Windows 10 All–in–One For Dummies

Wooody Leonhard writes the "Woody on Windows" column for Computerworld.com. His website, AskWoody.com, draws a million visitors a month. He is the author of dozens of Windows and Office books and winner of eight Computer Press Association awards.

Introduction 1


About This Book 3


Foolish Assumptions 4


Icons Used in This Book 5


Beyond the Book 5


Where to Go from Here 6


Book 1: Starting Windows 10 7


Chapter 1: Windows 10 4 N00bs 9


Hardware and Software 12


Why Do PCs Have to Run Windows? 12


A Terminology Survival Kit 17


What, Exactly, Is the Web? 21


Buying a Windows 10 Computer 26


What’s Wrong with Windows 10? 45


Chapter 2: Windows 10 for the Experienced 47


If You Just Upgraded from Win7 or 8.1 to Win10 48


A Brief History of Windows 10 50


Exploring the Versions of Windows 10 53


The Different Kinds of Windows Programs, Er, Apps 54


What’s New for the XP Crowd 58


What’s New for Windows 7 and Vista Victims 63


What’s New for Windows 8 and 8.1 Users 68


What’s New for All of Windows 68


Do You Need Windows 10? 77


Chapter 3: Which Version? 79


Counting the Editions 80


Choosing 32 Bit versus 64 Bit 85


Which Version of Windows Are You Running? 87


Book 2: Personalizing Windows 91


Chapter 1: Getting Around in Windows 93


Windows’ New Beginnings 94


Navigating around the Desktop 99


Keying Keyboard Shortcuts 105


Chapter 2: Changing the Lock and Login Screens 109


Working with the Lock Screen 110


Logging on Uniquely 116


Chapter 3: Working with the Action/Notification Center 123


What Is the Action Center? 124


What, Exactly, Is a Notification? 125


Working with Notifications 127


Working with Settings Shortcuts 129


Chapter 4: Controlling Users 131


Why You Need Separate User Accounts 132


Choosing Account Types 133


What’s Good and Bad about Microsoft Accounts 137


Adding Users 139


Changing Accounts 142


Switching Users 147


The Changing Environment 148


Chapter 5: Microsoft Account: To Sync or Not to Sync? 149


What, Exactly, Is a Microsoft Account? 150


Deciding Whether You Want a Microsoft Account 151


Setting Up a Microsoft Account 154


Stop Using Your Microsoft Account 158


Taking Care of Your Microsoft Account 159


Controlling Sync 160


Chapter 6: Privacy Control 163


Why You Should Be Concerned 164


Privacy Manifesto 166


Knowing What Connections Windows Prefers 171


Controlling Location Tracking 172


Minimizing Privacy Intrusion 177


Book 3: Working on the Desktop 179


Chapter 1: Running Your Desktop from Start to Finish 181


Tripping through Win10’s Three Personas 182


Working with the Traditional Desktop 184


Mousing with Your Mouse 187


Starting with the Start Icon 192


Touching on the Taskbar 195


Working with Files and Folders 197


Creating Shortcuts 211


Keying Keyboard Shortcuts 213


Sleep: Perchance to Dream 214


Chapter 2: Personalizing the Start Menu 217


Touring the Start Menu 218


Modifying the Start Menu 220


Resizing the Start Menu 227


Changing Tiles on the Start Menu 228


Organizing Your Start Menu Tiles 230


Chapter 3: Personalizing the Desktop and Taskbar 233


Decking out the Desktop 234


Resolving Desktop Resolution 239


Putting Icons and Shortcuts on the Desktop 243


Tricking out the Taskbar 248


Chapter 4: Internet Explorer, Chrome, and Firefox 255


Which Browser Is Best? 257


Using Internet Explorer on the Desktop 264


Customizing Firefox 279


Optimizing Google Chrome 288


Searching on the Web 292


Referring to Internet Reference Tools 298


Chapter 5: Hey, Cortana! 303


The Cortana Backstory 304


Make Cortana Respond to “Hey, Cortana” 305


Setting up Cortana 309


Using Cortana Settings 311


Chapter 6: Maintaining Your System 315


Rolling Back with the Three Rs 316


