Surface Pro 3 & Surface 3

Getting Started with your Surface Pro 3 & Surface 3 Tablet A QUICK START GUIDE FROM LOVEMYSURFACE.NET Version 3.2: July 2015 0 P a g e

Introduction If you just got a new Surface 3 or Surface Pro 3 tablet and you want to start using it but you don t want to read the 100+ page User Guide from Microsoft then this is the quick-start guide for you. This simple 24-page guide will get you up and running as quickly as possible on your new Surface tablet. We re going to use a no-nonsense format with many pictures to make it as easy as possible. We will start with showing you what all of the buttons and ports are for then we ll move into setting up your Surface, using gestures for the touch screen, and using the Surface pro 3 pen. After that, we ll go over the Modern interface and how to use it. Next, we will help you get your Surface setup with some basic necessities, such as setting up your email, setting a PIN or picture password to keep other people out of your business, and backups to keep your data safe. If you are looking for something more in-depth than this quick-start guide, feel free to search through our posts on the Love My Surface website where we have a ton of information available that goes into much more detail and depth on different Surface tablet topics. Tim and Joanna 1 P a g e

Table of Contents Setup Your New Surface Tablet... 4 Ports and Features... 4 Surface 2 or Pro 3 Setup... 5 Install the Battery in the Pen... 6 Attach the Keyboard Cover... 6 Connect the Power Supply... 6 Ensure you Have WiFi Available... 7 Press the Power Button to Begin the Setup... 7 Gestures & Pen Input... 8 Using Touch (Gestures)... 8 Using Your Surface Pen... 9 Getting Acquainted with Windows 8.1... 11 Modern Interface... 11 How to do Some Common Things in the Modern Interface... 12 Change the size of a tile... 12 Make and name a tile group... 12 Move a tile between groups... 12 See all installed program icons... 13 Pin a tile to the Start Screen... 14 Show the Charms Menu... 14 Switch between running apps... 14 Close an App... 14 Access an application s menu(s)... 14 Uninstall an application... 14 Split-screen multitasking... 15 Classic Desktop... 15 Install Applications... 17 Windows Store... 17 Legacy Installs... 17 Setup a Picture Password or PIN... 17 2 P a g e

Setup a Picture Password... 18 Setup a PIN... 18 Backup your Surface... 19 Backup my Surface with File History... 19 Setup File History Backups (USB Drive)... 20 Setup File History Backups (Network Drive)... 20 Restoring your files... 20 Summary... 22 Appendix A: Surface Pro 3 Type Cover... 23 Important Keys... 23 Care and Maintenance... 24 3 P a g e

Setup Your New Surface Tablet This section will cover getting your Surface ready when it comes out of the box. We ll be covering only the essential information to get you up and running as quickly as possible. Ports and Features First, let s go over the physical hardware for your new Surface Pro 3 (SP3) and Surface 3. The pictures below will show you the ports, controls, and cameras that you need to familiarize yourself with, to use your Surface tablet. Below is the diagram for the Surface Pro 3: As this is a quick-setup guide, I have not included any technical information about the features or ports on the SP3. If you are curious, that information is readily available from the Microsoft website. 4 P a g e

Below is a similar diagram for the Surface 3: Again, as this is a quick-setup guide, I have not included any technical information about the features or ports on the Surface 3. If you are curious, that information is readily available from the Microsoft website. 5 P a g e

