Home Forums Discussions General Discussion windows 8 and amazing charts

Anyone tried to run amazing charts on windows 8?

Hi,

We have been running Win8Pro on several "workstations" with no problems at all.

I don't think Win 8 is recommended as "Main computer"

If you get Win8, also buy a program to put the start button back (Win8start is what we use)

Gene

If you can choose your OS, get W8 (pronounced Wait!) Pro.

This will give you back-grade/upgrade rights to W7 Pro.

Officially it is not compatible with v6.3.3. Windows 8 is fine. A lot of people like to exaggerate in the articles. Throw on some third party start button program (Start8, $5) and you're basically back at Windows 7 with the exception of a slightly refined GUI.

I'm using a laptop with win 8 home and AC 6.3.3 seems fine

AC 6.3.3 running fine on touch screen Win 8 Pro tablet. The AC buttons and menu items are somewhat small on a 12" tablet to use touch effectively, but I can usually open them by touch & hold.

Why do you need the start button so badly?

Tablets/Metro UI aren't geared towards multitasking. It's great if work on one thing at a time. But most people use the start menu to open a program not to take up the whole screen. I have triple screens so I need something that allows me to launch a program from any screen with ease. I use a combination of DisplayFusion+Start8 to get 3 full Start Menus/Taskbars on each screen.

Got it, yep I can see how annoying that would be.

I plan to put All in one Touch screen HP (Envy 23-d 160qd) with Win8 (not Pro)in exam rooms. Any issues, advantages/disadvantages of touch screen with Amazing charts? sorry I have not explored Win8 yet.

Had all in one touchscreen with windows 8, had to upgrade to Pro for it to work

Go Pro. If you are going to network, you have to have Pro. If you are going to use remote desktop, you have to have Pro. If you are going to use BitLocker to secure the hard drives, you have to have Pro.

If the touch screens only come with Home, consider adding the cost of upgrade to the overall cost.

Home should work, but is really for Home. Especially when you consider what you are getting and where you may be going in the future, get Pro.

Oh, and get Classic Start or Start 8 to give you back the desktop

Wendell,

So my take-away is maybe go Pro? :P

Good points.

The other thing to know is many hardware vendors use lesser components on their consumer hardware. I have also noticed that vendors are also not allowing/offering their premium support options unless you buy the higher grade hardware.

What would give you that idea?

My highly refined reading comprehension skills.

Although it would have been much easier if it had been "And did I mention that it's Free?" Of course, to say that it would have to have been an open-source OS.

My candidate for a Windows 8 start button (which you want if you are used to windows 95-Win7 ESP. if you do not have a touch screen) is a program called "Startisback" [http://www.startisback.com/] it is not a "free program", but $3.00 for two license or $5.00 for a 5 computer license. Was the best $3 I have spent on computers. Made life easier also for Technical Support as it appears like a Windows 7 start button w/ equivalent menus. It has a 30-day free trial. I bought it almost immediately!

There are no issues but using a keyboard is still faster. We have touchscreens in all of the exam rooms but they are lightly used, if at all.

I've been using Start8 and there is literally no difference between that one and Windows 7. The Startisback seems interesting. I'll give that a try.

Why use a Start button on Win 8? To turn it into Win 7.

We have been down this road a million times. Not to be mean, but Wendell is 150% correct. Home is for home. Pro is for Professional. It is ALWAYS best to use Pro or Ultimate or Business depending on the OS. But, you can never go wrong with Pro.

Good point lol. But I kind of like how there are two versions now. BitLocker is finally in the Pro Version like it should be. Don't have to get Ultimate.

Also agreed on using Pro over Home. Too many benefits to pass it up.

Thanks for all the good advise. I finally got my first taste of Windows 8 Pro on one of my computers today and now I know what everybody was complaining about the start button! I can't believe they did this. Major annoyance The AC installer wouldn't work on it for some reason. The Support had to struggle for about 2 hours to make it work by using a beta installer (version 6.3.3)

Regarding, Win8 Pro for the exam rooms over Win8 can somebody list the advantages? The AIO's already are about $ 1300 a piece as I wanted to get i7 processor/8GB RAM at least. I do not need to connect to them Remotely. I did not care for the touch screens either but they are packaged as such along with keyboard/mouse of course.

