Testing W8.1 Ent Eval - software installation questions

meridius10

New Member
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This is my third day with Windows 8.1 and I just have a couple of questions at this stage:

I was unable to install SQL Server 2008 R2 properly. Is it difficult/impossible to install properly?

When I used Windows 7 or XP, I uninstalled flash player from add/remove programs. I also did the maximum to stop having applications running in the background as I have limited bandwidth now.

With Windows 8.1, I checked in Uninstall/Change Programs and there is no flash player. I have disabled windows update and am using firefox so there is no flash (I hope). I am just really looking to prevent anything downloading/updating in the background without my knowledge. Is there any way to double check this?

Many thanks for any help.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
Everyone is hoping HTML5 will take over from Flash anyway, it may be obsolete soon. Unfortunately I still need it but using only as an add-on to FF. Most MM players can handle flash too, so it's not really needed for normal use.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home made
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen7 2700x
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime x470 Pro
    Memory
    16GB Kingston 3600
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus strix 570 OC 4gb
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 960 evo 250GB
    Silicon Power V70 240GB SSD
    WD 1 TB Blue
    WD 2 TB Blue
    Bunch of backup HDDs.
    PSU
    Sharkoon, Silent Storm 660W
    Case
    Raidmax
    Cooling
    CCM Nepton 140xl
    Internet Speed
    40/2 Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    WD
Actually I am using a dongle so every megabyte counts and I don't want any video type applications functioning in the background.

So the question really is as above and I would like to know what Windows 8.1 is doing in terms of downloading in the background which is different to Windows 7 or XP.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
Except for system updates (if set to auto) which includes Defender updates I'm not aware of Win8 doing anything different than previous windows. Thru "Programs and Features" / Turn Windows features on or off, you can still get rid of a lot of unnecessary crap you don't want and save a lot of space on disk. In addition, Update 1 to 8.1 makes smaller footprint too.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home made
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen7 2700x
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime x470 Pro
    Memory
    16GB Kingston 3600
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus strix 570 OC 4gb
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 960 evo 250GB
    Silicon Power V70 240GB SSD
    WD 1 TB Blue
    WD 2 TB Blue
    Bunch of backup HDDs.
    PSU
    Sharkoon, Silent Storm 660W
    Case
    Raidmax
    Cooling
    CCM Nepton 140xl
    Internet Speed
    40/2 Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    WD
Flash Player is now integrated into IE. As far as I know Flash player gets updated though Windows update so if you have that turned off it won't be patched or updated. To turn flash off in IE go to manage add-ons and look in the Toolbars and extensions section.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
    Memory
    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
    Sound Card
    VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake TR 620
    Case
    Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Stock heatsink fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self-Built in July 2009
    CPU
    Intel Q9550 2.83Ghz OC'd to 3.40Ghz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R rev. 1.1, F12 BIOS
    Memory
    8GB G.Skill PI DDR2-800, 4-4-4-12 timings
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 1280MB Nvidia GeForce GTX570
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC899A 8 channel onboard audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" Acer x233H
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Intel X25-M 80GB Gen 2 SSD
    Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black, 32MB cache. WD1001FALS
    PSU
    Corsair 620HX modular
    Case
    Antec P182
    Cooling
    stock
    Keyboard
    ABS M1 Mechanical
    Mouse
    Logitech G9 Laser Mouse
    Internet Speed
    15/2 cable modem
    Other Info
    Windows and Linux enthusiast. Logitech G35 Headset.
OK. Many thanks for all this advice.

I managed to disable Windows Defender, but I'm not sure it was set to update automatically as Windows Update is turned off.

I also went into IE and disabled Shockwave Flash Object which I imagine is the equivalent of Adobe Flash player.

I'm not entirely sure what to do in relation to SQL Server as I would have to find a download of SQL Server 2008 R2 Developer edition with SP2 included. My current DVD disk is 5.31 GB so it would be a big download! (I'll do some testing first. This may take me a little time to sort it out...).

As I'm new to this I also have a couple of other questions...

I am currently running the Enterprise Evaluation version. Is this upgradeable to the full version and how much does it cost?

I am in a non English speaking country and if I buy a laptop with Windows 8.1 it will come as a Single Language version. Will I at least have the option to select US English and will I eventually need to update to a fuller version i.e. is single language just a base version which won't be able to cope with some of my larger programs like SQL Server?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
Windows 8 Enterprise Edition is NOT available to standard consumers. You have to have an enterprise agreement with Microsoft or be an MSDN subscriber (MSDN is expensive too, cheapest option is like $600 a year).

Here is the Technet free evaluation download page, you can get SQL 2008R2 SP2 from this page
Previous Versions
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self-Built in July 2009
    CPU
    Intel Q9550 2.83Ghz OC'd to 3.40Ghz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R rev. 1.1, F12 BIOS
    Memory
    8GB G.Skill PI DDR2-800, 4-4-4-12 timings
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 1280MB Nvidia GeForce GTX570
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC899A 8 channel onboard audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" Acer x233H
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Intel X25-M 80GB Gen 2 SSD
    Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black, 32MB cache. WD1001FALS
    PSU
    Corsair 620HX modular
    Case
    Antec P182
    Cooling
    stock
    Keyboard
    ABS M1 Mechanical
    Mouse
    Logitech G9 Laser Mouse
    Internet Speed
    15/2 cable modem
    Other Info
    Windows and Linux enthusiast. Logitech G35 Headset.
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