Surface 3 & Pro 3 Setup Now that you re familiar with the buttons and ports on your new Surface, let s quickly setup your hardware to run the setup wizard. The setup wizard is designed to help guide you through most of the setup process but there are five things you need to do to ensure it will run smoothly. Here they are in order: 1: Install the Battery in the Pen (If Applicable) You must install the battery in the pen before you turn on the Surface Pro 3 for the first time to ensure the First-Time Setup Wizard (or just setup wizard) will detect it when it runs. To do so, follow these instructions Unscrew the top of the pen from the bottom. Insert the battery, with the positive (+) end toward the writing tip. Screw the top back on. If you are setting up a Surface 3, this is not as critical as the setup wizard on it does not assume you have a Surface Pen (which is sold separately). As a result, you will need to manually pair the Surface pen to your Surface 3 after it is configured. 2: Attach the Keyboard Cover Attach the keyboard cover (if you have one) to ensure the required drivers are installed during the first-time setup. It is also handy to have attached to enter things like passwords, which will be required during the setup wizard. 3: Connect the Power Supply Ensure the power supply is plugged into AC power and properly attached to the Surface. If connected correctly in either model, there is a white LED light that will illuminate to let you know the Surface is charging. 6 P a g e

4: Ensure you Have WiFi Available The setup wizard will not be able to fully configure your Surface, if it cannot find a network connection. It is easiest to do the setup if you have an open network (one without a password) available for use; however, you can use a WiFi network requiring a password if an open one is not available. 5: Press the Power Button to Begin the Setup Now you are ready to begin the setup wizard. Press the power button on the top left of the Surface and follow the instructions provided on screen. This process can take a while to complete and will require you to enter some information, such as a name for the computer and a user account. You may want to decide on those things before starting the setup wizard. 7 P a g e

Gestures & Pen Input Now that you have started your Surface and have an account, it is time to familiarize yourself with the basics of how to interact with Windows using touch and the pen. Using Touch (Gestures) Windows 8.1 was designed assuming that most people will be using a touch screen device like a Surface. To accommodate touch screens, Windows uses gestures. Gestures are really just simple motions you make with your finger(s) while touching the screen. While there are more, the five gestures below will allow you to do most things and should be the ones you master first. 8 P a g e

Keep in mind that gestures are contextual which means that they may do different things depending on when or where you use them. Keep that in mind as you play with your Surface. Using Your Surface Pen Using the Surface Pen can be a bit confusing if you haven t tried it before. Before we get into how to use the pen, let s go over some situations when you might want to use it instead of touch. In general, the pen tends to work better than touch in the following situations: Writing notes by hand Drawing Marking up documents Taking signatures (like digital ink) Writing math formulas To make the pen easier to use, Microsoft included a few features that really improve the user experience, like: Palm Blocking: Your Surface is smart enough to know when you are holding the pen and it will ignore your palm resting on the screen when the pen is near. This means that you can write/draw on the screen of the Surface like you would on a piece of paper! Pressure Sensitivity: Your Surface can tell how hard you re pushing on the stylus and differing degrees of pressure may have different results (depending on the application you re using). For example, Fresh Paint is a really cool drawing application that takes full advantage of the stylus. Unfortunately, not every application supports pressure sensitivity but the ones that do, are much better for it. Next, let s get into the basics of using your Surface pen. The pen has a writing tip, two buttons and, an end button. You can see those parts listed in the picture below. There are many applications that let you use the pen in different ways (like Fresh Paint, mentioned above) but in general, the Surface pen simply acts much like a mouse. 9 P a g e

To that end, below is a list of common mouse actions and how you would use the stylus to make them on your Surface tablet: Left Click: Tap a shortcut with the Pen tip Right Click: Tap and hold OR Press the Right-Click Button then Tap Mouse Over: Hover the tip of the stylus about 1/4 (or about 6mm) above the screen Or as a finger in the Modern interface: Tap: Tap on a tile with the Pen tip Tap and Hold: You can tap and hold using the pen tip OR you can hold the right-click button down as you touch the screen with the pen tip. Now that you have a good grounding on interacting with your Surface let s move onto getting more acquainted and using Windows 8.1 on your Surface tablet. 10 P a g e

