Contents The Start Menu... 2 Personalize the Start Menu... 4 Power Tools... 5 Pin and unpin tiles Resize and move tiles...

Transcription

1 Contents The Start Menu... 2 Personalize the Start Menu... 4 Power Tools... 5 Pin and unpin tiles Resize and move tiles Edit the tile sections Desktop Mode Training Cortana Now that it is set up, What can Cortana Actually do Multi-Tasking Snap Assist Revamped Taskbar The Action Centre Microsoft Edge Search faster from the address bar Write on the web Take your reading with you Read with fewer distractions Make Google your default search engine Windows 10 Keyboard Shortcuts A new look for settings Personalize your lock screen Get started with themes Change desktop background and colors Take action instantly Notifications at a glance OneDrive on your PC Back up and restore your files Make your PC easier to use Fixing Windows 10's privacy problems... 31

2 What s New in Windows 10 The Start Menu As welcome as the return of the Start button in Windows 8.1, Windows 10 brings back the Start menu with a nice Modern UI make-over. It is a hybrid of the old Windows 7 start menu and the Windows 8 start screen in a new skin, with tiles to access apps and a search bar. The menu takes up substantial screen space when you expand the sub-menus. The tiles update in real time so if you missed that about the Start Screen you won t have to live without it. Click the Start button after Windows appears, and you'll see the new Start menu with its hybrid approach. On the left, the familiar menu column appears with shortcuts to your applications and settings. On the right, a screen full of tiles to Windows apps displays so ~ 2 ~

3 you can access key Windows apps right from the menu. If you prefer to have the minimized version of the start screen instead of the full screen menu, you can. Go to the Action Centre which is the icon on the bottom right of the taskbar beside the date & time. Select All Settings, then Start. Turn Use Start Full Screen off. You will now have a minimized start menu. Click the All Apps setting on the left, and Windows displays all of the apps installed on your PC. Click any shortcut on the left to open that particular app or setting. Click any tile on the right to open a specific Windows app, such as Mail, Calendar, or News. Need to search for an app, file or other item? Simply type your word or phrase in the search field, and a list of suggestions pops up. ~ 3 ~

4 Want to shut down or restart Windows? Click the Power button at the bottom of the left column, and Windows will at the very least display options to Shut down and Restart. Want to lock your PC or sign out of your account? Right-click your account name at the top of the menu, and you'll see a menu with three options: Change account picture, lock and sign out. Personalize the Start Menu OK, now let's say you want to change or personalize some aspects of the Start menu. Here's where your right mouse button comes into play. For example, you want to add your Games as a tile on the right side of the menu. Right-click the link for Games click Pin to Start. A tile for Games appears on the right. Maybe you want to add Games to the taskbar instead. Right-click the link for Games and click Pin to Taskbar. Now let's say you want to manage certain apps. Click the All Apps setting. Right-click any app, and you'll typically see four options: Open, Uninstall, Pin to Start (or Unpin from Start if the app is already set up as a tile), and Pin to taskbar (or Unpin from taskbar if the app is already there). Simply click the option you want. If you want to manage the tiles that appear on the right side of the menu. Right-click a specific tile, and a menu pops up with certain choices: Unpin from Start, Pin to taskbar, and Resize. Most apps will also have an Uninstall option. An app that can appear as a Live tile will also have one of two choices: either turn Live tile on or turn Live tile off, depending on the current setting. Again, simply click the option you want. By customizing the left column and the right column, you can easily control how much you want to stick with the standard Start menu and how much you want to tap into the tiled Start screen portion. ~ 4 ~

5 Power Tools Right-clicking on Start brings up a small menu of power tools that you ve probably typed into the search box a hundred times: device manager, disk management, network connections, control panel... pretty much every system tool you need is available right here. Make use of it! You can also access it with WINKEY & X Here, you will find the following options: Programs and Features. This control panel is used to remove installed desktop applications, view installed Windows updates, and turn optional Windows features on and off. Power Options. This control panel lets you set and configure power management plans. ~ 5 ~

