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Thread ID: 135476 2013-11-08 04:01:00 Classic Shell B.M. (505) Press F1
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1359171 2013-12-05 22:51:00 Well there must have been a fair bit wrong with Win 8 because I had to download a Gig of service packs and fixes which had to be installed before 3 Gig’s of Win 8.1.

Windows 8.1 is the service pack... 		pcuser42 (130)
1359172 2013-12-05 23:34:00 That's because wainuitech 'customised' it for them. It's not just out of the box. :) AND that's the problem -- its NAME BRAND PC's that cause most of the problems - once the "crap" they load up is removed its a lot more user friendly on the tiles. If you take a fresh install of Windows 8 / 8.1 there are only a few tiles, Name Brand PC's make it cluttered and it looks intimidating from the start.

From 1101:
Arnt you missing the point. PC's came preload with Win7, XP . The OS is allmost ready to go, out of the box, drivers preloaded.


The comment I made about the persons XP is because it was mentioned that previously XP and W7 was already setup , which its not - referring to programs.

Some people have VERY short memories. Email -- XP came with Outlook Express, Vista Came with Live Mail, Windows 7, if you remember DOESN'T come with a email program one has to be installed -- Oh did you forget that FACT ? ;)

Here also are a few VERY common problems that a lot of home users have;

*Ask what version of Windows ---Errrrrrrr no idea -OH! Firefox
*Ask what Email program they are using -----Errrrrrrr Don't know
*Ask for their email details ---- Don't know (don't even bother asking for passwords in that case) , as many say they don't have one its just loads.
*Open a browser ask them to type in the address bar the following Address ( give them a address)---Errrr whats the address bar ?? If they have google as their home page some think the search box in the middle of the page is the address bar.
* Ask what Antivirus they use, many don't know or say Norton simply because they have heard of it or some one they know has it.

I could list a lot more but don't need to -- I think the picture should be clear enough.

As for Windows 8 The limit of "general customising" I do is not a lot. think about whats done below: (it could be long, but no secrets or Rocket Science about it :) )

*Add in a email client to handle pop3 mail ( JUST LIKE W7) unless they use web mail then the W8 Mail App works fine.
*Add in a Antivirus
*Install ccleaner
*Install a couple of Media Players that will Play DVD's since by default W8 wont.
*Update Windows with any available updates.
*If they want MS office Install that, if Not then put in kingsoft Office or what ever they prefer.
*install a PDF reader, and set it as the default reader instead of the inbuilt.
*Install any other software they may want.

*When at their place, set up any printers or other hardware they may want or have.
*Show them How to change from the tiled start screen to desktop & back again, how to close a tiled window since theres no controls in the top Right corner.
*When opening pictures give the options to open from a tile or the W7 Photo Viewer.
* Show how to move and rearrange tiles, How to remove tiles they don't want, how to put them back should they want, How to put tiles for programs on the start page,Show how to put shortcuts on the desktop instead of the Start page ( and get them to actually do it several times).
*Ask is there anything they are not sure about or unhappy with, show them.
*Show them how to look something up on Google if they don't know a task or want to find out something.



AND Now the BIGGEST trade Secret :horrified

Many people are to scared to ask questions or think they may appear stupid if they don't know how to do something, So I remove that setting by being light hearted, joking about sometimes (in other words judge what makes the person comfortable and work with that) all the time teaching them. Then once they say they are all good to go, actually get them to do certain things. 99% of the time theres no problems. Some write things down, others have simply Learnt something new.

As I mentioned earlier on, the guy who asked me to show him what lots were finding problems with -- You been doing it already. ;) 		wainuitech (129)
1359173 2013-12-06 01:35:00 Windows 8.1 is the service pack...

So why did a gig of updates have to be installed prior to installing Win 8.1? :confused:

Are you saying there were really just 4 gig of fixes for Win 8? :confused: 		B.M. (505)
1359174 2013-12-06 01:47:00 So why did a gig of updates have to be installed prior to installing Win 8.1? :confused:

Are you saying there were really just 4 gig of fixes for Win 8? :confused: Thats common for ANY OS, could be Windows, Linux, MAC.

When its first loaded its always out of date. ANY OS is only upto date from the time it was produced.

If you were to install a brand new Windows 7, you would find theres a mountain of updates, totalling well over a gig.

