Win 8.1 Strange Behavior
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Thread: Win 8.1 Strange Behavior

  1. #1
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    Win 8.1 Strange Behavior

    OK here goes a strange situation I'll try to explain.

    My Dell Inspiron 17 laptop was working fine this morning when I did a proper shut down to take it to work. I boot the computer at work and get a black screen with a curser. No desktop, nothing but the curser. The Bluetooth mouse is able to move the curser. I try Ctrl+Alt+Del it does nothing. So I use the power switch and power off then on. Same thing happens. So I remove the battery. No power cord plugged in. Reinstall battery, boot computer.

    Yay I see the Dell splash screen and a spinning dots circle. Then I get a full screen background picture the same as the one on my Dell Venue Pro 8. Not something I have on the Inspiron. Although the Venue is setting next to the Inspiron (which should have no connection) After a short time my Inspiron opens to my start screen and all is good. I am able to use it as normal, no sign of the background picture.

    So it seems that somehow the startup was somehow affected by the Venue. Is this something anyone has ever reported before? A sign of pending trouble? Anything I need to check? I don't know what to think of the behavior, but I know it is not normal.
    This thing has more bugs than a big city flop house.

  2. #2
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    Then I get a full screen background picture the same as the one on my Dell Venue Pro 8
    Is this the "full screen background picture" you saw:

    If so, this is the generic lock screen that displays when no one is logged in or when the computer does not boot to a single user's log in. Is this what displayed?
    J.
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  3. #3
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    I should have specified more clearly. The screen I am concerned about is a photo I have as a background only on my Venue Pro 8 (which also runs WIN 8.1) It is a photo of a car I built many years ago.

    Attachment 12499
    This thing has more bugs than a big city flop house.

  4. #4
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    So the custom background photo of the car that was previously only on the Venue laptop is now the desktop background on the Inspiron? And the photo was never transferred to the Inspiron by you?

    I have never heard or seen anything like that occurring on any two computers let alone two that aren't networked together. Was there ever any transfer of data from the Venue to the Inspiron? I'm just thinking that maybe if you'd used Windows easy transfer tool for settings etc at some point then the photo may have been sitting in the desktop picture archive and when the boot failed it picked that "new" photo as the desktop background when it booted the next time.

    Just grasping at straws here 'cause it's a strange problem.
    Don't believe everything you think.

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  5. #5
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    Yes I agree a very strange thing.

    The car photo is in a folder on my Inspiron. It is also on my Photobucket which is where I copied it from for the Venue background. I have never used the Windows transfer tool.

    The photo is a background on the Venue. I have seen this happen twice on the Inspiron. But the photo does not stay as a background. After the computer gets "sorted" from whatever is causing the boot issue. The Inspiron is back to "normal" no car photo background.

    Very strange behavior.
    This thing has more bugs than a big city flop house.

  6. #6
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    Assuming you log into Windows 8 with your MS password, you synchronized your account so when you log into any other computer with Win 8 your personalized settings, including desktop backgrounds, will be present on the new machine because of your log in. The "transfer" of the background to the new machine took place in the cloud because you logged in and the personalized settings were synced.
    J.
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  7. #7
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    That sounds plausible. I do log in on both computers with my Microsoft account.

    So far no repeat of the issues of that day. At least for now all is good.
    This thing has more bugs than a big city flop house.

  8. #8
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    That's the best explanation so far

    I refused to activate my Win8.1 tablet with a Microsoft email identity because of on line tracking like that. Actually I did at first but when I realized what it implied and how much more complicated it made it trying to be anonymous and secure online I wiped it all and started from scratch with only a local user ID.
    Don't believe everything you think.

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  9. #9
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    A question for you, fink: With a local user ID are you able to download and install apps from the Windows 8 Store?
    J.
    Cooler Master Elite 430
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    Windows 10 Pro 64 Bit
    . . . by Digital Storm

  10. #10
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    Yes. They ask you to create a MS account on the computer but you can say no and just sign in each time with any outlook email acc't without a user acc't on the computer. I created a throwaway outlook address for just that purpose. I have never bought anything from them, only d/l'd a couple of free apps but I assume it would work the same way except you'd need to give them info to allow them to charge you for the software.
    Don't believe everything you think.

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