Derek891

I've just had a revelation. About a week and a half ago I was at one of the big office supply stores. I had browsed the software section and all they had was Windows 8, so I assumed that 8.1 was not yet available on DVD media, and the only option was downloading from the Microsoft store. Just a few minutes ago I was on the same store's website, and found 8.1 was available. So either they just got it in, or the store manager is trying to sell off all his old stock before putting 8.1 on the shelves. Having the physical installation media for 8.1 would certainly make things much easier as far as installation and recovery are concerned. But I am still curious if recovery works for those who have updated from Win8 to 8.1 via the Microsoft store. @Andavari - That is certainly the way to go if I decide not to spend the $95-$100 for Windows 8.1. Make an image using Macrium then stash it away on a USB stick.

Hello Christine and welcome to the forum. Someone posted on this same topic not very long ago. Here is the link to the previous post: http://forum.piriform.com/index.php?showtopic=39771 If you read my reply you will find the links to Acronis Drive Monitor and the Wikipedia page with a chart explaining what the ID numbers mean. Please note: You have to scroll pretty far down the page to find the chart. The ID numbers highlighted in pink are the ones that indicate potential problems.

I'm aware that several members of the forum have upgraded to Windows 8.1. I'm also aware of the fact that an additional 350Mb recovery partition is created during the upgrade process, to work with the already existing recovery partition I assume. Two questions: Has anyone tried it yet? And if so, does it work? I've recently visited the HP support forum and have found out that for HP owners, it doesn't. Recovery for them involves three steps: Restoring Windows 8 using the factory installed recovery partition, applying all the updates, then upgrading to 8.1 via the store. An already unpleasant task made even more unpleasant in my opinion. Which is why I haven't upgraded yet. So what I really want to know is if you install Windows 8 using Microsoft's media, then upgrade to 8.1, does recovery work? Is it a single step process or a multi step process? If it is the former, I will probably go out and purchase Windows 8.

Welcome to the forum Brian. I'm glad you had the sense to come here and ask about this feature before using it. I treat it as a "look but don't touch" item myself. If you look carefully, this size of most of these files is 10Mb or less, so at best, you'll only gain a few hundred megabytes of disk space. But if things go wrong, you could find yourself reinstalling Windows. The risks far outweigh the benefits in my opinion.

Thank you Hazelnut. I was searching for that post by kroozer last night and gave up because my eyelids kept reminding me it was time to go to bed. Also, another setting that should not be overlooked is illustrated by kroozer here: http://forum.piriform.com/index.php?showtopic=35459 to Stop VSS when defragmenting. In reply to Kojak: If you still show 27% fragmentation after making multiple passes with Defraggler, it appears something isn't right with the settings. Make sure you have these three settings checked off before you try again: Exclude the restore point file, the hibernation file, and stop VSS on the NTFS volume.

I gave up on tinfoil hats a long time ago. I found it's much more effective to wallpaper the entire room with tinfoil. Remember: The shiny side faces out, not in!

I came across that story not long after I posted earlier today. It certainly is a coincidence, isn't it? It looks like sooner or later there is going to be a showdown between the people running our government versus the people with huge pockets full of money. I wonder who will win?

I came across this article today on the Market Watch website: http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2013/12/09/nsa-spying-stretched-into-online-gaming-report/ When is this ridiculous behavior going to end? I guess there are some in government who feel that a 14 year old kid who plays a game depicting violence or a terrorist attack is a potential criminal or terrorist himself. So their solution is to spy on the kid and his friends. How about dealing with the problem at the source? Maybe the game developers should be subpoenaed to appear before Congress to explain why they would dream up the concept for these games in the first place. In any event, I think there are some in the intelligence community who have way too much time on their hands and way too much imagination. Just because someone believes in the boogeyman doesn't mean that everyone else should believe in him too, especially when people like you and I are asked to foot the bill for their stupidity.

Winapp2, I could be entirely wrong about this file. And if that is the case, I apologize to hollowandi for jumping to the wrong conclusion. But there are two things that stand out in the example you provided. First, the header at the top identifies your file as a .png file. Second, there are items that are repeated in the file itself, such as NUL, ACK, SUB, ETX, ESC and so on that indicate it is a file with structure and patterns. If you look closely at hollowandi's file it appears to be entirely random, which some forms of encryption are deliberately designed to do. And there is no apparent header on the file, telling me it has either been removed, or corrupted along with the rest of the contents, or encrypted along with the rest of the contents. In any case, if it is indeed an encrypted file, and he was not the person who encrypted it, I don't think there is anyone on this forum who can be of any help.

It's funny you used the word "decrypt" in your title, because that is what encrypted files look like when viewed with Notepad: http://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-57449365-285/how-to-encrypt-selected-text-and-entire-text-files-with-notepad/ I find it odd that you have encrypted files on your machine and lack the means to decrypt them. Unless of course the files came from someone else's machine, in which case I decline to offer any help whatsoever.