6 Event Viewer. This MMC interface dates back to the earliest days of Windows NT, and looks like it. But it can be very useful for troubleshooting Blue Screens and less dangerous system events. System. The System control panel provides basic information about your PC and, more important, access to numerous other tools and features, including performance, boot, system protection, and remote capabilities in Advanced system settings. ~ 6 ~

7 Device Manager. Another old-school too, Device Manager has at least gotten a small visual refresh in Windows 10. But this MMC interface is no less useful than ever, and is the go-to place to ensure that all of your hardware devices are properly outfitted with working drivers. (Speaking of which, getting drivers working is a great idea for a future tip.) ~ 7 ~

8 Network connections. The control panel interface for managing the networking devices in your PC. Disk management. This ancient utility is still very useful as well, and lets you manage the disks attached to your PC as well as the partitions they contain. ~ 8 ~

9 Computer Management. Itself a collection of useful PC management tools, Computer Management ties together NT-era solutions like Task Scheduler, Local Users and Groups (no longer useful, really), Performance Monitor, Services, and more into a single MMC shell. Command Prompt and Command Prompt (Admin). Because some things are still only possible with a command line interface, even in Task Manager. This interface has improved dramatically since Windows 7 and provides access to very useful tools like Startup Apps, Performance, and App Usage History in addition to task management. ~ 9 ~

10 Control Panel. We used to manage many aspects of our PCs with Control Panel. As it turns out, Control Panel still includes a number of system options that are still not available elsewhere. So it sticks around, and you ll find you will occasionally need it. ~ 10 ~

11 File Explorer. A bit more necessary in Windows 8 days, File Explorer is now easily accessible from all over Windows 10 ( just type WINKEY + E), but it remains in the Quick Access menu regardless. Search. Ditto for Search, which invokes Cortana on compatible machines now. Run. In the days before Start Search, the Run dialog (try WINKEY + R) was a neat little secret in Windows that was made only slightly less valuable by the fact that you needed to know an application s process name (e.g. regedit for the Registry Editor) to run it from here. Shut Down or Sign Out. This item provides a list of whatever power management options are available on your PC. Plus Sign Out. Desktop. This option triggers the Show Desktop command (or WINKEY + D), which minimizes all open applications and windows so you can access the desktop. ~ 11 ~

12 Pin and unpin tiles To pin an app to the Start menu as a tile, find the app in the Start menu, right-click on it, and click Pin to Start, or drag it and drop it into the tile section of the Start menu. To unpin a tile from the Start menu, right-click on the tile and click Unpin from Start. You cannot yet pin websites or files to the Start menu by dragging and dropping them, though a "Pin to Start menu" tooltip does pop up if you drag a website or a file over the Windows button. Resize and move tiles Switching up your tiles in Windows 10 is like switching them up in Windows 8. To resize a tile, right-click on it and hover over Resize until the size menu pops up. Depending on the tile, you'll be able to choose small, medium, wide or large. To move a tile, click it, hold it and drag it to another part of the Start menu. ~ 12 ~

13 Edit the tile sections In Windows 10, like in Windows 8, you can divide your live tiles into different categories. To create a new category, click a tile, hold it, and drag it to the bottom of the Start menu until a black bar shows up. Drop the tile below the black bar and your tile will end up in its own little section. Click the area above the tile (where you saw the black bar), and a white outline will appear. Start typing in this box to name your category. To rename a category, click a category name to highlight it, then start typing to edit it. You cannot pin items to the left side of the start menu. you can however, remove items from the Most used list. To do this, right-click on the item you want to remove and click Don't show in this list. To keep recent items from appearing, go to Settings > Personalization > Start and turn off Store and display recently opened items in Start and the taskbar. Desktop Mode The Desktop is the center of the Windows universe, again After being relegated to the background, Microsoft has made the Desktop the default screen when you boot up the PC. You'll see your favorite wallpaper, app shortcuts, the Start menu button at the bottom left corner with the taskbar placed at the bottom of the screen. A new addition here is the Search box, which shows up next to the Start menu button if enabled. It's a universal search box that lets you search for the term across the web in addition to your PC. It's also similar to Apple's Spotlight search feature offering some extra functionality. For instance, you can do calculations, currency and unit conversions, among others inside the search box. ~ 13 ~

