Tutorials

How to Create a Bootable UEFI USB Flash Drive for Installing Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 8.1 This tutorial will show you how to create a Windows 7 or Windows 8 or 8.1 installation bootable USB flash drive for UEFIfrom either a Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.1 installation ISO or DVD. Requirements: At least a 4GB USB flash drive 64-bit Windows 7 ISO or DVD (If you want to install Windows 7) 64-bit Windows 8 ISO or DVD (If you want to install Windows 8) 64-bit Windows 8.1 ISO or DVD (If you want to install Windows 8.1) 32-bit is not supported. Set the boot mode to use UEFI and not CSM (Compatibility Support Module) in your UEFI firmware settings. Temporarily disable Secure Boot in your UEFI firmware settings. Some motherboards will not...

How to Change an User Account Type in Windows 8 and 8.1 This will show you how to change the account type of an user account to be either a standard, administrator, guest, or other group type of your choice in Windows 8, Windows RT, Windows 8.1, and Windows RT 8.1. You must be signed in as an administrator to be able to change an account type. Guests - A guest account allows people to have temporary access to your computer. A guest account has the same access as a "standard (Users)" account, but is further restricted by not being able to install software, hardware, or change settings. Standard (Users) - A limited unelevated standard "users" account that can use most software and change system settings that do not affect other...

How to Require Users to Sign in with User Name and Password in Windows 8 and 8.1 This tutorial will show you how to require users to enter both a user name and password to sign in to Windows 8 instead of the last user displaying. You must be signed in as an administrator to be able to do the steps in this tutorial. When set to have users enter a user name and password to sign in, you will see "Other user" listed with a user name and password field like below. You can click/tap on the Sign-in options link to select to sign in to either a local or Microsoft account. You will not be able to sign in to a local account if you have Microsoft selected. You will not be able to sign in to a Microsoft account if you have local selected...

How to Create a System Image in Windows 8 and 8.1 A system image is an exact copy of a drive. By default, a system image only includes the drives required for Windows 8 to run, and also Windows 8 and your system settings, programs, and files. You could also select to include any other drive in the system image as well. When you restore your computer from a system image, it's a complete restoration; you can't choose individual items to restore, and all of your current programs, system settings, and files are replaced with the contents of the system image. This tutorial will show you how to create a system image backup in Windows 8 and 8.1 to be able to use to restore the contents of your computer back to the state it was in when the...

How to Hide or Show Intel Rapid Storage Technology Notification Area Icon in Windows The Intel Rapid Storage Technology software package provides high-performance SATA and SATA RAID capabilities for supported operating systems and requirements. The notification area (also called the system tray) is located on your desktop. The taskbar contains the notification area icon for Intel Rapid Storage Technology. The icon provides storage system status and notifications such as volume and disk events based on a change of state. The notification area icon will automatically display in the notification area once Intel Rapid Storage Technology is installed. Both administrators and standard users can change the system notification settings...

How to Turn On or Off Bing Desktop Wallpaper Toolset in Windows Bing Desktop helps you stay informed with easy access to—search results, Facebook newsfeed, weather, news—and the beauty of the Bing homepage on your PC desktop each day. The Bing Desktop 1.3.395.0 version introduces a new wallpaper toolset feature that is at the top right corner of your desktop when turned on. The wallpaper toolset is 3 buttons that act as shortcuts to quickly search on Bing, change desktop wallpaper, and open Bing Desktop wallpaper settings. This tutorial will show you how to turn on or off the wallpaper toolset for Bing Desktop in Windows. EXAMPLE: Bing Desktop Wallpaper Toolset To Turn On or Off Wallpaper Toolset in Bing Desktop Settings 1. Open...

How to Add "Take Ownership" to Context Menu in Windows 8 and 8.1 This tutorial will show you how to add Take Ownership to the context menu of all files, folders, and drives for all users in Windows 8. This will allow you to be able to instantly take ownership of a file, folder (and all contents), or drive (and all contents) by changing the owner to the current user and grant the Owner_Rights SID (current owner) full access permission. You must be an administrator to be able to add, remove, and use the "Take Ownership" context menu. Application files (ex: EXE, CMD, MSI) will continue to have Run as administrator instead of Take Ownership in their context menu. . When you right click or press and hold on a file, folder, or drive, and...

List of Keyboard Shortcut Keys for Windows 8 and 8.1 This tutorial will show you a list of all keyboard shortcuts in Windows 8, Windows RT, Windows 8.1, and Windows RT 8.1. See also: Keyboard shortcuts - Microsoft Windows Help Shortcut Description Windows Key :winkey: Toggle between the Start screen and the last-opened Windows Store app or the desktop. :winkey: + 1, :winkey: + 2, etc.... Switch to the desktop and launch the “nth”application in the taskbar. For example, :winkey:+1 launches whichever application is first in the list, from left to right. :winkey: + SHIFT + 1 :winkey: + SHIFT + 2 etc. Launch a new instance of the application located at the “nth” position on the taskbar. :winkey: + B Switch to the...

How to Create a Shortcut to Run an Application with a Set CPU Affinity in Windows Processor affinity or CPU Pinning enables the binding and un-binding of a process or thread to a physical CPU or a range of CPUs, so that the process or thread in question will run only on the CPU or range of CPUs in question, rather than being able to run on any CPU By default, Windows runs an application on all available cores of the processor. If you have a multi-core processor, then this tutorial will show you how to set the processor affinity of an application to control which core(s) of the processor the application will run on. If the application and CPU supports Symmetric Multiprocessing (SMP) or HyperThreading (HT), then Windows will...

How to Disable Auto Arrange in File Explorer to have Free Sorting in Windows 8 and 8.1 In Windows 8, auto arrange is enabled by default so that all file and folder names in File Explorer are sorted alphabetically no matter what folder view you used. This is basically like having how you can arrange icons how you like on your desktop in every folder in Files Explorer now. This will show you how to disable Auto Arrange to be able to sort your files and folders in any random order you like in File Explorer without it having to be sorted alphabetically by name in Windows 8, Windows RT, Windows 8.1, and Windows RT 8.1. Windows 8 will also remember these random folder sortings, and open as how they were when the window was last closed...

How to Create a Bootable USB or DVD with a Windows 8 or 8.1 ISO This tutorial will show you how to create either a Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 bootable USB flash drive or DVD to use to install the Windows 8 or 8.1 with. Windows 8 and 8.1 System Requirements Windows 8 works great on the same hardware that powers Windows 7. Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) (32-bit) or 2 GB (64-bit) Hard disk space: 16 GB (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit) Graphics card: MicrosoftDirectX 9 graphics device or higher Additional requirements to use certain features: To use touch, you need a tablet or a monitor that supports multitouch. To access the Windows Store and to download and run apps, you need an active Internet connection...

How to Change the Default Lock Screen Background Image in Windows 8 and 8.1 In Windows 8 and 8.1 there are two "Lock" screens. The user lock screen is the one that displays when a user locks the PC while still signed in to Windows, and when the user is selected on the sign in screen, times out, and returns to the lock screen. Each user is able to change their lock screen background image to an image of their choice. The default Lock screen image is the one that displays when there are no users currently signed in to Windows or selected on the sign in screen. While it's easy to change your lock screen image, Windows doesn't have an easy way to change the default lock screen image. This tutorial will show you how to change the...