Windows 8 Refresh - ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Ok, so there's this option called Refresh Your System. Supposedly it "refreshes your system" without removing your files. Not true at all. It uninstalls every single desktop app. Then it dumps all their folders over to Windows.old so that they're taking up space on your hard drive, but you can't use them. This OS is such a mess I can't believe it. I'm spending the rest of my day reinstalling all my applications.

 

I thought the refresh option works where after a fresh install and you have installed your apps, you'll then create a .img file and that will then become your default refresh file, otherwise it'll work like you just reformatted without the custom refresh image

 

When it says it will leave your files intact, it's talking about your data files found in the Documents, Music, and other libraries.
Refresh and reset your PC - Building Windows 8 - Site Home - MSDN Blogs

 

It doesn't tell you any of that when you're actually going through the process.

 

Yah, unfortunately its a little misleading by not stating its only your data and settings (windows). Although you can manually create a new refresh image using recimg.

CLI or PowerShell:
> RecImg /CreateImage [Path]

If you get an error creating the updated recimg. Commonly its from the bcd being ni use, which you run:
> mountvol.exe c:\bcd /d

Then rerun the RecImg command.

This'll create a new refreshimage and it'll set the path for refresh to use this image. So if you have a relatively base install with most of the applications you want, then this'll give you a newer Refresh than the default which won't include most your apps

 

Yes. Tried the socalled 'Refresh' once (thinking it would clean up windows 8 only, and it wiped everything replacing it with a new w8 installation.

Could find personal files by digging around in .old, but all installed programs, settings etc were dead and gone.

Thankfully, had a complete and recent image to restore.

 

it's reinstallation short of nuke and pave made incredibly, one-button easy. isn't that what the people want, the type of change that makes things easier? what hasn't changed is that it's still a prudently good idea to research what you're doing/clicking before you do/click it, even in W8. but i rep you anyway, hockeymass, for saving me from having to do that myself.

 

What exactly would it do if not remove your programs? Change your desktop background back to default? Anything they can do to maintain windows without touching your programs or data they're already doing all the time automatically.

 

The only upside to this is that it provided the catalyst for me to finally declare my windows 8 experiment an abject failure and go back to Windows 7. After weeks and weeks of nothing but problems and troubleshooting, that Win 7 startup screen was a sight for sore eyes.

 

Yes it does. "Apps from the Windows Store will be kept...apps you installed from disks or websites will be removed."



Image source: Flushing the crapware: A guide to reinstalling Windows 8 on a new PC | Ars Technica

Furthermore, before getting to that screen, the description of "Refresh your PC without affecting your files" is "if your PC isn't running well, you can refresh it without losing your photos, music, videos, and other personal files." To me, it's clear that "photos, music, videos, and other personal files" is talking about the "my documents" folder and not the entire contents of the PC.

 

Just "my documents", not "my pictures", etc? I'd count that one as a mistake on Microsoft's part if that is the case.

 

No. "If your PC isn't running well, you can refresh it without losing your photos, music, videos, and other personal files." It just nukes non-Microsoft-app-store programs and reinstalls Windows.

I was talking about the distinction between user files and desktop programs, not different types of user files. Refresh keeps all user files, but not desktop programs.

 

Alright, that was what I would have expected. Glad to know I misinterpreted your comment.

 

It was poor wording on my part. I forgot that the photos, music, and videos folders were separate from "my documents" instead of subdirectories within it. I should have simply said from the beginning that it preserved user files but not user-installed programs.

The main point I was trying to make was that the original poster complained that he wasn't warned that user-installed programs would be removed during the Refresh, and he was in fact warned as part of the process.

 

Yeah, I know, but I was curious, I don't suppose it keeps all folders included in the libraries though? Yeah, asking here is faster than googling and I feel lazy.

 

That looks like a totally stupid "feature". I see no use for it whatsoever. If it throws everything into a windows.old file, then good luck for any average user figuring out what to do with it. Win 8 is a definite failure in my eyes. After running through a few VM's with it and then finally testing on my main mahchine, I can't touch it. It makes my eyes and fingers ache. It gives me headaches and adds stress. Nothing flows. It's a hodge podge of apps and "features" that feel thrown together. This is just one of them.

 

I actually like Win 8 :hi2:

I see what you're saying and I agree to a point. If one approaches Windows 8 as a consumer OS where you can run some tablet apps it's a fun and decent OS. I found myself enjoying Windows 8 after customizing it for my needs. If someone just uses Windows 8 in it's default form then yes you summed it up quite well, "nothing flows" properly with this OS.

Once I tailored it to how I use my computer, the flow isn't so much an issue for me.

 

I finally figured out how to get a proper screen on this dud...what a POS OS.

 

Power tiles are nicer...

 

convenient on the taskbar too.

