted to return to Win7 so I could focus on something besides tinkering with the O/S. I've been here before - stuck tinkering with the O/S when I'd rather be getting serious work done. Not this time. One month is enough. Actually ... this whole thing has distracted me on-and-off since August of last year. Time to cut my losses and move on!

I'm happy with Win7. It will be supported for a long, long time. I think I'll do what my original gut instinct told me to do and just drive the wheels off this one! ;)

-Max
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 17R / Dell XPS 8300
    CPU
    Intel i5 (17R) / Intel i7 (XPS)
    Memory
    8GB / 8GB
For me it is the opposite.

As much as W8 irritated me until I got rid of the charms, corners and metro, it has been the best OS I have ever run. Everything works flawless, better than ever, even my printer, scanner, fax, phones... anything I connect is recognized in a moment and runs flawless. My laptop is a bit old and the difference in performance with W7 is very noticeable. Needless to say that compared to Vista (the OS this laptop originally had) it is a lightning.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus X501A
    CPU
    Pentium 2020M 2.4GHz Ivy Bridge
    Motherboard
    ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. X501A1 (SOCKET 0)
    Memory
    4 GB RAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1366x768 Generic PnP Monitor on Intel HD Graphics
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    298GB Western Digital WDC WD3200BPVT-80JJ5T0 (SATA)
    Mouse
    Always touchpad with Asus' Smart Gestures
    Browser
    7star
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
For me it is the opposite.

As much as W8 irritated me until I got rid of the charms, corners and metro, it has been the best OS I have ever run. Everything works flawless, better than ever, even my printer, scanner, fax, phones... anything I connect is recognized in a moment and runs flawless. My laptop is a bit old and the difference in performance with W7 is very noticeable. Needless to say that compared to Vista (the OS this laptop originally had) it is a lightning.

Glad to hear that it's working out. The thing has potential all right. YMMV I guess!

-Max :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 17R / Dell XPS 8300
    CPU
    Intel i5 (17R) / Intel i7 (XPS)
    Memory
    8GB / 8GB
I've been running Win8 alongside Win7 on my laptop (separate partition) and I jump into Win8 from time to time but really haven't seen any of those real world benefits. Those benefits vary of course from individual to individual. Speed improvements, well I haven't experienced any although Win8 did feel snappier when I first installed it. Until of course I started installing programs then it was the same as Win7.

Like you Max I played around with 8, trying to make it look like Win7 but then the pennies inside the head dropped and I wondered why I was bothering to take a new OS and adding stuff so it looked like what I already have. In reality it never did really look the same as there are limitations on how far you can go with customisation with 8 in desktop mode. But I'm sure that if someone else releases another add-on then I'll probably be the first in the queue to try it!!! LOL

The Metro (aka Modern) UI surely has divided folks though. It's a love/hate situation as far as the desktop/laptop market is concerned. I'm sure MS felt the need to jump into the tablet/phone arena with a big urgent rubber stamp plastered all over the project. Why they didn't offer a choice of UI at install time; I guess we'll all be talking about that one until the end of days.

But I'll continue to play with 8 along with the various Linux distros when I've got time on my hands. But when I need to get down to some real work then it's back to Win7. Shame as I'm sure under the hood there are some real world benefits lurking but they're just not for me. If Win8 works for you then fine. If it doesn't then stay with 7.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win7 & 8 64bit / Linux Mint 14
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    i5 2400
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI HD3870
    Sound Card
    On-board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Asus
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1280
    Hard Drives
    128gb SSD, 500gb SATA
    PSU
    Coolermaster
    Case
    Zalman Z7
    Cooling
    Air
    Keyboard
    Logitech Illuminated wired
    Mouse
    MS Optical wireless
    Antivirus
    Avast
I can understand your frustration Max. Sounds like not all your drivers are fully updated yet. Can I ask a few questions?

What are you using to connect to your work system? Is it a vpn? Is it the built-in VPN or a third party one? I've had not problems with the built-in PPTP and my wifes Cisco VPN have worked flawlessly. It could be a problem with your network driver, and if you're using a laptop, it could be related to the power savings features that turn off the network adapter to save power (these can interfere with a solid connection like a vpn).

I actually quite like metro. I've found a number of apps that I use all the time. OneNote MX is very nice. PC Monitor is very cool, it allows you to keep track of all your PC's in a single interface. I like many of the small little tools that are easy to find. Many of these are available in Win32 as well (or similar) but I find the store apps better because they don't dump stray dll's into your system and do a complete cleanup when you remove them.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    CPU
    Intel i7 3770K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Z77X-UD4 TH
    Memory
    16GB DDR3 1600
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVidia GTX 650
    Sound Card
    Onboard Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Auria 27" IPS + 2x Samsung 23"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440 + 2x 2048x1152
    Hard Drives
    Corsair m4 256GB, 2 WD 2TB drives
    Case
    Antec SOLO II
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000
    Mouse
    Logitech MX
I can understand your frustration Max. Sounds like not all your drivers are fully updated yet. Can I ask a few questions?

Sure. No problem.

