Tips, Tricks & Tutorials

FREE WINDOWS 8 PRO

GRCC students currently enrolled in a Computer Applications (CO) course are eligible to participate in
the DreamSpark program. To learn how to participate and download WIndows 8, follow the directions available in this PDF file (left-click the PDF file link, or you may right-click the link and choose Save Link As or Save Target As to save the PDF file to your computer).

Can your PC run Windows 8.1? Download the Upgrade Assistance to find out.

Basic tips to get started with the new Windows 8 UI::

Watch the free video #2, The Windows 8 User Interface. This brief video introduces you to some of the basics for navigating in the new Metro interface. The presenter in video #2 is using a touch screen, but you can accomplish the same tasks with a mouse too. New basic features mentioned in the video include the following:

Tiles that represent Metro style apps
Gestures
Charms located on the right edge of the screen (includes a button to the Start page)
Switcher to switch between open apps
Open / close apps
Pinching to minimize (or click the minimize button located on the lower-right corner of your screen)
Soft keyboard
The new Windows 8 Start page replaces the Start button in Windows 7
Ways to toggle between the new Windows 8 Start page and the familiar Windows 7 desktop include the following (be sure no Windows 8 apps are running to toggle between the interfaces):
- Press the Windows key on your keyboard
- Click the tile located on the lower-left of the Windows 8 Start page to access the Windows 7 desktop. To get back to the Windows 8 Start page, position your mouse pointer in the lower-left corner of your screen and click the Start page tile that pops up.
  Note: the familiar Windows 7 desktop still looks the same, except there is no Start button located in the lower-left of the screen.

More tips:

Right-click on the Windows 8 Start page (in a blank area, not on an app) to access the app bar at the bottom of the screen. Click the All Apps button located on the right of the app bar to access all programs, which is similar to the All Programs in Windows 7. Use the horizontal scroll bar and scroll to the right to see all of the apps.
Tiles on the Windows 8 Start page represent the new Metro style apps and are installed with Windows 8.
- Click a tile on the Windows 8 Start page to access a Metro app
- Metro apps do not have a title bar, menu bar, minimize / maximize buttons as traditional Windows 7 windows.
- Press Windows key to leave app and return to Windows 8 Start page.
Right-click any app on the Start page and you can pin / unpin and uninstall right there.
New hot corners. See bold text below.
Position mouse pointer in upper or lower right corners of your screen to access the Charms. Charms can also be accessed with Windows key + C. Charms provide access to the Windows 8 Start page (in the middle of the Charms), Search, Share, Devices, and Settings.
Switching and closing apps.
- Position mouse pointer in upper-left corner of your screen to see all apps that are running.
- Slide directly down from the upper-left and right-click an open app to close it.
- Click an app to switch to it.
- When in an open app, position mouse pointer near the top of the screen until you see a white hand and then click and drag to the bottom of the screen to close the app.
- With more than one Windows 8 app open, press the Windows key + .
  (that is a period) to cycle through the open apps and the size of the apps on the screen.
Position mouse pointer in lower-left corner of your screen and click the Start page tile that pops up to return to the Windows 8 Start page. Or, right-click the Start page tile for an extensive shortcut menu that includes the Control Panel and Device Manager.
Windows Explorer is now called File Explorer.
For the first time Microsoft includes full aintivirus software with the OS. With Windows 8, Windows Defender is essentially Microsoft Security Essentials. To access it, position mouse pointer to the upper-right or lower-right of the screen and click the Search charm. In the search text box, type defender.

Windows 8 apps:

Top 10 free apps for Windows 8. Includes Google, Amazon, Facebook, etc. Love the Google app as I already use Google for gmail, contacts, and calendar instead of Microsoft.
Searching for an app is easy. Position mouse pointer to the lower-right or upper-right of your screen. Click the Search charm. Below the search text box, click the Store icon. In the search text box, type the app you wish to find.