AWS

Posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes How much will you have to pay for a PC running Windows 8? That’s one of the questions that we could not really answer until now. Microsoft is keeping tight lipped about the pricing of its Surface RT tablet that the company intents to ship on October 25, and other manufacturers too have not revealed pricing information yet. If you hop over to hsn.com, the website of the Home Shopping Network, you findthe first Windows 8 laptops listed there for sale. A total of five laptops and PCs are displayed here, with two manufactured by Gateway and two by Acer. Lets take a closer look at those PCs to find out how we stand when it comes to pricing of PCs running Windows 8: Gateway Windows 8 Core i5, 4GB Ram, 500GB HD, Intel HD Graphics 4000, 15.6″ laptop for $699.95 Acer Windows 8 Core i5, 8GB Ram, 750GB HD, Intel HD Graphics 4000, 15.6″ laptop for $999.95 Gateway 23″ Touchscreen LCD, Windows 8, Core i5, 6GB Ram, 1TB hard drive, All in one PC with Intel HD graphics for $1199.95 Acer 23″ Windows 8 Core i5, 6GB Ram, 1TB hd, all in one PC with Intel HD graphics for $999.95 The big question here is if those offers are more expensive than comparable Windows 7 offers. To find out, we need to compare the pricing of Windows 8 laptops with Windows 7 laptops on the same site. You find two comparable Gateway laptops on the HSN website. The first is a 15.6″ Core i3 laptop with 6GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive for $849.95, the second a 15.6″quad core laptop with 4GB of Ram and a 640GB hard drive for $749.95. Prices are not higher, in fact, they are cheaper. While that is no scientific evidence that Windows 8 laptops will be cheaper in general than comparable Windows 7 laptops, it is fair to assume that they won’t be more expensive than their counterparts. View the full article

Not for the ide driver. For the motherboard chipset. The chipset controls the IDE controller.

You'll need to install the driver during the install. More than likely you'll need the chipset driver disk to use during OS install.

I am trying to install a the connector on a Windows 7 64 bit machine. It gets to the 'enter password' section. After entering the password, I get a 'Cannot connect this computer to the network - The server is not available. Try connecting this computer again.... I viewed the log file and this is what comes up: [5352] 120927.151139.6700: ClientSetup: MachineIdentityManager.GetMachineStatus had errors: ErrorCatalog:NetworkError ErrorCode:-1 BaseException: Microsoft.WindowsServerSolutions.Devices.Identity.MachineIdentityException: MachineIdentityManager.GetMachineStatus ---&gt System.ServiceModel.CommunicationException: An error occurred while making the HTTP request to https://media-1:65500/CertWebservice.svc. This could be due to the fact that the server certificate is not configured properly with HTTP.SYS in the HTTPS case. This could also be caused by a mismatch of the security binding between the client and the server. ---&gt System.Net.WebException: The underlying connection was closed: An unexpected error occurred on a send. ---&gt System.IO.IOException: Unable to read data from the transport connection: An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host. ---&gt System.Net.Sockets.SocketException: An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host at System.Net.Sockets.NetworkStream.Read(Byte[] buffer, Int32 offset, Int32 size) This is not the OpenDns issue that most have had as it sees the server. Plus, I have added all the entries into the hosts file as well as turned off using openDns and it doesn't help. Any ideas? View this thread

I am unable to change the screensaver timeout in Windows 8 Pro RTM. I believe it was change by the mail app, enforcing Exchange ActiveSync policies to 1 minute (even though the server does not enforce 1 minute on a phone). I got so fed up with it I removed the Exchange account from mail app and rebooted. But if I change the screensaver timeout value, as soon as I go back into the settings, it is back at 1 minute. Actually I managed to get it to say 15 minutes in there by editing the local GPO (User ConfigAdmin TemplatesPersonalizationScreen saver timeout) but even when it says 15 minutes in there, it comes on after 1 minute. This is very annoying because it also locks the screen, even though this is not set either. So basically it is ignoring any setting in personalization, and is fixed at 1 minute with screen lock. I consider this a bug, since even if the settings were enforced by Exchange, the setting should be removed after removing from control panel. As far as I can see my only option is to delete the local profile. View the full article

