Microsoft Admits Windows 8.1 Update May Bork Your Mouse, Promises a Fix 326
MojoKid writes "Microsoft has several valid reasons why you should upgrade to Windows 8.1, which is free if you already own Windows 8. However, there's a known issue that might give some gamers pause before clicking through in the Windows Store. There have been complaints of mouse problems after applying the Windows 8.1 update, most of which have been related to lag in video games, though Microsoft confirmed there are other potential quirks. Acknowledging the problem, Microsoft says it's also actively investigating the issues and working on a patch."
Valid reasons? (Score:5, Informative)
What are these reasons? I'm being serious. I have yet to see a reason to upgrade from Windows 7 this soon in the game
Watermarks (Score:5, Informative)
And give me the ability to hide that stupid "Secure Boot isn't configured correctly" watermark sitting on my desktop! I have it turned off for a reason, I don't need to be harassed constantly about it.
Re:Valid reasons? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Watermarks (Score:2, Informative)
to microsoft, that notice is and was not a "bug" it was a feature designed to scare people into having secure boot on, insuring that only microsoft-authorized operating systems would run on that hardware.
It isn't just MS Mice (Score:4, Informative)
SteelSeries mouse drivers will cause the Windows 8.1 upgrade to fail.
Microsoft really screwed something up with the Windows 8.1 mouse drivers. They really need to get this fixed.
There is a simple fix (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Watermarks (Score:5, Informative)
It was only a bug when it appeared on systems with secure boot enabled, on systems without secure boot, and on Windows RT devices. It still appears on my system because I explicitly turned it off. Now I want to hide the notification.
Re:Watermarks (Score:5, Informative)
Mouse works fine, Sandy Bridge HDMI not so much (Score:3, Informative)
I installed 8.1 and the first two things I noticed- 1) it reset my icon size to medium, which on my 2560x1440 monitor looks ridiculous and given how they imported all my other settings... why? and 2) the HDMI output of my motherboard stopped working. After installing 8.1, I did some searching and apparently Sandy Bridge was not included in Intel's beta driver development for graphics for 8.1 and there is no known development being done for Sandy Bridge, so if I want to continue using my computer to communicate via the HDMI port to my television I need to upgrade to an Ivy Bridge, drive my 'small' 2nd monitor off of VGA (no fscking way, but supposedly analog ports off of S.B. are working fine- I haven't tested it), or upgrade my video card to one that can drive a 3rd (non-DP) monitor. Yes, I could also switch my DVI 2nd monitor to the mobo and put my TV into the HDMI on my video card, but that causes some really strange window relocation issues when waking out of sleep- I have tried that in the past.
For people using only on-board video via HDMI to their sole monitor and without a desire to upgrade S.B. or buy a new computer, it must be enraging. I guess I am lucky, upgrading this motherboard (ASRock Extreme4 Gen3) to Ivy Bridge was something I was planning to do this month, anyway. For Intel not to include Sandy Bridge, a chip only about 2 years old, in their driver development for 8.1 is pretty lame. A Microsoft suggestion was to reinstall the Intel video drivers with compatibility settings for Win 7 or 8, but that didn't work for me.
Re:Valid reasons? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:..and mouse scroll. (Score:4, Informative)
I'm still not confident in Linux's ability to remain stable/repair itself easily without having to frequently re-install.
I'm using a Linux box for 4 years, without a single reinstall. Of course, I'm using a "more professional" one.
Be aware that there's more than a single Linux distro, and not all of them focus on stability or security. The ones that focus on mimicking Windows tends to mimic it too much accurately, in my humble opinion.
Re:..and mouse scroll. (Score:5, Informative)
Wow, you sure found a lot more problems with Windows 8.1 than I did. Really, I only had one problem with it: when booting, after making it past the Windows logo, it just sits at a black screen. You can move the mouse around at this black screen, but you can't log in or do anything.
Other than it crashing to a black screen on boot, I've had no problems with Windows 8.1.
Well, OK, I've posted about this on Slashdot before, and finally got it fixed. Apparently Windows 8.1 decided to nuke the drivers that came with my laptop and use broken ones instead. Reinstalling the original drivers fixed everything. So, thanks for that, Windows 8.1 upgrader.
And because they're still hilarious, here are Microsoft's instructions for booting Windows 8/8.1 into Safe Mode [microsoft.com]. Note that the instructions to enter Safe Mode requires the computer to be booting successfully. Also note that they tell you that you can't use F8 to boot into safe mode any more, but don't tell you that it's now shift-F8. The bit about Windows 8 giving you no chance to hit this is actually true; I wound up powering off the laptop during boot to "trick" Windows 8.1 into taking me to the recovery menu. (As getting to the black screen counted as "booting" as far as Windows cared.)
Shift-F8 does work, by the way, if you get lucky and hit it in that incredibly short window that the OS checks for it.
Re:Valid reasons? (Score:3, Informative)
8 is the usual "odd" version of Windows. For generations of Windows, you could only use every other generation.
Win95? Good.
98? Average
98SE? Good
ME? (this space left blank in the name of good taste)
XP? Good
Vista? Crap
7? Good
8? Do I really have to say anything about it?
So, essentially, if the history of Windows teaches us something, then to simply sit and wait 'til the successor of 8 emerges, and hope that our Win7 installations will tide us over.
Re:..and mouse scroll. (Score:2, Informative)
Re-installs all the garbage you've spent hours uninstalling (bing/news/finance/etc)
Hours uninstalling? That's not even hyperbole that's just an outright lie. This is how long it takes to uninstall all of the metro apps:
1) Click Start.
2) Right click on every app.
3) Click uninstall at the bottom.
Shouldn't take more than 10 seconds.
Re:They're doin' it wrong (Score:5, Informative)
This update breaks mouse in GAMES.
So your update breaks games entirely. A pretty steep downgrade.
Re:They're doin' it wrong (Score:2, Informative)
Re:..and mouse scroll. (Score:5, Informative)
It's not even "adding a button." It's adding a button *graphic* in the lower left corner where there was *always* a "hot spot" to click for bringing up the menu windows.