What do I do now?

sarah45502

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I just got a new laptop equipped with Windows 8. Now, I'm looking for tips and tricks to using the new operating system. I'd love to know how to customize the live charms and anything else people have found to be helpful.

Thanks!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo
For a start, let familiarize yourself with Keys that you can use in addition with your mouse or touchpad

From the start screen, click on Store, then just type anywhere: Windows 8 Cheat Keys, you'll see it is listed on the right, click on it then click install.

go back to your Start Screen You should have a tile in cyan color with label: Windows 8 Cheat Sheet, click on it and familiarize yourself with all the keys available.
 
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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
Now that you have the Cheat Sheet. For easy reference, you can Snap the Cheat sheet to the left or right of the screen by moving your mouse cursor to the top of the screen until you see a "Hand Cursor", slowly move it to the left or right until you see a vertical line, release your mouse. it should snap to the left or right of the screen and it will stay while you learn about the keys.

Here's the screen shot.Hope this helps

12-29-2012 7-29-00 PM.jpg
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
I just got a new laptop equipped with Windows 8. Now, I'm looking for tips and tricks to using the new operating system. I'd love to know how to customize the live charms and anything else people have found to be helpful.

Thanks!
Well, if you like Win7 and earlier, then get familiar with the Desktop and how to get it to work for you. You could start by going Start Screen > Desktop > right click on Desktop > Choose personalize > Deal with anythings you'd like to personalize especially showing the Desktop icons you'd like to show. And, consider what happens when you do WinKey+x, for example. Also, click in the bottom left corner of the screen to see what happens. You'll may want to add some shortcuts to the task bar, get some notification icons showing, and perhaps add a toolbar to the task bar to function something like the old start menu. There are several approaches to adding the shortcuts you want--for example, you can right click on some the Metro Apps and pin them to the task bar in the desktop. You also might want to check out Stardock Start8 and Classic Shell. And, in general, it is very important to check out the information in my sig and the links below it.
 
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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win7 Ult on DIY; Win8 Pro on MBP/Parallels; Win7 Ult on MBP/Boot Camp; Win7 Ult/Win8 Pro on HP
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    DIY Rig; MacBook Pro (MBP)/Parallels/Boot Camp; HP Pavilion dv6500t Laptop
    CPU
    Intel i7-2600K (sometimes OC'd to 4.8 GHz)
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8P67 Deluxe Rev B3
    Memory
    16 GB Corsair Vengeance
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 570 SC
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Gateway
    Hard Drives
    Dual Boot:
    Win7 Ult RAID 0 on OCZ Revo x2 and
    Win7 Ult RAID 0 on Caviar Black SATA 3's
    PSU
    Cooler Master Silent Pro 1000W
    Case
    Cooler Master 932 HAF
    Cooling
    Zalman CNPS9900MAX-B CPU Fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500
    Mouse
    Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500
    Internet Speed
    20 Mbps Download/2+ Mbps Upload
    Other Info
    Pioneer Blu-ray Burner/DVD Burner
Hello and welcome!

On the Desktop, if you need these items handy on Start, you can right click on a folder, hard drive, library, Computer, Control Panel subsections, and programs; then hit Pin to Start. It'll make a new tile on the Start Screen, where then you can click and drag the tiles around.

Within the fullscreen apps that can be searched, you can literally just type to search without needing to open the Search Charm.

You will use the Charms often. The Settings Charm is THE MOST used next to Start. This has (if you're in apps) settings that can be changed in the apps, as well as a few other things. This is also where the power options are for shutdown, sleep, or restart.

To close said apps, you move the mouse pointer to the top of the screen, click when you see a little hand, and drag down. Pretty fun!

Your laptop's touchpad should be equipped to take advantage of the touch gestures in Windows 8. Flick a finger from the right side of the touchpad inwards opens the Charms bar, left will switch apps, top or bottom will open the app command bar in the apps or Start Screen.

You can make tile groups and name them as well. To do this, you click on a tile on Start, and move it around until you see a vertical translucent white bar. A group can be made. Then to label it, on your touchpad, do a pinch gesture to zoom out; or click on the lower left corner on the - symbol. Then, right click on that group, and label it!

