Windows 8 Tips And Tricks You Surely Need To Know By Now

1. Lock screen
Windows 8 opens on its lock screen, which looks
pretty but unfortunately displays no clues about
what to do next.It's all very straightforward,
though. Just tap the space bar, spin the mouse
wheel or swipe upwards on a touch screen to
reveal a regular login screen with the user name
you created during installation. Enter your
password to begin.
2. Basic navigation
Windows 8 launches with its new interface, all
colorful tiles and touch-friendly apps. And if
you're using a tablet then it'll all be very
straightforward: just swipe left or right to scroll
the screen, and tap any tile of interest.
On a regular desktop, though, you might
alternatively spin the mouse wheel to scroll
backwards and forwards.
And you can also use the keyboard. Press the
Home or End keys to jump from one end of your
Start screen to the other, for instance, then use
the cursor keys to select a particular tile, tapping
Enter to select it. Press the Windows key to
return to the Start screen; right-click (or swipe
down on) apps you don't need and select Unpin
to remove them; and drag and drop the other tiles
around to organise them as you like.
3. App groups
The Start screen apps are initially displayed in a
fairly random order, but if you'd prefer a more
organised life then it's easy to sort them into
custom groups.
You might drag People, Mail, Messaging and
Calendar over to the left-hand side, for instance,
to form a separate 'People' group. Click the
'minus' icon in the bottom right corner of the
screen to zoom out and you'll now find you can
drag and drop the new group (or any of the
others) around as a block.
Right-click within the block (while still zoomed
out) and you'll also be able to give the group a
name, which - if you go on to add another 20 or
30 apps to your Start screen - will make it much
easier to find the tools you need.
4. Quick access menu
Right-click in the bottom left corner (or hold down
the Windows key and press X) for a text-based
menu that provides easy access to lots of useful
applets and features: Device Manager, Control
Panel, Explorer, the Search dialog and more.
5. Find your applications
The Win+X menu is useful, but no substitute for
the old Start menu as it doesn't provide access
to your applications. To find this, hold down the
Windows key and press Q or either right-click an
empty part of the Start screen or swipe your
finger up from the bottom of the screen and
select 'All Apps' to reveal a scrolling list of all
your installed applications. Browse the various
tiles to find what you need and click the relevant
app to launch it.
6. Easy access
If there's an application you use all the time then
you don't have to access it via the search
system. Pin it to the Start screen and it'll be
available at a click.
Start by typing part of the name of your
application. To access Control Panel, for instance,
type 'Control'. Right-click the 'Control Panel' tile
on the Apps Search screen, and click 'Pin to
Start'. If you're using a touchscreen, press and
hold the icon, then flick down and select 'Pin to
Start'.
Now press the Windows key, scroll to the right
and you'll see the Control Panel tile at the far
end. Drag and drop this over to the left
somewhere if you'd like it more easily accessible,
then click the tile to open the desktop along with
the Control Panel window, and press the Windows
key to return you to the Start screen when you're
done.
7. Shutting down
To shut Windows 8 down, just move the mouse
cursor to the bottom right corner of the screen,
click the Settings icon - or just hold down the
Windows key and press I - and you'll see a power
button. Click this and choose 'Shut Down' or
'Restart'.
Some of the tricks available in previous versions
of Windows still apply. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del, for
instance, click the power button in the bottom
right-hand corner and you'll be presented with the
same 'Shut Down' and 'Restart' options.
And if you're on the desktop, press Alt+F4 and
you'll be able to choose 'Shut Down', 'Restart',
'Sign Out' or 'Switch User' opt
8. App bar
Windows 8 apps aim to be simpler than old-style
Windows applets, which means it's goodbye to
menus, complex toolbars, and many interface
standards. There will usually be a few options
available on the App bar, though, so if you're
unsure what to do then either right-click an empty
part of the screen, press Windows+Z or flick your
finger up from the bottom of the screen to take a
closer look.
9. What's running?
If you launch a Windows 8 app, play with it for a
while, then press the Windows key you'll switch
back to the Start screen. Your app will remaining
running, but as there's no taskbar then you might
be wondering how you'd ever find that out.
You could just press Alt+Tab, which shows you
what's running just as it always has.
Holding down the Windows key and pressing Tab
displays a pane on the left-hand side of the
screen with your running apps. (To see this with
the mouse, move your cursor to the top left
corner of the screen, wait until the thumbnail of
one app appears, then drag down.)
And of course you can always press Ctrl+Shift
+Esc to see all your running apps in the Task
Manager, if you don't mind (or actually need) the
extra technical detail.
10. Closing an app
Windows 8 apps don't have close buttons, but
this isn't the issue you might think. Apps are
suspended when you switch to something else so
they're only a very minimal drain on your system,
and if you need the system resources then they'll
automatically be shut down. (Their context will be
saved, of course, so on relaunching they'll carry
on where you left off.)
