Windows 8 How To Articles-Part 1

Windows 8 How To

How to Switch Between Metro UI and Desktop Mode
There are a couple of ways to Switch between Metro UI and the desktop. Use the Windows key If your device has a hardware keyboard with a Windows key,
pressing the Windows logo key toggles between Metro UI and the desktop mode. Use the Desktop Tile and Start Menu when you are on Metro UI, touch or
 click the desktop tile to switch to your desktop environment. When you are on the desktop, move the mouse cursor to the lower left corner until the Start icon pops up click on the icon to switch to the Metro UI. If you have a touch enabled device, you can use touch gesture to do the same.
Use the Start button from the Charms Menu you can move your mouse cursor or swipe to the right side of the screen until the Charms menu appears. Click on
the Start button (window with four panels) to switch to the Metro UI. Use one of the options above to switch to desktop.

How to Access the Control Panel
Use the Charms Bar in Desktop Mode while on the desktop, bring out the Charms Bar, click on Settings. Then, select Control Panel.
Use the Desktop Shortcut Menu Move your mouse cursor or swipe to the exact lower left corner until the Desktop shortcuts menu appears. Click on the
Control Panel. Similar, you can open other commonly used tools and utilities such as Device Manager, Task Manager, Disk Manager, Search and Run.
You have to position the cursor or touch to the exact spot.Use the Desktop link on the TaskBar If your Desktop is displayed on the Task bar, you can click or touch the desktop link and open the Control Panel. You can also add the Desktop link to the Task bar by right click the lower left corner area and click on the Taskbars.

Switch Between Windows Accounts and Local Accounts
From the Metro UI, click or swipe the upper right corner of the screen to show the Charms menu. Click or tap on the More PC settings link.
From Local Account to Microsoft Account you can select Users.Then click/tap on “Switch to a Microsoft account”. Type in your local account password
enter your Live ID or your Hotmail account. If you don’t have one already, you can create one by clicking the link “Sign up for a new email address”.
Answer the security question to confirm your identity. You may receive an SMS message from your mobile phone that shows “Security info was added for xxx”.
You should  now be logged in with your Windows Account. Some of your Metro apps are now showing data like email, photos, and documents associated
with your Live ID account. Your desktop apps are still running under your previous local account. If you run the "whoami" command in CMD prompt,
you will see your local account name displayed.You can switch from a local account to the same or different Microsoft account.
To switch from Windows Account to Local Account you can repeat the same steps as above to get to the Users PC settings. Click on the “Switch to a local
account” button. You should now be back to your local account. From Local Account to Local Account you can logout from your current local account and
login with a different local account.

How to Show and Use cmd Prompt (DOS Mode)
There are a few options to show and use the command (cmd) prompt.
From the Desktop Mode you can move the mouse cursor to the exact lower left corner until the desktop shortcuts menu appears. Select either Command
Prompt or Command Prompt (Admin). The latter runs as a local administrator. From the Charms Bar you canmove your mouse to the upper right corner
until the Charms Bar pops out. Select Apps from the list and type “cmd” in the search box. Click on cmd from the search results.
From the Run Command Line you can follow the steps to show the “run” command line in in my previous post. Type “cmd” to access the DOS environment.

How to Find and Use Windows Help and Support
One benefit of using Windows Help and Support is that not only you can find the right answer but also you can launch applications or commands directly from
within the search results.To use Windows Help and Support, select Settings | Help from Charms Bar in desktop mode,
(Move mouse cursor to upper right corner until the Charms Bar appears.) Type in the search box what you are looking for, e.g. “shortcut keys”.
Click on the item from the search results, e.g. “Mouse and keyboard: What's new in Windows 8 Consumer Preview”. With Windows Help, you can pin the
app to the Taskbar. Also,If you use Windows Help from the Charms Bar in Metro UI mode provides different options to you. For each option you select, you
will be re-directed to a Microsoft website in the Metro IE.

