Worth upgrading my laptop to Windows 8 or should I reinstall Windows 7?

Hey all,

This is my laptop (the Windows 7, 1080p screen and Seagate 500GB HDD version).
Lenovo Y580 High-performance Mobile Gaming Laptop | Lenovo UAE

The first things I did with it was to install a 64GB mSATA SSD as my OS drive, take my ODD out and put it in an enclosure, and move my HDD to my ODD bay (since this notebook is notorious for having >50C HDD temps in the HDD bay under heavy load).

I've had a pretty rough track record with this notebook. I think this is the 5th time I'll have to reinstall the OS in 2 years. The first two times, I was getting BSOD's and I finally figured out it was my Seagate hard drive that was bad and replaced it with a Scorpio Black. I don't even remember what happened the 3rd time, but I remember after that reinstall I was getting all sorts of issues (all data and portable programs from the previous install being read only, not being able to take ownership or make new files and folders even on my OS drive, ““Error 0x80070522: A required privilege is not held by the client). I reinstalled, and it's been fine up until about a month ago when I started having issues with Windows Update (Updates always failing, whenever I shut down it tries to install the same updates, fails, reverts back and tries to reinstall them again every time I restart). Now all of a sudden my laptop crashed and every time I try to boot, even in safe mode, I get a BSOD that says "STOP: C0000135 The program can't start because %hs is missing." I researched the error and see that it's most likely a missing DLL file, but honestly I don't want to attempt to fix it because it'll take a lot of troubleshooting since I can't boot to the desktop, and even if I do I will still have problems with Windows Update. I'm pretty sure that both my mSATA SSD and my HDD are fine, I've ran tests and they checked out, plus the last two issues I've had are OS related issues. Though it is pretty unlucky to have to reinstall Windows this many times.

I should note that I never have had a single problem with Windows 7 with my desktop rig, I love the OS. But I've been playing with the Windows 10 Technical Preview lately and I've found myself using it more than Windows 7 on my desktop. Not saying I'd install the Technical Preview as my main OS drive for my notebook, but once Windows 10 is out I'll probably upgrade both my computers. In the meantime, I was considering installing Windows 8. I'm not too fond of the Metro UI, and I've heard a ton of complaints about various things, but I've heard that most of the complaints about it have been resolved with 8.1. I guess I'm just done with Windows 7 on my notebook, and I'm hoping if I install Windows 8 I won't have any more issues.

What do you think? Sorry this turned out to be so long, but I wanted to tell my story

Thanks!

 

Use Linux?

On a serious note, use the version of Windows that your computer's drivers supports best. You'll get the best reliability.

The features in Windows 8 are pretty much nonexistant over 7, but for me, i run 8 because my hardware is supported better on it.

If you hate Metro, take a look at classic shell. I'm running 8.1 and i haven't seen the start screen or charms bar in MONTHS

 

If you had no problem then stick with Windows 7 that is the best use of your system and resources for the current hardware configuration that it came with. And word of warning...about Windows X is just like Windows 8 preview...Tester/Preview tester tried it and like it and found it good and bam...!! Surprise you get Metro...nothing like what was even present when it finally was released. So until Windows X get final and they listened to all the Windows 8 debacle then Windows X will become another Windows 8 right down the toilet again. That's how I see it at this point in time nothing has been learned or admitted to so that already tells me they will say ok you tested but now we will release the release that we tested and want you to buy....!! That's how it has gone so far......

 

Actually be careful with Windows 10 as right now it seems to have a huge footprint. As far as the OP I would say it is worth upgrading if you can significantly lower the installation footprint. Your primary SSD has limited space so IMHO that would be paramount, that is so long as the UI is user acceptable.

 

Considering their user lack of faith in uneducation M$ Windows 8 release so far...I would call this a bismo effort....I upgraded to a SSD for boot/main drive for a reason in W7 plus a 256G SSD wasn't to much cost for the upgrade. I have a 4th gen i5-4690k processor (my board can go to 5th gen CPU) that can OC to 4.8 but left at 3.5 for now as that is way faster then my old AMD PHII 3.0 that now seems ancient. But I wouldn't myself put off WindowsX if they give the user FULL Customization to how they like it and with Aero that would bring me back on board but as I seen the Desktop UI now Metro Preview is still there and that just depress me more that they haven't learned anything from Windows 8.

 

Agreed but you have to take the posters situation into consideration. The big one here 64GB for the primary drive. These days this is nothing, at least as far as Windows installations. If there is no significant improvement though then why put up with trouble or expense be it monetary or otherwise?

Edit; I should note I installed Windows 10 on my P79 with a primary 120 GB SSD. With just a few MB of DL's for drivers I am now at 73.6GB of 111GB free.

 

The future upgrade to Windows 10 would probably be smoother from Windows 8.1 than from Windows 7. On the other hand, in the mean time, you would still have to deal with issues with 8.1 instead of just using what you know. Such as: some drivers and tools meant for Windows 7 might not install easily, and some taming of Windows 8.1 requires changes in registry.
I am on Windows 8.1, and had only passing experience with Windows 7; basically went from XP straight to 8.1. It was pretty rough at first.
But the OS can be tamed, and you nearly never need see the metro interface unless you want to.
Barring 3rd-party enhancements, you have to live without the start menu; the main help is pinning frequent applications to the taskbar and using their jumplists. After some time of such use, I don’t really care if there’s a start menu in upcoming Windows 10 or not. I do use the start screen for apps I run less frequently. But first did I clear it of any metro junk and uninstalled everything metro that I didn’t want to keep.

BTW, my footprint on C: (my Windows ‘boot’ partition), as of this writing, is 27 of 64 GB free. (I keep user files, temporary files, and applications elsewhere.)