After almost a month fulltime on the official release of Windows 8 Professional, I still find that there are too many places where I can't find a workaround that is as fast or faster than what we had previously. The Metro Modern UI is an excellent interface for touch devices. However, it is necessary to understand the characteristics of different devices and optimize accordingly rather than implement a common denominator or be biased toward just one class. Touch has tremendous bandwidth. One swipe of a finger is several tens of Mbps, but it is not precise, and your fingers can't do much else such as typing. It is a trade-off. The mouse (or similar pointing devices on the notebook PC) generates a much lower bandwidth, but it is much more precise. So for touch (and no keyboard), you require huge cartoon icons and can have all on a flat list and swipe the start screen to look for what you want quickly. For a PC user, laying out giant icons is a pure waste of space, and having them in one flat list across multiple screenfuls makes aiming for the right icon take a much longer time. For touch, having cascading menus is harder because the gigantic icons to cater for the huge finger hotspot takes up too much space and leave little room for cascading menus to be practical. For PC users, we don't want icons (we have since graduated from kindergarten), and often, we use fast keys (because we have a keyboard) to jump to a menu item, and grouping and cascading menus is a time-tested excellent scaling solution. Textual lists are easier to search as they can be in sorted in alphabetical order. What is the sort order for icons? Colors? Picture complexity? Faced with a 1920x1080 screen of icons, I have a hard time locating what I am looking for. For the type of work I am doing, the difference between 0.2s and 2s is 10X, a big number. I am not asking for removing the Modern UI. I am all for it, and tablets need it. I am changing my methods to adapt to it, but there are simply too many situations where I cannot find an equivalent as fast as previously. Right now the Metro Modern UI is unsuitable for the PC. As an example which I face many times a day, I press the Windows key and type in something, the letters I type are shown on theFAR RIGHT of my 1920x1080 screen. The search results of what I type appear on theFAR LEFT of the screen. But the thing I want is under Settings instead of Apps and so I have to swing to theFAR RIGHT of the screen to select Settings. Then my attention has to switch to theFAR LEFT of the screen for the results. And if I right click an item shown, the context menu is not in context but at theFAR BOTTOM of the screen. Don't you think this is a giant leap backward if not comical? My type of work requires a multi-tasking PC. I have to monitor several on-going tasks during certain intense periods. But if I press the Windows key, my desktop is completely blocked. This is disruptive and affects productivity as I have to re-synchronize my visual context all over again. It is wrong to force fit the desktop UI onto a phone, as seen in the big difference between the usability of the iPhone and Windows Mobile. And it is also obviously wrong to force the phone UI onto a PC or server. Microsoft, until the day PCs play a minor role in the world, please bring back the PC desktop for PC applications. View the full article

PC Refresh on my DELL XPS studio desktop is failing. I created a custom image using recimg according to KB http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2748351 I've ran it from PC Settings with a message after boot that says there was a problem and no changes were made. I've ran it from the recovery menu with a message that says the drive is locked. It's Win8 enterprise booting from VHD. I tried storing my custom image both within and outside the VHD - not sure if that matters. Event Viewer is boring. Says RESETENG failed. error 4502 - attempt to restore blah blah. However, the message just before is the SCM with a &quotboot-start or system-start driver did not load: dam dam? not sure if it's related to my problem. Also, the hyper-v feature has been enabled. Ideas? Thanks! Jason Jason Yates View the full article

Posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes Microsoft has been extremely tight lipped about the price of its upcoming Windows 8 operating system.The company previously only announced plans to run promotions for people buying eligible PCs with a version of Windows 7 pre-installed, and for users of Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7 in form of a upgrade promotion. Existing Windows users who want to upgrade their systems to Windows 8 can buy a digital upgrade of Windows 8 that is available for $39.99 until January 31, 2013. Users who do can’t upgrade or do not want to buy an upgrade copy can purchase Windows 8 Pro, the top of the line retail version of the operating system, for $69.99 until January 31, 2013. Only customers who buy an eligible PC with a previous version of Windows get to pay less than that. They can upgrade to Windows 8 for $14.99. For that, their PC needs to have been purchased between June 2 and January 31. See Buy Windows 8 Pro for $69.99 until January 2013, then $199 for additional information about the process. Mary Jo Foley received word about the full retail pricing of Windows 8. While that has not been confirmed by Microsoft officially yet, the sources usually are dead on the money. According to Mary Jo’s unnamed sources, Windows 8 system builder copies of Windows 8 will cost roughly the same amount that system builder copies for Windows 7 are available right now. This means that Windows 8 will be available for about $100, the Windows 8 Pro version for $20 to $40 more so that you can expect to pay between $120 to $140 for it. It is likely that these versions will get discounted. It needs to be noted that it is not clear right now if Microsoft will make available boxed versions of Windows 8 as well, or if the company will rely solely on system builder and digital versions. The company has about a month to release the information to the public, and you can be sure that we will inform you once that happens. View the full article