Creating Password Reset Questions 318


Making Windows Update Work 321


Maintaining Drives 322


Maintaining Solid-State Drives 326


Zipping and Compressing 327


Book 4: Using the Built-In Universal Apps 333


Chapter 1: Using the Mail and Calendar Apps 335


Choosing a Mail/Calendar App 337


Drilling Down on Universal Windows 10 Mail 344


Universal Mail Settings 351


Avoiding Universal Calendar App Collisions 355


Beyond Email 358


Chapter 2: Keeping Track of People 361


The Contact List in Windows 10 362


Putting Contacts in the Universal People App 363


Putting a Contact on the Taskbar 370


Alternatives to the Win10 Universal People App 372


Chapter 3: Zooming the Photos App and Beyond 373


Discovering What the Windows Photos App Can Do 374


Touring Photos 374


Editing Photos 377


Setting Settings 380


Adding Photos 381


Importing Pictures from a Camera or an External Drive 382


Working with Albums 383


Storing and Managing Photos Online 383


Chapter 4: Noting OneNote 387


Getting Started in OneNote with or without a Pen 388


Setting Up Notebooks, Sections, Pages 389


Embellishing on a OneNote Page 392


Sending to OneNote 394


Setting Settings 396


Chapter 5: Maps, Music, Movies — and TV 399


Making Maps 400


Get Yer Groove Music on 406


Getting Your Music and Movies into the Apps 408


Running around the Groove Music App 411


Running around the Movies & TV App 415


Book 5: Connecting with the Universal Apps 417


Chapter 1: Introducing Edge 419


A Walk through Microsoft Edge 420


Working with Web Notes 425


A Sampler of Edge Settings 426


Adding Edge Extensions 431


Chapter 2: Using Skype in Windows 10 435


Exploring Skype Alternatives 436


Signing Up with Skype 439


Making First Contact 442


Adding a Contact 443


Settings 445


A Few Tips from Skype-ologists 446


Chapter 3: Navigating the Microsoft Store 449


Checking out What a Universal Windows App Can Do 451


Browsing the Microsoft Store 454


Searching the Microsoft Store 457


Updating Your Microsoft Store Apps 459


Chapter 4: Games, Games, and Games 461


Searching the Store for Games 463


Bringing Back the Classics 466


Starting with Sudoku 468


Cutting the Rope with Style 470


Pirates Love Daisies 473


Despicable Me, Sonic, and More 475


Book 6: Socializing with the Universal Apps 477


Chapter 1: Using OneDrive 479


What Is OneDrive? 480


Setting Up a OneDrive Account 482


The Four States of OneDrive Data 484


Changing the States of OneDrive Data 490


Sharing OneDrive Files and Folders 491


Chapter 2: Getting Started with Facebook 493


Choosing a Facebook App 495


Signing Up for a Facebook Account 495


Building a Great Timeline 505


Using the Universal Facebook App 509


Chapter 3: Getting Started with Twitter 511


Understanding Twitter 512


Setting Up a Twitter Account 515


Tweeting for Beginners 520


Hooking Twitter into Windows 523


Chapter 4: Getting Started with LinkedIn 525


Signing Up for LinkedIn 526


Using LinkedIn for Fun and Profit 530


Book 7: Controlling Your System 533


Chapter 1: Settings, Settings, and More Settings 535


Introducing the Universal Settings App 537


Spelunking through the Control Panel 540


Putting Shortcuts to Settings on Your Desktop 542


God Mode 546


Chapter 2: Troubleshooting and Getting Help 549


Troubleshooting the Easy Way 550


Troubleshooting the Hard Way 551


System Stability and Reliability Monitor 564


Tricks to Using Windows Help 565


How to Really Get Help 567


Snapping and Recording Your Problems 570


Connecting to Remote Assistance 575


Troubleshooting Remote Assistance 581


Getting Help Online 582


Chapter 3: Working with Libraries 585


Understanding Libraries 586


Making Your Libraries Visible 587


Working with Your Default Libraries 590


