Orpington Astronomical Society

Random Rambling Ruminations => PC Helpline => Topic started by: Mac on Jul 08, 2014, 08:05:35

Title: Windows 8.
Post by: Mac on Jul 08, 2014, 08:05:35
As most people here know i only like windows NT, 2000, xp and windows7,
BUT,
Rhonda has a new Dell laptop which came with windows 8,
but it is SOOOOOOOO SLOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.

I've done a fresh install with all the bloat ware not installled, and its a clean (minimal) install.
but its still slower then treacle.

To open chrome and get the home page up which is www.google.co.uk takes between 60 & 120 seconds, nothing i can do changes it.
Internet explorer is even worse.
as for opening other pages, its cup of tea time.

tracing to google is fine
14 steps nothing slowing the connections down.

I've checked the CPU, thats sitting at 98-100% idle.
Opening chrome, you get the normal spike 10-15%, then back to idle.

The internal network is fine, I can connect to both my desktop and Server and get transfer speeds of 50-51M so the hold up is not there.

Most software takes forever to open,
I've checked all of the setting and turned off everything that makes it look pretty,
no difference,

any ideas before i dump it and install win 7 pro

Mac.
Title: Re: Windows 8.
Post by: The Thing on Jul 08, 2014, 08:22:58
Sounds like a hard disk access issue or possibly the RAM needs reseating as it sounds like there may be access retries happening if the CPU is not doing much.
Title: Re: Windows 8.
Post by: Mac on Jul 08, 2014, 08:43:07
ok, i'll give that a go and get back.
Title: Re: Windows 8.
Post by: RobertM on Jul 08, 2014, 22:32:11
I'm investigating the same issue on my Dell Win 7 laptop. in the last month or so it started opening programs really slowly.  Once they we open they were ok.  Have virus scanned/MalwareBytes with nothing shown.  The symptoms are the same - hardly any CPU (Core i7) and it's an SSD so should be ultra quick (like it was).

I have a win 8 machine with a normal hard disk and that is quicker at opening progs so I'm sure it's not Win 8.

Will keep you posted when I find the culprit...

For 1 check the cpu frequency in the resource monitor..  10% cpu = 10% of the Maximum frequency... which may not be 100%

Robert
Title: Re: Windows 8.
Post by: Mac on Jul 09, 2014, 07:35:33
Ram is seated all ok,
Hard disk is fine, there are no issues with reading or writing,
Resource monitor shows the cpu as 100%
all the power setting show max cpu setting all sleep has been disabled, as i know there are some issues when certain machines come out of sleep.

So it looks like windows 7 is going to be put on today.

Mac.
Title: Re: Windows 8.
Post by: Mac on Jul 09, 2014, 09:34:37
How about this for an answer.

I have a full version of windows 7 professional which i have installed on my machine at home.

I rang microsoft store this morning and said that I need to purchase a new product key for windows 7 pro so i can install it on another machine.

The answer i got back was this.

We no longer sell product keys for any operating system other then windows 8 & 8.1

I told them that windows 8 was crap, slow and useless and that i wanted to install windows 7.

The answer was nope. end of conversation.

Mac.



Title: Re: Windows 8.
Post by: mickw on Jul 09, 2014, 10:02:53
If they no longer sell W7, what was an "illegal" version must now be legal  :parrot: :pirate:

What happens if you use your existing key ?
Title: Re: Windows 8.
Post by: Carole on Jul 09, 2014, 10:26:49
All that bullshit really annoys me.  They update systems to ones that don't work properly and shut down ones that do.  Surely customers have a right to buy what they want and a system that works.

To be honest that's why I don't like upgrading stuff, if it works why tempt fate.  I only replaced my XP desktop because it was getting really slow and I knew it would only get worse when they stopped supporting it.  All my imaging stuff still runs on Vista which was the operating system at the time and I have no intentions of upgrading that until it stops working as everything works fine on that, I know I will have drivers issues once I have to get a later system.  It happened to me before a few years ago when I changed from XP to Vista, there were no drivers for Vista on my Phillips webcam so the camera became redundant.