The problem has aroused suddenly and without apparent explanation. I was just adding a shortcut to the start menu (via the AppData way) and then suddenly the start screen became empty, even without the drawing. The start screen didn't feature any icons, just the plain colour (but the lateral bars work correctly).&lto:p&gt&lt/o:p&gt You can search for Applications, but they won't appear (only the number of results), and without the title. The fact is also that you can access the &quotall apps&quot right clicking the start menu, but it may be empty. This behaviour is repeated on safe mode - but there you can see, at least at boot up, &quotStart&quot and your username - and access it's options -.&lto:p&gt&lt/o:p&gt I am not willing to reformat this pc again, already did once because of the amazing Update feature from Windows 7 to Windows 8 that was completely * because of drivers problems. I have a pair of ideas, but so far have not been able to prove them:&lto:p&gt&lt/o:p&gt a) It might be able a problem of Icon Cache corruption, having observed the way it Works - looks for changes on the files on the start menu folder -. Even though, I don't know where to find this file.&lto:p&gt&lt/o:p&gt b) Less probably, but it might be an error regarding file permissions. I personally doubt this one as running explorer using Administrative permissions doesn't solve the problem.&lto:p&gt&lt/o:p&gt As a side note I must note that there are not any Event Logs regarding this, so I am completely clueless.&lto:p&gt&lt/o:p&gt View the full article

There are 3 to 5 users in a Windows 8 installation (desktop computer), and I want to let each user log on with a USB stick with his/her password. How to do it? View the full article

Hi There, I've installed the RSAT for Windows 8 but having installed them they don't appear to be installed. They don't appear under Turn Features On or Off either... I've reinstalled them on numerous occasions with no joy... I did previously try and install the RC version but that failed. Any ideas? View the full article

Posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes Microsoft today has revealed the final pricing structure for all versions of Office 2013. The company decided to make available subscription-based and standalone packages of the latest version of Office. The subscription packages start at $99.99 for a year and allow installations on up to five Windows PCs or Macs. Standalone versions of Office 2013 start at $139.99 and are limited to one PC or Mac installation only. This highlights Microsoft intention to drive users towards a subscription-based model as it is not only costing less but also offering more features than the standalone versions of Office. The biggest feature without doubt is the 5 PC or Mac license that Office 365 users get, but that is not the only benefit of the subscription model. Office 365 Home Premium, the smallest subscription-based model offers Outlook, Publisher and Access which only Office 2013 Professional is offering, and that version retails for $399.99. Subscription-based users on top of that get 20 Gigabyte of SkyDrive storage (it is not clear if that is added on top of existing storage or a minimum that is made available to Office 365 users) and 60 Skype world minutes per month. Office 365 Small Business Premium users get a shared calendar and a 25 Gigabyte mailbox, 10 Gigabyte plus 500 Megabyte per user access to business document storage, HD video conferencing and the option to create company websites, share documents and stay connected to a team. What they do not get is the SkyDrive storage and the Skype world minutes per month. Take a look at the following table that highlights the new Office line-up for consumers and small businesses (click on the image to display it in full size). Especially the limitation to installations on 1 PC or Mac is a serious blow to home Office users, who previously got access to a version of Office that they could install on 3 PCs or Macs. The subscription model looks cheaper on first glance, but will end up costing more in the long run, especially if there is only one user and one device the program is used on. (via The Verge) View the full article

Very simple scenario: corporate network, TMG 2010 used as PROXY to browse Internet. WPAD is used (i.e. auto-configuration is in place). Everything by the book and works as charm for many years with no issues or glitches. Installed Windows 8 Professional, fully activated, but cannot access Internet from any METRO-UI application. Marketplace APP is opening but cannot install anything - see screenshot below. Checked TMG (first thing) for any blocked destinations - no issue, all green. Even allowed ALL traffic from Windows 8 computer to Internet - still no luck. Checked Internet, and apparently LOTS of people have the same issue. Tried all possible solutions (netsh proxy, gpedit.msc, etc.) but nothing works. If I connect computer directly to Internet (e.g. ROGERS) then of course everything is working. It looks like METRO-UI apps trying to go directly to Internet and do not go to PROXY. Question: how to make this thing work. Is there any solution to-date? Thanks! View the full article

