Windows 8 Guides

Users who have already installed Windows 8 Release Preview (RP) probably knowing that Windows Media Center isn’t preinstalled in Windows 8. As you probably know, Windows Media Center won’t be available in Windows 8 RTM as well and users who want to get the feature must pay extra to download …

Windows 8 includes hundreds of new features. One of them is Windows Explorer Ribbon. The Explorer Ribbon lets users quickly access various options and settings, including those settings that were available only under Folder Options in previous versions of Windows. At times, for obvious reasons, we need to quickly hide …

Windows 8 Release Preview has been available for download for some time now. Millions of users have already installed and exploring the new features in the latest Windows version. At the same time, it seems, many users are having a common issue while upgrading to Windows 8. Doing a quick …

Windows 8 has officially been released with new features and improvements. Users who are planning to upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 8 shouldn’t go by the system requirements given in the official page as many users are receiving “Your PC’s CPU isn’t compatible with Windows 8” error while upgrading …

Windows 8 Release Preview (RP) has been available for download for over a week now. Windows 8 RP supports upgrading from previous versions of Windows as well as Developer Preview (DP) and Consumer Preview (CP) builds of Windows 8. While it’s possible to upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 8 …

In Windows 7 and previous versions of Windows, changing the default font, text size and font color of active toolbar, menu, desktop icons, and message box was an easy task. One could navigate to window color in Personalization settings and then Advanced appearance settings to change the default look of …

Windows 8, designed for both PC and tablets, incorporates a number of new features for touch devices. We have previously shown various touch gestures available in Windows 8, how to change touch keyboard behaviour, and how to right-click on a Windows 8 tablet. As with most modern smartphones, tablets designed …

The touch keyboard in Windows 8 isn’t just an on-screen keyboard rather it’s a powerful keyboard designed for tablets and other touch devices. There are two modes in touch keyboard: a full-sized keyboard with large buttons and another thumb keyboard with split keys. The touch keyboard in Windows 8 includes …

Majority of Windows users are familiar with Microsoft Office suite. Most of us use one or more Office programs in our day-to-day work. Users who have been using Office 2007 or Office 2010 suite would be knowing about the Ribbon and its advantages. As all of you know, Microsoft has …

Windows 8 lets you create two types of user accounts: Microsoft account and Local account. While the Local account is nothing but a normal user account without an email address (similar to the user account in previous versions of Windows), the Microsoft account uses your email address. A Microsoft account …

The startup sound is a sound that Windows makes when you start the computer. While majority of Windows users find the Windows startup sound annoying and turn off the sound, few users love this sound and some users even replace the default sound with a custom one.   Windows 8 …

Accessing shut down options in Windows 7 and Vista was very simple. One could access them by clicking on the Start orb and then clicking on the small triangle next to the Shut down button located in the lower right-hand side of the Start menu. But in Windows 8 one …

Microsoft’s latest Windows 8 operating system has been designed for delivering better speeds than previous versions of Windows. Because of this, Windows 8 is faster in almost every department compared to its predecessors. It boots faster, takes less time to copy or move files, and finally it’s low on system …

Windows 8 includes a few new features that were first introduced with Microsoft’s mobile operating system Windows Phone. The Start screen, Metro-style apps, and Lock screen were first introduced with Windows Phone and are now part of Windows 8. The Lock screen appears when you boot your PC or resume …

The all new Start screen and Metro-style apps are the main attractions of Windows 8. Metro-style apps are light and are helpful to quickly consume information. Windows 8 ships with some fantastic Metro-style apps and one can always install new apps from the Store. While some users aren’t happy with …

Apart from the new Start screen and UI changes, Windows 8 also includes some powerful and useful features under the hood. File history, Hyper-V, fast startup (hybrid boot), Refresh PC, and Reset PC are some of the best features of Windows 8. Refresh PC feature is very useful to troubleshot …

One of the best features of Windows 8 is Refresh PC. The Refresh PC feature comes in handy when Windows isn’t behaving as expected or if it’s not performing as well as it once did. The feature can solve all Windows issues in a few minutes like a magic wand. …

We have previously shown you how to create a Local account (user account without email address) and also a Microsoft account in Windows 8. When you use a Microsoft account to sign-in to Windows, you will be able download apps from the Store, sync various settings across your Windows 8 …

