Classic Shell: Forum

I recently upgraded from Windows 8 to 8.1 with the latest version of Classic Start already running. I later realised this this was a mistake and have subsequently removed and reinstalled it. Both before and after the re-installation my USB 3.0 drive does not function correctly unless unplugged and re-plugged.

For some time I ran 8.1 without Classic Start and the USB 3.0 drive functioned flawlessly. I tested both configurations repeatedly and the results are consistent.

There should be no relation between Classic Shell and functionality of USB drives.
Try this:
In the General Behavior tab, uncheck the setting "Start automatically for this user". Reboot and see if the drive works. Then manually start ClassicStartMenu.exe. See if the drive continues to function.

On rebooting the drive works. It also continues to work after starting Classic Start manually (at least on a single trial).

Let's try one more thing. Put a shortcut to ClassicStartMenu.exe in your Startup folder and see if it will still work after a reboot. Also let me know if there is a delay between logging on and when the start menu becomes functional.

Thanks for that.

I tried re-booting twice and the USB drive worked OK both times. It look as though automatic loading interfered with the initialization of the USB 3.0 ports.

I spoke too soon. I have just booted up again and, this time, the USB drive failed to initialise. I did have a USB 2.0 drive connected at the time, so maybe that affected the issue. I'll experiment further in the morning.

I think I may have now tracked down the true source of this issue and it's not directly related to Classic Start at all. When Windows 8.1 boots there can be quite a bit of hard drive activity before and after the login screen appears. If I log in before this activity ceases it appears to prevent the USB 3 drivers loading before initialising the connected drive.

Simply allowing the drive activity to complete before logging in seems to avoid the issue.

Edit: Nope, the problem still occurs, seemingly at random, so this is my last post on this here.