Just downloaded the RTM x64 and installed......Nothing !!!! Checked, Rechecked, reinstalled.....Nada !!!! Nothing in &quotTurn on Windows features&quot......... Certainly not rocket science to install !!! RBR Released Before Ready? RF View the full article

My recently installed Windows 8 RTM freezes several times a day. The monitor goes black, so I cannot really tell if it freezes, however there is nothing I could do to wake it up again (except hard reset). The last two events in the event log are ESENT messages: ESENT 103: msiexec (2820) Instance: The database engine stopped the instance (0). Dirty Shutdown: 0 ESENT 327: msiexec (2820) Instance: The database engine detached a database (1, C:ProgramDataMicrosoftWindowsAppRepositoryPackageRepository.edb). (Time=0 seconds) I know these events happen all the time, however these are the last two before the restart and I cannot find any crash dumps or other information. Furthermore, these events remind me of an old error of automatic updates: http://www.pcreview.co.uk/forums/esent-problems-t119639.html Does anyone experience the same? Where should I start investigating? Thanks View the full article

Hello, Please feel free to move to a more appropriate forum. Seems like most members congrigate here. I installed Window 8 a few weeks ago to integrate with my Touch ELO in my Kitchen. Everything works, except that even after calibration after calibration, the scroll bar at the bottom is not tall enough to pick up my finger. I know some will say the ELO sucks, but I have a sunk investment in it and would love to get it to work. Video = http://youtu.be/00XLmX3Isvk I have done a few regedits to increase the scroll heigth and width, but those settings seem to only apply to applications, not the tablet frontend. So I need help on two fronts. 1) Does anyone know away to increase the width of the scroll bars on the tablet screen? 2) When I put my finger to the touch screen it does a mouse click and movement. I just want the mouse to move, not click unless I specificaly lift my finger and click something. Amy movement of my finger is the equivilent of holding down the left mouse button and moving the mouse. I do have the latest ELO drivers installed (Win 7). View the full article