Majority of Windows users prefer to open the Windows Explorer/File Explorer by double-clicking on the Computer (My Computer) icon on the desktop. While it’s possible to use Windows + E hotkey to launch the Explorer, most users prefer double-clicking on the Computer icon. While most users it to launch Windows …

It’s a well known fact that Microsoft has introduced its popular security software Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) as Windows Defender in Windows 8. The Defender in Windows 8 is pretty good and provides protection against viruses and malware in real time. Even though one can easily install third-party security software …

With Windows 7, Microsoft introduced a bunch of useful Aero features to improve the overall desktop  experience. One of them was Aero Peek. The Aero Peek feature allowed users to quickly view desktop by moving the mouse cursor to the extreme right of the taskbar. The feature was very handy …

The all new graphical boot menu is one of the new features of Windows 8. Unlike boot menus in previous Windows versions, Windows 8 boot menu can be navigated with mouse, keyboard, and touch. The new boot menu lets you access a range of tools and options right from the …

On Friday of last week, we first covered about a free tool named MetroApp Link that lets you place shortcuts of native metro apps on your Windows 8 desktop. The program is very useful for users who would like to launch metro apps right from the desktop, without switching to …

Users who have been closely following Microsoft or who have installed Windows 8 RTM must be knowing that Microsoft has dropped Aero transparency from the final build (build 9200) and users now have no options but to use the default set of non-aero themes. While Aero features such as the …

Windows 8 ships with Internet Explorer (IE) in two flavors – Metro (aka Windows 8 style) and desktop. While the Metro-style Internet Explorer v10 is designed for tablets and touch screens (for x86, x64, and ARM processors), the other version works great on desktops and notebooks (for x86 and x64 …

In Windows 8, Start screen is the first thing that you see after logging in. Instead of the legacy desktop, you are greeted with the tiled Start screen where you can see information about your Facebook, Twitter, Weather and many other things without launching apps. To switch to the desktop …

While the new tiled Start screen is one of the most talked and controversial features of Windows 8 and has been successful in keeping many Windows 7 users from upgrading, users who know how to customize and use the Start screen probably agree that it’s one of the best features …

We have previously shown you how to create a Windows 8 recovery USB flash drive to fix Windows startup issues and access advanced tools such as Reset PC, Refresh PC, boot options, and Command Prompt without booting into Windows. While having a recovery drive is always a good idea, not …

As you all know, Windows 8 is available in four different editions: Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro, Windows 8 Enterprise, and Windows 8 RT. While the RT is designed for tablets running ARM processors, other three editions are for desktops and laptops. All editions of Windows 8 designed for desktop …

In addition to the Start screen, Lock screen, Explorer Ribbon, Refresh PC, Reset PC, and other features, Windows 8 also come with a number of personalization options. It lets you customize lock screen, Start screen, & desktop in a few clicks. Options to personalize the Start screen and lock screen …

The Store is one of the main attractions of Windows 8. It’s a place where you can look for both traditional desktop software and modern UI style (metro-style) apps. While desktop software aren’t available for download from the Store, one can safely install modern UI apps. Enthusiasts and developers have …

Just like mobile operating systems, Windows 8 also comes with app Store. It’s one of the main features of Windows 8, and lets users browse and safely install thousands of apps. While downloading desktop apps aren’t supported, users can install modern UI (also known as Metro-style) apps. We have previously …

Along with many other small features, Microsoft has dropped the good old Start menu from Windows 8 and has introduced Start screen as replacement. While users can always install third-party programs such as Classic Shell & ViStart to get the Start menu back, the Start screen works much better than …

It’s a very well known fact that Microsoft has dropped Start menu from Windows 8 and introduced Start screen as replacement. The Start screen is elegant, feature-rich, and highly customizable. You can customize almost everything on the Start screen in a jiffy. We have already shown a number of guides …

Users who are running Windows 8 on a desktop or notebook always prefer using the desktop version of Internet Explorer over the Modern UI (aka Metro-style) browser. Even though the Modern UI IE provides more screen area and works great on netbooks and touch screen devices, it isn’t perfect for …

Just like all major mobile platforms, Windows 8 also comes with its own lock screen. The lock screen is one of the new features introduced in Windows 8 and displays date & time by default. Users can customize the lock screen by adding notifications and changing default lock screen background. …

To provide better security, the newest version of Windows comes with a solid antivirus program that helps you keep your PC secure from viruses, malware, and other threats. Windows 8 ships with an updated version of Windows Defender program that now includes all features of the Security Essentials program as …

