Problems with Windows 8 and Outlook 2010 on Vaio Duo 11

[GBPeps]

Has anyone else had problems with Windows 8 on the VAIO Duo 11. I seem to have several and I'm torn between thinking it might be a defective machine, bugs in Windows that might be fixed with a patch or clashes with the antivirus/malware software.

Specification Details:-

• I bought a new Duo 11 on Saturday at PC World. They offered a bundle including Norton 360 and some money off Office 2010 Professional.
• Before installing Norton I uninstalled the pre-loaded McAfee antivirus software.
• Both Norton and Office loaded without any errors.
• Registered on the VAIO care site.
• Windows and VAIO updates have run and are confirmed as up to date. Same with Norton.

Problems (quite a few):-

• Programme downloads will not complete. I tried dowloading iTunes about 10 times. It gets to between 97% complete and 99% complete but will not finalise. I tried it in IE10 from both the Windows 8 Start menu and the Desktop version.
• Similar problem with the Kindle for PC reader. I only tried to download that 4 times.
• Youtube videos will not play. They show buffering for a while and then freeze.
• Outlook 2010 will not pull down emails from my btinernet account. The test message goes through the popmail server fine and shows on the web browser version. I can send a test message from my Outlook 2010 app on the Duo but when I reply from either the browser or another synchronised machine (a Mac) the reply doesn't upload to the Outlook 2010 App. When I trigger a send/receive action in Outlook I get an error message that the Recieve operation did not work properly. I checked the popmail instructions on the btinernet site and lengthened the server timeout property to 3 minutes but no change. Hotmail works fine in the basic Windows 8 Mail app.
• The laptop will not find the wifi network printer. I've checked that it's discoverable from Mac desktop and it's showing for the Mac but not the VAIO. The VAIO can see the Mac but not any of the other devices. I set up a Homegroup, although the printer doesn't have functionality to join one. The Mac still shows. Playstation and XBox do not although they do show up on the BT Home Hub homepage when that's accessed through the browser.

So all in all a few problems. I'm hoping that a service patch from either Sony or Microsoft might fix these. I remember similar problems with the early days of Windows 2000. I also remember similar problems caused by Norton or McAfee being overzealous in protecting a previous computer that were fixed by tweaking the security centre settings.

I am interested to hear if any other early adopters are experiencing similar problems. If not, then I probably have to conclude it's a problem with the machine rather than buggy software.

Kind regards,

Sean

[Blencogo]

Hi Sean and welcome.

It sounds like the joys of being an early adopter!

I don't have an answer for you - just a few observations:

1.  Did you download the McAfee removal tool to ensure complete removal (if it works on Windows 8)?

2.  Many of the problems you list involve Send/Receive operations.  I wonder if the Norton firewall is contributing?  Is only one firewall active?  Windows Firewall Off?  What is User Account Control set to?

3.  May be worth disabling Norton and relying on Microsoft Security Essentials which is now built into Windows 8 as part of the build just to eliminate Norton as the cause.

Thanks for posting as anything on Windows 8 is of wide interest at the moment.  Let us know how you get on.  Interested in your experiences.

[GBPeps]

Thanks Biencogo. I shall try again with Norton disabled. I shall look into the MS innate security software and also check out the McAfee removal. I'm a little time challenged today but shall post the results when I have managed to try the options. I appreciate the fast respons. Have a good day.

[Blencogo]

Hi seanpepper.

I have asked Sony to look at the Office/Windows 8 problem.  If I get a reply, I will post it here.

[GBPeps]

All sorted by the removal of the Norton software. Mail replication is happening, iTunes downloaded and now happily taking copies of my library onto the local machine from one of the other devices on my network, file sharing across the network is also working. The only thing I did not try yet is the kindle app because the machine's a bit busy at the moment.

Thanks for the advice Biencogo. I shall stick with the MS security software and reinstall the McAfee app that shipped with the laptop. I logged a note at Norton. If there is anything of interest in their response I shall return and post it as an addendum to this thread so others can learn from my couple of days of frustration.

Now it's all up and running I'm able to say that I am impressed with the Duo and its functionality. My major test will come with the use of MS Access. We shall see how it performs with a couple of big databases.