Hello, I am having problems installing Windows apps from Windows Store on a workstation computer that is a Windows 8 client joined to Active Directory domain with WSUS and Proxy configured. Using proxy is disabled on this workstation and running NetSh returns: C:Windowssystem32&gtnetsh winhttp show proxy Current WinHTTP proxy settings: Direct access (no proxy server). WinHTTP Web Proxy Auto-Discovery Service (WinHttpAutoProxySvc) is stopped and set to Disabled on this workstation to prevent from using proxy. Windows Update retrieves updates directly from Microsoft web service without contacting local corporate Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) server (because otherwise WU fails to retrieve updates for Windows 8). All attempts to obtain updates from Windows Update go flawless. However, attempts to install apps from Windows Store failure. I've found that Windows uses Windows Update (WU) service to retrieve apps from Windows Store. Looking up for %systemroot%WindowsUpdate.log has shown that Windows Update is making an attempt to contact out corporate proxy server despite the fact that using proxy has been disabled! I am posting an excerpt from WindowsUpdate log file that confirms that Windows Update is still trying to access Microsoft web services via our proxy despite the fact that it should not do that: 2012-09-07 06:18:48:915 632 287c PT +++++++++++ PT: Synchronizing server updates +++++++++++ 2012-09-07 06:18:48:915 632 287c PT + ServiceId = {117CAB2D-82B1-4B5A-A08C-4D62DBEE7782}, Server URL = https://fe1.ws.microsoft.com/v6/ClientWebService/client.asmx 2012-09-07 06:18:48:958 632 287c WS WARNING: Nws Failure: errorCode=0x803d0006 2012-09-07 06:18:48:958 632 287c WS WARNING: There was an error communicating with the endpoint at 'https://fe1.ws.microsoft.com/v6/ClientWebService/client.asmx'. 2012-09-07 06:18:48:958 632 287c WS WARNING: The operation timed out after 60000 (0xEA60) milliseconds. 2012-09-07 06:18:48:958 632 287c WS WARNING: The operation could not be completed because the channel has been aborted. 2012-09-07 06:18:48:958 632 287c WS WARNING: Web service call failed with hr = 8024401c. 2012-09-07 06:18:48:958 632 287c WS WARNING: Current service auth scheme='None'. 2012-09-07 06:18:48:958 632 287c WS WARNING: Proxy List used: 'companyproxy.mycompany.com:8080', Bypass List used: '(null)', Last Proxy used: 'companyproxy.mycompany.com:8080', Last auth Schemes used: 'None'. 2012-09-07 06:18:48:958 632 287c WS FATAL: OnCallFailure(hrCall, m_error) failed with hr=0x8024401c 2012-09-07 06:18:48:959 632 287c PT WARNING: PTError: 0x8024401c 2012-09-07 06:18:48:959 632 287c PT WARNING: GetConfig_WithRecovery failed: 0x8024401c 2012-09-07 06:18:48:959 632 287c PT WARNING: RefreshConfig failed: 0x8024401c 2012-09-07 06:18:48:959 632 287c PT WARNING: RefreshPTState failed: 0x8024401c 2012-09-07 06:18:48:959 632 287c PT WARNING: Sync of Updates: 0x8024401c 2012-09-07 06:18:48:959 632 287c PT WARNING: SyncServerUpdatesInternal failed: 0x8024401c 2012-09-07 06:18:48:959 632 287c Agent * WARNING: Failed to synchronize, error = 0x8024401C 2012-09-07 06:18:48:960 632 287c Agent * WARNING: Exit code = 0x8024401C 2012-09-07 06:18:48:960 632 287c Agent ********* 2012-09-07 06:18:48:960 632 287c Agent ** END ** Agent: Finding updates [CallerId = AutomaticUpdates] 2012-09-07 06:18:48:960 632 287c Agent ************* 2012-09-07 06:18:48:960 632 287c Agent WARNING: WU client failed Searching for update with error 0x8024401c This leads the 0x8024401c error to arise. As far as I am aware of, this error indicates HTTP status 408: &quotserver timed out waiting for request&quot Error code (hex): 0x8024401c HRESULT (dec): -2145107940 Error string: WU_E_PT_HTTP_STATUS_REQUEST_TIMEOUT Description: HTTP status 408 - Server timed out waiting for request 1. Why does WU continue to use proxy when it has been disabled? 2. How do I make WU to authenticate correctly on this proxy if it is impossible to bypass it? Would using Vault help here? 3. Is it possible to obtain apps from Windows Store without using Windows Update? 4. Why does Windows Update use different network connection settings for retrieving Windows updates and Windows apps? This is what I get when trying to install an app in the Windows Store app: I also see this line in WU log which is pretty strange because it shows that Explicit proxy is initialized to 1. 2012-09-07 18:50:58:287 632 16a0 DnldMgr * Priority = 4, NetworkCostPolicy = 6, Interactive = 1, Owner is system = 0, Explicit proxy = 1, Proxy session id = -1, ServiceId = {117CAB2D-82B1-4B5A-A08C-4D62DBEE7782} Thank you. EH P.S.: It seems like the problem is similar to the one [url=" described here. Well this is the world we live in And these are the hands we're given... View the full article

I cannot change the Windows 8 Lock Screen picture to my own choice that is not a built in windows option. If i try to do it from the side bar, change PC settings, personalize section I get the error message &quotLock Screen Error&quot then below that &quotSetting the lock screen failed. Please try again&quot. All I can do is click OK. If I go into the built in &quotPhotos&quot app, find a photo of my own, right click and on the bottom left click on &quotset as&quot and then select &quotlock screen&quot I get the following error. &quotCan't set this photo as the lock screen.&quot &quotYou need to activate Windows before you can set the lock screen.&quot I've verified I am indeed activated. What gives? Any ideas? Here's what systeminfo shows when run from a command prompt. I replaced any specific to me info with x's. C:Usersjayth&gtsysteminfo Host Name: xxxx OS Name: Microsoft Windows 8 Enterprise OS Version: 6.2.9200 N/A Build 9200 OS Manufacturer: Microsoft Corporation OS Configuration: Member Workstation OS Build Type: Multiprocessor Free Registered Owner: xxxx Registered Organization: Product ID: 00178-90000-00011-AA119 Original Install Date: 8/16/2012, 2:28:15 PM System Boot Time: 9/6/2012, 12:40:10 PM System Manufacturer: LENOVO System Model: 42434UU System Type: x64-based PC Processor(s): 1 Processor(s) Installed. [01]: Intel64 Family 6 Model 42 Stepping 7 GenuineInt el ~1400 Mhz BIOS Version: LENOVO 8AET53WW (1.33 ), 10/21/2011 Windows Directory: C:Windows System Directory: C:Windowssystem32 Boot Device: DeviceHarddiskVolume2 System Locale: en-usEnglish (United States) Input Locale: en-usEnglish (United States) Time Zone: (UTC-05:00) Eastern Time (US &amp Canada) Total Physical Memory: 3,979 MB Available Physical Memory: 1,531 MB Virtual Memory: Max Size: 5,131 MB Virtual Memory: Available: 2,169 MB Virtual Memory: In Use: 2,962 MB Page File Location(s): C:pagefile.sys Domain: xxxxx Logon Server: \xxxx Hotfix(s): N/A Network Card(s): 3 NIC(s) Installed. [01]: Intel® 82579LM Gigabit Network Connection Connection Name: Ethernet DHCP Enabled: No IP address(es) [01]: 10.54.90.50 [02]: Intel® Centrino® Advanced-N 6205 Connection Name: Wi-Fi Status: Media disconnected [03]: Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network) Connection Name: Bluetooth Network Connection Status: Media disconnected Hyper-V Requirements: VM Monitor Mode Extensions: Yes Virtualization Enabled In Firmware: Yes Second Level Address Translation: Yes Data Execution Prevention Available: Yes View the full article

