Windows 8/8.1 tips and tricks - post them here

[WizardCM]

~snip

I wish the animation for the charms bar appearing was a little faster though.

~snip

You're right about the charms bar lag though.

There's actually a nice suggestion for this on the first page:

~snip

This next one made it more smooth (especially hovering the mouse over corners for menus):

HKEY_CURRENT_USER>Control Panel>Mouse

There change "MouseHoverTime" to 0-20 (from 400)

[trek]

What would the settings be if i wanted it to reset instead of a shutdown?

shutdown.exe -r -t 0

[efjay]

With music playing hit your physical volume button for music controls similar to Windows Phone.

In IE10 immersive using a keyboard and mouse move the mouse pointer to the left or right edge for a virtual back or forward key.

[FiB3R]

Unzip and copy this folder to...

%appdata%\microsoft\windows\Start Menu\Programs\

http://ge.tt/3DbsjSE/v/0?c

I made these shortcuts so that I could quickly shutdown/restart my computers while logged in via remote desktop, but they work well here too :)

forgot the batch file that the LogOff shortcut points to :/

LogOff.zip

[Ultravires]

Can someone explain what the -s and t 0 represent in "shutdown.exe -s -t 0" Also the r in "shutdown.exe -r -t 0 "

[George P Global Moderator]

Can someone explain what the -s and t 0 represent in "shutdown.exe -s -t 0" Also the r in "shutdown.exe -r -t 0 "

The -s is for shutdown and the -r is for restart, the t is for timer so t 0 = no time delay. You could set it to have a 10sec delay if you did t 10 etc.

[Ricky65]

For those who want easier way to shutdown:

1) Create a shortcut (new->shortcut) on a classic desktop.

2) Direct it to shutdown.exe -s -t 0

3) Put a nice icon on it

4) Pin it on start screen

Here you go, easy shutdown button :)

This is all well and good but when you have to start resorting to workarounds you know something is fundamentally wrong.

Bottom line: it took 2 clicks to shutdown Windows 7, now it takes 2 clicks, a swipe and another click. How that's progress is beyond me.

[Muhammad Farrukh]

It only takes one swipe, to bring up Charm Bar, and two clicks from there.

Just an addition of swipe :p

[George P Global Moderator]

This is all well and good but when you have to start resorting to workarounds you know something is fundamentally wrong.

Bottom line: it took 2 clicks to shutdown Windows 7, now it takes 2 clicks, a swipe and another click. How that's progress is beyond me.

Actually, regardless of where you are it only takes 3 clicks. You can move the mouse to the lower or upper right corners to bring up the charms and click setttings, click power, click shutdown. That's just one click more than Windows 7. And hell, my default win7 is set to hibernate, not shutdown, so when I do want to shutdown or restart in Win7 it's actually 3 clicks there as well. Move mouse down to lower left, click start, click arrow next to hibernate, click shutdown or restart... 3 clicks.

Don't forget you can also use the kb shortcut to bring up the settings window and then it's just 2 clicks with the mouse again. Really guys, you're making a big deal out of this, the only problem is that people have to find out that it's in a new location, that's it.

[Ice_Blue]

For those who like an uncluttered desktop (like me, not a single icon on the desktop), this will give you a right-click restart:

Paste this into a .reg file and run:

Start Code

-----------------------------------------------

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DesktopBackground\Shell\Restart Computer]

"icon"="shell32.dll,-290"

"Position"="Bottom"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DesktopBackground\Shell\Restart Computer\command]

@="shutdown.exe -r -t 00 -f"

----------------------------------------------------------------

End Code

You can also replace the -r with -s to shutdown.

[Ultravires]

Actually is there a way to combine both the reset and shutdown functions all in the press of one button? Like if I Pin a Reset/Shutdown button to the start menu instead of having to create two icons one to reset and the other to shutdown.

shutdown.exe -s -t 0

shutdown.exe -r t 0

[Luke777]

Does anyone know if it is possible to unlock the build-in Administrator account, so you can use all the metro apps?

