Windows 8.1 Absolute Beginner's Guide

Paul Sanna is a software professional and the author or co-author of two dozen computer books on topics such as Windows 2000, Internet Explorer, VBA, Windows security, and more. He has been writing about computers since his first literary agent said to him many years ago, "I didn't know Boston University had an English program," and "Have you heard of this Windows 95 thing?" Mr. Sanna has worked in the IT field his entire career, building software, selling high tech, helping customers understand how to be successful with technology, and helping to market breakthrough analytics technology. His home with his family is in Charlotte, NC. Go Gamecocks! Alan Wright has worked professionally in and around IT for more than 10 years. He has provided enterprise-level support in the Detroit, Michigan, area and continues to provide software and hardware support for small businesses and residential users. He holds several certifications from CompTIA and Microsoft and enjoys working with technology and teaching others how they can make technology work for them. Alan has been the technical editor on other books from Que Publishing, including Using Windows 8 and Microsoft Project 2013 In Depth, and he co-authored Visio 2013 Absolute Beginner's Guide. When not working with computers, he enjoys working on projects in his cabinet shop. Alan lives in northern Michigan with his wife, Pam, and their two children, Joshua and Jonathan.

Introduction 1

What Is an Absolute Beginner? 3

How This Book Is Organized 3

Conventions Used in This Book 4

Selects and Selecting 4

Special Elements 5

1 Your First Hour with Windows 7

Starting Up Windows 8

Signing In 9

Introducing the Start Screen 13

Returning to the Start Screen 14

Seeing Tiles off the Screen 15

Displaying All Apps 16

Using the Charms Bar 17

Using the Search Charm 19

Using the Share Charm 21

Using the Devices Charm 22

Using the Settings Charm 23

The Help and Tips App 24

Handling Special Startup Situations 25

Restarting Windows After a Problem 25

Waking Up Windows 26

Password Notifications 27

Exiting Windows 28

Signing Out of Windows 8.1 29

Locking Windows 8.1 29

Putting Windows 8.1 to Sleep 29

Shutting Down Your Windows 8.1 Computer 30

2 Interacting with Windows 31

Getting to Know the Windows 8 Interfaces 32

Using the Mouse in Windows 8 32

Using the Keyboard in Windows 8 34

Using Touch in Windows 8 35

Using the Virtual Keyboard 36

Using Windows Controls You Find on the Desktop 38

Window 38

Button 38

Option Button or Group 40

Text Box 40

Check Box 40

Windows 8 Toggle 41

List Box 42

Drop-Down List 43

Combo Drop-Down List 44

3 Organizing the Start Screen 45

Organizing All Those Tiles 46

Selecting a Tile 46

Moving a Tile 47

Making a Tile Bigger or Smaller 48

Adding a Tile to the Start Screen 49

Show More Tiles 50

Personalizing Tile Groups 51

Creating a Tile Group 52

Moving Tile Groups 54

Naming a Tile Group 54

4 Making Windows Your Own 57

Personalize the Start Screen 58

Personalize Your Account Picture 61

Personalize the Lock Screen 64

Setting a Lock Screen Slideshow 65

Lock Screen Apps 66

Personalizing the Desktop 67

Changing the Desktop Background 68

Changing the Mouse Pointers Used on the Desktop 69

Change the Desktop's Color Scheme 71

Setting Up a Desktop Screensaver 71

5 Using Windows Store Apps 75

Learning Basic Windows Store Apps Info 76

Running Windows Store Apps 77

Starting a Windows Store App 77

Starting Additional Windows Store Apps 79

Stopping a Windows Store App (If You Must) 79

Using the App Bar to Change an App's Settings 81

Managing Windows Store Apps 82

Using the App Switcher 82

Configuring App Switching with the Mouse 83

Switching to the Previous App 84

Showing Multiple Windows Store Apps on the Screen 85

Uninstalling Apps (If You Can) 89

Shopping at the Windows Store 91

Purchasing an App 93

Managing Your Windows Store Account 94

6 These Are a Few of My Favorite Apps 99

Email, Calendar, People 100

Maps 104

News 105

Sports 107

Food and Drink 107

Weather 108

Photographs 109

Reader 111

Music, Games, Video 113

Music 113

Games 115

Video 117

Additional Notable Apps 118

7 Setting Up Search, Share, and Notifications 121

Using Windows Search 122

