The taking ages first time when switched on and not coming up with full metro (or whatever it is) screen, is this Windows 8 bug or just a glitch as I know it didn't happen when I switched it on after I bought it....or has/is router doing summat to it? Sorry to be a pain in the proverbial...but just trying to give all info to you.
Well Chrissie, I wouldn't swear to it, but it's possible that something caused W8 to invoke it's _automatic_ recovery process, which if the circumstances were such, might even have caused it to 'repair' (more or less 'reinstall') W8. That might account for a) the time it took b) the 'preparing windows' message you got - which normally happens at a certain point in Windows installation and c) the fact that that not all the tiles had been rebuilt on the Metro screen at the time you pressed 'Esc'.
Just my poor attempt to explain what you saw.
When an OEM builder is installing W8 (or in fact anything from Vista/W7 onwards) on a completely new HDD, Windows will actually create 2 partitions on the disc, Boot & System, I think it normally calls them. The Boot partition is normally hidden from view but contains the (BCD) boot information needed to load windows from the system partiton (which will still become your C: drive). As time has gone on (Vista/W7/W8) this has been extended to include a full-blown recovery partition. So on the Boot drive there is also the stuff that is needed (a Windows Image file .WIM) to allow it, if needed, to in effect repair windows by reinstalling it!. The (BCD) boot info also contains an 'instruction' in effect to tell Windows loader 'if the normal load fails on you, please recover by loading this .WIM instead).
It's part of their drive to make W8 in effect more of a 'consumer' product that the person using it doesn't need to know anything about. However, it can be rather
if you're not expecting it and don't then understand what's going on!
This is also why the (BCD) boot instructions are not on C: but in this hidden Boot partition - it's to (try and) stop us messing about with them - Daddy MS knows better!
[Edit] If this has happened yesterday
and today, then I would think there is something definately 'not quite right' in the installed W8, irrespective of whether or not this has anything to do with the observed behaviour at the router. It shouldn't be repairing itself on a regular basis!!!