Customizing Libraries 592


Creating Your Own Library 596


Chapter 4: Storing in Storage Spaces 599


Understanding the Virtualization of Storage 600


Setting Up Storage Spaces 603


Working with Storage Spaces 606


Storage Space Strategies 608


Chapter 5: Taking Control of Updates and Upgrades 609


The Case Against Windows Automatic Update 610


Terminology 101 611


The Great Divide: Home versus Pro 613


Keeping Your Win10 Home Machine Protected 614


Blocking Win10 Pro Updates 617


Keep Up on the Problems 619


Chapter 6: Running the Built-In Applications 621


Setting Alarms & Clock 622


Getting Free Word Processing 625


Taming the Character Map 630


Calculating — Free 631


Painting 634


Chapter 7: Working with Printers 639


Installing a Printer 640


Using the Print Queue 645


Troubleshooting Printing 649


Catching a Runaway Printer 651


Book 8: Maintaining Windows 10 653


Chapter 1: File History, Backup, Data Restore, and Sync 655


What Happened to the Windows 7 Backup? 656


The Future of Reliable Storage Is in the Cloud 656


Backing Up and Restoring Files with File History 658


Storing to and through the Cloud 666


Chapter 2: A Fresh Start: Restore and Reset 673


The Three R’s — and an SF and a GB 674


Resetting Your PC 677


Resetting Your PC to Factory Settings 680


Starting Fresh 682


Restoring to an Earlier Point 683


Entering the Windows Recovery Environment 688


Chapter 3: Monitoring Windows 691


Viewing Events 692


Gauging System Reliability 696


Chapter 4: Using System Tools 701


Tasking Task Manager 702


Installing a Second Hard Drive 710


Running a Virtual Machine 713


Book 9: Securing Windows 10 721


Chapter 1: Spies, Spams, and Scams Are Out to Get You 723


Understanding the Hazards — and the Hoaxes 724


Staying Informed 739


Is My Computer Infected? 742


Getting Protected 748


Dealing with Data Breaches 757


Chapter 2: Fighting Viri and Scum 761


Basic Windows Security Do’s and Don’ts 762


Making Sense of Malware 766


Deciphering Browsers’ Inscrutable Warnings 769


Chapter 3: Running Built-In Security Programs 773


Working with Windows Defender 773


Controlling Folder Access 779


Judging SmartScreen 781


Booting Securely with UEFI 784


Controlling User Account Control 787


Poking at Windows Firewall 790


Chapter 4: Top Security Helpers 799


Deciding about BitLocker 800


Managing Your Passwords 803


Keeping Your Other Programs Up to Date 807


Blocking Java and Flash in Your Browser 809


Fighting Back at Tough Scumware 812


Securing Your Communication with PIA 813


Book 10: Enhancing Windows 10 817


Chapter 1: Using Your iPad and iPhone with Windows 819


Running iTunes on Windows, or Maybe Not 820


The Inside Story on Office for iPad and Android 829


Great iPad Apps to Use with Windows 832


Playing with Kids on Your iPad or iPhones 836


Chapter 2: Android, Chromecast, Roku, Kindle, and Windows 10 839


What, Exactly, Is Android? 841


Connecting TVs with Roku, Plex, and Chromecast 844


Using Office for Android 847


Wrangling E-Book Files 847


Getting Media from Your PC to Your Kindle 852


Chapter 3: Getting Started with Gmail, Google Apps, and Drive 859


Finding Alternatives to Windows with Google 860


Setting Up Gmail 865


Moving an Existing Account to Gmail 867


Using the Google Apps 870


Moving Your Domain to Google 874


Chapter 4: Using Web-Based Outlook.com (nee Hotmail) 879


Getting Started with Outlook.com 880


Bringing Some Sanity to Outlook.com Organization 886


Handling Outlook.com Failures 887


Importing Outlook.com Messages into Gmail 889


Weighing the Alternatives 891


Chapter 5: Best Free Windows Add-Ons 893


Windows Apps You Absolutely Must Have 894


The Best of the Rest — All Free 898


Don’t Pay for Software You Don’t Need! 905


Index 909