Was using the default skin. Changed it to EF Smooth and it seems to be working now. (Firefox 20 with NoScript - scripts on eightforums.com allowed) Okay on to the post:
I've found the source of the problem, and it's bad. Very, very bad. As in, I may not be able to use any operating system except choosing between going back to XP or switching to Linux.
I did a refresh, and started documenting absolutely everything I did, restarting and shutting down then doing cold boots fairly frequently until the problem reoccurred. Turns out it was a registry edit I had read about some time ago and performed:
Code:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager
BootExecute = autocheck autochk *
changed to:
BootExecute = autocheck autochk /k:C /k:D /k:E /k:F /k:G /k:H /k:I /k:J*
I made this change to stop Windows 8 from doing unwanted, unwarranted, uncontrolled disk repairs during startup. I had this problem with my last two drives which is the reason I made sure to make this registry change on the new SSD as well. The one is a 250GB Samsung 7200rpm drive with Windows 8 installed, and the other is a 1TB WD Green with XP installed. I set the 250GB drive up with Windows 8 on a different computer, then moved it into my current computer so that I could dual-boot Windows XP and 8. Pretty soon Windows 8 wanted to "repair" my XP drive, and every time I tried booting into Windows 8, it would try to repair, with no option to skip or cancel. I was resigned to booting to XP for a while, but I made the mistake of leaving the Windows 8 drive on default boot priority (I was using F8 to get into XP). Windows 8 slipped through my fingers one day, and started the repair. I stopped it (reset button) before 30 seconds had passed, but the damage had been done. XP no longer boots, it just BSODs.
Since then I've found out about this registry change in Windows 8 to force it to never attempt a drive repair on boot. So far so good. Except my 250GB drive mysteriously stopped shutting down, and I did a Win8 refresh. Now I'm on the SSD (with no other drive plugged in) and you know the rest.
I refuse to repair the XP drive until I've done a full backup (because I know darn well that a full repair using Windows 8 will utterly destroy XP) and I plan on using my XP install disk to repair XP. But this is going to happen again. Windows 8 is going to keep screwing around with repairs on boot that I cannot control. The only way to stop it I've seen thus far is to use the registry modification I listed above, but I can't shut down after that change.
Oh and for the record - My 1TB WD Green drive with XP on
did not need a repair, there is nothing wrong with the drive, it is in perfect health, I have already checked.
My ultimate goal is to use the SSD for Windows 8 and the 1TB for XP and doubled up as a storage/backup drive. The other 250GB will be moved back to another computer as a test drive.
Other, somewhat unrelated problems I'm having with Windows 8:
I have disabled the BITS service in computer management, and set the startup type to disabled. Something keeps re-enabling it. How do I hunt down what is re-enabling it and stop it? I don't want BITS service running. Ever.
Thanks for the help so far. This operating system is just so frustrating. Bashing my head against a wall would be almost less painful.