Acronis True Image 2014 Makes Windows 8.1 PC Unusable

I just went through the effort of reinstalling our home PC with Windows 8.1, since it looked like all of our products, including Acronis, were compatible with it. All applications, with the exception of Acronis 2014, were compatible with it. I have completely uninstalled it, and the PC is usable, once again. My reaching out to this forum is a last-ditch effort, before I switch back to Norton.

By unusable, I mean:
- When starting True Image 2014 and trying to reconfigure backups, the interface hangs. All efforts to use Windows 8 task manager, to kill the process, fail.
- This usually results in a completely hanging Windows 8 desktop. When this happens, I'm forced to force power-off PC.
- I've had times when I am unable to sign off of my user, after PC has been up for a while. When this happens, I'm forced to force power-off PC.
- I've had times where my other application will hang, followed by general desktop hangs. Again, I have to force power-off the PC.

None of this happens when I uninstall Acronis True Image 2014. I have tried reinstalling Acronis, twice, where it hung on download/installing the newest update. I have downloaded the latest trial version, entering my full keys (upgrade and 2011 keys), to no avail.

It seems Acronis didn't really test 2014 with Windows 8.1. I like the product, and would love to find a solution, but don't have a lot of time to waste, unfortunately.

Jim