How to Enable or Disable Sharing Between PCs Using HomeGroup
HomeGroup is an easy way to share documents, music, pictures, videos, and printers between networked computers at home or in a small business—
without a server. You can join computers to a homegroup whether they connect by using wired and wireless networking.From the Charms Bar, select
More PC Settings and then choose HomeGroup. Here you can easily turn on or turn off sharing between PCs.

How to Setup a Printer
From the Control Panel, type “printer” and select Devices and Printers. Follow the instructions to set up a printer.The Printer setup wizard detects the
printer and provides an option to install the recommended driver. The  installation process takes a few seconds to complete. You can install a printer
driver manually using the downloaded files or the files on a CD/DVD.

How to Configure WiFi Connection and Airplane Mode
From the Charms Bar you can move the mouse cursor to the upper right corner of the screen until the Charms Bar appears. Select Settings and then
select WiFi.You can turn on or off Airplane mode by sliding the switch to left or right. The new Windows 8 network settings allow you to turn individual radios
on and off (Wi-Fi, mobile broadband, or Bluetooth), as well as disable all radios at once with the new “airplane mode.”
You can select a wireless connection and enter required password if any. Select the wireless network connection, and click on Connect. Enter the password
and then wireless should be working. From more PC Settings you can select Wireless from the list and then configure Airplane mode and WiFi connection.
open the Control Panel. Select Network and Internet and click on Connect to a network. The Networks panel appears and you can configure WIfi and Airplane
Mode from this location as well. If you are in Desktop Mode click on the wireless connection icon from the Taskbar. Then find and configure the wireless
connection you want to connect to.

Simplified Start Menu
The Windows 8 Developer Preview had a very basic Start menu which you could access by swiping from the right side of a touch screen, or moving the mouse cursor to the bottom left corner of the screen. This has changed a little in the Consumer Preview: now you need to right-click in the bottom left corner (or hold down the Windows key and press X) for a text-based menu which provides easy access to lots of useful applets and features: Device Manager, Control Panel,
Explorer, the Search dialog and more.

How To Install and Uninstall Metro Style Apps
Select the Windows Store app or tile and click or tap it. Find the app you like,  by browsing the apps in the store or searching an app from the Charms Bar. Select the app, buy it if it is not free, and install it. (Note: After you purchase an app, you will eceive a license that enables you to install the app.) If you logged in with a local account, you will be asked to sign in with your Windows Live ID. Installing an app you will be notified with short musical sound and the screen shows that app was installed.

How To Uninstall an App from the Metro UI
To uninstall an app, locate it from the Metro UI. Right click the mouse button or touch and swipe your finger gently.The app bar appears, and you can uninstall it from Start or uninstall it. This removes the app completely from your device. If you uninstall an app from Start, the app is still available from your device; it is just not shown on the start screen or the Metro UI. You can find it from the Charms Bar and Pin to Start to add it back to the start screen, or to uninstall it.

Where are Metro Style Apps Located
Apps are installed under the %ProgramFiles%\WindowsApps directory. It is a hidden folder and managed by Windows. Users acquire a Metro style app from the Windows Store as an app package. A package can contain one or more Metro style apps. Each package consists of the files that constitute the software, along with a package manifest file that describes the software to Windows. Windows installs and registers the app for the user who purchased it. There's no need for elevation to install the app, and there are no custom actions during the install. All required information is contained in the package. The user won't be prompted for additional information.

Setting default programs in Windows 8 with the new Default Programs applet in the control panel.
Right click in the lower left of your screen through Charms bar settings Control Panel (or just press windows key + x)  and click Control Panel or
Click Default Programs (in large or small icons view)
Select your desired programs and click Set this program as default

How to Get the My Computer Icon on the Desktop
Right-click anywhere on the Desktop, and select Personalize from the context menu In the next window, click the option that says “Change desktop icons.”
From the dialog box that pops up, check the icons that you want to show,(Computer) \and hit OK or Apply
Your Computer (or any other icons that you selected) are back on your Desktop
In case you want to pin the Computer Icon to the Start Menu. Right click on the My Computer icon and choose Pin to Start