windows 8 problem

[DocMstr Moorlord]

It may have been addressed but I dont see the solution.

 

I recently upgraded my laptop to win 8 now sl wont work. Ive tried SL, firestorm, and katzip.

first two give me a crash report right after opening it to run.

Ive upgraded my drivers, I run a hp with a radeon 5560

I douse the start 8 thing as well.

something I am missing?

[Frawmusl]

Have you tried running the viewers in compatability mode? Right click>Properties>Compatability>Run Program in compatability mode for>Any

[DocMstr Moorlord]

yes I did try compatability mode, should have mentioned that. did not work

[Twosday Tylman]

I am also having a problem with win8. I have the IntelHD4000 video on my laptop and also a touch screen. When I move my mouse over to any sliding menue my screen goes craisy with all diffrent colors. I am not having a problem with my other lapto runnin win7 with an IntelHD3000 video or my lenone allin one wunnind win or win8 with the IntelHD2000 video.

 

Cheers

Twos

[Peggy Paperdoll]

I doubt Windows 8 is the problem.  The operating system, itself, is really quite like Win 7 with a different look and touch screen compatibility.  The problem comes in when you make a major upgrade to any operating system is that often the drivers for all your hardware needs updating also.  It's also proabably worth the effort to look into motherboard drivers.  However, drivers are not the only things that can upset the operation of some programs.  The OS setup can (and often does) effect how any given program may run and even if you simply did the "upgrade" without first removing the old OS, settings are not guaranteed to be like they were before you upgraded.  People often change their anti-virus/mal-ware software, firewall at the same time.  People also usually do some house cleaning of the system (get rid of seldom or never used programs).  Quicktime is a program that SL needs for media and, if you are like me, you probably never use it except for SL and mistake it for a program you don't need.  You need to go through everything (setup, drivers, and programs).  It can be a task but likely it's just one little thing that is holding up SL for you.

If you did a "clean install" of the Windows 8 then you will have to go through everything.  Get the software that is required for safe Internet use.  And set it all up so that SL can run.  Basically start from square one as if you just purchased a brand new computer and just now turned it on.

[DocMstr Moorlord]

pretty much what I did before I posted, I cannot figure out what it is. 

[Peggy Paperdoll]

I'm not sure who you are addressing but since I was the last to post before you (I think anyway) I assume it's directed at me.  I laid out several possible issues when upgrading operating systems (I've had similar problems myself in the past....though not with any specific program like it appears you have).  I don't know how you upgraded........clean install (the removal of one OS and installation of the upgrade OS) or the easier (but somewhat prone to issues, including settings for your system....which doing the upgrade implies you won't have those problems).  The drivers you have installed for your hardware should not be changed (which I'm pretty sure is iffy).  Since Windows 8 is so close to Windows 7 I would think that a driver supported by Win 7 will work with Win 8 (I'm assuming that because drivers written for my graphics card before Win 8 was released are listed as supporting Win 8).  I can't say that with certainity since I really don't know if the drivers were rewritten for Win 8 but I highly doubt it........nVidia is not going to go back through drivers already released and rewrite them when a new OS comes out). 

But here's a twist I see as a possibility (and could very well be the reason so many people have to update drivers after an upgrade to Win 8).  When you boot Windows up (any operating system MS supports today) the OS scans your hardware to check for anything new (or changed) since the last boot.  If it sees something that doesn't match the installed driver list then it alerts you with a message such as "New hardware found" and whats to install a driver for it.  I don't know about Win 8 but I do know that Win 7 is very quick (like less than 5 seconds) to go ahead with installing a driver from it's driver library that it thinks is best.........I got in the habit of booting to "Safe Mode" when doing anything major so that doesn't happen.  If that is the case with Win 8 you could have the wrong driver installed even though you did a proper driver update.  I know of no way to avoid that issue without booting to "Safe mode".  You might try doing that with a fresh download for your video card........and I never recommend installing a driver (actually any program) from the site setup (always save to your drive and install from that setup).

Now if you did do a clean install of Win 8 you would have to get all new drivers (except your motherboard's) and update them for all your hardware.  Nothing will be saved from the old OS.  A little more "complicated" but much less problematic in the long run.  It also takes a little longer.  You can backup your data files for important stuff then restore them after you've got your new OS all setup........that's the best way.

Now there is another way that is probably not really necessary for something like upgrading your OS.  That is a disk wipe, format and install.  It's a pretty severe way since wiping a drive basically returns it to a new drive (in a sense since it's not a new drive but your computer will see it as one).  Nothing intelligible remains on the disk.....the master boot record is gone and won't be replaced until you install your OS again.  All data on the disk is overwritten with 1's and 0's in random order....in a perfect world nothing exists on the drive, not even a file structure (for Win 8, that's NTFS which is why you have to format the disk after a wipe).  The wipe process can take a very long time (the last wipe I did on my 500 GB drive took just over 25 hours......and that was only 3 passes.  It would have taken nearly 3 days if I had wiped it 7 times!!!).  Wiping is usually only necessary if you are selling your computer and want to rid it of all personal information or (like in my case) you picked a pretty difficult to get rid of virus).  Some people do wipe for OS changes...........I personally don't think it's necessary though.

