Hate Windows 8? 12 Top Tricks To Make It Fun!
1. Overview Your Entire Start Screen By Semantic
Zoom
If you’re using a touch screen, squeeze the Start
screen with two fingers to receive a bird’s eye view
of your entire screen contents. This is useful when
you have a lots of apps/programs installed and want
to see all the apps without scrolling the contents up
and down.
2. Use Windows Hot Corners
The corners on your screen provides you to different
Windows features. Below, is a brief explanation of
each of these corners.
Bottom Left-hand corner of the screen will allow you
to access the Start screen, if you’re in the Start
screen and have the Desktop open, this corner will
open the Desktop from the Start screen.
Quick Tip: Right-clicking in the left hand corner will
open the power user menu.
Moving the mouse to the top-left corner and then
down will display all the apps running on the
computer. Clicking and dragging any of these apps
to the left or right-hand side of the screen will snap
that app to that side of the screen. Each of these
open app icons can also be right-clicked to close or
snap.
On the full right-hand side of the screen will be given
access to the Windows Charms.
3. Why Close Buttons Are Hard To Find?
Closing a program seems easy, but you might have
noticed that close buttons are hard to find in
Windows 8. That’s because Microsoft encourages us
to run apps in the background where they’ll take up
minimal resources, but still be accessible at any
time!
Still, anyway, you can close an app 1) by dragging it
from top to bottom, or 2) using Alt+F4 keys or 3)
using the task manager.
4. Find Anything Using Power-packed Search
Search looks power-packed. Start typing anything
you are looking for in the search bar and it will
search in the apps, files/folders and emails too.
5. Windows 8 God Mode Folder?
Create a magic folder which contains all the
Windows 8 setings and hidden tweaks:
1. Create a “New Folder” by right-clicking on empty
spot in any directory, preferably Desktop.
2. Give the folder this name: All Settings .
{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712
3. Open the folder to see a complete list of settings.
But be careful for using advanced settings, don’t
change them unless you are an expert.
6. PC Slowed Down? Get Fresh Windows 8 Easily in
Minutes!
In Windows 7 and previous versions, you had to
format and reinstall the entire OS to get a fresh feel.
This was a tiresome and time-wasting process.
Windows 8 provides an in-built way to refresh your
computer!
In order to perform the Windows 8 refresh, go to
Settings and click the Change PC Settings tab near
the bottom. Select the General tab and find the
“Refresh your PC without affecting your files” section
near the middle (you may also select “Remove
everything and reinstall Windows” to get the true
factory settings treatment). Select “Get started” and
press “Refresh.” After a few minutes the PC will
restart, and you will have a fresh copy of Windows
8.
7. Shut Down Shortcut:
Windows 8 hides the Power button in the Settings
menu, so it takes multistep process just to shut
down your PC. But you can pin a Shutdown button
right onto the bottom of your desktop using following
trick:
Create a shortcut on your desktop (right-click, go to
New, then Shortcut). Enter “shutdown /s /t 0″ (with
no quotes, and, yes, that’s a zero not an “O”) as the
location of the item, and press Next. Now name the
shortcut (prefereably “Shutdown”) and press Finish.
Right-click the shortcut, and navigate to Properties.
Choose Change Icon in the Shortcut tab, and then OK
to leave the warning box. Choose an icon of your
choice from the list. In the screenshot above, you’ll
see we chose a Power button.
Right-click the shortcut again, and select Pin to
Start. You can place the icon on your Start screen
wherever it’s convenient. Clicking it will instantly
shut down your computer.
But which one is the easiest and fastest way to
shutdown? Hit power button on your computer!
8. Classic Start Menu
This is the thing many people keep missing on
Windows 8. If you want to anyway want the Start
menu on Windows 8,
ViStart, a free utility will do a good job.
