www.laspeedgarage.com

I downloaded the latest .iso and stuck it on a USB stick and installed it on my secondary, test, computer, after backing up the W7 installed on it. The install went smoothly and per the device manager (which I finally found in a list using the search feature) all the devices were identified and at least minimally functional MS drivers were installed for them. But, although there was a slight improvement accessing features due to a quasi start button, as far as I am concerned it was still W8.1, which I loath. I fooled around with it for only a short while, and, it worked fine, even though it was only a development build, then I restored my W7, as I still dislike the W8 shell. I know that MS is going to continue to try to churn me away from W7 but it has a number of years of support left. And, I also saw that in early 2016, MS is dropping all support for older versions of IE Explorer, including IE10 on W7. More churning since I don't particularly like IE11.

As usual, for those that like W8/8.1, I expect that W10 will be a welcomed upgrade, particularly since it is rumored to be free. But, since it failed to offer a classical Windows interface, it still sucks from my point of view. So, I will continue to hope that Linux Mint, MATE version, continues to evolve so that I can drop Windows when I am forced to discontinue using W7.

How many years are you going to keep praying for Linux? I have been waiting for years for you to give it the thumbs up so I can use it...

I'm looking forward to trying it out. I've gotten used to 8.1, so it won't be a big deal. I'd love it if it came out sooner rather than later, though, because it seems I have a wipe my SSD, and do a fresh install of 8.1. Turns out, after I did my install of Genuine 8.1, something went wrong with the Windows Update function. This creates several annoying problems. Whenever it updates, certain updates always fail. This means my computer pretty much always thinks in needs an update. If I go to restart, or turn on my computer after a power down, it cycles through several failed update attempts. This means that my usual, 20-sec boot-up (thanks to the SSD) is extended to several minutes while I wait for an update, update failure, and the update to be undone. Very annoying. For the moment, I've just turned off automatic updates. I'm dragging my feet on backing up my emails, and doing a clean install, which will mean re-installing all the software I run off the SSD: AutoCAD, Thunderbird, Office, Adobe, etc. I suppose I can pick up a second, larger SSD, use that to run ALL programs sans OS. Then I can use my current 250GB SSD specifically for my OS.

SonicVenum wrote:I'm looking forward to trying it out. I've gotten used to 8.1, so it won't be a big deal. I'd love it if it came out sooner rather than later, though, because it seems I have a wipe my SSD, and do a fresh install of 8.1. Turns out, after I did my install of Genuine 8.1, something went wrong with the Windows Update function. This creates several annoying problems. Whenever it updates, certain updates always fail. This means my computer pretty much always thinks in needs an update. If I go to restart, or turn on my computer after a power down, it cycles through several failed update attempts. This means that my usual, 20-sec boot-up (thanks to the SSD) is extended to several minutes while I wait for an update, update failure, and the update to be undone. Very annoying. For the moment, I've just turned off automatic updates. I'm dragging my feet on backing up my emails, and doing a clean install, which will mean re-installing all the software I run off the SSD: AutoCAD, Thunderbird, Office, Adobe, etc. I suppose I can pick up a second, larger SSD, use that to run ALL programs sans OS. Then I can use my current 250GB SSD specifically for my OS.

CloneZilla is 100% free and will back up W8.1 perfectly to another HD in your system, or to an external drive of your choice. CloneZilla has various uses, but, it makes a restorable image of a drive similar to how Ghost and other commercial backup programs work. I installed CloneZilla on bootable USB sticks as it works quicker that way than on a CD or DVD, and I use both the 32 bit (on my little netbook), and, the 64 bit. I have successfully backed up and restored both Linux and Windows with it as it copies sector by sector and does not really care about the format or OS. It is a tad techie, but, it is completely free.

So, if you do reinstall W8.1, I suggest that you use some variation of my initial build technique. These days I always put an .iso of the OS on a bootable USB 3.0 stick, as this speed things up immensely. MS actually has free tools to handle this in the case of Windows, and they have how to info that you should check before doing a fresh install. In any case, I install the OS, and then, after booting it and perhaps letting it do some updates, I make an initial full backup. Then, as I configure the system, I make more backups. Ultimately, I keep a couple of strategic backups so that in the event of some horrible melt down, I can restore a known good backup and avoid all the time and effort it takes to completely install from scratch.

BTW: I assume that you used the MS Fix It tool to see if it could fix your update issues? And, I also assume that you checked the net for info about, and possible fixes, for this behavior?

Can Clonezilla make it so that all my programs are still installed and configured as I have them, but still have the fresh install of 8.1 with updates?

I have tried the MS Fix It tool, and have researched the problem. The "fixes" I've seen have done nothing for me. Despite everything I've tried, Windows Update continually files on particular files.

SonicVenum wrote:Can Clonezilla make it so that all my programs are still installed and configured as I have them, but still have the fresh install of 8.1 with updates?

I have tried the MS Fix It tool, and have researched the problem. The "fixes" I've seen have done nothing for me. Despite everything I've tried, Windows Update continually files on particular files.

Almost all programs have to be reinstalled if you do a completely fresh install. Upgrades can sometimes successfully keep the programs working. Of courese, any programs that do not need to be installed to work and that have no entries to make in the registry will work if they can run under the version of Windows that you are running. Clonezilla will not help with what I think you want to do. But, if you make images that you can restore and keep them somewhat current, you will not end up with a problem like you now face, since you could restore an image from a time when your system was still working correctly, and, depending on how dedicated you are about making complete backups of your drive with the OS on it, you might not even lose anything valuable.

Oh ok, that's what I was thinking.

The issue I'm facing is that I did run into this problem until I installed Genuine 8.1. I had been running a 8.1 Pro with a less-than-legit key, which became flagged after several months of use. I never ran into this problem with 8.1 Pro. Once I received my 8.1 disc and key, I did an upgrade install, rather than wiping my SSD, and starting from scratch. I thought this would save my installed programs and files. It did not. It wasn't until a few weeks after I re-installed and reconfigured everything how I wanted that I noticed this update problem. At first, it didn't bother me too much because I thought it was a one-time error. A couple months later, it became really annoying, but I could find no cure. It looks like I'm stuck having to start all over again. That's why I was hoping W10 would come out soon, so I wouldn't have to do this again when it does come out.

Since you say that your computer needs to have a fresh install and configuration, have you tried to scan and repair it? I have never attempted this but who knows, it might find some corrupted file or files that are making the problem happen. And, if it blows up the computer, you can do a fresh install and be up and running again pretty quickly.
Scan & Repair:

Press Windows logo key + X to open the quick launch menu
Click on Command Prompt (admin)

Type dism.exe /online /cleanup-image /scanhealth
Press Enter

Type dism.exe /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth
Press Enter

Actually, it appears per this link that you only have to run the second line but you need to be sure to use the administrative command prompt, as there are two command prompts. The info in the link better explains the process:

http://blogs.technet.com/b/joscon/archi ... -2012.aspx

Thanks, Pat. I will back-up my emails, attempt this, and report back.

Here's what I get:

Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 6.3.9600.17031

Image Version: 6.3.9600.17031

[======================100.0%==========================]

Error: 14098

The component store has been corrupted.

The DISM log file can be found at C:\WINDOWS\Logs\DISM\dism.log