Bandito
Active Member
Sorry folks, but I need to vent!
I'm really growing tired of the reliability of either the SP3, Windows 8.1, or both.
For example, today, just as I normally do, I set up my SP3 (it's my secondary computer at work), turned it on, and then ignored it for a while. When I went to use it, the screen was dark. I have it set to never turn off the screen when on AC in my power settings, but it did it anyway. So, I clicked on the power button to 'wake' it back up but got nothing. Tried it again in case I didn't push hard enough or long enough, but no dice. So, I figured that I'd try the Windows button on the screen and I got the usual vibratory feedback from the system. This indicates to me that Windows is running, but the display is completely disabled. This has happened to me several times, but not consistently. To recover, I have to hold down the power button for about 10 seconds to reset and power off the computer. Then, I wait a few seconds and press the power button again to restart it. This is where I have to hold my breath and hope that it will actually restart, as occasionally, but rarely, it will not.
When that happens, I have to do a volume up and power button restart a few times to get it to eventually come up again. As I said, this rarely happens, but it does occasionally occur and certainly keeps me wondering whether or not the system will work when I need it.
Yesterday, it displayed its strangest behavior ever! When I turned it on first thing in the morning, or more accurately, woke it from sleep, everything came up normally, but when I went to check for updates, it just hung there with the dots indicating that it was searching. I let it go for a couple of minutes, but it never finished, so I went back to the Start screen and selected restart. Here's where the fun began. It started up normally and brought up the splash screen. I then flicked it up and entered my PIN. After doing so, the dots kept traveling in their circle for about 90 seconds, which normally only takes a couple of seconds. When it brought up the Start page, all the live tiles were in place, but none of them were live. They were all blank. I found that I could run everything normally, both in the desktop and the new UI, but the live tiles and all program icons below the Start page were blank. I then restarted the system again with the same results. Next, I started searching online for solutions and found that this was not an uncommon thing to have happen. I tried a couple of the suggestions to fix it, but nothing worked. I'd reboot and get the same thing. Then I noticed that Windows Explorer was taking forever to display files when going to various directories. I checked Task Manager, but all was calm and quiet there, so I have no idea what was causing all these weird problems. I rebooted twice more and suddenly everything started working normally again. I had no further issues that day.
So, that brings us back to the reliability issue of the SP3. There are continuing WiFi connection speed issues, occasional problems with the Arc Mouse Surface Edition losing scrolling capability, occasional black screens, yesterday's roller coaster ride, and other occasional glitches that I keep running into. Is this really the state-of-the-art machine that Microsoft claims it to be? Do you consider your SP3 to be reliable and always available to you at a moment's notice? I certainly cannot make that claim.
I'm really beginning to lose what faith I had in mine as sometimes it's smooth sailing and I think all is wonderful and then it will go and do something bizarre again. I'd really appreciate your thoughts on your own experiences with SP3 reliability to date.
Thanks for letting me vent. I feel a bit better already and perhaps today's patches will further improve things. See, I still have a little bit of hope left in me!
I'm really growing tired of the reliability of either the SP3, Windows 8.1, or both.
For example, today, just as I normally do, I set up my SP3 (it's my secondary computer at work), turned it on, and then ignored it for a while. When I went to use it, the screen was dark. I have it set to never turn off the screen when on AC in my power settings, but it did it anyway. So, I clicked on the power button to 'wake' it back up but got nothing. Tried it again in case I didn't push hard enough or long enough, but no dice. So, I figured that I'd try the Windows button on the screen and I got the usual vibratory feedback from the system. This indicates to me that Windows is running, but the display is completely disabled. This has happened to me several times, but not consistently. To recover, I have to hold down the power button for about 10 seconds to reset and power off the computer. Then, I wait a few seconds and press the power button again to restart it. This is where I have to hold my breath and hope that it will actually restart, as occasionally, but rarely, it will not.
When that happens, I have to do a volume up and power button restart a few times to get it to eventually come up again. As I said, this rarely happens, but it does occasionally occur and certainly keeps me wondering whether or not the system will work when I need it.
Yesterday, it displayed its strangest behavior ever! When I turned it on first thing in the morning, or more accurately, woke it from sleep, everything came up normally, but when I went to check for updates, it just hung there with the dots indicating that it was searching. I let it go for a couple of minutes, but it never finished, so I went back to the Start screen and selected restart. Here's where the fun began. It started up normally and brought up the splash screen. I then flicked it up and entered my PIN. After doing so, the dots kept traveling in their circle for about 90 seconds, which normally only takes a couple of seconds. When it brought up the Start page, all the live tiles were in place, but none of them were live. They were all blank. I found that I could run everything normally, both in the desktop and the new UI, but the live tiles and all program icons below the Start page were blank. I then restarted the system again with the same results. Next, I started searching online for solutions and found that this was not an uncommon thing to have happen. I tried a couple of the suggestions to fix it, but nothing worked. I'd reboot and get the same thing. Then I noticed that Windows Explorer was taking forever to display files when going to various directories. I checked Task Manager, but all was calm and quiet there, so I have no idea what was causing all these weird problems. I rebooted twice more and suddenly everything started working normally again. I had no further issues that day.
So, that brings us back to the reliability issue of the SP3. There are continuing WiFi connection speed issues, occasional problems with the Arc Mouse Surface Edition losing scrolling capability, occasional black screens, yesterday's roller coaster ride, and other occasional glitches that I keep running into. Is this really the state-of-the-art machine that Microsoft claims it to be? Do you consider your SP3 to be reliable and always available to you at a moment's notice? I certainly cannot make that claim.
I'm really beginning to lose what faith I had in mine as sometimes it's smooth sailing and I think all is wonderful and then it will go and do something bizarre again. I'd really appreciate your thoughts on your own experiences with SP3 reliability to date.
Thanks for letting me vent. I feel a bit better already and perhaps today's patches will further improve things. See, I still have a little bit of hope left in me!