Getting Acquainted with Windows 8.1 The Modern (formerly called Metro) interface is quite a bit different than what you would see in previous versions of Windows but there is a more traditional Desktop interface included in Windows 8.1 that you can access with just a tap. We ll briefly go over some of the things you ll need to learn, in order to use your new Surface effectively. Modern Interface This is the interface for Windows 8.1. It is called a tile based interface and is optimized for touch screen devices like the Surface. The screen you ll see most often is known as the Start Screen. It s where you ll select and run applications most frequently. It has the following features you ll need to be familiar with. The Modern Start Screen looks like the picture below. 11 P a g e

Tiles: Tiles are the multi-colored squares or rectangles all over the Start Screen. They are the new version of program shortcuts. To start an application, you just need to tap on a tile. You ll probably notice that some of them are animated. These are called Live Tiles and are usually used to display dynamic information like the time or the latest email message to hit your queue. Tile Groups: Notice how the tiles are divided into groups? Those are referred to as tile groups. They allow you to easily organize your tiles. Charms and the Charm Menu: The Charm Menu is used to access the Charms and is usually hidden off-screen. Charms are different than the other tiles and icons as they allow you to access program options or tools such as search or computer settings. Think of it like the Control Panel in previous versions of Windows. Power and Search: You can easily access the search and power functions from the respective icons on the Start Screen. This was added with Windows 8.1 and is a marked improvement over Windows 8.0 for convenience. All Apps Icon: You can tap this icon to see a sortable list of all applications installed on your Surface and not just the ones pinned to the Start Screen. How to do Some Common Things in the Modern Interface Below we ll cover how to do some common things in the Modern interface. This is not a complete list of everything you can do but it covers the basics you ll need to start using your Surface quickly. Change the size of a tile To change the size of a tile, select it with a tap and hold. You ll get a menu at the bottom of the screen. Choose Resize and you ll be given a list of sizes to select from. Different tiles will have preset size selections so don t be surprised if some tiles won t let you make them the size you would like. Make and name a tile group There are a few ways to make a new tile group but the easiest is to tap and hold a tile you want to be in a new group then drag it between two of the existing tile groups. A grey bar will appear when you do so. Let go of the tile and a new group will be created. To name it, simply tap the title at the top of the group. Move a tile between groups Select the tile you want to move with a tap and hold then drag it to the new group. You can place it where you want in the new group - the existing tiles will shuffle around to accommodate it. 12 P a g e

See all installed program icons You probably noticed that you don t see tiles for all of your installed programs. This is because the home screen only shows tiles you specifically tell it to show. Think of it like the bookmarks bar in your web browser. To see all of your installed applications, just tap the All Apps icon in the lower left of the Start Screen. Alternatively, you can scroll down (with a slide gesture) anywhere on the Start screen to see the same list. Once there, you may need to scroll left or right to see all of the install applications. To return to the Start Screen, press the Windows Button on the Bezel of your Surface. 13 P a g e

Pin a tile to the Start Screen If you want to pin a tile to the Start screen, simply select it with a tap and hold. When the menu appears at the bottom of the screen, tap the Pin to Start icon. Once it s pinned, you can go back and put it in a Tile group. It will be in a new tile group all the way to the right. You may need to scroll your screen to see it. You can unpin a tile by doing the same thing and selecting Unpin from Start instead. Show the Charms Menu To access the Charms Menu, simply swipe in from the right side of the screen. You ll find that you ll need to actually start your swipe from slightly off the right side of the screen. Switch between running apps To switch between running apps, simply scroll left or right. It will let you scroll through all the applications you have running. Close an App To close an open application, simply slide from the top of the screen to the bottom in one motion. Access an application s menu(s) Applications often have their own menu(s) for things like options or settings. To access a running application s menu, simply swipe in from the bottom of the screen. On occasion, an application will have additional menus that you can access by swiping in from the top or right side of the screen. You can see the Mail application s menu in the picture below. Uninstall an application To uninstall an application, select its tile with a tap and hold. You ll get a menu at the bottom of the screen. Choose Uninstall. The application may switch to desktop mode to uninstall depending of whether or not it s a Modern or Legacy application. 14 P a g e

