An easy to follow Windows 8 How To Guide showing you what to do from the moment you turn on your Windows8 pc.

1. Windows 8 Guide
An Easy To Follow How To Guide

2. Jason is lead tech from
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AUTHOR PAGE:
Jason M.

3. You’ve Upgraded To Windows 8 Its Time to
Set it Up .…
Where Did It Go In Windows 8 …....
Personalizing Your Windows 8 PC ….…….
Windows 8 and Apps ….……
Windows 8 Beyond The Basics.…….
TABLE OF CONTENTS:

4. Welcome to the most effective guide
to Windows 8. Lets get started. You
turned on your pc and you are at the
“Personalize” screen here you will
choose your color scheme to your
liking, create your PC name and click
next. The PC name can be anything
you like.
CHAPTER 1:
Setting Your Windows 8 PC
// Page 4

5. After you click next you will now see the Express settings
screen.
I will recommend you use the express settings as we can set
up specifics later on. Click “Use express settings” and it will
setup some default settings. Now once at the login screen I
recommend you create a live or outlook account. Reason
being is any pc you log into in the future can sync your data,
contacts and information.
Windows 8 Guide
// Page 5

6. When you get to the SkyDrive screen click next. What SkyDrive
cloud storage does is backs up all of your documents, internet
settings, pictures, etc to a Microsoft server off your computer
which is what allows you to login to another pc you have never
logged into before and see all of your information as well as have
the ability to retrieve files from any computer you utilize.
Windows 8 Guide
SkyDrive is Your
Cloud Storage.”
// Page 6

7. Windows 8.1
has put back
the Start Button
After your account has
been created and it gets
your apps ready, I
recommend you tinker
around and just
familiarize yourself with
the new interface. In
this next lesson we’ll get
to know several of the
new features like the
Charms bar, Apps, Tiles
and much more.
Microsoft received many
complaints about
removing several
features and with the
release of Windows 8.1
they have integrated
some of those older
features we loved and
utilized like the Start
button.
Windows 8 Guide
Following this guide has been easy so
far and we are glad to have you
along.
// Page 7

8. I love Windows 8 it’s sleek and modern design brings
Microsoft up to date but what were they thinking to remove
the start button!
When you log into your PC you come to a screen known as
the “Metro” which allows for easy access to your favorite
sites, programs and entertainment. You do this by pinning
tiles to your Metro user interface. Very simple so lets get into
it.
CHAPTER 2:
Where Did It Go In Windows 8
// Page 8

9. Here is the Metro UI.
From here you can add
and remove tiles, resize
them and add your profile
image.
• Resizing Tiles
Some tiles allow you to
change the size of the tile,
to do this all you have to
do is right click the tile to
see its properties.
• Removing Tiles
To remove a tile while you
are in those properties
click “Unpin from Start”
• Adding New Tiles
To add a Tile simply go to
that application, right click
and choose “Pin to Start”
Each square and rectangular
box is called a tile. Tiles have
different properties and can be
found by right clicking on it.
Some tiles have what's called
“Live Tile Updates” where you
can see the latest news, post,
weather, etc
Windows 8 Guide
// Page 9

10. Where is the control panel? Meet the Charm Bar it can be
accessed by:
• Mouse: Point at the bottom right corners or top right.
• Keyboard Shortcut: Windows key + C
• Touchscreen: Slide your finger inward from the screen’s right
edge.
What you will find in the Metro screen:
 The SEARCH feature in windows 8 will become your best
friend for finding anything. It will locate anything you seek
from the screen you are in.
 SHARE provides you with the options to email someone
with links, pictures, etc.
 Wondering where's the old Desktop format ?
Select START and that all to familiar desktop version you
know is still there.
 When appropriate, you can make use of DEVICES to print
your current screen, switch desktops, etc
 SETTINGS contains 6 settings plus Personalize, Tiles Help
and Change PC Settings. Within the 6 settings you can edit
network settings, volume, screen brightness, Notifications,
Power, and keyboard settings.
Windows 8 Guide
// Page 10

11. Changed Settings
// Page 11
Windows 8 Guide
Shutting Down and Restarting
Since there is no longer a start menu
you will have to get used to accessing
the Charms Bar and clicking on Power,
once you a click on Power a submenu
will appear to Shutdown or Restart.
Notifications
As annoying as they can be, we now
have the ability to delay notifications
with delay timers and we can set the
timer settings too *, 3, or 1 hour.
Change PC Settings
Clicking here will bring you to the PC
Settings, a light version of the control
panel.
If you seek the full control panel from
the Charms Bar click on Start> Once at
the original desktop pull up your
Charms Bar again and click on
Settings, now you will see the control
panel at the top.

