My top 2 reasons to upgrade to Windows 8--share yours

[jimbo45]

Not sure why people are so excited about iso mounting.

I suppose it is marginally more convenient to have it included if all you ever want to do is mount them .

No biggie. Plenty of free isomounting software already available. If you have simple needs, then this is good WinCDEmu - the easiest way to mount an ISO. And more... ( it also creates iso's). Works great on win7.

If you want to do more than just mounting you would need a full isohandler anyhow.

Like this: PowerISO - Create, Burn, Mount, Edit, Compress, Encrypt, Split, Extract ISO file, ISO/BIN converter, Virtual Drive


the free (unregistered ) version does almost everything - the only limitataion of the free version is you are restricted to editing only up to 300mb. It is also great for writing iso to flash

Hi there

300 MB -- not much use -- waste of time if you need to create / edit iso's . 300 MB would probably make you about 5 mins of decent quality video !!!!!. this really is of no use to man or beast.

The point about mounting ISO's is that the OS can do it directly without you having to install some 3rd party software to do it.

Remember also that the iso format itself might not exist for too much longer anyway -- DVD and CD physical media aren't long for this world in any case.

These days if I play a DVD I'll just mount the ISO with w8 and play with VLC media player -- and I can stream them as well to an external DVD (domestic) machine too..

I keep an external DVD writer just for the few times I need to rip a DVD -- probably won't be doing too much of that in future as modern DVD machines can record direct to HDD and also have USB input to play stuff from external USB devices anyway.

Can't be too long now before DVD's are available as ISO downloads or even supplied on USB sticks / Micro sdHC cards instead of physical DVD's -- should be cheaper and less polluting manufacturing anyway.

A tiny 32 Gb micro sdHC card could store up to approx. 7 "standard" DVD's on it !!!!

Can't see either the CD or DVD now lasting much longer.

When I'm travelling now and I want to watch movies - I just plug a micro sdHC card into my phone -- and depending on the length of journey either plug the phone into the laptop via its usb cable and watch the movie on the laptop or for shorter journeys watch the movie on the smartphone itself. My smartphone will play .iso files and the computer will too of course.

The Samsung Galaxy III s screen is just about OK for watching movies for a shortish time -- say 2 hrs or so -- or on a plane where it's not always convenient to get a laptop out --especially in "Cattle Class" seats --is it me or are plane seats becoming more cramped --I'm not getting fatter or overweight myself so it's not due to ME. !!

Cheers
jimbo

 

[Cly]

I accidentally copied Windows onto the wrong drive Now I can't figure out how to delete the Windows installation off of that drive.

 

[Coke Robot]

Two features I just discovered that I LOVE over Windows 7:

1. LOT less software and utilities to install with a new installation

2. It's a lot faster to get configured than 7

 

[Cly]

Two features I just discovered that I LOVE over Windows 7:

1. LOT less software and utilities to install with a new installation

2. It's a lot faster to get configured than 7

I agree with that; it wasn't a top reason for me to upgrade because Windows is already installed so the work is already done.

Any ideas how to remove an unwanted Windows installation off an external drive?

 

[FSeal]

Two features I just discovered that I LOVE over Windows 7:

1. LOT less software and utilities to install with a new installation

2. It's a lot faster to get configured than 7

1) ?!?!? What utilites? In fact with the missing DVD and mp4 playback there are actually MORE utilities you have to install over 7.

2) Again ?!? When installing the 30 applications you need to use daily/weekly Then having to do MORE work in Metro to organise them all than you ever had to so with the start menu and trying to get those two remote printers installed and getting it working nicely with the rest of your network when everything has been moved around on you, the setup time is /considerably/ longer.

Again Coke. You talk about Windows 8 as if it is only used by people that mail and web and maybe play majong and do NOTHING else on it! If so then point taken, for everyone else, both of your points are in fact the exact opposite of how you stated them.

 

[CloudyPinkLemonade]

Two features I just discovered that I LOVE over Windows 7:

1. LOT less software and utilities to install with a new installation

2. It's a lot faster to get configured than 7

1) ?!?!? What utilites? In fact with the missing DVD and mp4 playback there are actually MORE utilities you have to install over 7.