I think you may have been better off getting i5s and using the savings to get Win 8 Pro. The bottom line is ALWAYS use the pro versions in an office environment especially if you are setting up a network from scratch. I hate to say this, but what is it about Home that people don't understand. Home belongs at home. Pro and Ultimate belongs in a business.

The differences. Well you have already mentioned RDP, but may as well state that while Home can rdp to other computers, it cannot be a host. So, if you are at home, you can only RDP to a Pro or Ultimate PC. Pro versions have BitLocker and EFS encryption for protecting data on a hard drive that is sensitive like patient data. When will some agency check to see if your data is encrypted. You can also get Encryption to go, to make sure your USB drive is encrypted. (Flash drive). You can use Group Policy on Pro and not Home. If need group policy, well that makes the decision for you. You probably won't need this, but it's rather cool that Pro can do Hyper-V. Finally, Pro will work with a domain. Home won't. Again, depends on whether you will use a domain. I don't know if you plan on using a server.

If you don't like the Metro Interface, then I would purchase Start8 and turn Win 8 Pro into Win 7 Pro. (for the most part).

Thanks.

Some additional points...
1. I do not need to RDP to my exam rooms. I do have two other computers outside the exam rooms running Win7Pro and Win8Pro.
2. Data is planned to be stored on the above Pro computers not on the exam room machines
3. I had a domain in the past when I experimented with eCW in 2005, not any more. Workgroup just works fine for me.
4. No need for group policy. Only me and my secretary in office.
5. Yes I was tempted to go for i5 but thought in the long run i7 might be better. May be I can return.
6. don't know much about Hyper V or Metro interface to comment.

1. It makes it a lot easier for your support to have RDP.
2., 3., 4. Perfectly OK to do peer to peer but if ever you change you are out.
5. The difference between i5 and i7 probably will not be as significant as Home to Pro.

Since you have already purchased them, it's probably a moot point. Doubt you can return unless they get more money from you and as you say, you have already shelled out a considerable sum.

Wendell,

Can the Home versions be upgraded to the Pro versions.

Personally, this is a huge reason why I get frustrated with Microsoft. Make an OS. And, make it one size fits all. You know call it Windows 8 and be done with it. OK, so the bottom line, maybe you make more money. But, you make a lot of customers happy, and you avoid threads like this (a good thread and well done by Anil. If one day, Chris took over for Steven Ballmer or even better, Susan Bradley, the first thing they should do is get rid of the multiple OS. Or better yet, get ride of Windows 8 or put a start button on it or in the control button. Remember, Vista? What there were 76 versions? And, they were all on the same DVD.

Yes, the home versions can be upgraded. The real question is whether he feels it is worth it to drop another $100 per machine.

Well, at least with that, he can do it at any time. Microsoft really brings on this problem. It's time they do like Apple and just have one version. Or have the same versions, but you can purchase a networking module if you need to go client/server.

Will Windows 8 Pro work as a "server" in a P2P environment? What if other computers are running W7 or Vista?

Amazing Charts v6.5.4 is a 32-bit program and installs SQL Server 2012 Express 32-bit as its database. Both of these are compatible on Windows 8. SSMS or SQL Server Management Studio is available in both 32-bit and 64-bit, and each will work with AC as they are apps.

Windows 7 and Vista will both work fine as clients connecting with no problem to the new SQL Server.

Hope this helps.

Sure, you can use W8Pro as a server, should have no problems with W7 or Vista (no more problems than Vista naturally has)

Thanks.
I have been using a server c WS 2003 for the last 2 yrs. Now my IT guy (who suggested WS 2003 and the server I purchased) says I have to buy a new server 2 yrs later in order to run the new AC. My last server cost me $2000 and $2500 for him to get it all set up on a Saturday. Whenever I have problems (which is not often) I have to call him up. I am going to switch back to P2P and get a good PC and run the small network myself. So from the previous conversation, it sounds like an I7 running W8 pro is the way to go. There really is virtually no price difference on the Dell website between I5 and I7, or between W8pro and W7pro. 2 1Tb harddrives in a RAID 1 config. Hopefully, Guardian Angels will help me move my database to the new machine. Any thoughts?