12. CHAPTER 3:
Personalize Your
Windows 8 PC
In this chapter we will focus on customizing your pc
to your liking. Adding your profile pictures, changing
background colors, adding and removing user
accounts and switching between users.
// Page 12

13. Now Is The Time To
Let Your Creative
Side Drive!
Within the control
panel you can add a
custom background
Appearance and
Personalization
Changing Your Background
• Open your Charms Bar
• Click on “settings”
• Select “Personalize”
From there you will be able to
select premade backgrounds and
edit background colors and
accent colors.
Windows 8 Guide
Changing Your Profile Image
• Click on your profile
• Then select “Change account picture”
• Select Browse to find a picture on your computer or camera
to take a new photo.
// Page 13

14. Adding and removing
users is still as simple
as it was in other
Windows operating
systems.
Windows 8 Users
While you are in the
Metro interface start
typing “user accounts“
SEARCH will auto
populate and display
any app, programs
and documents
associated with that
search.
• Select Add, delete
and manage other
user accounts
• Click add user and
follow the bouncing
ball.
Windows 8 Guide
To Delete An account
Within Accounts select the profile you
wish to remove and once selected the
Edit & Remove buttons will activate for
use.
// Page 14

15. Switching User Accounts
 From within the Metro
Interface.
• Simply click on your profile
and if you sign out or click
on another users account
name it will take you to that
profile.
• Just remember when
switching in between user’s
that if you shut down while a
user is logged in you can
potentially damage that
users profile and lose
unsaved data..
Windows 8 Guide
 Signing out of your profile is always best practice.
 Utilize Windows 8 Child Accounts for children as you will be
able to monitor your child’s computer usage, set limits for
usage, filter websites and block applications and receive
reports from this Family Safety feature.
 Don’t forget to setup a Live or Outlook account for any
account so that data is backed up.
// Page 15

16. In Windows 8 you have the ability to download
apps from the Windows Store. Windows 8
comes with a few built-in apps that make your
user experience more enjoyable but there are
many more in the Windows store that can
make your Windows 8 computer do exactly
what you seek and any apps you purchase can
be installed on up to 5 PCs.
CHAPTER 4:
Windows 8 and Apps
// Page 16

17. Example: If I want to install this Netflix app all I would have to do is
click the Install button. That’s it. Search & Install what you seek.
Windows 8 Guide
Apps can be free,
paid or trials. The
amount of apps
being created daily
are steadily
increasing.
Installing an App is
as simple as finding
the app, selecting
the app, clicking
install and using it.
// Page 17

18. Starting Up Speed
Sometime in the future you may feel your computer is taking a bit
too long to start up so removing unnecessary items from the
Startup tab within Task Manager will improve start up speeds .
To access the Task Manager
• Keyboard Shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+Esc
• From the desktop, Right-click the taskbar, and then click Task
Manager then click on the StartUp tab and remove all unnecessary
items.
Remove all items
from startup that
are not apart of
the core system
files
CHAPTER 5:
Beyond The Basics
// Page 18

19. Right Click On
Any Process or
App You Wish To
End
Frozen Applications
In the event that one of your apps
has frozen, within the Process tab
locate that app then right click it
and select “End Task”. This will
shutdown that application.
// Page 19
Windows 8 Guide

20. A few of my favorite Short Cut Keys.
Windows 8 Guide
Keyboard Shortcuts Will
Increase Productivity.”
// Page 20
Pressing This Will Do This
Windows key Place You In The Metro UI
Windows Key + C Opens Charm Bar
Windows Key + Ctrl + Tab Cycles through Open Apps
Ctrl + C Copies selected Item
Ctrl + V Pastes what was copied
Windows Key + Z Displays commands in app
Windows key + R Will open up Run

21. Defragging Disk
// Page 21
Windows 8 Guide
Optimizing Your Drive
Do a search for “ defrag and optimize
your drives ” select optimize and it will
begin to rearrange fragmented files so
that it can fetch data faster.
Scheduling
The default is once a week and that
may be a bit too much. I would say
once a month is ideal. As defragging
takes time and a lot of system
resources.
Analyze
If you click Analyze on a drive it will
display the percentage of
defragmentation within that drive.
Search Defrag
Never ever turn off your pc
while in the process of
defragging as you risk
corrupting your drive and
having to reinstall the entire
operating system

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Windows 8 Guide