Windows 8 on e-sata drive

[Student]

I have installed windows 8 on e sata drive on a few occasions.

After my last installation I tried

Tweak Windows 8 with the 'Metro UI Tweaker for Windows 8'

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/tweak-windows-8-with-the-metro-ui-tweaker-for-windows-8/14976

It made my window7 unbootable.

I had a recent acronist true image on another usb external drive which I used to recover the windows 7

I could read the windows c partition from windows 8 and copy some recent files.

Windows 8 installation or some of the tweaks seems to be affecting windows 7 on a separate hard
disk.

However I was impressed with how Windows 8 performed after applying the tweak.

FD

 

[Paul]

I have installed windows 8 on e sata drive on a few occasions.

After my last installation I tried

Tweak Windows 8 with the 'Metro UI Tweaker for Windows 8'

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/tweak-windows-8-with-the-metro-ui-tweaker-for-windows-8/14976

It made my window7 unbootable.

I had a recent acronist true image on another usb external drive which I used to recover the windows 7

I could read the windows c partition from windows 8 and copy some recent files.

Windows 8 installation or some of the tweaks seems to be affecting windows 7 on a separate hard
disk.

However I was impressed with how Windows 8 performed after applying the tweak.

FD

Any time a "tweaker" is interested in the "System Reserved", the 100MB or 350MB partition
used for booting, there is a danger that a third party tool will grab the wrong one
and modify it. In some cases, this is a side effect of how the install was done.

If you disconnect the Win7 drive, before installing Win8, there is less chance of
the BCD containing info about the Win7 drive. With properly written utilities,
there should never have been an issue in the first place. But I've seen enough
"accidents" of this type, to not offer the utilities any additional "fuel" for making
trouble.

By disconnecting the Win7 disk, before installing Win8 on the other disk, there is
less danger of them sharing *anything*. Then, avoid any BCD update type operations
and you're done. Any boot manager that scans all disks for boot information, is going
to be able to muck things up again, in the same way that the initial installation
might have, given the chance.

Paul

 

[Student]

If you disconnect the Win7 drive, before installing Win8, there is less chance
of
the BCD containing info about the Win7 drive. With properly written utilities,
there should never have been an issue in the first place. But I've seen enough
"accidents" of this type, to not offer the utilities any additional "fuel" for
making
trouble.

Hi Paul

Your advise is well taken.

I have mucked up my C partition on a number occasions when trying out different
Linux distros on a dedicated hard disk (this is my periodic past time!)

I used to disconnect the Win xp, Vista drive in the past. Linux distros now seems
to leave my working win 7 intact.

Now that I have Windows 8 developers edition to keep my digital itch in check I have
given up on Linux.

My office at the moment is exclusively win xp.

Win 7 is for my home computer and to help my grandchildren.

FD

I

 

[Ed Cryer]

Hi Paul

Your advise is well taken.

I have mucked up my C partition on a number occasions when trying out different
Linux distros on a dedicated hard disk (this is my periodic past time!)

I used to disconnect the Win xp, Vista drive in the past. Linux distros now seems
to leave my working win 7 intact.

Now that I have Windows 8 developers edition to keep my digital itch in check I have
given up on Linux.

My office at the moment is exclusively win xp.

Win 7 is for my home computer and to help my grandchildren.

FD

I

I tried to put Win 8 Dev onto VMware, but it wouldn't go. When I get
time I'll have a bash using VirtualBox.

Ed

 

[Paul]

I tried to put Win 8 Dev onto VMware, but it wouldn't go. When I get
time I'll have a bash using VirtualBox.

Ed

When you try VirtualBox, don't get too creative with the storage interface
options. There is something like PIIX4 as a default storage emulation,
and the default one is the one that works. Using the ICH6 or some other
ICH number, didn't work for me, and I had crashing while doing the
install. After enough permutations and combinations, I got the silly
thing to work.

Networking is also a bit annoying. I think I had to change that to
"bridged" and use the Intel 1000/MT type adapter emulation, to get
something close to the networking that comes with VirtualPC. Without
the bridged mode, you can surf the web with Win8, but you can't contact
the other PCs on your LAN.

And the crashing, if it happens, leads to a "black screen" in the
install Windows, and without an error message, I couldn't tell what
was broken. That's why it took a lot of trial and error. No error
message to go on. I even tried running Memtest in emulated mode,
in case I had a RAM problem And that was passing.

Paul

 

[Ed Cryer]

When you try VirtualBox, don't get too creative with the storage interface
options. There is something like PIIX4 as a default storage emulation,
and the default one is the one that works. Using the ICH6 or some other
ICH number, didn't work for me, and I had crashing while doing the
install. After enough permutations and combinations, I got the silly
thing to work.

