Finally Back On-line

[GT182]

Just getting back. I lost my 8.1 computer and now I'm stuck with Windows 10. August 2nd we were hit with the hurricane that came up the eastern coast. Power went out and when it came back on a power surge hit my computer when I turned it on. For some unknown reason my power strip didn't protect it. Also lost my 14kw Generac whole house generator, as it was found to have been hit by lightening from the storm. All is good tho as our homeowner's insurance is covering both. Bad thig was I lost 8 Koi 12 to 17 inches long..... about 2400 dollars worth that aren't covered.

It's taken me just over a month to get this new computer set up. I was told to buy whatever I needed to rebuild it and so I did. LOL Had to go with a new Msi motherboard that only allows Windows 10 to be used on it..... so it says. Due to the bios being totally new to use..... it's not like the older generations and hard to get used to.... so I must had screwed it up during the setup. Tech support from Micro Center helped and now Windows 10 is installed. I don't like it at all. I want my 8.1 back! But at least this beast is running now.

Specs:
Msi Mag 550 Tomahawk AMD mother board - this board includes 7.1 Surround Sound
AMD Rizen 5 3.6GH to 4.2GHs cpu
PNY GEFORCE 1650 GTX 4GB GDDR6 Overclocked and DirectX 12 compatible.
Vengeance DDR4 3200 MHz (2-1600 cards)
1 Seagate 2TB Ironwood HDD and 1 Seagate 1TB SSD
Corsair H80i v2 Liquid cooling

Now.. if you are into building your own desktop computer, the Micro Center stores are the place to go. They're even better than Tiger Direct's stores were. "If they don't have it... you don't need it." And their tech help by phone is great too. He saved my butt today.
All of their stores...... https://www.mystore411.com/store/listin ... -locations

Now to get my ATS back up and running.

[GT182]

I've finally gotten into my 8.1 HDD. I copied the ATS info from the Documents folder to a file on the Windows 10 HDD for a backup. Now I can do an overwrite for the ATS folder on 10 and get back to driving again...... I hope. I also copied my 8.1 Desktop to 10 to have everything else saved and useable once more.

Does anyone know if with this Windows 10 only motherboard (Msi MAG B550 Tomahawk), that a dual boot is possible to run the 8.1 HDD separately on it? I don't dare try it in case something might go wrong and I lose what is on the 8.1 HDD.

[Some newbie driver]

Sincerely (and with all the good humor and in a positive way ), I can't understand how somebody could be so much fond of an 8.1. Damn, how much i suffered that piece of s....oftware to say it gentle. No, really... what the H were the GUI design team on Microsoft where thin king with the ( and 8.1, they are a sinkhole of productivity.

No doubt why the most installed software over 8 and 8.1 worldwide was the Classic shell (now, happily, still alive in the form of the OpenShell for newer Win10 versions).

And about the dual boot, I suppose it could be done and you could made work drivers on 8.1 for the motherboard. But it has been so long since I had any interest in dual boots and all their problems. Try to start the 8.1 on the new hardware without any other windows HD plugged; no matter that you have with ultra-minimum drivers support (I think even safe mode will suffice). And then run a virtual machine converter over that 8.1 and send the result to a big USB drive you had plugged in. Then restore the Win10 HD, remove the 8.1 one, install any virtual machine player you want (that match the converter used) and load the 8.1 virtual machine and done. In most cases, is a way better solution with way less associated problems.

Regards

[GT182]

I started out in 2000 with ME. XP came out and I didn't want to upgrade, but had to because of a bad motherboard in a Sears Compaq Presario under warranty. I grew to like XP but wouldn't upgrade from there until 8.1 came out, and support stopped for XP. I got 8.1 to look like XP with StartMenu X. The last one before this computer I just built ran great until the hurricane hit here this past August had had the power surge. Seeing the new motherboards that are on the shelves only support Windows 10 I had no choice but to go to 10. I've got it to look a little like XP with StartMenu X, but I still don't like 10. If I had my druthers I'd still be with 8.1, and if I can get the same mother board I was using with the last one, I'll rebuild that computer. At least I can run it to Jan of 2023 when support for 8.1 is supposed to end. Tho I do like the B550 Tomahawk motherboard now as it has 7.1 surround sound built into it.

It all boils down to what is the easiest to learn, to use, and be comfortable with. Someday I'll probably learn to like 10 but it's going to be a long while doing so. I can build a computer but I'm no genus with the software.

Now if Microsoft had thought a bit more they could have based 10 on XP for the ease of use and it's looks. Do you know that many businesses are still running XP? But they're paying big money for the support they get for it. That's how much XP was liked.

[Some newbie driver]

I understand that you are fond to Win 8.1 if you switch directly from XP (I mean, no matter the good points of XP, it was too old and too limited on modern hardware and trends). But that's only because you skipped Win 7; otherwise you will hate to death Win 8.1, guaranteed.

Take a look to the OpenShell I said you, either for the Win 10 or even your beloved 8.1 if you achieve to make it run. Never to improve the usability of a Windows system had been so easy and so... free