 

My .02 thought my reinstall of Windows 7x64 Ult Sp1 took up about 40gigs of my SSD 256G drive on my desktop that is and complete software that I used installed went to about 68Gigs from my 256G SSD. So giving me enough headroom still which is better then not having enough.

 

Just letting you guys know, I decided to go for it and install 8. Right away I'm experiencing some weird issues I've never experienced before, literally hours after installing 8. Stuff like the volume mixer not opening (I can't adjust volume by clicking on it, I have to go into the realtek program or a keyboard shortcut. Even pressing adjust system volume in the control panel does nothing). Sometimes the start button stops working (left or right clicking it does nothing, have to restart explorer.exe to fix). If I right click the network icon in the taskbar and click troubleshoot problem nothing happens (I have to open network and sharing center, click troubleshoot problems, then I have to run each different option as administrator or nothing will happen, again). Internet Explorer doesn't open unless I run as administrator. I associated all related zip files to 7-zip in 7-zip's settings window, but windows stil doesn't associate the file types to 7-zip and asks me to select a program to open it with, and I get this problem when I try to "Open with." When choosing a program to open a file, I click More Options, then Look for another app on this PC, nothing happens. Well, something does. No file explorer window comes up like it should (to let me select the program) and the current window where I double clicked the file gets stuck. I can't move the window, and when I click on it Windows plays the "ding" (warning?) sound.

This was a clean install, not an upgrade. So most people would point to the hard drive, but I've tested my drives recently extensively and they all look healthy. Still, the problem remains. I keep having OS problems no matter how many times I reinstall 7 or even upgrade to 8, so I'm finally at the conclusion that the issue might be my mainboard or some deep irreparable hardware issue.

 

I would never install an OS that was not meant for my laptop. I mean, if a laptop came with Windows 7, then yes you may be able to install Windows 8 and get the appropriate drivers but you will never get that 100% either compatibility or performance.

Now your issue lies elsewhere it seems but just saying.

PS: My laptop came with Windows 8.1 but I formatted it right away and install 7 Pro and have never been happier! thank god Alienware offers drivers for Windows 7 as some manufacturers don't.

 

I don't believe it. I solved every problem I listed by disabling "Sync your settings on this PC" in OneDrive's settings. I was looking in the Microsoft Forums for a solution for the unresponsive start button and charms bar issue. Restarting explorer.exe was a temporary fix, since the issue always came back. Then I saw a post that apparently turning OneDrive Sync fixed it for them, so I decided to give it a try. Then I just randomly clicked on volume control to see if it was working, and it did. File explorer now opens when you browse to find a program to open a file, right clicking the network icon and troubleshooting now works without running as administrator, IE now opens without running as administrator, and a few various buttons that weren't doing anything before in the control panel now work.

Of course there are some people posting that disabling OneDrive didn't fix it for them, but since every other problem was fixed by doing this, I'll be hopeful that I'll be issue free from now on.

Still though, who would've thought that disabling One Drive could fix all of these seemingly unrelated issues. Oh and I forgot to mention that the Xbox video app was playing sound when I watched a trailer, but there was no video. Now there is! I don't even understand how One Drive has any effect on these things but I'm too happy to care.

 

Are you already on Windows 8.1? Have you gone all the way up where Windows Update will let you?
Do you then have all the latest drivers and tools from Lenovo?

EDIT: Sorry, didn’t notice your latest post.

 

Why don ´t you install the Windows 10 prevew?

 

I beg to differ. If the current OS on the laptop doesn't work well, or if you don like it, it's worth a try. I agree though that it may not end up working as expected.
As an example, even if my old trusty HP from 2006 wouldn't have support for Windows 7 I'd still have tried to hunt down the drivers for it, and in worst case have gone back to XP.

About storage space used for Windows, my brother uses a 64 GB Crucial SSD together with a larger HDD, He never used more than 40 GB of that SSD. Granted, all he uses it for is media, internet and office, but that's also a very common usage of a computer. 256 GB may seem like the mimimum choice, but my brothers 64 GB SSD had about the same price back then as the 256 GB models have today.

There's no right or wrong when it comes to drive size, it all depends on how you use your computer.

 

You missed the point from Ferris23 already. This is about one laptop and no other computer to use would you risk the lost time and productivity messing with a O/S that isn't ready for your laptop when that is the only laptop you have? Most likely No.

If you haven't read more SSD capacity is better then none to start with. Yes there is a right or wrong when it comes to size or capacity on the Root C drive if you plan wrong you will get problems - plan right and you will not worry about O/S problems when they occur. I rather have a open mind then a closed mind on upgrading and expansion. For you this will work but not for the masses-data grows by the day and a small SSD will not handle the storage or upgrading needed if it is too small. Also newer SSD has better speed and TRIM and newer control tech that is why you upgrade for security and performance and peace of mind that your data won't just vanish one day one you turn on the computer.

 

I was referring to the OP's situation.

I already answered that, see last post. I never suggested W10 to anyone. The OP has more than one computer.

Yes, more storage space is better, duh.
But what happened to make the best out of what you got? Not everyone can or wants to upgrade that often.

I said: it all depends on how you use your computer.

 

If you would've stated then that's how it would be read but reading sounded a reply to ferris23.

Then one should mention the OP name when making replies not replying to another poster's posting.

No it's not more space better software and programs now days are capacity hungry regardless of how much space you give it.

Majority is Email, YouTube, surf the internet then productivity software....not Metro Apps store...that is a dying breed. M$ needs to admit this. There are everyday users, Savvy users, and Tweakers, then Gamers...and the O/S can make or break your computing needs.

 

I think we were both commenting on what the OP wants to do.

You talk about space and capacity as if you mean't two different things. Are you perhaps talking about performance?

Thank you for that information, very useful and on topic.