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10 GEEK TIPS TO UP YOUR WINDOWS 8 EXPERIENCE
IF you buy a new notebook or
desktop PC today, you’re likely to get it with Windows 8 preinstalled. It’s
no secret that this new operating system is radically different from
Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP, what with its tile-based app
interface, the absence of a Start button, the new Charms menu, et al. But
there’s no reason to fret. Here are five tips that will help you to
customize your OS into something you’re more familiar with – and five other
tricks that will help you get more out of this new system.
ONE-CLICK SHUT DOWN
To shut down a Windows 8 PC, you have to bring up the Charms menu click
on Settings, click on Power and then select Shut down. You can avoid this
roundabout process by creating a shortcut for ‘Shut down’ and pinning it to
the taskbar.
When you are in desktop mode, right click and from
the menu select New shortcut. A window will open.
In the location field, type shutdown /s /t 0. Enter
a name for the shortcut. You can call it ‘Shutdown’ or whatever else you
fancy. Select an icon for the new shortcut and save it.
You can then click on this shortcut to shutdown the
system. For easy access, drag the icon on to the taskbar to pin it there.
BOOT DIRECTLY INTO DESKTOP
By default, Windows 8 requires you to go through a password screen
during the boot process before you can access its Start screen/desktop. But
there is a way to disable it.
When you are on the Start screen, type netplwiz and
hit enter. Select your user account and follow the on-screen instructions
to boot directly into the desktop.
Similarly, by default, Windows 8 has a lockscreen
enabled. This is not only annoying but also needless. To disable it, when
you are on the desktop, press the Windows Key+R. Now type gpedit.msc in the
Run window and hit enter.
This will open the Local Group Policy Editor
window. From the folder tree on the left, navigate to Computer
Configuration > Administrative Templates > Control Panel >
Personalization. In the right panel, click on User Accounts >
Personalization and then do not display the lock screen and select enabled.
If you do not have the Professional version, you
will have to edit the registry. Download this registry hack (see link
below), unzip the file and double-click Disable Lockscreen.
GOD MODE
In video games, God Mode is a cheat code that gives a player each and
every possible power there is, as well as unlimited ‘lives’ making him
invincible in the game. In Windows 8, this mode puts hundreds of OS
settings at your fingertips in one single location.
To turn on God Mode, create a new folder on Desktop
and name it
GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}.
Here, GodMode will be the name of the folder. But
you can call it anything else that you might want. Just ensure that the
text following it, including the curly brackets, is exactly the same.
After that, the folder you created will include
each and every configurable option in Windows 8. Use these powers
responsibly.
TROUBLESHOOT PROBLEMS
One of the best features in Windows 8 is its highly effective
Troubleshooting feature. Now, whenever you face any problems with the OS,
you don’t necessarily need to search for an expert for help.
To access the Troubleshooting wizard, go to Control
Panel > System and security > Find and fix problems.
In the screen that appears, click on View all to
display all the automated packs in the OS.
From here, users can troubleshoot over 20 commonly
occurring problems including hardware issues, network connections,
performance matters, setting up a printer or a TV tuner – and even overall
system maintenance. No need to call your techie friend ever again.
MODERN START SCREEN
The biggest grouse people have
against Windows 8 is its new Start screen that’s made up of large tiles.
This interface works wonderfully with touch, but many mouse users would
rather get to the desktop straight away. Of course, you can still access
the desktop by clicking on its tile. But if you want to skip this extra
step altogether, use Skip Metro Suit.
Run the app (no installation needed), and check the
Skip Start Screen option, and you’re done.
After this, your PC will boot directly to your
desktop.
But that’s not all. You can also use this tool to
disable other Windows 8 touch features that are triggered when you hover
your mouse. Namely, the top-left corner that activates the App Switcher;
the top edge that activates Drag to Close; the bottom-left corner that
brings up your Start Screen; and the bottom right action that brings out
the Charms bar.
CUT THE RIBBON
The file explorer in Windows 8
uses the new ‘ribbon’ interface, first used in Microsoft Office 2007. This
means when you click on File, for instance, it opens a bar with various
options, instead of a drop-down menu. If you want the older interface, use
Ribbon Disabler. After downloading it, run the software and select Disable
Ribbon Explorer. If you want the ribbon back, you can use the same tool to
enable it.
• winaero.com/download.php?view.18
BRING BACK THE START BUTTON
So you’ve got your desktop back,
and you would now like the familiar Start button back from where you can
search for programs or files, launch programs, shut down the computer and
access folders like My Documents. Well, use ClassicShell.
After you install the program, you can choose
between three options: Windows Classic, Windows XP and Windows Vista/7.
Select the one you want and you are good to go.
SUPER CALCULATOR
The calculator tool in Windows 8
has some nifty features. Sadly, it’s all hidden away.
To access these ‘power’ options, go to the View
menu to find modes for scientific calculations, programming and statistics.
But that’s not all. Your Windows 8 calculator also
comes with a built-in conversion function (time, angle, area, energy,
length, power, pressure, temperature, etc) – and it can also be used to
calculate the difference between two dates in years, months, weeks and
days.
BOOST PC PERFORMANCE
The problem with using a laptop
is that, more often than not, it isn’t easy to upgrade the amount of RAM on
your machine. And the lack of such memory is most apparent when using
process-intensive software such as Adobe Photoshop. Thankfully, Windows 8
comes with ReadyBoost technology, which allows you to use any USB pen drive
(as long as it has at least 250MB of usable space after formatting) as
additional RAM.
In fact, you can use up to eight USB pen drives for
a maximum of 256GB of additional memory.
To use ReadyBoost, right-click on your pendrive in
Windows Explorer and go to Properties.
There, select the ReadyBoost tab, and click the
Dedicate this device to ReadyBoost button. Click OK and enjoy a spiffier
machine.
REFRESH YOUR COMPUTER
Over time, your PC accumulates
junk files. And then there might be those instances when you might have
made some changes to your OS settings leading to system instability. Well,
with Windows 8, you don’t have to worry. This new OS has a unique feature
that restores your computer to its original state. To access this feature,
in the Charms menu, go to Settings and then Change PC Settings > General
Tab. Here you will find two options. Remove everything and reinstall
Windows is similar to formatting the hard drive and reinstalling Windows.
Refresh your PC without affecting your files simply restores the OS to its
original state without deleting data.
Javed
Anwer & Savio D'Souza
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