devices and Printers window loads real slow in windows 8.1

Hi,

Does the issue occur only when you open devices and printers window?

I have tried to open devices and printers Window in my Windows 8.1 computer and it loads pretty fast. I would suggest you to boot the computer into safe mode and check if the issue persists. Safe mode starts Windows with a minimal set of drivers and services. If a problem doesn't reappear when you start in safe mode, you can eliminate the default settings and basic device drivers and services as possible causes. I would suggest you to boot the computer in safe mode and check if the issue persists. Refer this link to boot the computer in safe mode:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/windows-startup-settings-including-safe-mode

Post us the results once you try the above steps.

Please stop wasting everybody's time and patience with stock Microsoft cut and paste answers. I'm sure most people have tried all these useless suggestions to no avail otherwise we would not be posting here.

If you haven't noticed, this is a widespread problem experienced by users. Try Googling it.

If any community members have any useful ideas I'm sure we would all be interested.

I can't agree more.

What the MS response tells me is that they are aware of the problem, they may or may not be currently fixing it because they don't know what the issue really is and there is NO way they are going to tell their "customers" that it's broke and they don't have a fix for it.

classic software customer service. 

IF I COULD ABANDON WINDOWS IN THE WORK ENVIRONMENT I WOULD HAVE DONE IT YESTERDAY.

devices and Printers window loads real slow in windows 8.1 and loads fast in windows 7 both are on the same computer as a dual boot system

SeaTech (and others),

Do you have a motherboard who's onboard sound uses a RealTek driver?

I struggled with this problem myself and even went through the process of scratching my OS and starting all over, installing drivers and software until the hang occured.  I was quite surprised to find that it was the RealTek sound driver that did it...not bluetooth, not a printer, as most other reports regarding this matter suggest are the culprit.

It is DEFINITELY the addition of the RealTek driver.  Just to make sure it wasn't an interaction of the Realtek driver and some other piece of software, I scratched the OS again and just installed the driver, that's it, and the problem manifested itself.  Both the driver from the motherboard vendor AND the latest one from the RealTek website suffer this issue.  It seems the latest driver from Realtek doesn't ALWAYS hang, but still hangs most times.  I have reported the issue to both the motherboard vendor (AsRock) and RealTek, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Now, computer issues are complex, and it may be something that MS has done or changed in Windows 8 that is interacting with the RealTek driver in a way that makes Devices and Printers hang, but regardless of the exact mechanisms or faults (either MS or RealTek or both), the combo of MS Windows 8, my board's hardware, and the RealTek driver are the cause of the problem.  Let's hope someone who can do something about it cares enough to take a look.

Very interesting! I can confirm the use of RealTek integrated sound card with the latest drivers installed.