"You better watch out, you better not cry...."

Tasgandy I've noticed that most of your artwork involves people wielding swords. I was wondering if you are a fan of the "Zatoichi" series of movies from Japan. Just the other night I watched "Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman", which was made in 1989 and was the last movie made by Shintaro Katsu, the original Zatoichi. I've also seen the 2003 remake "Zatoichi" with Takeshi Kitano in the title role. Both are great movies. Here's a still with Shintaro Katsu: The reason I brought this up is that the young lady in your artwork and Zatoichi have something in common: they both hold their swords with a reverse grip.

A follow-up to my previous post about this machine. I ordered one from a reputable reseller in the Washington D.C. area. It's a T400 model 2767, submodel 2HU, 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB DDR2 memory @ 1066MHz, 160GB SATA2 hard drive, Panasonic DVD-R/CD-RW drive, two ethernet ports, three USB 2.0 ports, fingerprint scanner, and a device called an Express Card reader(a removable flash memory device that uses a PCI-E interface instead of USB). The salesman explained that it was part of a lot that had come off lease from a large insurance company. I decided to take a chance, paid $229 U.S. for it, and it arrived the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. My brother happened to be here when I opened the box, and he thought I had bought a new laptop! The condition is excellent, no scuffs, scratches, or dings anywhere. All the keys and buttons work, no dead spots on the display, and every device I tested works(since I don't possess an Express Card that is the one untested item). The only downside - it had Windows Vista Business installed. A 32 bit operating system installed on a 64 bit machine seems to be a waste of it's potential as far as I'm concerned, but considering where it came from, I guess it makes sense. Since I had already planned to use this as a Linux machine, Vista lasted long enough for me to visit Lenovo's website to download and install the most current BIOS and firmware updates that are available. I left Lenovo's recovery partition installed, so I can go back to Vista if I have to. After using Mini Tool Partion Wizard installed to a USB stick, I had the recovery partition, a 24GB root partition, 4GB for swap, and just over 116GB for the home partition. Since I cannot burn a DVD with the Lenovo, it got a rest at this point. I visited the openSUSE website using my HP laptop and downloaded the full installation DVD for the 64 bit version of openSUSE 13.1. At just over 4.3GB it takes a while, but I recommend using this since it not only contains the installation program, but also includes system recovery and hardware evaluation software. After doing the md5checksum, I burned a DVD. The installation was a two step process, the first to load the operating system on the drive, then a reboot to detect the hardware and finalize the system settings. And with the exception of the fingerprint scanner and the Express Card reader, all the drivers I needed for this machine were on the DVD. Total time for the installation and the first online update was around 45 minutes. So there you have it. I know mta and nodles were curious about using Linux on a Thinkpad, and I'm happy to report that it was a sucess as far as I'm concerned. It's much more responsive than using Vista, and once I figure out all the software available from the repository, I should have everything Vista has and more as far as applications. If anyone is interested in a cheap laptop, or a second laptop, the link is here: http://www.thinkpaddepot.com/ Edit: I almost forgot. Here's a good resource for installing Linux on the Thinkpad series laptops: http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/ThinkWiki

"When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself." - Tecumseh Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone.

Hello LuLu The publisher should be listed for this item in Startup. If none is listed, right click the item and select "Properties", this will give you a better idea of what application it's associated with and what it's function is. Don't be afraid to disable it, since these are applications that start with Windows but have no effect on Windows itself. It will not disappear from the Startup menu, it will remain there and be listed as disabled. At the worst, if you find out it's something important to you, all you have to do is go back into Startup an re-enable the item.

Here's a little rock 'n roll cutie that's been hanging around on my HP desktop for the last few days: http://s5.postimg.org/y53heja0n/Screenshot_3.png

It is the openSUSE mascot, a green chameleon. I don't know who exactly is responsible for that particular background, since there are so many people involved in the project. To give you an idea of the scope of the project, the link to their art portal is here: http://en.opensuse.org/Portal:Artwork Here's a sample of a photograph with a graphic overlay: http://en.opensuse.o.../Chameleon2.jpg And the link to download their artwork is here: http://suse-art.org/

I probably shouldn't say anything due to the fact I went straight from WinXP to Win8 myself. I've only used Win7 a very few times when troubleshooting my brother's HP Mini 210 with Win7 Starter installed. I can only say that Win8 is supposed to be the most secure version of Windows yet, based on what I have read. And it goes without saying that it will be supported longer than Win7. Edit: 3 years to be exact. The vexing thing about Win8 is the user interface, the way things are split between the desktop, the metro screen, and the apps screen. At first I felt lost using it*. It took quite a while for me to learn where to find things and to adapt to it. So I think the main thing to consider is your sister in law herself, whether she is set in her ways and reluctant to learn, or if you feel she is flexible and adept at learning new things. *The first time I used my HP Envy, I couldn't figure out how to shut it down. I had to break out the little booklet to find out how the Charms dock worked. Edit: I personally think Microsoft should have come out with two versions of Win8, one for touchscreen devices, the other for traditional desktops and laptops. That would have been a home run.