Hi How do I properly close the Desktop app? Thanks Bye Balubeto View the full article

So I have Windows 8 RTM. All the metro UI apps work fine until I join the domain. I checked related topics and they say registry settings in Group Policy but we don't have any of those such settings. It seems that dllhost.exe is locking these log files and then causes the Metro UI app like Store to hang. Upon killing the COM Surrogate process everything works fine. So why is this COM Surrogate using the same files? taskhostex (4088) WebCacheLocal: An attempt to open the file &quotC:UserschriseAppDataLocalMicrosoftWindowsWebCacheV01.log&quot for read only access failed with system error 32 (0x00000020): &quotThe process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process. &quot. The open file operation will fail with error -1032 (0xfffffbf8). taskhostex (4088) WebCacheLocal: Error -1032 (0xfffffbf8) occurred while opening logfile C:UserschriseAppDataLocalMicrosoftWindowsWebCacheV01.log. The program WWAHost.exe version 6.2.9200.16384 stopped interacting with Windows and was closed. To see if more information about the problem is available, check the problem history in the Action Center control panel. Process ID: 1374 Start Time: 01cd8b86d5b2bb5f Termination Time: 31 Application Path: C:WindowsSystem32WWAHost.exe Report Id: 1cf00077-f77a-11e1-be73-60d819fcd93c Faulting package full name: winstore_1.0.0.0_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy Faulting package-relative application ID: Windows.Store View the full article

So I have configured my Windows 8 Pro RTM (TechNet) to connect to our Exchange server. However it enforces the policies, which is fine, but the screen timeout is set at 1 minute. This is very annoying. Is there anyway to change this setting? This is not the server limit, a phone on the same server is at 5 minutes, and can be changed to e.g. 30. Is it possible to configure this on Windows 8 anywhere? Doesn't seem possible in e.g. the screensaver or power options. View the full article

I recently installed Windows 8 and on thing which I always do on my Windows environment is to change the background color of the windows to a light gray. However I cant figure out how to do this on Windows 8, can someone point me in the right direction please. View the full article

I'm hearing different stories about how Storage Spaces works, and I'm having a hard time deciding whether or not I should use it. Some people are saying that View the full article

I just upgraded my win7 Pro x64 desktop to Win8 Pro x64. Upgrade was surprisingly smooth. Now it would be nice to see some of the new features actually work!! I try to double click or use disk image tools to mount ANY iso file (local or on network), and all I get is a messagebox .. Title: Couldn't Mount File Message: You don't have permission to mount the file Buttons: OK I am the domain admin and local admin for the machine. I tried running Explorer.exe as Administrator. No difference. That's a handy feature? Help? Other handy feature so far today is trying to connect the (%!#@# metro) Mail app to my Exchange 2003 account. Not possible apparently. Works in Outlook 2010 and Windows Phone 7, but not Mail. So far, this is another Vista. View the full article

I am using Release Preview but someone in another forum has confirmed that they see the same problem even in the RTM. I have a Storage Space consisting of 3 drives with parity. When I try to play back the DVD rip (.IFO from folder structure) in WMP it just shows a blank screen. If I copy the exact same files from the Storage Space to the boot drive it plays fine so the rip doesn't seem to be corrupt or anything like that. At first I was trying to play over the network on a Windows 7 PC so I thought the share was messed up but I get the same results when I try to play back locally in Windows 8. Also, an MKV file of the same movie in the same Storage Space location plays fine. Any ideas? Thanks. -Craig View the full article