What are you using to connect to your work system? Is it a vpn? Is it the built-in VPN or a third party one? I've had not problems with the built-in PPTP and my wifes Cisco VPN have worked flawlessly. It could be a problem with your network driver, and if you're using a laptop, it could be related to the power savings features that turn off the network adapter to save power (these can interfere with a solid connection like a vpn).

We use the Juniper Network client to connect to our desktops through the corporate LAN. I'm not familiar with what tunneling protocol it uses ... it seems to be a VPN tunnel that lets us get at the remote desktop feature of our machines at the office. I have zero trouble with it under Win7. My machine is a laptop (desktop replacement) system, yes, but I seriously doubt that it has anything to do with the network adapter. The timeout seemed variable depending on how active I was keeping the connection. The timeout would happen faster if I was doing any fast typing or GUI operations ... slower if I was doing less with the connection. Annoying.

I actually quite like metro. I've found a number of apps that I use all the time. OneNote MX is very nice. PC Monitor is very cool, it allows you to keep track of all your PC's in a single interface. I like many of the small little tools that are easy to find. Many of these are available in Win32 as well (or similar) but I find the store apps better because they don't dump stray dll's into your system and do a complete cleanup when you remove them.

I don't really have any problem with Metro either. As y'all have seen, I've been full-circle with the thing. If it weren't for those few glitches that I considered "show stoppers" I'd probably have left my Win8 configuration alone. I even bought a copy of Start8 which worked fantastically well: I was able to have my full Win7 environment and still able to go over and experiment with Metro stuff without disturbing anything. From a "likability" standpoint I have absolutely no problems with Win8 here.

However, after being back on 7 for a day or so it has occurred to me that I'm not missing anything that Win8 was providing. That kind of proves to me how relatively useless the Metro side was to me. To me it was more of a curiosity than anything else. I used it to play Solitaire and that's about it. Now, if I had bought and installed some applications in Metro that became critical to me then it might be different but I had not gotten to that point yet. As for tablets and phones ... I'm pretty well tied to the Apple ecosystem so I'm not likely to get a Surface or a Windows Phone either. At this point Metro is a dead-end for me.

None of this is to be viewed as an indictment of Win8, it's just seeming to me that it's not a necessary upgrade unless you're looking for some specific features it has. I think Microsoft is going to have to overcome that inertia if they're going to make this work in the long run. They've got their job cut out for them.

-Max
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 17R / Dell XPS 8300
    CPU
    Intel i5 (17R) / Intel i7 (XPS)
    Memory
    8GB / 8GB
We use the Juniper Network client to connect to our desktops through the corporate LAN. I'm not familiar with what tunneling protocol it uses ... it seems to be a VPN tunnel that lets us get at the remote desktop feature of our machines at the office. I have zero trouble with it under Win7. My machine is a laptop (desktop replacement) system, yes, but I seriously doubt that it has anything to do with the network adapter. The timeout seemed variable depending on how active I was keeping the connection. The timeout would happen faster if I was doing any fast typing or GUI operations ... slower if I was doing less with the connection. Annoying.

I would check the power management settings, there is an option in them to power down the network adapter. Turn that off. Even if you don't think it's the problem, at least you can rule it out.

It's funny, but I saw behavior like that when I used Windows 7 under a VMware virtual machine. For some reason, VPN's would randomly (and frequently) disconnect.. It didn't happen on the host OS, only under the virtual one.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    CPU
    Intel i7 3770K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Z77X-UD4 TH
    Memory
    16GB DDR3 1600
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVidia GTX 650
    Sound Card
    Onboard Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Auria 27" IPS + 2x Samsung 23"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440 + 2x 2048x1152
    Hard Drives
    Corsair m4 256GB, 2 WD 2TB drives
    Case
    Antec SOLO II
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000
    Mouse
    Logitech MX
We use the Juniper Network client to connect to our desktops through the corporate LAN. I'm not familiar with what tunneling protocol it uses ... it seems to be a VPN tunnel that lets us get at the remote desktop feature of our machines at the office. I have zero trouble with it under Win7. My machine is a laptop (desktop replacement) system, yes, but I seriously doubt that it has anything to do with the network adapter. The timeout seemed variable depending on how active I was keeping the connection. The timeout would happen faster if I was doing any fast typing or GUI operations ... slower if I was doing less with the connection. Annoying.

I would check the power management settings, there is an option in them to power down the network adapter. Turn that off. Even if you don't think it's the problem, at least you can rule it out.

It's funny, but I saw behavior like that when I used Windows 7 under a VMware virtual machine. For some reason, VPN's would randomly (and frequently) disconnect.. It didn't happen on the host OS, only under the virtual one.

Thanks. If I decide to retool back to Win8 at some point I'll keep that in mind.

-Max :D
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 17R / Dell XPS 8300
    CPU
    Intel i5 (17R) / Intel i7 (XPS)
    Memory
    8GB / 8GB
Metro the interface for the terminally stupid! The underlying OS works very nicely just needs a proper usable UI. This could be the time that Linux, Google an OSX kill off M$. They have provided a problem for a solution.

No one wanted a mobile version of windows. No one wanted a windows tablet. They still don't but now we have an OS for something that no one wants. What we do want is a proper desktop / laptop OS because no one else did it better until now!
 
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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8
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