First of all, you don't need a new server to run AC. I would stay with the server you have. Also, I don't care if Win 8 Pro were one dollar, I would go with Win 7 Pro. And, if your "IT guy" charged you $2500.00 to set up your server/network, that is outrageous. Check the versions on the i5 and i7. If same price, why not, but an i5 is fine. Can't go wrong with large hard drives, but I have used 80GBs in a RAID 1 for five years. That's a lot of space. Moving your database isn't that hard. Anyone can help. But if the tech support wants to do it, that's fine.

Geez: Even if your tech support worked ten hours, far more than necessary for a small network, then he charged $250/hr which is ridiculous. Most good IT techs charge from $90.00 to $120.00. In that situation, I would have contracted for one price up front. Working with computers always takes longer than predicted.

Can you tell us the server machine you have now. Hard to imagine that a Dell Optiplex will be a better machine.

I have a Dell Power Edge T410
WS 2003 SP2
Intel Xeon CPU
E5506 @ 2.13 GHz
4GB Ram
2 250GB hard drives RAID 0

Apparently the issue is that WS2003 and SQL 2012 are not compatible. Allegedly, it is more costly to replace the operating system than to buy a new server. Also, allegedly, 4 GB RAM is the max I can put on this. AC recommends a minimum of 8 according to one guy I spoke c from guardian angels.
You are right. I no longer have an IT guy because I can't afford him.
Thanks for all your input, Bert. I really appreciate it. I was starting to feel pretty helpless.

Bill - if you have the service tag for the Dell, that would help to check if you can upgrade the memory in place.

I would think seriously about pulling the drive, inset a new one, add RAM, and do a fresh OS install. Not destructive, and if you don't need the domain controller & other functionality; e.g. Just AC and shared files, you could do it on a Saturday.

We'll be installing at least 2 T420s this month, so it isn't like the hardware is past use.

Thanks, Indy.
I would be terrified to do that. The only thing I care to run on this is AC so I don't need anything fancy. Maybe I need a different IT guy.

I used your service tag trick and this is what the Dell website says:

The DDR3 memory interface consists of three channels with up to two RDIMMs or UDIMMs for channel 0 and a single RDIMM or UDIMM for channel 1 and 2. The systems supports up to two single, dual, or Quad rank DIMMs per channel. The interface uses 2GB, 4GB, 8GB, or 16GB RDIMMs. Also supported are 1GB,2Gb, 4GB UDIMMs.


So, I am not sure if this means I can have 4GB max or 16 GB max

So, how many slots does the service tag say you have - four?

I have to take a driving trip to Co & TX later this year, so NM is sort of along the way. It will be a while before I would do the upgrade anyhow. Let other folks find the ruh-rohs that come with new.

You can order the parts ahead of time, we meetup on a Sat, and knock this out before dinner. You're responsible for the steaks.

Bill,

Who is telling you all this. If someone told you to dump your BMW for a Toyota Camry, would you? No. You have a Dell Server T410. That's a $4500 machine. Where is the OS that costs that.

I need to know what your Xeon processor is, but I am sure you can run 64-bit. Reformat your hard drives and install SBS 2011 Essentials That is a 64-bit OS. Now you can add much RAM as you want. You can ask any of us, but go to Crucial and use their wizard or better yet, talk to a sales person and they will sell you the right RAM. Get 12 GBs. Or just call Dell.

I would recommend changing your RAID to RAID1 or RAID5. RAID0 gives good performance but no redundancy. You can also get IT support remotely. I know someone who could set it up remotely. Have to check his price. But, just to set up 2011, wouldn't be a problem.

Bill,
Your IT guy is right. Pay no attention to the Bert and Indy. Please ship me your Xeon and I will send you SBS Essentials.

Thanks, Jon. It's on it's way. What a deal. Based on what I paid my IT guy, I feel like I might actually fall for that.

Jon,

Do you actually use SBS 2011 Essentials in your P2P?