2) Again ?!? When installing the 30 applications you need to use daily/weekly Then having to do MORE work in Metro to organise them all than you ever had to so with the start menu and trying to get those two remote printers installed and getting it working nicely with the rest of your network when everything has been moved around on you, the setup time is /considerably/ longer.

Again Coke. You talk about Windows 8 as if it is only used by people that mail and web and maybe play majong and do NOTHING else on it! If so then point taken, for everyone else, both of your points are in fact the exact opposite of how you stated them.

1. Does no-one understand metro is a new feature not a replacement of features. That means you are wrong with the utilities. And WMP is included.

2. Or you could switch to Windows 8 default drivers/apps instead of desktop apps which use up 15TB because they're in "Windows 8 Preview".

Oh, and that is practically all I do.

 

[Cly]

Hopachi--I was not able to install because I am using a 3TB hard drive formatted GPT, which apparently cannot be an active partition. Any solutions?

Hi Cly,

No solid solution that I know for this one for the moment. Sorry.

Hopachi

Too bad. I was hoping to have a single eSATA drive that housed a whole bootable system. 2.2 TB wouldn't have been large enough.

 

[FSeal]

Two features I just discovered that I LOVE over Windows 7:

1. LOT less software and utilities to install with a new installation

2. It's a lot faster to get configured than 7

1) ?!?!? What utilites? In fact with the missing DVD and mp4 playback there are actually MORE utilities you have to install over 7.

2) Again ?!? When installing the 30 applications you need to use daily/weekly Then having to do MORE work in Metro to organise them all than you ever had to so with the start menu and trying to get those two remote printers installed and getting it working nicely with the rest of your network when everything has been moved around on you, the setup time is /considerably/ longer.

Again Coke. You talk about Windows 8 as if it is only used by people that mail and web and maybe play majong and do NOTHING else on it! If so then point taken, for everyone else, both of your points are in fact the exact opposite of how you stated them.

1. Does no-one understand metro is a new feature not a replacement of features. That means you are wrong with the utilities. And WMP is included.

2. Or you could switch to Windows 8 default drivers/apps instead of desktop apps which use up 15TB because they're in "Windows 8 Preview".

Oh, and that is practically all I do.

1) WMP is included but it NO LONGER plays DVDs or mpeg 4 files of any kind without installing additional tools. A giant leap backwards from Windows 7.

2) What?

 

[Cly]

1) WMP is included but it NO LONGER plays DVDs or mpeg 4 files of any kind without installing additional tools. A giant leap backwards from Windows 7.

I had thought this was only a DVD issue, so didn't care much. I didn't realize it affected mpeg 4 files generally. Isn't there an easy solution to that--Quicktime, or even copying the codecs from Windows 7?

 

[pparks1]

Two features I just discovered that I LOVE over Windows 7:

1. LOT less software and utilities to install with a new installation

2. It's a lot faster to get configured than 7

While in theory, in practicality these apps are of limited use. For example, there is a PDF reader by default, but it's a metro app with almost no functionality. I managed to live with it for about 3 users before I went and installed my normal sumatra PDF reader so that I could be productive again.

 

[FSeal]

1) WMP is included but it NO LONGER plays DVDs or mpeg 4 files of any kind without installing additional tools. A giant leap backwards from Windows 7.

I had thought this was only a DVD issue, so didn't care much. I didn't realize it affected mpeg 4 files generally. Isn't there an easy solution to that--Quicktime, or even copying the codecs from Windows 7?

Well installing the media center will bring back the full mpeg 4 and DVD playback functionality. Though rumor is that that will be something you have to pay for.

But also installing saw Power DVD or installing a codec pack like CCCP or Sharkey's will also bring it back. When use WMP Classic or other media player.

I have not tried installing any third party codec packs though, can;t say which one is guaranteed to work at this point.

(P.s. Though DVD and mpeg4 are mentioned together a lot, yes I know that DVDs use MPEG2 compression, not mpeg 4 but a LOT of stand alone movie files these days are mp4 files or h263/4 encoded AVIs etc....)

 

[TerryE]

As others have said, there are free utilities available for mounting CD/DVD ISO images. (I use one called MagicDisc)

BitLocker is available only in some versions of Windows 7. Is it going to be available for every version of Windows 8?

