Having a hell of a time moving files from phone to Windows 8 desktop. Htc sync has never worked. Also can't move files from SD card from Astro file manager to laptop...
Are you able to transfer files by using Windows Explorer and just dragging & dropping? Otherwise, try a wireless solution like AirDroid or WiFi File Explorer.
Are you using all the touch based Windows 8 stuff or desktop mode? If you're using touch stuff I recommend not, and going for desktop instead as beside a few minor tweaks. Everything is the same there.
(unrelated, but check out start8, it brings back the start menu so that win8 is just a faster version of 7, bypasses all the start screen stuff at boot too.