Performing Search 123

Setting Search Options 124

Using Windows Share 127

Setting Share Applications 129

Setting Share Options 130

Fine-Tuning Notifications You Receive 132

8 Learning About the Windows Desktop 135

Introducing the Desktop 136

Getting to the Desktop 137

Returning to the Start Screen 139

Working with the Taskbar 139

Receiving Alerts and Notifications 140

Adding Toolbars to the Taskbar 142

Keeping the Desktop Organized 143

Automatically Line Up Icons on the Desktop 144

Arrange the Desktop by Icon Type 145

Change the Size of Desktop Icons 145

Hide All Desktop Icons 146

Displaying Special Icons on the Desktop 146

9 Working with Windows Desktop Programs 151

Introducing Windows Desktop Programs 152

Running Programs on the Desktop 154

Running Multiple Desktop Programs 154

Making It Easy to Start Your Favorite Desktop Programs 156

Saving Files to the Desktop 156

Exiting Desktop Programs 158

Working with Windows 158

Installing and Removing Programs 162

Installing Programs 162

Removing Windows Programs 162

10 Performing Easy Windows Configuration 165

The Control Panel 166

Setting Up Your Mouse or Touchpad 167

Mouse Settings 167

Touchpad Settings 170

Setting Up Your Keyboard 171

Changing Keyboard Settings 172

Personalize Language, Keyboard, and Date Formats 173

Setting Up Your Display 176

Adjusting the Resolution (Making the Screen Bigger or Smaller) 176

Setting Up Multiple Monitors 178

Adjusting Brightness 180

Setting Up Power Use 183

The Easy Method to Set Up Power Use 184

The Really Easy Method to Set Up Power Use 184

The Manual Method to Set Up Power Use 185

Customizing Corner Navigation 185

Setting Up Sound 186

Setting Up Your Speakers 186

Selecting Sounds for Windows Events 188

Ease of Access 190

11 Connecting to the Internet 195

Reviewing Important Internet Connection Basics 196

Learning About Internet Service Providers 196

Checking the Hardware Required to Connect 196

Learning the Internet Connection Services Typically Available 197

Understanding Routers for Internet Connection Sharing 199

Understanding the Network Adapter 200

Connecting to the Internet 201

Connecting to a Wireless Network 202

Connecting Where Free Wi-Fi Is Advertised 204

Connecting to Pay-as-You-Go Wi-Fi 205

Connecting to a LAN/Wired Network 205

Connecting After Upgrading to Windows 8 206

Connecting After You Restart Your Device 206

12 Surfing the Web 207

Figuring Out Which Browser to Use 208

Navigating to Websites 210

Entering the URL of a Site You Want to Visit 210

Searching the Web 211

Following a Hyperlink to Another Page 213

Revisiting a Site You Visit Often 214

Opening a Tabbed Site 215

Navigating Back and Forth 215

Enhancing Your Browsing 216

Zooming In and Out 216

Playing Videos and Music on the Web 217

Viewing Web Pages in the Desktop Browser 218

Pinning Websites to the Start Screen 219

Sharing Web Pages 221

Printing While You're Web Browsing 222

Using the Desktop Browser 224

Creating Shortcuts to Websites 224

Opening All Links in the Desktop Browser 225

13 Managing Your Contacts 229

Introducing the People App 230

Connecting with Your Contacts 233

Setting Up Your Contacts 237

Linking to Facebook 238

Linking to Google, Outlook.com, and Exchange/Office 365 240

Linking to Twitter 241

Linking to LinkedIn 243

14 Setting Up and Using Email 247

Exploring the Mail App 248

Setting Up Your Email Accounts 250

Setting Up Your Google, Yahoo, AOL, or Outlook.com Account 251

Setting Up Your Exchange/Office 365/Outlook.com Account 252

Manually Setting Up an Email Account Using IMAP or EAS 253

Reading Your Email 255

Replying to a Message 256

Filing a Message in a Folder 258

Deleting a Message 259

Forward a Message 260

Mark a Message as Unread 261

Managing Junk Mail 261

Writing an Email Message 262

Addressing Your Message 264

Formatting Your Email Message 264

Attaching a Photo or Another File to Your Message 267

Checking Spelling in Your Message 268

Managing Your Inbox 268

Creating Folders 269

Flagging Messages 271

Printing Emails 271

15 Managing Your Calendar 275

Getting to Know the Calendar App 276

Controlling the Calendar View 277

Setting Calendar Colors 279

Synchronizing with Other Calendars 280

Connecting to Your Hotmail Account 281