If you enable Net user administrator /active:yes

you cannot access apps like reader etc.

[Wyn6]

This is all well and good but when you have to start resorting to workarounds you know something is fundamentally wrong.

Bottom line: it took 2 clicks to shutdown Windows 7, now it takes 2 clicks, a swipe and another click. How that's progress is beyond me.

Actually, there are several ways of shutting down. None of which take that long at all.

Windows 7 was move to Start>>Click it>>Click Shutdown

Windows 8 is move to Charms>>Click Power>>Click Shutdown

OR...

ctrl+alt+del>>Click Power>>Click Shutdown

[The_Observer]

Anyone have a way to remove water mark? This site looks a bit sketch..http://www.smoothblo...nsumer-preview/

Thanks ill test it on a VM and if ok ill able it to my main machine.

[King Lizzle]

One way I've found to bring back some Start Menu functionality is to create a toolbar in the taskbar which goes to this folder:

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs

As long as you install programs for "All Users" instead of "Just Me" you'll have a menu which basically acts like the All Programs section of the traditional Start Menu.

[Ice_Blue]

Change the Metro background colour:

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Accent

Change ColorSet_Version1 to any value from 0-15 and log off/on to see the changes.

I haven't figured out how to do this from the UI.

[Michael Graham]

Not sure if this has been mentioned.

I removed a hard drive from one PC to another. Totally different hardware. Windows 8 Discovered this and cleverly rebuilt itself quickly and booted me into windows as if nothing had changed. Nice job MS !!!

[WizardCM]

Change the Metro background colour:

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Accent

Change ColorSet_Version1 to any value from 0-15 and log off/on to see the changes.

I haven't figured out how to do this from the UI.

Easy:

Charms -> Settings -> More PC Settings -> Personalise -> Start screen -> Change Background Colour (at the bottom)

[Grinch]

Easy:

Charms -> Settings -> More PC Settings -> Personalise -> Start screen -> Change Background Colour (at the bottom)

I'm still waiting to be able to change the accent color. :|

[WizardCM]

I'm still waiting to be able to change the accent color. :|

Oh, you mean tile colour? That it's in the registry but not in the control panel is VERY interesting... nice spotting.

[revanmj]

Windows 8 is move to Charms>>Click Power>>Click Shutdown

You forgot something, actually it is:

Move to Charms >> Click Settings >> Click Power >> Click Shutdown

[V23]

You forgot something, actually it is:

Move to Charms >> Click Settings >> Click Power >> Click Shutdown

You can just use the shortcut "Windows key + I" >> Power >> Shutdown

Has anyone worked out how to decrease the delay for aero peek?

[Another Canuck]

You can just use the shortcut "Windows key + I" >> Power >> Shutdown

Has anyone worked out how to decrease the delay for aero peek?

People seriously need to stop posting keyboard shortcuts as acceptable workarounds.

There's a million ways to shut down a Windows 8 PC, but the fact remains that the most common method (using your mouse to access the power menu) has been significantly hampered. What used to take two swift motions and two clicks now takes 4 complex motions, 3 clicks and incurs a delay while waiting for the Charms menu to open.

Until touch screens take over, the mouse is still the primary way users interact with their PCs. Joe User isn't going to memorize all these keyboard shortcuts, nor should they have to.

[Muhammad Farrukh]

Just as someone posted before, that if you move the cursor in a rhythmic manner around the bottom right corner, you can get charms bar, same goes for the multi-tasking tab on the upper right (Y)

[V23]

People seriously need to stop posting keyboard shortcuts as acceptable workarounds.

They're not "workarounds", they're shortcuts. The other way of shutting down (using mouse gesture to bring up the charms bar) is perfectly fine, but there are keyboard shortcuts which power users can use to expedite the process.