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Microsoft Admits Windows 8.1 Update May Bork Your Mouse, Promises a Fix

MojoKid writes "Microsoft has several valid reasons why you should upgrade to Windows 8.1, which is free if you already own Windows 8. However, there's a known issue that might give some gamers pause before clicking through in the Windows Store. There have been complaints of mouse problems after applying the Windows 8.1 update, most of which have been related to lag in video games, though Microsoft confirmed there are other potential quirks. Acknowledging the problem, Microsoft says it's also actively investigating the issues and working on a patch."

9 of 326 comments (clear)

  1. Valid reasons? by bhcompy · · Score: 4, Informative

    Microsoft has several valid reasons why you should upgrade to Windows 8.1

    What are these reasons? I'm being serious. I have yet to see a reason to upgrade from Windows 7 this soon in the game

    1. Re:Valid reasons? by walbourn · · Score: 4, Informative
      Actual technical content in a /. article... Hmmm. not sure if that's really an option, but here goes a partial list of stuff you get in 8.1 and not with 7:
      • DirectX 11.2 hardware support including tiled resources, Feature Level 11.1 hardware support, etc.
      • Much improved Direct3D capture support when using VS 2013 Graphics Diagnostics
      • Native USB 3.0 support
      • 200% High-DPI scaling support
      • Bitlocker has been improved, particularly when initializing a new drive
  2. Watermarks by Microlith · · Score: 5, Informative

    And give me the ability to hide that stupid "Secure Boot isn't configured correctly" watermark sitting on my desktop! I have it turned off for a reason, I don't need to be harassed constantly about it.

    1. Re:Watermarks by Microlith · · Score: 4, Informative

      It was only a bug when it appeared on systems with secure boot enabled, on systems without secure boot, and on Windows RT devices. It still appears on my system because I explicitly turned it off. Now I want to hide the notification.

    2. Re:Watermarks by mastershake82 · · Score: 5, Informative
  3. There is a simple fix by richardw01 · · Score: 5, Informative

    It's a simple fix... they added some new mouse settings that cause the mouse to stop working while typing with a small delay... the settings are buried in the metro UI.... here is how to fix it: 1. Go to the windows setting in the metro UI, for me I just put my mouse pointer in the upper right of the screen until the "search, share, start, device, settings" pop up appears, click the settings icon. 2. click on the change PC settings at the bottom. 3. Click on PC and devices. 4. click on mouse and touch pad 5. under the touch pad settings set the delay to no delay.

  4. Re:..and mouse scroll. by _xeno_ · · Score: 4, Informative

    Wow, you sure found a lot more problems with Windows 8.1 than I did. Really, I only had one problem with it: when booting, after making it past the Windows logo, it just sits at a black screen. You can move the mouse around at this black screen, but you can't log in or do anything.

    Other than it crashing to a black screen on boot, I've had no problems with Windows 8.1.

    Well, OK, I've posted about this on Slashdot before, and finally got it fixed. Apparently Windows 8.1 decided to nuke the drivers that came with my laptop and use broken ones instead. Reinstalling the original drivers fixed everything. So, thanks for that, Windows 8.1 upgrader.

    And because they're still hilarious, here are Microsoft's instructions for booting Windows 8/8.1 into Safe Mode. Note that the instructions to enter Safe Mode requires the computer to be booting successfully. Also note that they tell you that you can't use F8 to boot into safe mode any more, but don't tell you that it's now shift-F8. The bit about Windows 8 giving you no chance to hit this is actually true; I wound up powering off the laptop during boot to "trick" Windows 8.1 into taking me to the recovery menu. (As getting to the black screen counted as "booting" as far as Windows cared.)

    Shift-F8 does work, by the way, if you get lucky and hit it in that incredibly short window that the OS checks for it.

    --
    You are in a maze of twisty little relative jumps, all alike.
  5. Re:They're doin' it wrong by Luckyo · · Score: 4, Informative

    This update breaks mouse in GAMES.

    So your update breaks games entirely. A pretty steep downgrade.

  6. Re:..and mouse scroll. by msobkow · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's not even "adding a button." It's adding a button *graphic* in the lower left corner where there was *always* a "hot spot" to click for bringing up the menu windows.

    --
    I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.