14 It's also integrated with Cortana, Microsoft's voice-based personal assistant that offers contextual information and lets you organize and plan your day in addition to voice-based search. I found it to be pretty accurate in terms of recognizing my voice and offering answers to questions. It also displays cards for weather and trending news stories when you click on the Search box. You can choose to have the search box show or if you d prefer you can have just an icon or hidden altogether. Right click on the task bar click on Cortana and choose your option. If you choose to have it hidden, just say Hey Cortana and it will pop up. or Try it Click the microphone next to the search box and say clearly how many days in 50 years. It will give you a written and verbal answer. She will even tell you a joke if asked. Even without Cortana, the Search box is a much needed relief from the complicated charmsbased search feature of Windows 8/8.1 and I find myself using the feature frequently. It's convenient and makes search less cumbersome. The downside is that you re limited to using Bing to search the web. Training Cortana To get the most out of Cortana, you need to tell her about your interests. The first time you click the search area in the Windows 10 taskbar, Cortana will pop up and ask for a few basic permissions voice and digital inking recognition, access to your location data, et cetera as well as the name you d like her to call you. Answer each as you see fit, though be ~ 14 ~

15 warned: Cortana s at her best when you give Microsoft more of your information, much in the same way Google Now is most useful when you re tapping into Google s full range of services. The basic setup shouldn t even take a minute. After that, you can fine-tune Cortana s knowledge of you or slap blinders over Microsoft s eyes via Cortana s Notebook. Open Cortana, click the hamburger menu icon (three stacked horizontal lines) in the left-hand column, and select Notebook. From there, you ll see a slew of submenus. About me you ll find options to change what Cortana calls you, as well as set specific favorite locations. When you create a new favorite location, you search for the address, then give it a nickname and optionally identify it as Home or Work. Afterward, Cortana associates that address with that nickname/identifier when you re asking for directions, setting reminders, etc. Connected accounts lets you tie Cortana into third-party services currently just Office 365. Settings is where you control how Cortana behaves. Here, you can disable Cortana completely, enable/disable Bing Safe Search filtering, allow her to listen for you to say Hey Cortana to hop into action, decide whether to allow her to look for tracking information (for flights, packages, hotel reservations, etc.) in the other Microsoft services you use, and manage the data Cortana and Microsoft store about you in the cloud. Eat & drink lets you tweak whether Cortana pops cards with restaurant recommendations, complete with options for notification frequency, restaurant atmosphere, cuisine, price, travel distance, and more. Events has Cortana pop up suggestions for local events occurring nearby. Be sure to add event categories so Cortana knows what types of outings you re interested in! The Events settings in Cortana s Notebook. Finance tells Cortana to track specific stocks of your choosing. Getting around fine-tunes Cortana s traffic handling and reminders. By default, notifications for calendar events and traffic conditions around your favorite locations are enabled, but Cortana won t tell you when it s time to split for work (or home, from work) unless you opt into it. Movies & TV has Cortana pop up cards predicting the winners of big award shows, show times for local movie theaters, and trailers for new movies. You can choose whether you want to see each type of card. Music allows Cortana to toss up cards with music recommendations for popular music from the top of the Billboard charts. I already have Spotify for that, so I personally disable this entire category. News lets you tweak the news articles Cortana surfaces when you open her interface. The settings cover whether you want to see cards for local, headline, and popular news but it s ~ 15 ~

