Hi,
I am having more and more issues with Windows 8.1. This now reaches the point my computer is almost unusable because the behavior is just too erratic. There are many different issues so I am quite overwhelmed and just don't know what to do.
It seems I am experiencing file corruption because I don't spend 45 minutes each time I install something to read the footprints in license agreements and decline if it wants to install malware behind the scenes. This is just too hard to continue using this machine if ANYTHING, even free/open source software, can now install malware behind me. I thought Windows Defender would be enough as a protection tool, but it seems not and I have no idea what to try next. All the tools I found need to run manually, stop working after 30 days, etc. It seems I now have to engage into paying yearly fees tjust to have a working computer and that frustrates me beyond imagination.
According to some forum posts, many people now seem to rely on system images to compensate unstability. I never had to enter into this before. I just don't know how to proceed efficiently with such tools like CloneZilla that are not UEFI compliant and starts only from CD-ROMs (long startup and requires hiting F8 many many times to get the boot menu from my motherboard and select the CD non-UEFI boot).
It seems I have issue with both my motherboard AND my Windows 8.1 installation. This is just too much work to get this all fixed. Am i alone with this or are there many other Windows 8.1 setups plagged with so many issues. I will probably have to fall back on Ubuntu and remove any Windows from this machine, because I don't want to downgrade to Windows 7. It is just too painful to use because of low contrast between selected and unselected items (unless I totally disable Aero) and I don't want to reenter into the "Do I upgrade to Windows 10 or stay with Windows 7" dilemma as with Windows XP/Vista a few years ago. This one-good-release over two policy from Microsoft is just a killer for mainstream computer. I don't want to see the days where Apple's Mac will win but it is UPCOMING if Windows is so unstable now.
I am having more and more issues with Windows 8.1. This now reaches the point my computer is almost unusable because the behavior is just too erratic. There are many different issues so I am quite overwhelmed and just don't know what to do.
- ALL Metro applications stop right after I start them. I cannot use any of them, even the Windows Store. None of the indications I found on forums work. I tried fixing the permissions, ran DSIM commands to fix the component store, tried sfc /scannow, without any improvement. The only thing that works would be to thrash my user account and create a new one. Even temporarily removing files in AppData/Local/Microsoft didn't help.
- The audio subsystem regularly fails. For no obvious reason, sound stops working and doesn't resume even after a reboot. I have to uninstall and reinstall my audio driver. I am using a USB audio interface, the Fast Track Pro from M-Audio. I downloaded the most recent driver I could find, which is supposed to be compatible with Windows 8 (maybe not 8.1...). I just cannot continue uninstalling/reinstalling the audio driver like this. I know that interface is discontinued, but the hardware still works and the only alternatives available now are Focusrite interfaces that would fail to work under Linux. I don't want to replace my audio interface just because of Windows, and having to get a Linux-incompatible replacement is even more frustrating and unacceptable!
- Keyboard regularly switches to English while I NEED the Canadian French layout to type accents. The layout is there, activated by default, but the system switches to English on an arbitrary basis. I found an option that seems to detect language and switch, checked it off, that did no effect. Probably yet another program in the background turns it on, similar to what I got last week that was launching Chrome instead of Firefox (now fixed).
- Games such as Myst IV work for some time, then suddenly require complete reinstallation. There is no obvious reason for Myst IV to just display a blank screen, but this is now what I am obtaining.
It seems I am experiencing file corruption because I don't spend 45 minutes each time I install something to read the footprints in license agreements and decline if it wants to install malware behind the scenes. This is just too hard to continue using this machine if ANYTHING, even free/open source software, can now install malware behind me. I thought Windows Defender would be enough as a protection tool, but it seems not and I have no idea what to try next. All the tools I found need to run manually, stop working after 30 days, etc. It seems I now have to engage into paying yearly fees tjust to have a working computer and that frustrates me beyond imagination.
According to some forum posts, many people now seem to rely on system images to compensate unstability. I never had to enter into this before. I just don't know how to proceed efficiently with such tools like CloneZilla that are not UEFI compliant and starts only from CD-ROMs (long startup and requires hiting F8 many many times to get the boot menu from my motherboard and select the CD non-UEFI boot).
It seems I have issue with both my motherboard AND my Windows 8.1 installation. This is just too much work to get this all fixed. Am i alone with this or are there many other Windows 8.1 setups plagged with so many issues. I will probably have to fall back on Ubuntu and remove any Windows from this machine, because I don't want to downgrade to Windows 7. It is just too painful to use because of low contrast between selected and unselected items (unless I totally disable Aero) and I don't want to reenter into the "Do I upgrade to Windows 10 or stay with Windows 7" dilemma as with Windows XP/Vista a few years ago. This one-good-release over two policy from Microsoft is just a killer for mainstream computer. I don't want to see the days where Apple's Mac will win but it is UPCOMING if Windows is so unstable now.
My Computer
System One
-
- OS
- Windows 8.1
- Computer type
- PC/Desktop
- System Manufacturer/Model
- Asus
- CPU
- Intel Core i7 3770K 3.5GHz
- Motherboard
- P8Z77-V LX
- Memory
- 16Gb
- Graphics Card(s)
- NVIDIA Asus GeFroce GTX 650 Ti
- Browser
- Firefox
- Antivirus
- Windows Defender