If you want to close down an app anyway,
though, move the mouse cursor up to the top of
the screen. When it turns from the regular mouse
pointer to the icon of a hand, hold down the left
mouse button and drag it down the screen. Your
app should shrink to a thumbnail which you can
drag off the screen to close it.
If that's too much hassle, then simply pressing
Alt+F4 still works.
And when all else fails then press Ctrl+Shift+Esc
to launch Task Manager, right-click something in
the Apps list and select End Task. Beware,
though, close something you shouldn't and it's
easy to crash or lock up your PC.
11. Mastering Internet Explorer in Windows 8
Click the Internet Explorer tile from the Start
menu and you'll launch a full-screen version
without toolbars, menus or sidebars, which like so
much of Windows 8 may leave you initially feeling
lost.
Right-click an empty part of the page or flick your
finger down from the top of the screen, though,
and you'll find options to create and switch
between tabs, as well as a Refresh button, a
'Find' tool and the ability to pin an Internet
shortcut to the Start page. Click the spanner icon
and select 'View on the desktop' to open the full
desktop version of Internet Explorer.
12. Run two apps side by side
Windows 8 apps are what Microsoft calls
"immersive" applications, which basically means
they run full-screen - but there is a way to view
two at once. Swipe from the left and the last app
you were using will turn into a thumbnail; drop
this and one app displays in a sidebar pane while
your current app takes the rest of the screen. And
you can then swap these by swiping again.
13. Spell check
Windows 8 apps all have spellcheck where
relevant, which looks and works much as it does
in Microsoft Office. Make a mistake and a wavy
red line will appear below the offending word; tap
or right-click this to see suggested alternative
words, or add the word to your own dictionary if
you prefer.
14. Run as Administrator
Some programs need you to run them with
Administrator rights before they'll work properly.
The old context menu isn't available for a pinned
Start screen app, but right-click one, and if it's
appropriate for this app then you'll see a Run As
Administrator option.
15. Make a large app tile smaller
You'll notice that some Windows 8 apps have
small live tiles, while others have larger tiles that
take up the space of two tiles. Right-clicking on a
Windows 8 app's Start screen tile will display a
few relevant options. If this is one of the larger
tiles, choosing 'Smaller' will cut it down to half
the size, freeing up some valuable Start screen
real estate.
16. Uninstall easily
If you want to hide an unused app for now, select
'Unpin from Start'. The tile will disappear, but if
you change your mind then you can always add it
again later. (Search for the app, right-click it,
select 'Pin to Start'.)
Or, if you're sure you'll never want to use an app
again, choose 'Uninstall' to remove it entirely.
17. Apps and privacy
It is worth keeping in mind that by default
Windows 8 apps can use your name, location and
account picture. If you're not happy with that, it's
easily changed. Press Win+I, click More PC
Settings, select Privacy and click the relevant
buttons to disable any details you'd rather not
share.
18. Administrative tools
Experienced Windows users who spend much of
their time in one advanced applet or another are
often a little annoyed to see their favourite tools
buried by Windows 8. Microsoft has paid at least
some attention, though, and there is a way to
bring some of them back.
Open the Charm bar by flicking your finger from
the right-hand side of the screen and select
'Settings' then 'Tiles'. Change 'Show
administrative tools' to 'Yes' and click back on an
empty part of the Start screen. And it's as simple
as that. Scroll to the right and you'll find a host
of new tiles for various key applets - Performance
Monitor, Event Viewer, Task Scheduler, Resource
Monitor and more - ready to be accessed at a
click.
19. Disable the lock screen
If you like your PC to boot just as fast as
possible then the new Windows 8 lock screen may
not appeal. Don't worry, though, if you'd like to
ditch this then it only takes a moment.
Launch GPEdit.msc (the Local Group Policy
Editor) and browse to Computer Configuration >
Administrative Templates > Control Panel >
Personalisation.
Double-click 'Do not display the lock screen',
select Enabled and click OK.
Restart and the lock screen will have gone.
If you can't easily find GPEdit.msc by searching
in the Start screen, search for 'mmc', and then
press Enter. On the File menu, click 'Add/Remove
Snap-in', then in the 'Add or Remove Snap-ins'
dialog box, click 'Group Policy Object Editor', and
then click 'Add'.
In the 'Select Group Policy Object' dialog box,
click 'Browse'. Click 'This Computer' to edit the
Local Group Policy object, or click 'Users' to edit
Administrator, Non-Administrator, or per-user
Local Group Policy objects, then click 'Finish'.
20. Install anything
Most mobile platforms recommend you only
install apps from approved sources to protect
your security, and Windows 8 is the same: it'll
only allow you to install trusted (that is, digitally
signed) apps from the Windows store.
If this proves a problem, though, and you're
willing to take the security risk (because this isn't
something to try unless you're entirely sure it's
safe), then the system can be configured to run
trusted apps from any source.
Launch GPEdit.msc (see above for instructions on
how to find it), browse to Computer Configuration
> Administrative Templates > Windows
Components > App Package Deployment, double-
click 'Allow all trusted apps to install' and select
Enabled > OK.