Blast from the Past: Microsoft Upgrade Blues!

I've got Microsoft on the brain. Why? Because I'm what they call an "early adopter." I like the newest, best, most up to date everything, as long as I can afford it. That means, I want updates! Upgrades! And I--like Veruca Salt of Willy Wonka--want it now!

But do you know what happens when what you want is too new for general release, and you download the alpha/beta/preview version? Well, it can mean problems. And it can mean that they might not spell out the problems, or that you--in your excitement for the new thing--might just miss
the thing you should've seen. To make this all a little bit worse (and embarrassing), I've done this before.

What happens is you download the new Windows preview version, and mostly you're happy. It's a shiny, happy, clean install, and exploring is fun! Then you find out. . . whoops! This temporary preview will have to expire at some point, and the real version will have to be installed. And it can't just upgrade, no, no. It has to wipe out the old installation. You'll have to reload all of your programs! And your files may or may not stick around (at worst they could disappear, at best they could move to a different location). I made this mistake with Windows 7 (moving from Windows Vista), and now with Windows 8.1.

In all, it's really not that bad. I've got to put back all my programs, tweak a few settings, move a few files, and the hardest part, get my work files external drive back online where it belongs. Once that is done, everything should be back to normal, and my computer should be better than before, with the kinks all ironed out. But there will be cussing in the meantime. And if you're wondering, yes the Start button is back, it's just a bit different.

 

And, joy of joys, there will be updates to both Apple's OS X (Mavericks) and Android (Jellybean 4.3)very soon too! So, more learning curve on all of my devices. Fortunately, I've never rooted my phone, nor have I tried to get under the hood of my Mac. So those experiences should be a little smoother. Happy Monday, everyone!

PS: Several "glitches" were encountered in my upgrade process: 1) The Windows Store wouldn't load three times in a row; 2) The Windows Store shows no obvious place to get the upgrade, I had to find the link on Microsoft.com; 3) Once I got my download started, there was no obvious place that said it was in the process of downloading; 4) Upon starting for the first time, Windows lost my sound, utterly; 5) Even after going to find the driver for my sound card, Windows lost it again after restarting--I'm still not sure it has permanently "stuck." So, thanks Obama! I guess since Windows 8.1 has glitches on rollout, it should be repealed immediately!!!

UPDATED TO ADD: Windows 8.1 seems to be working just great after initial issues were solved. I put all the apps back, got my settings tweaked to where I want them, and all is (seemingly) well. Even some issues that were cropping up before my upgrade have "healed themselves," and are working just fine. I'm happy to say that except for a bit of the struggle at the beginning, this has actually been a nearly painless upgrade.