"Yesterday my desktop died, and so I went ahead and got a brand new Windows 8 laptop. It's always been my feeling that as years go on, user experience has been going down for people who use a computer and the Internet, because of decisions all companies make that are clearly anti-user, either because they think they know best, or in many cases, for financial gains. But from spending all night reinstalling everything and customizing the laptop, I realized just how bad it has become." Probably the biggest reason to go Mac or Linux. Such a shame Microsoft found it more important to pressure OEMs into silly Secure Boot nonsense instead of doing something about the anti-user crapware disaster. Goes to show who Microsoft cares about. Hint: it ain't you.
To view parent comment, click here.
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
Member since:2010-09-23
1b) I have used trial ISO's from Microsoft with my own keys and that works just fine. VHD's tend to expire but trials work just fine.
1c) Refresh works exactly as you would want to remove the crapware AND you can do more advanced things (but that is out of scope of the normal users comfort zone, just like the 1b option is): http://www.anandtech.com/show/5290/windows-8s-refresh-and-reset-fun...
2) I can vouch for ninite after having used it for the last 2 years. From their site: "No Toolbars
Ninite automatically says "No" to toolbars and other junk.". There is also a Pro version that allows you to cache the downloads locally. I have compared several downloads from ninite with my own downloads and they were identical bitwise. For years I have been doing silent installations and it was very resource intensive to find the latest files in the right language and processtype. Ninite is awesome
(yes, I am a big ninite fan. No, I don't have any ties with them. Just a happy customer)
Member since:
2008-07-15
In point of fact, you cannot. The Windows 8 trial (assuming said individual even wants Windows 8) cannot be used to install a non-trial copy of Windows. After the 90 days of evaluation, the trial will expire and a full installation from a licensed Windows disk will be needed (though you can rearm to get an additional 90 days if you do that in time). You can, of course, download the full, non-trial Windows 8 iso images (or Windows 7 for that matter) legally, but you cannot use the trial iso for this purpose. I might add that re-installing Windows falls outside the familiar territory of your typical home user in either case, so they either have to know someone who can assist them or else pay a computer shop in their area to do it. No, the procedure is not difficult, but for some reason when most people here the phrase "reinstall windows" they panic despite the fact that 95% of computer users could do it easily if they were willing to try.
Has anyone tried this? Does it refresh your PC with an unaltered copy of Windows 8, or can the OEM modify the refresh image to contain their crapware as well? I haven't found any definitive answer on this question one way or the other, though in theory for this to work as intended the OEM would have to be able to modify the image if for no other purpose than to put in place any drivers that the default refresh image may not have.
I've not tried this service yet, though I've been meaning to do so at some point. I'm a bit sceptical of third-party services that put themselves between me and the installers I want, however.