Windows 8

[dbhost]

I am not 100% certain, but I think Windoze 8 license allows you "downgrade" rights to Windoze 7. I have not used 8 much, but use 7 and actually somewhat like it... It's no Red Hat, but it does what it does fairly well...

[durango dude]

I'm surprised. I also bought a Lenovo a couple of months back and I haven't had any problems. Would it be worth contacting Lenovo Support?

The machine is just fine - I simply can't stand Windows 8.

Skype keeps popping up (if you run your hand on the mouse pad just right - W8 thinks you want Skype).

I really dislike the contact management (synching way too much with other sources) - and I don't like the mail screen, either.

My machine does not have a touch screen - which is likely one of the factors.

[Black wallnut]

I really do not like Win8 or the vender supplied apps running on my laptop. I purchased a Toshiba at Costco. The specs seemed great at the time.

[trungdok]

I can go on and on about Mac vs Windows vs Linux, but that would be a different thread altogether.

I think it might be either a driver or hardware issue. Make sure you get the latest driver from the laptop's manufacturer. If you had already done so, then try uninstall the wireless driver and see if Windows could detect and install a generic/default driver for it. If Windows could, then see if it's better. Sometimes the driver by the manufacturer could be bad (but unlikely). If Windows couldn't, then reinstall the driver from the manufacturer. Another test you can do is using it only on a hard surface (desk for instance) without moving it around for some period of time. If it works fine, then maybe the wireless card came loose. If it still isn't fully working then try to see if it works better if you're right next to the wireless router vs far away from it. If it works better near the wireless router, then it probably is a bad hardware or design issue. Not much you can do about it except for RMA, exchange, or return it. Otherwise, try what Woodturner suggested with running a Linux distro off a usb or CD.

Good luck.

[chopnhack]

Wasn't the purpose of win8 to be more of a touch screen type experience? Did they really write a whole new os around that one feature? I thought it was basically win7 with touch screen capability.

[LCHIEN]

disable the wifi in the laptop. install USB dongle type wifi they're cheap and less than an inch long these days. you should be able to get one on eBay delivered to your house in a few days for under $10. See if that works better.

If it does, its the hardware or driver. try a new driver, if not, keep using the dongle.

[Black wallnut]

Found the fix! Well so far anyway. Power management was turning it off.

[trungdok]

Found the fix! Well so far anyway. Power management was turning it off.

D*mn management

[Cochese]

disable the wifi in the laptop. install USB dongle type wifi they're cheap and less than an inch long these days. you should be able to get one on eBay delivered to your house in a few days for under $10. See if that works better.

If it does, its the hardware or driver. try a new driver, if not, keep using the dongle.

In my experience, it didn't matter - Win8 can just drop a wifi connection. If you're using a VPN, it makes it nearly a pointless endeavor.

My solution was to hack a router into a bridge and trick the computer by using a wired connection.

[durango dude]

Win 8 has two operating assumptions that I don't like:

a) you use a touch screen
b) you connect multiple ways, and want to synchronize everything

I really don't like the way the system is always pounding away at my network connection (I don't feel any urge to be connected 24/7).

Sometimes - I like to be doing this thing called "work......"

[Bruce Cohen]

Guys, I just love these totally objective discussions of mac vs windows.
C'mon, it's just a bloody machine, its not going to kiss you goodnight or tuck you in. In my mind, computers (and I'm a graphic designer) are about as exciting as a set of opened end wrenches. Notice, I didn't say chisels or planes.
Everyone has these emotional connections with their computers, see, they're already have taken over.
Just lighten up, buy one that fits your work, no more no less.
As my mother used to say, the more "crap" they put in, the more there is to break.
And BTW, Happy Halloween, I going trick or treating dressed as John Boehner. Wonder just how much eatable stuff I'll get.

Bruce

[TB Roye]

I got out of the Widows machines in September when I got my iMac. It came with Mountain Lion as the OP system. Last night I upgraded for FREE to the Maverick OP system. No problem was easy as can be. I guess now all Macs now all have the same operating system. Every thing is synced with my iPhone and iPad. I still have my Dell Windows Box. Some time this winter I will start it up and get the files off of it I want and then give it to LOML.
Not a big fan of Safari and the mail system but I have Chrome and My Yahoo on Safari for my Email if I want.

Tom

[catta12]

Win 8 "fix"

Use "Classic Shell" on Windows 8. It lets you skip to the desktop on startup and lest you pick which version of the start button you want from past windows versions. Been using it since last spring on several machines.

I upgraded my parents' PC from a painfully dated Win XP to a desktop with Windows 8 (fixed with Classic Shell) and they never knew it was different. They would have no idea there is any difference from XP to 8 other than small details (basic users for the most part).

Hopefully this saves a couple Win 8 machines from the dumpster, though MSFT screwed the pouch for sure on this one.

[Black wallnut]

catta12 thanks for the great tip!

[Cochese]

C'mon, it's just a bloody machine,

It's also my livelihood. I just had to walk a fellow employee how to use the VPN on an iMac and it's not a pleasant experience using a Java window.