 

There's more than just "a short list of links to programs" there... welcome to 1995.

 

Yes they are.

 

Really? What did I miss about the Start menu that makes it the defining part of the OS?

When people complain about the start menu being gone, it seems as ridiculous as someone complaining about the shape of the door handles on a car.

 

Soooo, Microsoft making the entire Start Menu into an OS of its own isn't defining?

Besides, just because it doesn't affect you doesn't mean it doesn't affect others. Give users the choice, done.

 

you have the choice to place a shortcut to every "productivity" program you could ever want and/or need on the desktop or on the taskbar just like you've always been able to do and never once have to use that new "OS of its own," done.

 

I think it is more about how one wants to see things. We could look at it like the interface has visually changed but it is not an OS inside another OS. I look it this way: start menu is not taken from users but it is now full screen versus the old style where it was only covering the lower left part of the screen. Metro is the start menu. I also think the new interface has advantages over the old one but one has to learn the new interface better in order to take the best advantage of it.

I had used the older versions of Windows for a couple years, mostly Windows XP but also Windows 98, 2000 pro, Vista and 7. I have used Windows 8 pro for the past five months. From my own personal experience and other people I have seen around, I can say the old start menu was not much convenient. Therefore most users preferred to have shortcut icons on the desktop in order to start running programs.

With the metro interface, the need to have shortcuts on the desktop is not needed much anymore. Of course one can still have them if one wishes so. But the metro interface is just as fast for having access to programs. So I prefer it to the old way even for a desktop with mouse and keyboard (I don't have a touchscreen PC). Perhaps we just need to get used to it which may take some time depending on each person.

 

So do you say refresh will uninstall all programs that are not included in Windows OS by default. Does it also uninstall drivers? If so, it looks like it converts the system into a fresh Windows installation, right?

I just received my new laptop and with all bloatware installed, I wish I could do a fresh installation of Windows which is now seems very complicated because Asus does not provide an installation disk and I cannot find a Windows 8 installation iso around so, I am somewhat confused how to proceed.

 

I dont really understand this though. Why is there a refresh?

 

You also have lots of choices for third party apps to give you what "Windows 8" is in Windows 7. Putting "programs on the taskbar" isn't the same, when you have hundreds of programs, that would be a mighty busy taskbar.

Why is this so hard for people to wrap their head around? Keep the legacy UI that hundreds of millions of people are comfortable with as an option. Done. Why does it have to be one or the other? It makes no sense, other than a pompous arrogant figurehead at Microsoft said so. I'd like to see the market study that showed it was preferred by its hundreds of millions of users. I bet there is no such document.

If you had to deal with the dozens of people that bought Win 8 laptops harping at you "what is this crap?" maybe you'd be as tired of it as I am.

 

it's still there. i'm looking at it right now. i said you could place shortcuts on the taskbar and on the desktop, just like you've always been able to do. however crowded you'd like to make either of those is entirely up to your own wants and needs. you can even place shortcuts in the start menu just like you've always been able to do, but that menu now just so happens to be a dedicated screen you can pop in and out of with the same number of keystrokes it's always taken. there is no one or the other. it's legitimately the same. your logic is flawed--but i still like you. :hi2:

 

I installed Windows 8 last week, and a few things have been moved around, but seriously everything is still here. You can put stuff on the desktop, the taskbar, or a full screen start menu. If you want a list of all of your apps, you could either make a shortcut to the apps page, go to the start screen and press Ctrl+Tab, or search for something on the start screen (and delete the search parameters if you want the full list). It's just sideways scrolling now.

You can't make progress if your entire design philosophy is keep everything the same. If you give users too many options, it becomes harder to support and maintain, and the system becomes very fractured. What happens when someone needs help with their computer but everyone has totally different configurations and nobody can help each other?

 

I just did a refresh last night just to see what it does. It didn't uninstall any application. however, it uninstalled three drivers: the Nvidia graphic drivers and two others (I cannot remember). I don't know of under the tables changes which might have happened though.

Then I did a reset. It basically used the recovery partition on the drive to bring it back to what it was when I received the laptop firt time including all the bloatware.

I have no objection to the new interface in Windows 8. However, I have objection to this unhealthy Windows ecosystem that when you purchase a new Windows system, it comes with so much useless bloatware pre-installed and many of them running at the start-up that I found my brand new Asus laptop too slow to be usable. Honestly, if there was no penalty fee, I would have returned it and would have stocked to my Macbook pro. Too late and even worse, they do not provide a recovery disk for when one wants to switch the hard drive for a SSD.

 

Your logic and reasoning is flawed. So it works for you, great. So I guess that means it should be fine with everyone else? mmmkay.

