Cannot get any Viewers to work on Windows 8. *info added*

[Nalates Urriah]

Check that your computer meets the System Requirements | Second Life.

Try this site to see if you can run SL. This is not perfect, but it should give you and idea. Can I Run Second Life?

When you ask a tech question include information about your computer and viewer. If the viewer will at least show the login screen, get the info from the viewer's Help-About... and paste that into your post with your question. Help->About... provides all the version numbers we need.  To add your info to an existing question use OPTIONS->EDIT. It’s in the upper right of your post.

There are people running Win 8 and SL.

 

[Nalates Urriah]

Check that your computer meets the System Requirements | Second Life.

Try this site to see if you can run SL. This is not perfect, but it should give you and idea. Can I Run Second Life?

When you ask a tech question include information about your computer and viewer. If the viewer will at least show the login screen, get the info from the viewer's Help-About... and paste that into your post with your question. Help->About... provides all the version numbers we need.  To add your info to an existing question use OPTIONS->EDIT. It’s in the upper right of your post.

There are people running Win 8 and SL.

 

[Peggy Paperdoll]

"...

I don't intend to revert to Windows 7 just for one program, so I'd really like to figure this out.  Is it simply that Second Life is just incompatible with Windows 8?  That doesn't seem to make sense, but I'm at my wits end and would be sad to no longer have SL."

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There is no need to revert to Windows 7 if you don't want to.  Windows 8 will run SL just fine.  Which answers your question about SL being incompatible with Windows 8...........it is compatible.  And yes, if you want to continue using SL, then you really do need to figure it out. 

I have a question though.  It's not at all uncommon for the SL servers to see a video card/adapter that has not yet been verified to work with SL.  I happens with every new series card released by both the big boys in the GPU market (nVidia and AMD/ATI).  You get a message saying that your video card may not work with SL and that it may be necessary to update your video drivers (even if the driver you are using the latest driver release).  I get it all the time when I get a new card that is in the newest (or nearly newest) series.  You should be able to log in anyway.....you can ignore the message.  And somewhere on that message there is a little box you can tick that says something like "Don't show this message again".  If that's the case then your problem is solved.  Eventually the card series will be tested by the LL techs and verified that it works, put in the data base of cards that are known to work and the message will not be displayed to anyone logging in with that card.  You have to be realisitic about allowing time for the cards to be tested........hundreds are cards are released each year and the LL tech staff have much bigger chores to do that effect SL and users (I'm sure verifying graphics cards/adapters is a pretty low priority item).

If that is not your problem then you need to give some information about your computer, connection, graphics card.  An OS system is just one component of any computer......and, for the most part, play a minor role in now any program might run.  Especially when the OS is so very similar to the one it's replaces such as Window 8 vs Windows 7....most of the differences are cosmetic.  Though there are many security changes that could create issues with programs.......but there are way too many users running Win8 and SL without any issues at all to assume Win8 is a problem with SL (and for the same reasons, it's extremely unlikely that SL is not compatible with Win8).

Follow Nalates advice and post some specs and information.........without that, It's going to be near impossible for you to "figure it out".

[Peggy Paperdoll]

Well, your graphics is an old onboard intergrated graphics processor (IGP).  It's so old that Notebook Check refers to it as ATI......AMD purchased ATI a couple years ago and, technically,  ATI cards/chipsets no longer exist (they are AMD GPU's).  That presents what I think is at the root of your problem.  I think when you could run SL "with no problems on Windows 7" is that the viewer you were using was one of the viewers based on the old SL 1.23 viewer code.  When you upgraded your system to Win 8 you went to the download pages for the various viewers and installed the latest viewers.......those latest viewers will not work on your computer's IGP (they require more than your graphics are deliver).  You need to go the TPV page and find a viewer based on the SL 1.23 code.

My suggestion to avoid more issues due to multiple viewers on the same computer is to first uninstall all the viewers you have installed on your computer (manually searching for and deleting all files related to that viewer after the uninstall......do that one at a time).  Install the single viewer, try SL.  If it works then fine.  If not then uninstall that viewer and delete the left over files before installing another.  It take a while to find a viewer that will work........those viewers for low end computers are getting more and more rare as time goes on.

A question.  Why did you install Windows 8 x32?  That limits your recognizable system memory (you're basically maxed out now with only 3 GB).  More system memory (RAM) will not only help you in SL it will help you with everything you run on your computer.