Beware of the Windows 8.1 upgrade

[dhazelgrove]

Microsoft promised those of us who took part in the Windows 8.1 preview that everything FSX/FS9 would be working in the formal release.

Guess what? THEY LIED!

They've gotten around the issue by making sure that FSX and/or FS9 is actually removed from your HDD.
They are only physically retained if in a non-standard installation directory. They're also removed from the registry.
You'll also lose any Windows application that you manually installed.

Dave

[Sascha66]

Microsoft promised those of us who took part in the Windows 8.1 preview that everything FSX/FS9 would be working in the formal release.

Guess what? THEY LIED!

They've gotten around the issue by making sure that FSX and/or FS9 is actually removed from your HDD.
They are only physically retained if in a non-standard installation directory. They're also removed from the registry.
You'll also lose any Windows application that you manually installed.

Dave

You mean they get uninstalled without your permission?

Sascha

[dhazelgrove]

You mean they get uninstalled without your permission?

Sascha

Exactly so. Absolutely everything and anything that has a presence in the Windows registry is lost.
Some things are saved into a 'Windows.old' directory, but many aren't.

Aside from both FS9 and FSX, you lose any security (Bitdefender) and any other programs (WinZip, ADE, printer drivers, etc.).
It's said that apps loaded from the Windows Store are safe, but that's been proved not to be the case.

Spent the last few days in a massive clean re-install of EVERYTHING, to the point that my ADE Environment Checker now reports that all is well-ish!
I'm still not happy with FS9, though, but I'm getting there.

Deep Joy.

Dave

[Jagdflieger]

Yikes! I've put off buying a new computer due to all of this. Guess I'll keep running W7 for the time being. I really liked Windows XP the best for simming.

[dhazelgrove]

Yikes! I've put off buying a new computer due to all of this. Guess I'll keep running W7 for the time being. I really liked Windows XP the best for simming.

If you get Win 8.1 as a new build, then it's fine. I'm running both FS9 and "The Dark Side" in Win7 compatibility mode, which seems safest.
It's been the 'upgrade(!!)' path that's been the issue.

Dave

[Sascha66]

Exactly so. Absolutely everything and anything that has a presence in the Windows registry is lost.
Some things are saved into a 'Windows.old' directory, but many aren't.

Aside from both FS9 and FSX, you lose any security (Bitdefender) and any other programs (WinZip, ADE, printer drivers, etc.).
It's said that apps loaded from the Windows Store are safe, but that's been proved not to be the case.

That's insane!

[Tom Clayton]

Yikes! I've put off buying a new computer due to all of this. Guess I'll keep running W7 for the time being. I really liked Windows XP the best for simming.

You can still get W7 machines for a good price. I just got this package a couple of weeks ago and it runs FS9 quite well.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...37000&csid=_61

It comes with W7 Pro SP1 installed, with the install disk for 8 included in the package. I'll probably end up using that as a coaster.

[Mick]

From the Associated Press via Google News:

"NEW YORK (AP) — Microsoft has pulled a Windows update from its website after it caused problems on some customers' devices.

The company didn't give details about the problems but says it's investigating. It removed the RT 8.1 update from the Windows Store during the weekend.

In place of the update, Microsoft posted an apology for the problem and said it's trying to resolve the situation quickly. The company says it will give updates as soon as possible. It says the problem affected only a limited number of users."

Question: What does Microsoft call its customers?

Answer: Beta testers.

[Sascha66]

From the Associated Press via Google News:

"NEW YORK (AP) — Microsoft has pulled a Windows update from its website after it caused problems on some customers' devices.

The company didn't give details about the problems but says it's investigating. It removed the RT 8.1 update from the Windows Store during the weekend.

In place of the update, Microsoft posted an apology for the problem and said it's trying to resolve the situation quickly. The company says it will give updates as soon as possible. It says the problem affected only a limited number of users."

Question: What does Microsoft call its customers?

Answer: Beta testers.

Well f..k that!

[jrocky]

RT 8.1 update is for Tablets only. I don't seem to have the "new" so called Start menu working on 8.1 so installed Classic Shell 4.0: http://www.classicshell.net/

jrocky

[AndyE1976]

Just to clarify, are people having issues upgrading from 8 to 8.1 or from 7 to 8.1?

When I upgraded 7 to 8 I had to reinstall all my applications, but upgrading my Surface from 8 to 8.1 did not lose any of my installed applications, although I don't run FSX on that yet.

FSX runs fine on 8, but I don't want to upgrade to 8.1 if it is going to break it.

Anyone done the 8 to 8.1 upgrade via the App Store without issues?

[dhazelgrove]

I went from Win8 to Win8.1 preview to Win8.1

My earlier posts in this thread detail what's happened.

Dave