- last edited on by
ROGBot
Installation
2. I used the Windows USB/DVD Tool to put the Windows 8 image onto a 4GB USB (There was about 500mb left after the image was done)
3. Install went fairly well, really quick. Easy to set up
4. Got it all set up, and I'm at the (In my opinion :P) dreaded Metro Interface. So first thing I did was download Start8 from Stardock, it's been the BEST Start Button replacement I've found. Some quick features that I really like... A. There's an option to bypass the Metro screen when you log in. B. There's an option to disable the hotspots that are at the edges of the screen. I'll probably end up buying this software once it's out of beta, I think it's at version 0.90 right now.
Drivers
5. Started to install my drivers, yay! So here is where you'll want to pay attention...
A. Power4Gear (I like using the ROG button at the top right) - Installed fine, but it did give me an error that it couldn't install the gadget, I clicked OK and it finished the install (If you didn't know, Microsoft decided to kill off gadgets in Win8 and you can't download them from the Microsoft Site anymore, can't even install the ones I already have downloaded)
B. ATK Package Version 1.0.0014 - Installed fine
C. Realtek Audio - Installed fine, Install THIS version, it is version 2.70, compared to the version 2.67 on the Driver thread, and this one supports Win8 (It's 64bit version btw)
D. Card Reader - Installed fine
E. Ethernet/Wireless - Worked out of the box, no driver install needed
F. USB3.0 Driver - Installed fine
Troublesome Drivers
G. Nvidia 306.23 64bit Windows7/8 Driver - Driver kept failing and recovering, and eventually resulted in me blue-screening, going into a bootloop, and having to do a system restore because of the blue screens as soon as the computer starts up.
---Solution---
This is really weird, and may not apply to everyone, but here's my experience with it. To combat the constant blue-screens of a Fresh-Installed 306.23 Nvidia Driver, I installed the 304.48 one, which dealt with all the issues EXCEPT the laptop would Blue-Screen whenever the lid was closed. After some searching and going through the .DMP files, I decided to go from the 304.48 to the 306.23 again and see what happened. Here's what I tried just so all the bases are covered.
1. First, made a restore point with the 304.48 just in case 😛
2. ---This option did NOT work--- Ran the 306.23 installer, and at the spot to choose between Express or Custom, I chose Custom and selected the option to uninstall the current driver. BAD CHOICE. After clicking install, the computer instantly blue-screened, restarted, and when I went to Programs and Features, the old 304.48 Driver was still installed and working. Tried it again, blue-screened again and restarted.
3. ---This option DID work--- Ran the 306.23 installer, and this time I chose Express and it started to install without a hitch, the install finished successfully and had me restart. I restarted, came back to the desktop, and closing the lid no longer blue-screens and crashes!! So that's 1 error thankfully conquered 😄
Solution also tested and verified by IxPanda
4. ---This solution DOES work, and is the easiest so far--- Instead of using the 306.x driver, download the newest Beta Driver from Nvidia, which is the 310.33 and do a fresh install with that, and you should be set.
Thanks to Cheetoox for the heads up
H. Sentelic Touchpad driver version 9.1.3.5. This can also apply to the Synaptic Touchpad as well - Every time I clicked Setup and tried to install, it came up with an error that the driver was not applicable to my system and couldn't continue
---Solution---
Since that's a fairly easy workaround, I'll try and explain as best I can.
What you want to do is open up the Device Manager (Right click on Computer and click Manage)
Go to the Mice and other Pointing Devices tree.
Expand that, and there should be an option for something like PS/2 Compatible port or HID Compliant Mouse. (If you don't have an external mouse plugged in, it should be the only option).
What you do is right click on the PS/2 Compatible port/HID Compliant Mouse
Click Update Driver Software
Then click Browse My Computer for Driver Software,
click Let me Pick from a list of drivers on my computer,
then Have Disk, then click Browse.
It will bring up a popup window, and you'll want to navigate to the extracted folder for the Touchpad Driver.
Inside that folder, there should be 1 file you can pick that's called fspad.
Choose that and click Open, then OK, then Next and it should install in a few seconds.
After that, it should prompt you to Reboot and when it starts back up you'll have the Finger Sensing Pad Configuration options in the Mouse section of the Control Panel
Other than that, the only real thing left for me to do is drop by www.ninite.com to grab some software, and then install stuff like DirectX and copy my saved games from my backup to my newly reformatted C:\ Drive.