16 most important to manually add news topics and categories you want to track, to tell Cortana to surface information about those interests specifically. Something especially cool (and kind of creepy): Even if you don t manually fill those out, Cortana can intelligently learn your preferred news interests over time. Sports tells Cortana whether to surface score updates and highlights. You can manually identify your favorite teams to tailor the notifications to your specific interests. (Go Bucs!) Travel handles how you see details about planned trips, such as up-to-date flight status, notifications for the best time to head out to the airport, whether where you re heading, et cetera. Weather provides weather details and alerts for your home, cities of your choosing, or nearby your current location Now that it is set up, What can Cortana Actually do Searching Most crucially, Cortana handles all search functions for the operating system and she has a few tricks up her sleeve. First of all, Cortana doesn t only search your local files and system settings, but also the web, the Windows Store, and any files stored in the OneDrive cloud storage associated with your Microsoft Account. Finding your personal files about a topic takes a few extra clicks, however. Searching for something basic like Windows 10 shows Bing search findings by default even if you have a ton of pictures and documents about Windows 10. You ll need to click on the My stuff button at the bottom of Cortana s search suggestions which unfortunately can t be set as a default to scour your local files. Unless you take advantage of Cortana s awesome natural language search support, that is. Cortana commands you issue in natural language, so saying Find pictures from June or Find documents about Windows 10 will immediately scan your files for matching results. You can even get fancy, mixing and matching modifiers with searches like Find documents about Windows 10 from June. Reminders Cortana can also schedule reminders for you, tied not just to specific times but also specific locations (pulled from the Maps app) and contacts (pulled from the People app). When you tie a reminder to a location, it ll appear the next time you visit the place, while contact-based reminders kick in the next time you communicate with the person. You can set reminders two ways: By opening Cortana and clicking the light bulb Reminder icon in the left-hand pane, or by once again using natural language commands starting with Remind me to... ~ 16 ~

17 For example, you could say Remind me to call Mom Friday at 5 or Remind me to get my keys when I m home and Cortana will intelligently handle the dirty work, asking you to verify that the details are correct. If you say something like Remind me to pick up eggs at the supermarket, Cortana will locate the nearest one and ask if that s the location you re asking about, allowing you to tweak it if not. Cortana doesn t handle people-based reminders very well with natural language. Saying Remind me to tell Jennifer about eggs results in a reminder with Tell Jennifer about eggs as the status, and nobody filled in as the contact. Need to wake up? Cortana can set proper alarms with commands like Set an alarm for... and Wake me up in 30 minutes, too. Notifications and cards Cortana pulls information from your various connected accounts to pop up notifications from time to time. If you have a meeting or event scheduled that day, for example, it ll appear at the top of the at a glance card interface that appears whenever you open Cortana. (Cortana can also theoretically tell you when it s the best time to leave for a scheduled event based on traffic conditions, but I ve yet to see that work in practice.) Edge browser integration Cortana s also baked into Windows 10 s new Edge browser. When you visit certain websites or search for certain topics, a small blue Cortana logo in the browser bar will pulsate, letting you know that Cortana has additional details. Select it and the assistant will pop in via a right-side pane, with supplemental information like travel distance to the location you re looking at, Yelp reviews, and photos of the place. Unfortunately, you can never tell when you will see the icon. Identify and play music If you want to know the name of the tune that s playing right now, either say Find song or ask Cortana What is this song? She ll listen for a minute, then spit out the answer. Alternatively, Cortana can kick off your playlists by using commands like Play music, play all artists, play all albums, et cetera, though only play music seems to work consistently right now. You can also tell Cortana to play the next track or the previous track, to pause or resume the jams, or shuffle the songs you re listening to. Open things You can tell Cortana to Open <program name> and she will. Show me the weather will cause the weather forecast to appear in Cortana s interface. ~ 17 ~

18 Fun stuff Cortana will also goof around with you if you re feeling playful. You can coax Cortana into answering a wide range of fun prompts. Try these ones to start. Be sure to select the Lets chat rather than the Search the web option in the results to see her answers, and most of these have more than one answer if you ask repeatedly. Tell me a joke Surprise me Sing me a song What does Cortana mean? Who is your creator? What do you think of Siri? Who is your daddy? Do you know Clippy? Multi-Tasking The old Windows + Tab key does the same thing in Windows 10 that it did in previous version but with a new layout. Instead of panning through open windows one by one, you can see them laid out side by side and select which one you want to switch to. The dedicated multi-tasking button is meant to make it easier for tablet users to switch between apps. ~ 18 ~