My reasons for upgrading (I'd do this only on my personal netbook computer):

1. Get more accustomed to the Metro interface
2. Some inane but addictive (and free) games I found on the Microsoft store (computer cheats at Backgammon, btw )

 

[crazycolaist]

because it would look like a nice OS onto a HD tv for media center stuff

 

[Hopachi]

Hopachi--I was not able to install because I am using a 3TB hard drive formatted GPT, which apparently cannot be an active partition. Any solutions?

Hi Cly,

No solid solution that I know for this one for the moment. Sorry.

Hopachi

Too bad. I was hoping to have a single eSATA drive that housed a whole bootable system. 2.2 TB wouldn't have been large enough.

It can work if your computer has UEFI, they say, but since I don't have that myself, I don't know for sure.

Did you fixed the problem with the copy to a wrong drive?
Just try to simply delete the folders (show hidden + system files) that were created in the copy process.

 

[Coke Robot]

Two features I just discovered that I LOVE over Windows 7:

1. LOT less software and utilities to install with a new installation

2. It's a lot faster to get configured than 7

1) ?!?!? What utilites? In fact with the missing DVD and mp4 playback there are actually MORE utilities you have to install over 7.

2) Again ?!? When installing the 30 applications you need to use daily/weekly Then having to do MORE work in Metro to organise them all than you ever had to so with the start menu and trying to get those two remote printers installed and getting it working nicely with the rest of your network when everything has been moved around on you, the setup time is /considerably/ longer.

Again Coke. You talk about Windows 8 as if it is only used by people that mail and web and maybe play majong and do NOTHING else on it! If so then point taken, for everyone else, both of your points are in fact the exact opposite of how you stated them.

Native DVD playback is a feature is something many people I've come across have said it isn't used, in fact, they would opt to remove the DVD drive from their laptops and replace it with a hard drive and pop in a SSD where the hard drive was. They would do it if it wasn't too pricy. Also, I have yet to meet someone personally that I have done OS upgrades and installs for that has a large video collection of mp4s. Even then, if you do need that, VLC player or Windows 8 Pro with Media Center.

When you're able to drag things around, arrange them to your liking and have the options to pin to Start or Taskbar, remove things you don't need, it's faster than the start menu. It's a tedious thing to CONSTANTLY have to click open the menu, click to All Programs, and right click and click again to delete a folder or shortcut, times 15 intervals. Even more annoying is when the menu closes out after you have to click Yes to delete said files. In the Start Screen, that's cut in half.

I have a PC I'm working for a guy I know that wants Windows 8 with Office 2013 and Windows 7 and Office 2010 in dual boot. I've had to spend more time in 7 than 8 accomplishing the same tasks. In 8, I literally only have two things installed, Office 2013 and a Realtek audio driver. In 7, I have Office 2010 as well as a couple of utilities, AVG 2012, and a few other drivers that needed the third party manufacturer's drivers. Also should mention the time that it takes to configure software.

I've reverse the table, you seems to talk about Windows 8 as if it is ONLY used by people that have a plethora of software and manage all sorts of PCs and NOTHING else on it!

 

[Cly]

It can work if your computer has UEFI, they say, but since I don't have that myself, I don't know for sure.

Did you fixed the problem with the copy to a wrong drive?
Just try to simply delete the folders (show hidden + system files) that were created in the copy process.

I didn't pursue the UEFI thing because the point of WTG is to use it when I am on the road, so you need maximum compatibility. Also, all of the tutorials I could find rely on making the partition "active" which you can't do with GPT. I don't know what the workaround is. Also, this whole thing is probably short term because I don't know what will happen once the Windows 8 Preview period expires--will there be a way to install WTG using Windows 8 Pro rather than Enterprise or will activation prevent that?

When I tried to delete the Windows folders, I got a message saying you need super duper admin privileges. I plan on using the command "rd" in an elevated command prompt. Hopefully that will do the trick.

 

[Cly]

1) WMP is included but it NO LONGER plays DVDs or mpeg 4 files of any kind without installing additional tools. A giant leap backwards from Windows 7.

