Slow PC w/ Win8 Pro

Question

I just got a new computer to spec with Win8 Pro.  It's on an old XP network that the company doesn't want to upgrade right now, but accessing anything on the network (especially email and drawings takes forever. Why?? Excerpts from Microsoft forums
below
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Original Title:
Windows 8
Since windows 8 no longer reads .eml email I've had to install Outlook 2010. I am on a XP network and get mail through the server. Outlook takes five minutes just to get to the server and then another few minutes per email to open. WHY!!!!!!!!!!!  I
have the same problem trying to get to and open drawings on our server.
I had an older machine that could not work with the bigger 3D files we started working with. I opted for a new machine with window 8 because I thought that it was better  especially with more ram.  I wish I had my old machine back.
Is there a way to get everything on my machine working or am I screwed??????
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Since it's the network operations (like opening files from your server or Outlook email), it sounds like the network is your problem.  XP is 13 years old, sounds like that server is due for an update itself.  It's bottle-necking everything.
But also, many problems in Windows 8.0 (which is already 3 years old itself) and were fixed in the 8.1 update. I notice selected that you haven't got the update yet.  Please open the Windows Store app on your tablet and touch the "Get Windows
8.1 now" button that you see to get the update.
And finally, you might want to take a quick look at :
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Thank you for your reply. I realize that the XP server is old and should be retired but like so many other companies it's hard for them to justify the time and expense to change.
Having said that what I don't understand is that there are 150+ computers here, all of them running Windows previous to Vista. When they access the server it acts like the files are on the hard drive. What I mean is you can access the daily email directory
and it opens almost immediately (1-2 sec.). When you select and open an email it's the same thing.  But on my new Win 8 Pro machine I click on the daily email Icon and wait 15-40 sec. to load. (I've timed it), then you click on the folder for today you
can wait as long as three minutes to load the emails depending on how many are there.
Because Win 8 deleted anything to read .eml files I had to get Outlook 2010. Now to open an email I have to click on the email which now loads Outlook, (sometimes 5 minutes) before the email opens. Don't even try to open a second email with Outlook open,
it WILL lockup. SO you close Outlook and go to the second email. Just today it took me from 8:10am to 10:05am to open and read 11 emails, no response to any just open and read.
This is supposed to be the latest and greatest (LOL) from Microsoft. There must be a way for this NEW machine to act like the old outdated computers and just open an email.
By the way, I turned off search indexing and looked at the startup programs that load. All of them were for Microsoft to run. This computer has no games, bell are whistles. I've loaded the 2D and 3D software that I use for design and nothing else. (EXCEPT
Outlook 2010 now). There was absolutely no difference in the performance and the CPU barely registers any use except when I have the 3D software crunching a large project.

Answer 1

Here is the forum for you.
Just to remind, Win8.1 is the latest recommended version, and the next one will be "Windows 10". Windows 8 is obsolete and should be upgraded.
-- pa