Please have some hygiene and keeping Start organized.

Picture password is the MOST fantastically cool thing in Windows 8. It lets you just draw some lines or circles or dots onto an image to log in. This is done in PC Settings.

Speaking of such, PC Settings is like your most frequently used list of Control Panel items. It's like a lite Control Panel. This is where you can change some common settings, like using a picture password or changing Start Screen colors or lock screen picture or lock screen app notifications. To access this, you go to the Settings Charm, and on the bottom of the flyout you will see it.

Checking out the Customizations forum here will find you some cool things of what you can do to customize further. For example, I currently have my Desktop wallpaper slideshow as my Start Screen background....

Screenshot (24).png

Most important tip of all, use these forums and the resources here to learn the Windows 8 and take advantage of it to the fullest extent! :D
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS
    CPU
    AMD FX 8320
    Motherboard
    Crosshair V Formula-Z
    Memory
    16 gig DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS R9 270
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Seagate Barracuda (starting to hate Seagate)
    x2 3 TB Toshibas
    Windows 8.1 is installed on a SanDisk Ultra Plus 256 GB
    PSU
    OCZ 500 watt
    Case
    A current work in progres as I'll be building the physical case myself. It shall be fantastic.
    Cooling
    Arctic Cooler with 3 heatpipes
    Keyboard
    Logitech K750 wireless solar powered keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Touch Mouse
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, but I might go back on KIS 2014
Thanks for all of the tips. I have my Cheat Keys locked and I'm ready to go. I definitely think I like Windows 7 better but hopefully I'll get used to Windows 8.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo
IMO, It's about how you look at Windows 8. If you keep in mind that is it just Windows 7 with a different Start screen, it will reduce a lot of frustration. For me, I boot Windows 8 (which I like BTW) in the morning and immediately click to the desktop where I do 95% of my work -- just like I did with Windows 7. It is familiar and everything runs well. In other words, I don't make the Modern UI my main entry point or interface. Work from the desktop and just pop over to the Start screen as needed.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro w/Media Center, Windows RT
It's a lot of information at once but really not difficult.
Basically you can
toggle between Desktop or any App & the Start Screen with Windows key
go to Desktop from anywhere using W + D
go to Search from anywhere using W + Q


you can also get to Desktop by pressing Enter while on Start Screen if the top left tile is your Desktop tile
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    i7-3770K
    Motherboard
    ASRock Z77 Extreme4
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17" 24"
    Hard Drives
    1 TB WD
    PSU
    550w
Sarah,
Hello and welcome aboard! I installed Classic shell to help me stay productive (I have a job that requires my PC) while I'm learning Win8. Classic Shell really helps!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 10 Pro 64bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home built Intel i7-3770k-based system
    CPU
    Intel i7-3770k, Overclocked to 4.6GHz (46x100) with Corsair H110i GT cooler
    Motherboard
    ASRock Z77 OC Formula 2.30 BIOS
    Memory
    32GB DDR3 2133 Corsair Vengeance Pro
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce GTX 980ti SC ACS 6GB DDR5 by EVGA
    Sound Card
    Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD, Corsair SP2500 speakers and subwoofer
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG 27EA33 [Monitor] (27.2"vis) HDMI
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250GB (system drive)
    WD 6TB Red NAS hard drives x 2 in Storage Spaces (redundancy)
    PSU
    Corsair 750ax fully modular power supply with sleeved cables
    Case
    Corsair Air 540 with 7 x 140mm fans on front, rear and top panels
    Cooling
    Corsair H110i GT liquid cooled CPU with 4 x 140" Corsair SP "push-pull" and 3 x 140mm fans
    Keyboard
    Thermaltake Poseidon Z illuminated keyboard
    Mouse
    Corsair M65 wired
    Internet Speed
    85MBps DSL
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, MalwareBytes Pro and CCleaner Pro
    Other Info
    Client of Windows Server 2012 R2 10 PC's, laptops and smartphones on the WLAN.

    1GBps Ethernet ports
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