9. Fun Way To Password-protect
Windows 8 enables you to create a picture
password, where you choose an image, then draw on
it in a combination of taps, lines and circles – only
someone who can reproduce this pattern will be able
to log on. Select Win + I > More PC Settings > Users
> Create a Picture Password to give this a try.
10. Mount ISO files in Windows 8
Right-click it in Explorer, click Mount and you can
view it as a virtual drive, launch the files it contains,
or add more if you like.
11. Windows 8 Recovery Options
Windows 8 provides useful, advanced options to
recover when a disaster occurs.
12. List of Most Important Hotkeys
Here is a list of hotkeys to make your Windows 8
experiece even a fun:
Win : switch between the Start screen and the last-
running Windows 8 app
Win + C : displays the Charms: the Settings, Devices,
Share and Search options
Win + D : launches the desktop
Win + E : launches Explorer
Win + F : opens the File Search pane
Win + H : opens the Share pane
Win + I : opens Settings
Win + K : opens the Devices pane
Win + L : locks your PC
Win + M : minimises the current Explorer or Internet
Explorer window (works in the full-screen IE, too)
Win + O : toggles device orientation lock on and off
Win + P : switch your display to a second display or
projector
Win + Q : open the App Search pane
Win + R : opens the Run box
Win + U : open the Ease of Access Centre
Win + V : cycle through toasts (notifications)
Win + W : search your system settings (type POWER
for links to all power-related options, say)
Win + X : displays a text menu of useful Windows
tools and applets
Win + Z : displays the right-click context menu when
in a full-screen app
Win + + : launch Magnifier and zoom in
Win + – : zoom out
Win + , : Aero peek at the desktop
Win + Enter : launch Narrator
Win + PgUp : move the current screen to the left-
hand monitor
Win + PgDn : move the current screen to the right-
hand monitor
Win + PrtSc : capture the current screen and save it
to your Pictures folder
Win + Tab : switch between running apps
On Tablet:
To take a screenshot on a Windows 8 tablet,
simultaneously press the Windows button and the
volume-down button on the tablet chassis.
1. Overview Your Entire Start Screen By Semantic
Zoom
If you’re using a touch screen, squeeze the Start
screen with two fingers to receive a bird’s eye view
of your entire screen contents. This is useful when
you have a lots of apps/programs installed and want
to see all the apps without scrolling the contents up
and down.
2. Use Windows Hot Corners
The corners on your screen provides you to different
Windows features. Below, is a brief explanation of
each of these corners.
Bottom Left-hand corner of the screen will allow you
to access the Start screen, if you’re in the Start
screen and have the Desktop open, this corner will
open the Desktop from the Start screen.
Quick Tip: Right-clicking in the left hand corner will
open the power user menu.
Moving the mouse to the top-left corner and then
down will display all the apps running on the
computer. Clicking and dragging any of these apps
to the left or right-hand side of the screen will snap
that app to that side of the screen. Each of these
open app icons can also be right-clicked to close or
snap.
On the full right-hand side of the screen will be given
access to the Windows Charms.
3. Why Close Buttons Are Hard To Find?
Closing a program seems easy, but you might have
noticed that close buttons are hard to find in
Windows 8. That’s because Microsoft encourages us
to run apps in the background where they’ll take up
minimal resources, but still be accessible at any
time!
Still, anyway, you can close an app 1) by dragging it
from top to bottom, or 2) using Alt+F4 keys or 3)
using the task manager.
4. Find Anything Using Power-packed Search
Search looks power-packed. Start typing anything
you are looking for in the search bar and it will
search in the apps, files/folders and emails too.
5. Windows 8 God Mode Folder?
Create a magic folder which contains all the
Windows 8 setings and hidden tweaks:
1. Create a “New Folder” by right-clicking on empty
spot in any directory, preferably Desktop.
2. Give the folder this name: All Settings .
{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712
3. Open the folder to see a complete list of settings.
But be careful for using advanced settings, don’t
change them unless you are an expert.