What I'm trying to say is that it depends on how you upgraded on where the problem might originate.  I personally think the problem is most likely in the driver area but almost as sure that it's in the Win 8 setup area.  You could be looking at a registry issue........which, even for experts, is a pretty scary place to start messing around in.  If it is a registry problem, instead of screwing around there, I'd do another clean install of Windows 8.  I don't think it's a registry thing but it is possible (especially if you didn't do a clean install).

[Bhakta Thor]

I also can't install the SL viewer. Absolutely nothing happens when I click on the exe file. I have had some issues with other programs, but by right clicking on the file, and chooseing install as administrator, I have been able to install the program. 

 

Not so with SL, it does not matter how I install it. 

I was able to install Firestorm and it works just fine with Win8

 

BT

[Peggy Paperdoll]

The problem of not being able to install a program (any program) can be caused by almost anything.  From a corrupted installation setup file to user permissions (that run as admin should resolve that type of issue as long as you have admin rights for the account you use on the computer......apparently you do and it still does not install).  A firewall or anti-malware program can prevent installation, so can network permissions (independant of your computer account permissions).  I can't tell you want is preventing you from installing the SL viewer..........I don't know your account setup/permissions (for your computer), nor do I know what network permissions are allowed or disallowed.  I'm not at your computer to even investigate why such problems might be causing your issue.

All I can suggest is the simplest of common problems when someone has issues in installing anything on a computer.  The computer is stupid and can only do what the software allows it to do.  The software has options for the user to include and exclude tasks the user might attempt to do.  I will tell you with a lot of confidence that the SL viewer will run on a Windows 8 system.......and I will tell that neither the Win 8 system or the SL viewer is at fault when you can't run it or install it.  The problem exists somewhere else.  It's likely it's a setup file that is corrupted or missing in the viewer installation file.....for that issue a fresh download of the setup file would fix the problem (sometimes an anti-virus/malware program will prevent such a download..........and I will never advise anyone to turn off an AV when downloading anything.  For that issue get another AV software package).  A firewall might cause the problem too (same advise as the AV preventing the download.....get another package).  Another very common cause for programs not properly installing (or failing to install at all) is runing the setup (the .exe file) from a website......a few potential issues with that method are a hiccup in your Internet connection, a slow Internet connection, and it's extremely easy to pick up mal-ware by running an .exe file without first scanning it for mal-ware).  You should always download the setup to your computer, scan if for mal-ware, then run the setup from your comptuer and not the website.  And, finally, there is always the potential that something in your computer's settings is preventing you from installing a program (that and your network setup).  You (or your administrator) are going to have to find that problem and fix it........no one can do that for you here.

[Piea]

Go into your preferences in Graphic and unclick ur "Basic Shadow" that's what fixed mine.

[anabykim]

It's the same problem here since 2 months when I installed windows 8 to my laptop. I tried all the posted suggestions and no use. Well, I prefer to have windows 8 on my laptop more than to have any of un-working viewer. So I am taking a break from Second Life till they solve their problems with Windows 8.

[Viktor Sapunov]

I had the same issue.  I recently purchased a new PC running Windows 8  and using Phoenix/Firestorm ran into all sorts of issues from not being able to log on at all to not being able to see mesh, slow frame rates etc.

I loaded the Nirans viewer and SL runs better than Firestorm/Phoenix ever did on the old PC.

No issues anymore.

[Viktor Sapunov]

Load the Nirans viewer,  it fixed all my Windows 8 related issues.

[Arlin Gears]

Yes, the problem is SL not windows 8.  Everything discussed here about clean wipe etc....been there done all that, safe mode, cleared drivers and reinstalled latest from intel for my lenovo laptop with an ssd which is very fast.  Everything works including my zune software, youtube related just not SL anymore with windows 8.  I guess I'll just have to wait until SL releases a new viewer after all the other viewers working since 2007.  :matte-motes-crying:

[Viktor Sapunov]

Use Nirans viewer.  I am getting 100 frames per second with it.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/niransviewer/

[Jeremy Marquez]

i have the same issues too Posted Here i have windows updates motherboard updates latest amd updates and everything but as soon as i log into sl, nirans, exodus i can open em set graphics belo low every graphics box is unchecked in advanced and hardware but only firestorm will keep me logged in the others boot me within 30 seconds  i've tried aqua and hippo hollow. ony way i can get them to do right is redo windows 8 but what a pain 

[Phoebe Avro]

I would not install Windows 8 on any laptop that was not specifically designed to have win 8 on it, your asking for trouble, if its an older laptop the manufacturer of it prob won't make any Windows 8 drivers for it! Firestorm works fine on my new Toshiba laptop with Windows 8 but it came with it installed, I did manage to get Phoenix to work with it also using the Vista compatibility mode, i just went through them all one by one until I found one that worked.