Microsoft has simplified editions in the latest iteration of Windows. Windows 8/8.1 comes in four editions: Windows 8/8.1, Windows 8/8.1 Pro, Windows 8/8.1 Enterprise, and Windows 8/8.1 RT. While the first three editions are designed for desktops, notebooks, and netbooks, the last edition runs only on tablets powered by ARM …

Computer users who have been using Windows XP for years without upgrading to Windows Vista or Windows 7 may want to upgrade to Windows 8. Microsoft has already announced that Windows XP users will be able to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for just $39.99 till January 31st, 2013. If …

The Start screen is one of the most talked and best features of Windows 8. In the past, we have shown several ways and reviewed tens of utilities to customize the Start screen. Today, we are here to share an awesome tool that lets you fine tune the default behavior …

Just like its predecessor  Windows 7, Windows 8 also lets you set your own color for window borders and taskbar. Microsoft has even introduced automatic color feature in Windows 8 which automatically changes the color of the taskbar and window borders to match the wallpaper color. In addition to these …

Towards the end of Windows 8 RTM installation, the setup displays a small animated tutorial to help users better understand the new features introduced in Windows 8. The guide shows how to bring up the Charms bar using mouse, how to use hot corners, and also how to bring up …

Apart from the fast and fluid user interface, Windows 8 offers a lot of new features that help you take your computing experience to the next level. One of the coolest features present in Windows 8 is sync settings feature using which one can sync various Windows settings and app …

In the pre-release versions of Windows 8, users could set different colors for window borders and the taskbar. For some reasons, Microsoft has removed this nice feature from the final RTM build (9200), and now users can’t have two different colors for the taskbar and window borders. On Wednesday of …

The new Start screen in Windows 8 lets you pin folders, webpages, programs and drives as tiles but it doesn’t allow you create your own custom tile to launch programs or files. Not too long ago, we showed you how to add custom tiles to the Start screen with the …

When it comes to virtualization on the desktop, VMware Workstation and Oracle VM VirtualBox stand out from the rest. While Workstation is a premium software and includes all advanced options, VirtualBox is an open source virtualization software with a decent set of features. Users who have used VirtualBox to install …

With the general availability of Windows 8 is just a few weeks way, this is the right time to start preparing your computers for Windows 8. Existing Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7 users who have plans to upgrade to the newest version of Windows may want to check their …

While I am not a big fan of Bing search, I do visit the Bing homepage every day to see the latest picture on the homepage. As we all know, Bing showcases one beautiful picture every day on its homepage and also provides useful information related to the picture to …

I know, a lot of computer users simply love to hate the newly introduced Start screen with Windows 8 but users who have tried the Start screen for a few days know that how better this feature is than the old Start menu. First, unlike the Start menu, Start screen …

In Windows 8, settings are located in two places: in the Control Panel and PC settings. While the traditional Control Panel houses settings that existed from previous Windows versions, the new PC settings includes settings for features introduced with Windows 8. For instance, you can launch language settings, troubleshooting tools, …

Making a USB flash drive bootable sounds like a fairly simple task, but it’s not an easy task always. While using the Command Prompt method (see how to make USB bootable using Command Prompt) to transfer all setup files to the USB drive is the easiest and best way, many …

Microsoft’s decision to drop the good old Start menu from Windows 8 and introduce a Modern UI style Start screen has not only caused frustration but also confusion among Windows 8 users. The new Start screen does take a while to get used to but once you are familiar with …

The Run dialog was first introduced with Windows 95 and since then it’s been part of every Windows version. Longtime Windows users know how useful the Run command dialog is. It lets users launch various system tools without having to go through Control Panel. In Windows XP and earlier versions …

Removing unwanted software from your hard drive is one the easiest ways of freeing up disk space and speeding up PC. As you may know, one can head over to Programs and Features in Control Panel to view size of installed software. Microsoft has introduced Metro style (Modern UI) apps …

The Start screen is the first thing you see after logging into your Windows 8 account. The Modern UI Start screen replaces the Start button and Start menu in earlier versions of Windows. Users can use the Start screen to launch apps, switch to desktop, organize apps, and search for …

XP Mode is one brilliant feature introduced with Windows 7. Available in Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate editions, this feature enables users seamlessly run virtualized programs alongside regular applications. A very handy feature if you want to run Windows XP compatible programs in Windows 7. The major advantage of XP Mode …