6. PC Slowed Down? Get Fresh Windows 8 Easily in
Minutes!
In Windows 7 and previous versions, you had to
format and reinstall the entire OS to get a fresh feel.
This was a tiresome and time-wasting process.
Windows 8 provides an in-built way to refresh your
computer!
In order to perform the Windows 8 refresh, go to
Settings and click the Change PC Settings tab near
the bottom. Select the General tab and find the
“Refresh your PC without affecting your files” section
near the middle (you may also select “Remove
everything and reinstall Windows” to get the true
factory settings treatment). Select “Get started” and
press “Refresh.” After a few minutes the PC will
restart, and you will have a fresh copy of Windows
8.
7. Shut Down Shortcut:
Windows 8 hides the Power button in the Settings
menu, so it takes multistep process just to shut
down your PC. But you can pin a Shutdown button
right onto the bottom of your desktop using following
trick:
Create a shortcut on your desktop (right-click, go to
New, then Shortcut). Enter “shutdown /s /t 0″ (with
no quotes, and, yes, that’s a zero not an “O”) as the
location of the item, and press Next. Now name the
shortcut (prefereably “Shutdown”) and press Finish.
Right-click the shortcut, and navigate to Properties.
Choose Change Icon in the Shortcut tab, and then OK
to leave the warning box. Choose an icon of your
choice from the list. In the screenshot above, you’ll
see we chose a Power button.
Right-click the shortcut again, and select Pin to
Start. You can place the icon on your Start screen
wherever it’s convenient. Clicking it will instantly
shut down your computer.
But which one is the easiest and fastest way to
shutdown? Hit power button on your computer!
8. Classic Start Menu
This is the thing many people keep missing on
Windows 8. If you want to anyway want the Start
menu on Windows 8,
ViStart, a free utility will do a good job.
9. Fun Way To Password-protect
Windows 8 enables you to create a picture
password, where you choose an image, then draw on
it in a combination of taps, lines and circles – only
someone who can reproduce this pattern will be able
to log on. Select Win + I > More PC Settings > Users
> Create a Picture Password to give this a try.
10. Mount ISO files in Windows 8
Right-click it in Explorer, click Mount and you can
view it as a virtual drive, launch the files it contains,
or add more if you like.
11. Windows 8 Recovery Options
Windows 8 provides useful, advanced options to
recover when a disaster occurs.
12. List of Most Important Hotkeys
Here is a list of hotkeys to make your Windows 8
experiece even a fun:
Win : switch between the Start screen and the last-
running Windows 8 app
Win + C : displays the Charms: the Settings, Devices,
Share and Search options
Win + D : launches the desktop
Win + E : launches Explorer
Win + F : opens the File Search pane
Win + H : opens the Share pane
Win + I : opens Settings
Win + K : opens the Devices pane
Win + L : locks your PC
Win + M : minimises the current Explorer or Internet
Explorer window (works in the full-screen IE, too)
Win + O : toggles device orientation lock on and off
Win + P : switch your display to a second display or
projector
Win + Q : open the App Search pane
Win + R : opens the Run box
Win + U : open the Ease of Access Centre
Win + V : cycle through toasts (notifications)
Win + W : search your system settings (type POWER
for links to all power-related options, say)
Win + X : displays a text menu of useful Windows
tools and applets
Win + Z : displays the right-click context menu when
in a full-screen app
Win + + : launch Magnifier and zoom in
Win + – : zoom out
Win + , : Aero peek at the desktop
Win + Enter : launch Narrator
Win + PgUp : move the current screen to the left-
hand monitor
Win + PgDn : move the current screen to the right-
hand monitor
Win + PrtSc : capture the current screen and save it
to your Pictures folder
Win + Tab : switch between running apps
On Tablet:
To take a screenshot on a Windows 8 tablet,
simultaneously press the Windows button and the
volume-down button on the tablet chassis.
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