19 Snap Assist Snap was a hugely popular feature when it was introduced making windows really easy to manage. In Windows 10, we have Snap Assist to make snapping and stacking windows easier. Windows can be snapped to half the screen size or to just a quarter part of the screen. When you snap a window, other open windows appear as floating thumbnails so you can easily switch to them. Snap was a great feature and Windows 10 has improved it quite well while still making sure it is functional. Revamped Taskbar This is a feature that benefits tablet users mostly; the icons are bigger and two new ones for opening the multi-tasking screen as well as search have been added. The Windows Explorer icon has also been redesigned. Windows Explorer and the Store tab have been added to the ribbon. ~ 19 ~

20 The Action Centre The Action Centre is a hidden panel that can be displayed by clicking on a message bubble in the bottom right on the task bar. It displays notifications for unread s, toggles for commonly used settings such as battery saver, tablet mode etc. It s the easiest way to get to settings mode. Microsoft Edge Microsoft Edge gives you new ways to find stuff, read and write on the web. To get going, select Microsoft Edge on the taskbar. Think of the Hub as the place where Microsoft Edge keeps the things you collect on the web. Select Hub to view your favorites, reading list, browsing history, and current downloads. And when you sign in with a Microsoft account, your favorites and reading list are available across all your Windows 10 devices. Search faster from the address bar No need to go to a website to search for pictures of adorable penguins. Stay put and save time by typing your search in the handy address bar. You ll get search suggestions, instant results from the web, and your browsing history, right on the spot. ~ 20 ~

21 Write on the web Microsoft Edge is the only browser that lets you take notes, write, doodle, and highlight directly on webpages. Then you can save and share your handiwork in all the usual ways. Make notes on recipes, send your partner "subtle hints" about birthday gifts, or just draw mustaches on celebrities the web is your canvas. Select Make a web note to start adding to the page you're on. Use the Pen to write with your touchscreen or mouse, Highlight, or Type Share it. a note and then 1. Pen 2. Highlighter 3. Eraser 4. Add a typed note 5. Clip Take your reading with you Reading list in Microsoft Edge gives you a place to save articles or other content you want to read later on the bus, over the weekend whenever you like. You'll see your reading list on all your Windows 10 devices when you sign in with a Microsoft account. In Microsoft Edge, just select Add to favorites or reading list > Reading list > Add. When you re ready to read, select Hub > Reading list. ~ 21 ~

22 Read with fewer distractions For a clean and simple layout, select Reading view in the address bar to bring whatever you're reading front and center. You can even change the reading view style and font size to suit your mood select More > Settings. When you are browsing in Edge select text you would like more information about, right click and click Ask Cortana. ~ 22 ~

23 Make Google your default search engine Not everyone loves Bing. If you want Google as your default search Engine follow these steps. Note Cortana still uses Bing. Step 1: Visit Google.com Step 2: In the upper right corner, select More Actions. Click Settings. Step 3: Scroll down to "Advanced Settings. Click View Advanced Settings. Step 4: Scroll down to Search in the address bar with. Open the dropdown menu and select <Add New> Step 5: Select Google and click Add as default. You re done! Windows 10 Keyboard Shortcuts Snapping window: Windows key + Left or Right (Can be used with UP or DOWN to get into quadrants.)" Quadrants is the new Snap view mode that pins apps to the four quarters of the screen. Switch to recent window: Alt + Tab : "Hold shows new Task View window view, let go and switches to app." Task view: Windows + Tab "New Task view opens up and stays open." A new look for settings Settings got a makeover and dropped "PC" from its name. ~ 23 ~

24 Get to Settings by selecting the Start button, and then selecting Settings. From there, browse the categories or use search to find what you're looking for, including advanced options in Control Panel. Most apps have their own settings look for this icon in the app Personalize your lock screen To tweak your lock screen to your liking, select the Start button, then select Settings > Personalization > Lock screen. Try changing the background to a favorite photo or slide show, or choose any combination of detailed and quick status notifications to show you upcoming calendar events, social network updates, and other app and system notifications. Get started with themes Select the Start button, then select Settings > Personalization > Themes > Theme settings. Then choose from a default theme, or select Get more themes online to download new themes featuring cute critters, holiday cheer, and other smile-inducing options. ~ 24 ~