Connecting to Microsoft Accounts 282

Connecting to Your Gmail Account 283

Adding Events to Your Calendar 284

16 Enjoying Your Digital Photos in Windows 291

Learning Photos App Basics 292

Accessing Pictures Stored on SkyDrive 293

Transferring Pictures from a Flash Drive 294

Browsing Through Your Photos 296

Working with Your Photos 298

Organizing the Pictures Library 301

Renaming Your Pictures 303

17 Sharing Your Windows Computer with Others 307

Windows 8 Users and Account Basics 308

Adding a New User 310

Adding a New User with a Local Account 311

Adding a New User with a Microsoft Account 312

Creating a PIN or Picture Password 316

Adding a PIN to Your Account 316

Adding a Picture Password to Your Account 317

Making Changes to User Accounts 319

Changing a User's Type 320

Removing a User Account 321

Maintaining Security 322

Setting Password Policy 323

Using the Screensaver to Add Security 325

18 Sharing Files and Printers 327

Networking with Homegroup 328

Using the Windows Homegroup 329

Creating a Homegroup 330

Joining a Homegroup 332

Leaving a Homegroup 333

Troubleshooting Homegroup Connections 333

Setting Up Sharing 334

Disabling Sharing for Specific Files or Folders 336

Sharing Files and Folders Only with Specific Users 337

Sharing Your Printer 339

Seeing Stuff Shared by Others 340

19 Managing Files and Folders 343

Files and Folder Basics 344

Understanding Files 344

Understanding Folders 345

Exploring with File Explorer 347

Working with Libraries 348

Navigating the Folder Tree 351

Customizing the Content Pane 353

Exploring the Preview and Details Pane 355

Folder Options 357

Navigating Through Your Folders 360

Selecting Files and Folders 362

Selecting a Single File at a Time 363

Selecting Multiple Contiguous Files 363

Selecting Multiple Noncontiguous Files 364

Typical Files and Folders Tasks 365

20 Working with SkyDrive 369

Introducing SkyDrive 370

Adding Files to Your SkyDrive 373

Managing Files on Your SkyDrive 374

Viewing SkyDrive Status 376

Configuring SkyDrive File Storage 378

Saving to SkyDrive as Default 378

Managing Photo Storage Considerations 379

Synchronizing SkyDrive 380

Manage Metered Connections Considerations 382

Using SkyDrive from the Desktop 384

Offline Availability 385

21 Having Fun with Movies and Videos 387

Getting Started with the Xbox Video App 388

Setting Up Your Xbox LIVE Account 388

Adding Your Videos to the Videos Library 391

Moving Through the Xbox Video App 393

Shopping for Videos 398

Making a Purchase 398

Renting a Selection 399

22 Enjoying Music 403

Getting Started with the Music App 404

Learning What's Where in the Music App 404

Setting Up Your Xbox LIVE Account 407

Loading Your Music into Windows 8 408

How to Link Your Music 409

How to Move Your Music 412

Browsing Through Your Music 412

Playing Music 414

Creating Playlists 415

Purchasing Music 416

Importing Music and Creating Music CDs 418

Importing Music from a CD 419

Creating a Music CD 421

23 Having Fun and Playing Games 423

Using Xbox LIVE with Windows 8 424

Setting Up Your Xbox LIVE Account 425

Controlling Xbox from Windows 8 427

Installing Xbox SmartGlass with an Xbox 360 428

Using Xbox SmartGlass 430

Learning the Xbox Games App 433

24 Safe Web Browsing 437

Understanding Internet Threats and Risks 438

Web Browsing Risks 438

Learning About Risky Attachments and Other Email-Related Threats 440

Learning Phishing Threats 441

Avoiding Virus Threats 443

Defending Yourself 444

Reviewing All-in-One Internet Defense Suites 444

Defending with Windows Defender 445

Checking Your Security Status at the Action Center 449

Using SmartScreen to Avoid Dangerous Websites 449

Covering Your Internet Tracks 451

Browsing Quietly and Invisibly with InPrivate Browsing 452

Using Windows Firewall 453

Managing All Your IDs and Passwords 455

25 Troubleshooting and Solving Common Problems 457

Handling Special Windows Startup Situations 458

Restarting Windows After a Problem 458

Messages You Might Receive While Signing In 459

Using the Troubleshooting Wizards 460

Using Task Manager to Close Unresponsive Programs 462

Understanding Refresh and Restore 463

Getting a Do-Over with Refresh 463

Restarting from Scratch with the Reset Option 465

Index 469