I'm doing a XP right now, almost 8 years worth of updates have to be downloaded as the offline installer I use normally wont work on it. :(

With W8, there are certain updates required before the upgrade to 8.1 comes available from the store. 		wainuitech (129)
1359175 2013-12-06 02:22:00 It was the same for Windows 7 - it would require being up to date before the service pack would install from Windows Update IIRC. (The offline installer worked on a clean, un-updated install, but that's 900MB for the 64-bit version.) pcuser42 (130)
1359176 2013-12-09 02:07:00 there is only one patch required for Windows 8 before it will install Windows 8.1 - KB 2871389

Although the Windows 8.1 update is downloaded and installed from the Store, your PC needs a Windows Update, KB 2871389, before Windows 8.1 becomes available to you in the Store.

If you’re using Windows Update to get automatic updates, KB 2871389 will be downloaded and installed automatically. 		nmercer (3899)
1359177 2013-12-09 02:07:00 there is only one patch required for Windows 8 before it will install Windows 8.1 - KB 2871389

Although the Windows 8.1 update is downloaded and installed from the Store, your PC needs a Windows Update, KB 2871389, before Windows 8.1 becomes available to you in the Store.

If you’re using Windows Update to get automatic updates, KB 2871389 will be downloaded and installed automatically. 		nmercer (3899)
1359178 2013-12-09 07:39:00 Trouble is really once something gets a bad rep it never loses it, people still refer to Vista as if it's the same buggy unstable mess it was on release whereas in fact the issues were resolved with updates and although it is a little more resource hungry than windows 8 if you run Vista now it's very stable and similar to 7 to use. Vista is actually pretty good and not in the same league as Windows Me which never really got sorted out.

Likewise the issues with 8 (and is debateable if they really were issues) have largely been resolved but the damage to it's reputation is done and people are unwilling to look past that and even give it a try. It does have some annoying behaviours in default setup to my mind, but once set up how you like it is fine. I personally don't think it's particularly better or worse than 7, just different. I'm a convert also, bought it because of the cheap introductory offer and hated it to start with. It took me a few weeks and a bit of time on google to get used to it and tweak it how I like but I rather like it now and wouldn't go back.

A friend was watching me use my PC the other day, windows 8.1 with no start menu. It wasn't until I pushed the start button and the start screen launched that he caught on to the fact it was windows 8, he was surprised because he'd assumed it was 7 and didn't notice any difference for the several minutes he'd been sitting there.

If you think of the start screen as a replacement for a desktop full of shortcuts and the "all apps" screen as a graphical icon based replacement for the start menu then it's hard to see what the big deal is

Very fair comments.

It's very similar to Win7. Other than some hardware compatibility issues with my 'not too old' PC (less than a year old i7 ivy bridge machine) which seems 'unsolvable', and I have to bear with it.

Same as many others, I bought Win8 because of its cheap promotional price of <$20/- ;) 		bk T (215)
1359179 2013-12-09 07:44:00 A friend was watching me use my PC the other day, windows 8.1 with no start menu. It wasn't until I pushed the start button and the start screen launched that he caught on to the fact it was windows 8, he was surprised because he'd assumed it was 7 and didn't notice any difference for the several minutes he'd been sitting there. Had the exact same thing happen, but this time it was a customer who I told to have a "play" on the workshop PC while I sorted his problem ( only a 5 minute job) He was a bit :o to find he was actually using W8.1 esp since he had only just been bad mouthing it moments before.


Other than some hardware compatibility issues with my 'not too old' PC Found that with my W8 Media Center -- MS changed the hardware spec's between 8 & 8.1 ( many people complaining about it if you do a google search) it comes up saying My CPU is not compatible :horrified - W8 runs fine on it :( Damn --- an excuse to build a newer Media Center now ;) 		wainuitech (129)
1359180 2013-12-10 06:47:00 Quote "Saying W8 is crap and never bothered to learn or actually use it is plain arrogant."
Sorry you are the arrogant one for expecting people to like that schizophrenic OS which when ever I end up on it feels like in some way I am going back to Win95.
People are quite happy to learn something new if they actually feel there is a very real benefit to it. You may feel that the sun shines out of a dark hole at MS but there are plenty of people who now realise there are other options out there. 		mikebartnz (21)
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