25 Change desktop background and colors Select the Start button, then select Settings > Personalization to choose a picture worthy of gracing your desktop background, and to change the accent color for Start, the taskbar, and other items. The preview window gives you a sneak peek of your changes as you make them. In Background, select a picture, solid color, or create a slide show of pictures. In Colors, let Windows pull an accent color from your background, or choose your own color adventure. ~ 25 ~

26 Take action instantly Action center puts important notifications from Windows and your apps right on the taskbar, along with quick actions, which get you to your most-used settings and apps instantly. To see your notifications and quick actions, select the action center icon on the taskbar. (You can also press Windows logo key +A.) Notifications at a glance When a notification appears on your desktop or when you view it in action center, expand it to read more or take action like replying to an without having to open the related app. Don't want to take any action? Clear the notification by selecting and dragging it off screen to the right, or by selecting the close button. ~ 26 ~

27 Quick actions take you right to (or turn on or off) the settings and apps you're likely to use often, from Bluetooth to brightness. When you open action center you'll see all your available quick actions. Collapse them to see only your top four picks. OneDrive on your PC OneDrive is free online storage that comes with your Microsoft account. Save your files there and you ll be able to get to them from any PC, tablet, or phone. ~ 27 ~

28 The basics To save a doc you re working on to OneDrive, select a OneDrive folder from the list of save locations. To move files to OneDrive, open File Explorer and then drag them into a OneDrive folder. No Internet? No problem. Files you save to OneDrive are available online at OneDrive.com and offline on your PC. That means you can use them anytime, even when you re not connected to the Internet. When you reconnect, OneDrive updates the online versions with changes you made offline. Back up and restore your files It's always good to have a backup. Keep copies of your files on another drive in case something happens to the originals. Set up your backup Select the Start button, then select Settings > Update & security > Backup > Add a drive and choose an external drive or network location for your backups. ~ 28 ~

29 All set. Every day, we ll back up everything in your user folder (C:\Users\username). To change which files get backed up or how often backups happen, go to More options. Restore your files If you re missing an important file or folder, here s how to get it back: 1. Search for Restore files from the taskbar and select Restore your files with File History. 2. Look for the file you need and then use the arrows to see all its versions. 3. When you find the version you want, select the Restore button to save it in its original location. To save it in a different place, right-click (or press and hold) the Restore button, select Restore to, and then choose a new location. Make your PC easier to use Setting up your PC to make it more accessible takes only a few steps. Most Ease of Access options are available in Settings. Select the Start button, then select Settings > Ease of Access. Commonly used options are also available from the sign-in screen. Select the Ease of Access button in the lower-right corner to see them. ~ 29 ~

30 Ease of Access options can help make it easier to: Use your PC without a display. Narrator lets you hear audio descriptions for elements on the screen, like text and buttons. See what's on the screen. Make the content on your screen bigger using Magnifier, or use high contrast mode. Use your keyboard. Turn on Sticky Keys, Toggle Keys, Filter Keys, or the On-Screen Keyboard. Use your mouse. Change the pointer size, or turn on Mouse Keys to use your keypad to move the mouse. ~ 30 ~

31 Fixing Windows 10's privacy problems It s Cortana s job to follow you around and offer helpful suggestions on what you re doing but there s a fine line between being helpful and being invasive. If you want to get Cortana off your case, go to Cortana and click the notebook icon on the left. Go to settings and turn off Cortana giving you suggestions and ideas. To change the Windows Privacy settings, click the Windows icon in the task bar, go to settings and you will find Privacy Settings. Look at these settings. Did you know that Windows 10 can actually log your keystrokes? Yikes! Look at the third option Send Microsoft info about how I write Turn that one off. Then there s Ad Tracking. You start getting ads based on what web sites you have been browsing. Back in Privacy Settings turn off the first one Let aps use my advertising ID File sharing is turned on by default and is set to share updates with your network or potentially anyone on the internet. Go to settings, Update & Security. Click Advanced Options then click Choose how updates are delivered. If you have your own Network, choose PC s on my Local Network. Otherwise just turn it off. Finally, open your browser and go to choice.microsoft.com In the boxes on the right turn them off. If you use multiple Browsers (Edge, Explorer, Chrome etc.) you have to do this in each one. ~ 31 ~