 

Not everybody likes the same UI. Instead of offering two choices that you can toggle between in settings ("with Metro" and "Classic Mode"), Microsoft offers several different UI customizations, including Pokki, through the Microsoft-curated Windows Store that comes installed on every Win 8 machine. So they include as the default UI what they would like people using for brand continuity, but they themselves offer a variety of UI customizations (most focused on bringing back a start menu of some variety or another) for the people who aren't satisfied with the new default.

If they had a Microsoft-designed classic mode, there'd be ONE alternative to the Start Screen and it wouldn't change until Windows 9. This way, power users can come up with all the different UI setups they want, and the respectable-quality ones get advertised by Microsoft itself.

 

So when you do a refresh thinking that you won't get the bloadware these sneaky companies still add it. At least they can give you a frigging Windows 8 disc and no it does not cost them more as they still give you worthless drivers CD which you can get more current drivers online and the welcome discs sometimes. I guess they don't care that if you want to replace your HD you have to buy Windows again.

 

I still don't see how adding the classic Win Start is such a problem. You could still customize as you see fit. Instead they offer Pokki? Are you kidding me? That's a far cry from classic Start Menu. Have you even tried using it?

But then again considering the source, why am I not surprised to see a complete 180 degree point of view. I'm just sticking with Win 7 until I'm forced to Win 9, or roll on to Linux and boot into Windows for when I feel like playing a game. At this point about the only reason I need Windows for any more. I'd like to avoid dual boot and headaches associated with it. But whatever. I'll just say agree to disagree and leave it at that. There's no use trying to lead the blind to the light.

 

"considering the source"? WTH does that mean. Spell it out.

You act like Pokki is your only choice. It's not. A lot of people love Pokki(it's averaging four out of five stars on the Windows Store), but you don't have to. That's the whole point...not everyone who wants a start menu wants the same thing. By giving users who don't like the start screen the choice to replace it with multiple different options, instead of shoehorning them into just "start screen" or "Win 7 start menu," you make more customers happier in the end.

Pokki:



Classic Start 8:



StartFinity:



All three of these are hosted in the Windows Store.

 

And cost money, well not Pokki, but I hate Pokki. I can't see spending $5 each for a dozen computers in addition to buying Windows. It's like saying you can buy only a bright pink car... but you can always paint it!

 

They cost $5 or less. How much cheaper is a Windows 8 license than a Windows 7 license?

If you could save $1,000 by buying a pink car, and you could get it repainted any color you want for $300, why WOULDN'T you buy the pink car?

 

i don't think i can make my point any clearer: whether you use classic start, start menu, start screen, third party "app," whatever--the UI is conceptually and fundamentally the EXACT SAME it's been since windows 95. it has nothing to do with me. your argument is invalid.

 

ClassicShell is great and free and it is very customizable. I have all of my most used programs pinned to the ClassicShell menu.

 

That is the point, for a desktop to go back to circa 95 appearance with aero glass gone and even further back with modern ui (can anyone else see the appearance of AOL of old or even GeoWorks?)......................

 

I'm sitting here flipping between my desktop and start screen, and to say this looks pretty much like Windows 95 would be like saying car styles haven't changed in the last 40 years.

 

nope, no going back (or disimprovement if that's what you mean to insinuate). it has been and continues to be "conceptually and fundamentally the EXACT SAME it's been" all along. i honestly see no logical way for you to refute this point. the start screen is the start menu is the program manager even, and desktop/taskbar functionality is pretty much unchanged. the taskbar is even still transparent so please don't start with this aero glass nonsense again--pun intended.

Sent from my PI39100 using Board Express

 

That was kind of my point, They look similar, but it would be impossible to mistake one for the other, and the one new has a huge amount of changes that don't need to stick out like sore thumbs to make a difference.

 

Since using an auto anaology, no one is upset about what is under the skin, it is the deevolution of the skin..................

 

I still don't understand what your issue is. ClassicShell, Start8, StartisBack etc, list goes on that resolves your taskbar problem. I really don't understand what you are upset about. Now you can have both, the start screen and the taskbar. Really don't get why anyone would be mad about Windows 8 Metro.

And I agree with others, conceptually the big huge start screen, it is your start button and your programs etc. It's really the same thing. If you don't like it, don't use it. I don't see the problem. On my machine, Classic Shell is better than the start button in Windows 7.

Could Windows 8 be better? Sure why not. And I hope Microsoft continues to work to make a better OS. But I prefer Windows 8 over Windows 7 right now. It's faster, and it's more secure. I don't miss aero that much, would be nice, but I prefer my hardware running stable. And I love how one account is my account for my phone, tablet and PC. And skydrive is shared among all my devices, it's great. Love it.

 

While this is off topic, and I appologize for that, I can live without the start button, I use rocket dock for all programs now. Removal of Aero glass for me was the deal breaker. Looking at those plain borders etc just keeps knawing at me.........................