
This afternoon—after having made sure that last night’s backup happened successfully—I upgraded my PC to Windows 8.1 Pro (64-bit). It had been running Windows 8 Pro (64-bit), so just a 0.1 upgrade! Unlike last year’s botched attempt, this time it was successful and took less than an hour.
Issues
Only three applications complained:
- 8GadgetPack didn’t run until I’d installed the latest version.
- Microsoft Windows Mobile Device Center 6.1 reported that it was incompatible. No problem: I’m not using a Windows Mobile phone now. I’ve uninstalled it.
- SteelSeries Engine reported that it couldn’t initialize. I had suspected my SteelSeries Sensei mouse to be the main culprit in last year’s failed upgrade, so I wasn’t surprised. Downloading the latest version seems to have sorted this.
Tweaks
I’m still using two applications to tweak the Windows 8.1 experience:
- Start8—Adds the classic start menu back to Windows 8/8.1.
- Decor8—Personalizes the Windows 8/8.1 start and login screens.
Relief
What a relief to finally get it installed, and without any problems whatsoever. Dear Microsoft, I wish it had been this straight-forward seven months ago. But thank you.
I tweeted my progress through the upgrade:
Third attempt at upgrading to Windows 8.1… Hopefully this won't be the car crash that the first two attempts proved to be.
— Gareth J M Saunders (@garethjms) May 22, 2014
Upgrade to Windows 8.1 update: it's rebooted. Currently at "Setting up 79%".
— Gareth J M Saunders (@garethjms) May 22, 2014
Ooh! Another reboot…
— Gareth J M Saunders (@garethjms) May 22, 2014
Applying PC settings 2%… Excitement is building. Fused with potential dismay and disappointment. It's like watching Scotland play rugby!
— Gareth J M Saunders (@garethjms) May 22, 2014
Setting up a few more things 3%
— Gareth J M Saunders (@garethjms) May 22, 2014
The geek in me wants to know what "a few more things" are.
— Gareth J M Saunders (@garethjms) May 22, 2014
Hurrah! Windows 8.1 Pro upgrade (from Windows 8.0) has completed successfully.
— Gareth J M Saunders (@garethjms) May 22, 2014