Networking is also a bit annoying. I think I had to change that to
"bridged" and use the Intel 1000/MT type adapter emulation, to get
something close to the networking that comes with VirtualPC. Without
the bridged mode, you can surf the web with Win8, but you can't contact
the other PCs on your LAN.

And the crashing, if it happens, leads to a "black screen" in the
install Windows, and without an error message, I couldn't tell what
was broken. That's why it took a lot of trial and error. No error
message to go on. I even tried running Memtest in emulated mode,
in case I had a RAM problem And that was passing.

Paul

It went in just fine. Everything seems to be working but for one
exception group; the games, including the Piano. I click on them but
nothing happens; apart from a little arrow appearing on the top of the
icon and a pinned/unpinned & uninstall appearing on the bar below. That
piano's Scott Joplin rags are the main reason I like Win8 . I love the
Maple Leaf Rag. It worked ok when I had it installed as a dual-boot.
I must be missing something here.

And so I uninstalled the Piano to put it in again. It's now gone but I
can't find how to put it back.

I've found that it loads much quicker if you save machine state at close
down.

Ed

 

[Paul]

It went in just fine. Everything seems to be working but for one
exception group; the games, including the Piano. I click on them but
nothing happens; apart from a little arrow appearing on the top of the
icon and a pinned/unpinned & uninstall appearing on the bar below. That
piano's Scott Joplin rags are the main reason I like Win8 . I love the
Maple Leaf Rag. It worked ok when I had it installed as a dual-boot.
I must be missing something here.

And so I uninstalled the Piano to put it in again. It's now gone but I
can't find how to put it back.

I've found that it loads much quicker if you save machine state at close
down.

Ed

Even though the VirtualBox controls show a "2D" and "3D" acceleration
option, something is seriously hooped in the graphics department.
I tried installing a couple versions of 3DMark and they don't work
either. And that's going to rule out the Metro apps that have
any kind of graphics component.

Paul

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

It went in just fine. Everything seems to be working but for one
exception group; the games, including the Piano. I click on them but
nothing happens; apart from a little arrow appearing on the top of the
icon and a pinned/unpinned & uninstall appearing on the bar below. That
piano's Scott Joplin rags are the main reason I like Win8 . I love the
Maple Leaf Rag. It worked ok when I had it installed as a dual-boot.
I must be missing something here.

And so I uninstalled the Piano to put it in again. It's now gone but I
can't find how to put it back.

Maybe it's like in Win 7?

Control Panel - Programs - Turn Windows features on or off

Games is the first item in the list that appears. The little plus sign
expands that branch.

 

[Ed Cryer]

Maybe it's like in Win 7?

Control Panel - Programs - Turn Windows features on or off

Games is the first item in the list that appears. The little plus sign
expands that branch.

Good suggestion.
I fell foul of that a couple of years back when I first got Win7. But
unfortunately there isn't a Games entry in the Features list of Win8.
And these games occupy desktop space in Win8 (they're called "apps"), a
bit like the icons on a tablet computer. You'd have to see these and
play with them a bit to get the picture; they're something else.

Ed

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Good suggestion.
I fell foul of that a couple of years back when I first got Win7. But
unfortunately there isn't a Games entry in the Features list of Win8.
And these games occupy desktop space in Win8 (they're called "apps"), a
bit like the icons on a tablet computer. You'd have to see these and
play with them a bit to get the picture; they're something else.

Ed

OK, thanks.

So does my suggestion work, once you realize that the names might have
changed? Or at least provide a clue?

So far, based on essentially no research on my part, Windows 8 looks
more like a toy than an OS to me. I get the feeling you might disagree

 

[Ed Cryer]

OK, thanks.

So does my suggestion work, once you realize that the names might have
changed? Or at least provide a clue?

So far, based on essentially no research on my part, Windows 8 looks
more like a toy than an OS to me. I get the feeling you might disagree

No, no, no. Far from it. It's no toy at all! It's being produced for
touch-screens on desktops. The future, man! I've been there and I'm
looking forward to it.
The apps kind of grab your eyes as being a new layout. They remind me of
my iPad. But go into "Desktop" or "Computer" and it looks very Win7ish;
with improvements therein.

I'll have to check the Recycle Bin next time, and see if it displays
total contents size.

Ed

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

No, no, no. Far from it. It's no toy at all! It's being produced for
touch-screens on desktops. The future, man! I've been there and I'm
looking forward to it.
The apps kind of grab your eyes as being a new layout. They remind me of
my iPad. But go into "Desktop" or "Computer" and it looks very Win7ish;
with improvements therein.

I'll have to check the Recycle Bin next time, and see if it displays
total contents size.

Ed

Thanks for the commentary.