Windows 8 Pretty Casual About Recommending "Refresh"

[Russ]

For reasons known only to the Great Computer God, I can no longer access the Store on my Win8 desktop. The system rather "helpfully" suggested that maybe I should "Refresh" my PC. Uh, . . . . . . No! That would mean I have to reinstall all my 3rd party apps. I don't think so. I have a lot of them. I can live a long time without the Store before I even think about reinstalling all my apps.

I tried booting to the Win8 DVD to use the "Repair" function, but it declined the opportunity.

Maybe I will encounter some other anomaly that will cause me to rethink my position, but it would have to be serious.

I just happen to think that is a pretty casual suggestion. Someone who is a little less knowledgeable or a little less attentive might do it, then yell, "Holy [feces]! What happened to all my programs?!!" I don't know if there is a warning along the way on the "Refresh" path. I didn't go far enough to find out, nor is it my present intention to so do.

Regards,
Russ

 

[Arizona Willie]

I agree that " refreshing " is one of the very last things you want to do.

However, the first rule of safe hex is " backup backup backup and then backup your backups ".

Speaking of which, I better follow my own advice and back my Surface up again.

 

[J515OP]

I think this has been covered before and may actually require a Refresh as unsavory as that may be Try a forum search there may be another solution like uninstalling and reinstalling the store app.

 

[kristalsoldier]

Yeah...that refresh option is quite irritating! I have now done this twice on my desktop and three times on the Surface - actually, once I completely reinstalled Win 8 Pro on my desktop. Not very happy doing so - only because the reinstalling apps and programs and setting up of the machines to the way I want them takes a lot of time and effort.

@Russ, can you not roll back to a previously saved image?

 

[Russ]

I think this has been covered before and may actually require a Refresh as unsavory as that may be Try a forum search there may be another solution like uninstalling and reinstalling the store app.

JP --

I vaguely recall a past thread on a similar subject. I'll see if I can find it. Meanwhile, I shall just amble on "Store-less." It will take something a lot more serious for me to do a Refresh.

Regards,
Russ

 

[Russ]

. . . reinstalling apps and programs and setting up of the machines to the way I want them takes a lot of time and effort.

@Russ, can you not roll back to a previously saved image?

KristalSoldier --

Yeah, it's like setting up a new machine, and that's a lot of work for so little gain. I have a better solution if it annoys me that much: My computer in the shop is substantially identical in setup to this one. I could just clone that drive, switch some product keys and serial numbers and use it in this machine. I've done that before.

The problem with using Restore is that I have not a clue when it happened. I haven't been to the Store in a long time. So, I would just be grappling with a ghost. Plus, it is Springtime in North Georgia. The dogwoods and azaleas are blooming, the weather is delightful, the trees and shrubs are showing bright new leaves -- I would rather be out there enjoying it, than in here asymptotically searching for an elusive restore point. Sometimes little things like that get fixed with some new Windows update that happens to flip the right switch. Or maybe the little Gremlin that broke it will wander back through and fix it. Gremlins are like that.

Take care,
Russ

 

[Arizona Willie]

I heartily recommend Acronis True Image 2013. I have it set to make a FULL backup of my desktop machine every night at 7 pm while we're watching tv. Thus I have several days of backups so this if it goes down the rabbit hole today, instead of that insane Refresh, I can wipe the drive and boot from my backup restore disk and restore last night's backup. Operating system, programs, data --- everything very easily in half an hour or so. This desktop is running a 256GB SSD so it's fast to backup / restore.

The only thing I would lose is whatever I had done today. Since this is a personal computer, not a work machine that would only involve Quicken usually and some emails -- 98% of which are just trying to sell me something. Losing game progress would be insignificant.

Certainly much easier than trying to restore everything from scratch after a Refresh.

If I was using the Surface in place of my main Desktop as some say they are doing, then I would have it set up the same way. But I back my Surface up to an external HDD and, unfortunately, I don't keep them hooked up because I take my Surface with me everywhere I go. Being naturally energy deficient ( lazy ) I only backup the Surface one a week, maybe. Even restoring a week old backup would be preferable to re-installing everything after a Refresh.

 

[Russ]

Willie --

I have a sorta ad hoc backup routine, but not that frequent. I run separate drives for programs and data. Periodically, I back up the program drive by simply cloning it to a separate physical drive. That drive lives in my computer all the time, so it's as easy as moving a cable, and I have a complete, bootable replica. I back up my data drive over the network (wired) to my shop computer. It has a 1TB drive that lives just for that purpose. Sometimes, before I go to bed, I start a transfer of my data drive, or portions thereof, over to the backup drive in the shop. The shop is physically separate from my house, so it even qualifies as "off-site" backup. "Cloud" backup systems don't work for me -- my DSL is too slow and is erratic.

I really don't worry that much about program stuff; it's always recoverable, with varying degrees of work, since I have several similarly set up computers. Just clone one of them and make a few changes, and I'm good.

I'm really not bothered by loss of access to the Store. It's not a big part of my life anyhow. This is what sorta bothered me:


That is just a bit too casual for something as significant as a Refresh. "Here, just take this little pill, and all your troubles might go away." It's even got a handy little Refresh button to make it easy. I don't know what happens if you click that little button, and have no plans to find out. If/when I decide to do a Refresh, it will be a bit more deliberate and thoughtfully planned.

Take care,
Russ

 

[kristalsoldier]

@ Russ...

Two observations: (1) You are one of the few people who I find use the word "asymptotic"! One of my favourite words...another being "architectonic"! (2) It's really odd that the Store App does not work. I would not be surprised if Apps get corrupted over time. However, one would expect that when that happens it would be a matter of uninstalling and reinstalling the app....refresh seems to be a bit of an overkill. Nevertheless, if that is the only tool then, I guess, so be it. Which reminds me to make a image of my current set up and to stash it just in case!

 

[Russ]

"asymptotic"! One of my favourite words...another being "architectonic"!

KristalSoldier --

Both are good words and, sometimes, nothing else is adequate.

Backups are like insurance: each has a benefit and each has a cost, and one can overdo both. I could, I suppose, get flood insurance on my house, but if the day comes that I actually need it, you will hear the sounds of Noah busily building another ark.

I am more scrupulous about backing up my data than my program stuff. Program stuff can always be replaced, even at some time and nuisance. Some of my data are irreplaceable -- Wife's pictures and such. I am semi-maniacal about backups for that stuff. Much of it lives in three places: My house, my shop and a USB drive that my son keeps for me.

Meanwhile, the Store app cannot be uninstalled. There is no function for that, neither on the "metro" interface nor in Control Panel/Uninstall. It appears to be an integral part of the OS, and is not a "feature" one can turn On or Off. So, it will either fix itself -- or not. Only time will tell.

Having ransacked my brain, I think I know what was the triggering event. I installed a Beta of Adobe Lightroom5, and had several problems soon after. After uninstalling it and a few "Restores" later, I fixed the problems I knew about. I'm going to re-create that event on a cloned drive, and see if it tells me something. If I learn anything, I'll post it.

Take care,
Russ