Hey everybody! Check out my lizard: http://postimg.org/image/w4xnp2wkz/ (It's not what you think it is)

Hello Hulk - Just to understand it clearly - You originally had the partition for Stuff labeled as I: drive, and I presume it was formatted as NTFS. Now it is recognized as K: drive and is RAW - an active partition that is unformatted, or the format is not recognized by Windows. When you disconnected the original drive, in a power off state I assume, on re-start Windows would assume that I: and J: are up for grabs, and would have assigned the letter I: to the external drive when it was detected. For some reason Windows may have retained that letter after you disconnected it. If that is the case, it would have assigned J: and K: to the original drive's two partitions when you plugged it back in. That is why K: is not recognized as a valid partition, it was never an established path in the first place. You could try opening Computer Management>Storage>Disk Management, find the two partitions in question, right click them, and apply the original drive letters I: and J: to their respective partitions. Do not format either one when asked to do so. That would re-establish the original paths. As far as the RAW designation, I'm not sure what will happen, whether it will go away or not. At this point you can only cross your fingers and hope for the best.

Kas, it sounds to me as if you've already made up your mind, so I won't waste my time trying to talk you out of it. If you truly feel that Auslogics is a superior product, then by all means, use it. I can only offer this advice. Trying to defragment a drive with the Windows operating system installed is like trying to rake leaves on a windy day. You work your way from one end of the yard to the other, and five minutes later, you can turn around and start the process all over again. I've given up on chasing down every single leaf, and I've given up trying to maintain a perfectly defragmented drive. In my opinion it is the very definition of futility and time better spent doing other things. I probably defragment my drive every 3 to 4 weeks, and I do not get upset if it is not a perfect result. It is a characteristic of the Windows operating system that has always been with us and is probably not going away anytime soon. Relax a little and learn to live with it.

I tried this on my machine last night and got the same result. I am the sole user on this machine and have no shared devices. Windows 8 OEM 64 bit v 6.2.9200 - Defraggler v 2.16.809.

Warlock - I apologize for not keeping up with this thread. I have spent some time this evening, re-read it from start to finish, and have several questions you should consider. 1.) Is Speccy the only way you have to monitor cpu temperatures? I ask this because on my Intel Atom equipped laptop, Speccy is right on the money, but on my AMD A10 equipped laptop, Speccy is off by a ridiculous amount, reporting temperatures roughly double what they actually are. At 118c, there would be smoke and flames coming out of the vents of this machine. Perhaps you should install a utility like Core Temp to verify what Speccy is reporting. 2.) This temperature limit of 50c you mentioned seems extremely low. Did you get this info solely from Speccy, or did you obtain it from the manufacturer's website? The reason I ask is that both of the processors I already mentioned have limits of 100c. Even the ancient P3 Coppermine in my old desktop has a limit of 80c. A limit of 50c seems unrealistic to me, perhaps Speccy is misleading you here. 3.) Erratic behavior of the cursor could be an indication of a temperature related problem. But it could also be caused by a bad video cable, wear and tear on the sockets said cable plugs into, an outdated video driver, or a BIOS related issue. Swapping video cables, checking connections, and verifying if the driver version is current, as well as the BIOS version, are things you can do yourself at little or no cost. 4.) Do the wizards who work on your machine share any info with you as to what they have already done? Have they ever removed and reinstalled the heatsink on the processor by chance? I ask because this is something easily overlooked yet extremely important, and it might be the cause of all your problems. Over a long period of time thermal paste does dry out and lose it's effectiveness. Applying new paste over the old stuff is useless. The old paste must be completely removed first. Applying a very thin coating to both the processor and heatsink is all that's needed , because it will act as an insulator rather than a conductor of heat if applied too thick. Then you bring the two together, twist the heatsink back and forth slightly to remove any trapped air, and secure it with the bracket or retaining clip. Wipe any excess off with a Q-Tip and you are done. There is only one person I trust to do this correctly: me. I hope this helps you out Warlock. Take care and good luck.

If it were me, I would have told that Microsoft representative something my mother told me over 50 years ago: People who live in glass houses should not throw stones.

Hello Arturo and welcome to the forum. If I were letting other people use my machine, I would only allow CCleaner to be run from the administrator account. This is because there are some features of CCleaner, such as drive wiper, uninstall programs, delete system recovery points, changing/deleting system startup items, and so on, that can cause serious problems if they are used by someone who doesn't understand how they work. If you are not familiar with all of these features yourself, I suggest reading the user documents found here: http://www.piriform.com/docs/ccleaner