Also, for anyone who takes an interest, here's a comparison between Win7 Experience Index and Win8 Experience Index
Windows 7
Windows 8
2. I used the Windows USB/DVD Tool to put the Windows 8 image onto a 4GB USB (There was about 500mb left after the image was done)
3. Install went fairly well, really quick. Easy to set up
4. Got it all set up, and I'm at the (In my opinion :P) dreaded Metro Interface. So first thing I did was download Start8 from Stardock, it's been the BEST Start Button replacement I've found. Some quick features that I really like... A. There's an option to bypass the Metro screen when you log in. B. There's an option to disable the hotspots that are at the edges of the screen. I'll probably end up buying this software once it's out of beta, I think it's at version 0.90 right now.
Drivers
5. Started to install my drivers, yay! So here is where you'll want to pay attention...
A. Power4Gear (I like using the ROG button at the top right) - Installed fine, but it did give me an error that it couldn't install the gadget, I clicked OK and it finished the install (If you didn't know, Microsoft decided to kill off gadgets in Win8 and you can't download them from the Microsoft Site anymore, can't even install the ones I already have downloaded)
B. ATK Package Version 1.0.0014 - Installed fine
C. Realtek Audio - Installed fine, Install THIS version, it is version 2.70, compared to the version 2.67 on the Driver thread, and this one supports Win8 (It's 64bit version btw)
D. Card Reader - Installed fine
E. Ethernet/Wireless - Worked out of the box, no driver install needed
F. USB3.0 Driver - Installed fine
Troublesome Drivers
G. Nvidia 306.23 64bit Windows7/8 Driver - Driver kept failing and recovering, and eventually resulted in me blue-screening, going into a bootloop, and having to do a system restore because of the blue screens as soon as the computer starts up.
---Solution---
This is really weird, and may not apply to everyone, but here's my experience with it. To combat the constant blue-screens of a Fresh-Installed 306.23 Nvidia Driver, I installed the 304.48 one, which dealt with all the issues EXCEPT the laptop would Blue-Screen whenever the lid was closed. After some searching and going through the .DMP files, I decided to go from the 304.48 to the 306.23 again and see what happened. Here's what I tried just so all the bases are covered.
1. First, made a restore point with the 304.48 just in case 😛
2. ---This option did NOT work--- Ran the 306.23 installer, and at the spot to choose between Express or Custom, I chose Custom and selected the option to uninstall the current driver. BAD CHOICE. After clicking install, the computer instantly blue-screened, restarted, and when I went to Programs and Features, the old 304.48 Driver was still installed and working. Tried it again, blue-screened again and restarted.
3. ---This option DID work--- Ran the 306.23 installer, and this time I chose Express and it started to install without a hitch, the install finished successfully and had me restart. I restarted, came back to the desktop, and closing the lid no longer blue-screens and crashes!! So that's 1 error thankfully conquered 😄
Solution also tested and verified by IxPanda
4. ---This solution DOES work, and is the easiest so far--- Instead of using the 306.x driver, download the newest Beta Driver from Nvidia, which is the 310.33 and do a fresh install with that, and you should be set.
Thanks to Cheetoox for the heads up
H. Sentelic Touchpad driver version 9.1.3.5. This can also apply to the Synaptic Touchpad as well - Every time I clicked Setup and tried to install, it came up with an error that the driver was not applicable to my system and couldn't continue
---Solution---
Since that's a fairly easy workaround, I'll try and explain as best I can.
What you want to do is open up the Device Manager (Right click on Computer and click Manage)
Go to the Mice and other Pointing Devices tree.
Expand that, and there should be an option for something like PS/2 Compatible port or HID Compliant Mouse. (If you don't have an external mouse plugged in, it should be the only option).
What you do is right click on the PS/2 Compatible port/HID Compliant Mouse
Click Update Driver Software
Then click Browse My Computer for Driver Software,
click Let me Pick from a list of drivers on my computer,
then Have Disk, then click Browse.
It will bring up a popup window, and you'll want to navigate to the extracted folder for the Touchpad Driver.
Inside that folder, there should be 1 file you can pick that's called fspad.
Choose that and click Open, then OK, then Next and it should install in a few seconds.
After that, it should prompt you to Reboot and when it starts back up you'll have the Finger Sensing Pad Configuration options in the Mouse section of the Control Panel
Other than that, the only real thing left for me to do is drop by www.ninite.com to grab some software, and then install stuff like DirectX and copy my saved games from my backup to my newly reformatted C:\ Drive.
Also, for anyone who takes an interest, here's a comparison between Win7 Experience Index and Win8 Experience Index
Windows 7
Windows 8