I had thought this was only a DVD issue, so didn't care much. I didn't realize it affected mpeg 4 files generally. Isn't there an easy solution to that--Quicktime, or even copying the codecs from Windows 7?

Well installing the media center will bring back the full mpeg 4 and DVD playback functionality. Though rumor is that that will be something you have to pay for.

But also installing saw Power DVD or installing a codec pack like CCCP or Sharkey's will also bring it back. When use WMP Classic or other media player.

I have not tried installing any third party codec packs though, can;t say which one is guaranteed to work at this point.

(P.s. Though DVD and mpeg4 are mentioned together a lot, yes I know that DVDs use MPEG2 compression, not mpeg 4 but a LOT of stand alone movie files these days are mp4 files or h263/4 encoded AVIs etc....)

I am playing mp4 files in Windows 8 with no additional software. The mp4 files are produced by a Nikon DSLR. I forgot what encoding they have.

 

[FSeal]

I've reverse the table, you seems to talk about Windows 8 as if it is ONLY used by people that have a plethora of software and manage all sorts of PCs and NOTHING else on it!

No, but only WE are the ones being punished by it...

It /could/ have satisfied both types equally, but it doesn't.

That is the very crux of the problem!

And the DVD stuff? I see people using their laptops as portable DVD players ALL THE TIME. I would bet that 10 times as many people use their DVD player than would want to get rid of it for a second HD. That's the same argument that MS used to remove the start menu and it's complete BS.

But WORSE than the removal of DVD playback is the removal of mpeg playback natively. Video playback has /always/ been a royal PITA for users and developers because there is nothing close to an actual, reliable, usable cross platform codec and container format until the widespread adoption of mpeg 4 AND it's native inclusion into OSes. We were headed towards video utopia with 7 and now it's gone in an instant with Windows 8.

Do you have any idea how "not right" it is to have a product that produces mpeg 4 files and then having to tell your customer to go download some shady (to them) program called "VLC" to play it back? So now EVERY video product vendor needs to write their own video player to be included with our software even though it's supposed to be a freaking world wide standard? Bloody hell...

I read an article about the new video work in Metro, the new video APIs and the MS developers were ultra gushing about their functionality etc. Only thing, the entire article was riddled with asterisks which at the bottom said "mpeg 4 playback only available with additional software" (Paraphrasing).

If it's not included by default on shipment or installable freely BY the developer then it is USELESS, virtually noone is going to have it installed. What are you going to say, "Oh, here buy my software for $30, but you need to buy media center for another $10 to use it even if you never want to use media center itself..." That is just all kinds of fail.

 

[Hopachi]

When I tried to delete the Windows folders, I got a message saying you need super duper admin privileges. I plan on using the command "rd" in an elevated command prompt. Hopefully that will do the trick.

I encountered this myself.
You can reboot from the Win7 / Win8 dvd and go to advanced / repair tools or something, then choose command prompt and it has all rights. Then you can delete any folder, be careful.

 

[lehnerus2000]

It's not our fault ...

When you're able to drag things around, arrange them to your liking and have the options to pin to Start or Taskbar, remove things you don't need, it's faster than the start menu. It's a tedious thing to CONSTANTLY have to click open the menu, click to All Programs, and right click and click again to delete a folder or shortcut, times 15 intervals. Even more annoying is when the menu closes out after you have to click Yes to delete said files. In the Start Screen, that's cut in half.

It's not our fault that you are doing it the hard way.

It's just like Sinofsky was doing on his blog (picking the worst case example to "prove" that Metro is "better").

if you only want to delete a few icons, the Metro Screen is faster.
Deleting a lot of icons (e.g. all of the MS Office icons) is a lot faster using the "Start Menu".

All you have to do is:

• Open the "Start Menu"
• Right click on "All Programs"
• Select "Open" and/or "Open All Users" from the context menu
• Open the "Programs" folder
• Select all of the folders and/or icons to be deleted (using the standard methods).
• Delete them.
• Done

Apparently no one ever rearranged their "Start Menu" folders and/or icons, so MS removed that ability in W7 (probably in Vista).
I suspect they justified that decision, by saying that their telemetry "proved" that no one ever did it.