A few weeks back, we reported about the availability of 90-day trial version of Windows 8 Enterprise edition for developers and consumers who want to test drive the RTM build. In addition to all features present in Windows 8 Pro edition, the Enterprise edition includes many more features. One feature …

If you are a Windows XP, Vista, or Windows 7 user, chances are pretty good that you’ve plans to switch to Windows 8 in near future. Users who are going to perform a clean install of Windows 8 might be wondering how big should system drive be? Well, the right …

The first thing you will discover after switching to Windows 8 desktop is missing Start menu. Now that Start menu has been replaced with Start screen you may be wondering where are shut down, restart, hibernate and sleep options in Windows 8. In Windows 8, by default, shut down, restart, …

Microsoft has not only dropped Windows Media Center from Windows 8 but also removed DVD playback support from Windows Media Player. Users who want to play DVD files in Windows 8 have to either purchase Windows Media Center add-on (available for Windows 8 Pro edition only) or install third-party programs. …

With Windows 8, Microsoft has not only introduced Modern UI Start screen but also Modern UI (aka Metro-style) apps. Windows 8 ships with a bunch of cool Metro-style apps or Modern UI apps. One can always open up the Store app and install new apps from the official Windows Store. …

Microsoft has included numerous new security features in Windows 8 to improve the PC security. One of the visible changes in the security department is the inclusion of a better security program. That’s right. Windows 8 ships with a better security software to shield your PC from viruses, malware, and …

The Start screen is one of the most talked and controversial features of Windows 8 operating system. Enough has been written about the pros and cons of Start screen. Users who have been using Windows 8 with the native Start screen for a while would agree that it’s one of …

If you don’t turn off your computer at night and leave it on for days, at times, you might want to know for how long your PC is running. The system uptime information can be helpful to troubleshoot various issues as well. In Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8, we …

Shutting down Windows 8 can be frustrating as it’s no longer possible to access all shut down options with a click. In earlier versions of Windows, one could just open the Start menu by pressing or clicking the Start orb to access all shut down options. In Windows 8, one …

If you have installed Windows 7 or Windows 8 on a computer powered by NVIDIA graphics card and have also installed all necessary graphics drivers, you probably have noticed the NVIDIA Control Panel entry in the desktop context menu (right-click menu). In some cases, NVIDIA Control Panel entry may not …

In Windows 8, we have several ways to switch between the new Start screen and the legacy desktop. One can click on the desktop tile on the Start screen or press Windows logo key on the keyboard to the switch to the desktop. To switch from desktop to the Start …

Users who have been closely following Microsoft must be knowing that Windows 8 is mainly available in three editions: Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro, and Windows RT. What many users aren’t aware is, even though Windows 8 and Windows RT look the same from the outside, they are totally different …

In Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8 operating systems, we often need to run certain applications with administrator privileges to perform advanced tasks. For instance, to check and repair system files using sfc /scannow command, we need to open Command Prompt with admin rights. Launching a program with admin rights …

Over the last few weeks, we have covered a number of guides on customizing the Start screen in Windows 8. We have shown you how to set a custom picture as Start screen background, open Start screen within desktop, display time on Start screen, pin pictures as tiles, and more. …

Microsoft’s Windows 8 delivers a touch-first experience, along with full support for mouse and keyboard. Windows 8 user interface is optimized for touch but all those keyboard shortcuts that we are familiar with still work, enabling the best of both worlds. We have previously talked about touch screen gestures present …

It’s a well-known fact that Windows 8 user interface has been optimized for touch screen and some features such as the Start screen and Modern UI apps has specially been designed for touch screen devices and it even includes some cool touch gestures. Users who are running Windows 8 on …

Those of you have been using Windows 8 for a while must be knowing that Windows 8 doesn’t include Windows Media Center by default. In simple words, Microsoft has removed Windows Media Center from Windows 8 and users must need to purchase Media Center as a separate add-on. Users who …

Language packs are helpful to view menus, wizards, dialog boxes, and other user interface items in your preferred language. Language packs for Windows contain resources required to translate some or all part of user interface into a specific language. For instance, when you install and set Arabic as your default …

As some of you know, until Jan 31, 2013, Microsoft is allowing computer users upgrade from Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7 to Windows 8 for just $39.99. If you are running a genuine version of XP, Vista or Windows 7, you can follow the given below instructions to get …