Carole

Title: Re: Windows 8.
Post by: Mike on Jul 09, 2014, 13:19:41
This is why i've gone over to OSX and Linux. Both free operating systems with free updates. I decided to do this after a legit purchased copy of Windows I had stopped working and I was told by Microsoft I had exceeded my maximum number of installations and needed to buy a new key at full price !!

I have Windows 7 only on one laptop for astro stuff and only because the software I want to run is Windows software. There are Linux and OSX versions of similar things if I really decided to abandon Windows altogether. You can also run Windows software using emulation in both OS's.

Title: Re: Windows 8.
Post by: Mac on Jul 09, 2014, 16:44:38
QuoteWhat happens if you use your existing key ?

It will register that key against the new machine, and then make my old desktop say its no longer a legal machine.

I've sorted it for the time being................................................

No names no pack drill.

Mac

Title: Re: Windows 8.
Post by: The Thing on Jul 09, 2014, 19:35:00
Quote from: Carole on Jul 09, 2014, 10:26:49
...when I changed from XP to Vista, there were no drivers for Vista on my Phillips webcam so the camera became redundant.

Carole


Not on my Vista, SPC900 works just fine.
Title: Re: Windows 8.
Post by: Mike on Jul 09, 2014, 20:05:42
Quote from: Carole on Jul 09, 2014, 10:26:49...there were no drivers for Vista on my Phillips webcam so the camera became redundant.

You can always run programs in Compatibility Mode.
Title: Re: Windows 8.
Post by: Carole on Jul 09, 2014, 20:14:37
QuoteNot on my Vista, SPC900 works just fine.
the SPC900 works fine on mine too, this was a different webcam, can't remember what the model was now as I managed to sell it a while back to some-one still using XP.

I checked with Bern and he said there were no drivers for it on Vista, and I found a lot of posts on the internet where people were complaining about it. 

Carole
Title: Re: Windows 8.
Post by: The Thing on Jul 09, 2014, 21:43:38
Was it a Vesta? I had one once. I believe they can be flashed with SPC900 firmware.
Title: Re: Windows 8.
Post by: Carole on Jul 09, 2014, 22:29:11
I think it was a Toucam.  Phillips PCV then 3 numbers I can't remember. It had a bulbous body.  

No-one suggested that anything could be done at the time, and there were a number of threads on the subject on various forums, it wasn't just me having the problem.  Anyway water under the bridge now, but it puts me off upgrading my operating system as I don't have either the IT or electronic skills to sort out these sort of problems.

Carole
Title: Re: Windows 8.
Post by: Fay on Jul 09, 2014, 23:09:29
Yes i hung on as long as I could, it has been a nightmare setting up the desktop, laptop was not so bad. i preferred XP, shame there is nothing the world can do, as Microsoft rules most of it!!
Title: Re: Windows 8.
Post by: Mac on Jul 10, 2014, 06:54:19
Quoteshame there is nothing the world can do

Of course there is, vote with your feet, and dont use microsoft's products.
Use Apple or Unix ect. its only a matter of time.

Or just stay with xp, if you search hard enough there are plenty of small programs out there that will help you  ;)
all you need is a copy of service pack 3, you dont need all the updates, Dont use internet explorer, and dont connect to the internet.
Strip out all of the junk you never need and you will end up with a fantastically fast and stable machine.
90% of all the services you never need.
If you need astronomy updates download them onto a memory stick and copy them over to your astro machine.

To be honest the only real update most people need is probably the iss and satellite data. What else is going to change.

Mac
Title: Re: Windows 8.
Post by: Fay on Jul 10, 2014, 08:58:22
what about all the new virus's etc?
Title: Re: Windows 8.
Post by: Mike on Jul 10, 2014, 10:11:01
That's what anti - virus software is for. But if you're not connected to the internet, you're not going to get virus's.
Title: Re: Windows 8.
Post by: Mac on Jul 10, 2014, 12:55:20
Fay, i was mainly on about astronomy machines,
which in my case is not connected to the internet.

but you can also download updates for antivirus software an install them via usb

But you will normally only get viruses in one of three ways,

1) Getting a direct infection by connecting directly to the internet or plugging in a compromised usb ect . (Use a firewall and anti virus).
2) Opening an infected message from someone. (Use an antivirus for this)
3) Connecting to a compromised page (phishing scam or similar) (Use an antivirus for this)

Mac.