Split-screen multitasking To show two applications on screen at the same time, simply start swiping the application down (as if you were going to close it) until it detaches then scroll left or right slowly. A vertical bar will appear. When it does, let go. You can move the vertical bar by dragging it left or right. This will make the application stretch to use more of the screen on one side while the application on the other side will use less. Sometimes, an application will bring up a split-screen on its own. For example, when you open a PDF attachment in the Mail app. It will automatically split the screen and show the PDF side by side with the Mail app. Classic Desktop Microsoft included the classic desktop from Windows 7. You can access it by clicking on the Desktop tile. Note the new Start Button in the lower left corner. 15 P a g e

The Start button will no longer bring up a menu when you tap on it. Instead, in Windows 8.1, it simply switches you back to the Start Screen. However, you can tap and hold it to bring up a menu with more options, as shown to the right. After a while, you get used to it and probably won t miss how the button used to work in previous versions of Windows. However, if you just can t get used to the new Start button, you can install a 3rd party software to make it look and work more like it did in Windows 7. Our favorite replacement Start button app is from Stardock for about $5 USD and is called Start8. http://www.stardock.com/products/start8/ UPDATE: At the time of this writing, Microsoft has announced that Windows 10 (due out July 29 th 2015) will mark the return of a functional Start button and menu. So, if you can wait, you could consider holding off on the purchase of Start8. 16 P a g e

Install Applications A computer without any applications is not very useful. The Surface 3 or Surface Pro 3 is no exception. So, this section will cover the two mechanisms you will need to know in order to install applications onto your Surface. Windows Store The Windows Store is a virtual marketplace where you can find free and for pay applications that can be easily installed on your Surface. It is very similar in function to the Apple and Google Play stores that you may be familiar with on your smartphone. This is the primary mechanism for getting new Modern applications onto your Surface. To install something from the Windows Store, follow these steps: Click on the Windows Store tile: It s the tile pictured to the right that you ll find on the Start Screen in Modern Mode. You will need to make sure you have a good WiFi connection otherwise you ll get an error when you try to access it Search or Browse for an app to install: The Windows Store has thousands of applications and that number grows every day. Legacy Installs A lot of Windows applications were created before Windows 8.1 was created or the publisher was unable to get their application into the Windows Store. In either case, you will need to do a legacy installation in order to use the application on your Surface 3 or Surface Pro 3. Setup a Picture Password or PIN Microsoft allows you to setup a Picture Password or a 4 digit PIN to simplify logging into your Surface tablet. If you don t know about picture passwords, they re a mechanism to let you draw a pattern on the screen with your finger or Surface pen to act as the password to unlock or log in to your Surface. A PIN is just a 4 digit Personal Identification Number (if you ever wondered what PIN stood for) like you use for your ATM card. Both options are a lot more convenient than typing out a long password but could have some security ramifications because they may be easier to guess than a long password. 17 P a g e

Setup a Picture Password Use this procedure to easily setup a picture password on your Surface tablet. Find a picture that you want to use for your picture password Make sure it s in your Pictures folder on your Surface or in your OneDrive Go to the Charms bar (swipe in from the right side of the screen) Click the Settings charm then select Change PC Settings Select Accounts then Sign-in Options Next select Add under the Picture Password section You will be prompted for your full password, enter it and you ll get a screen with a Choose picture button. Tap it Browse to the picture you want to use and select it Tap the Use this picture button when the How s this look? screen appears Draw your gestures on the screen. You will have to have 3 different gestures Confirm those gestures. If you make a mistake, click Start over to try again Setup a PIN Now let s go over how to setup a PIN instead. It s pretty much the same thing but not quite as many steps. Go to the Charms bar (swipe in from the right side of the screen) Click the Settings charm Select Change PC Settings Select Accounts Select Sign-in Options Tap Add in the PIN section You will be prompted for your password, enter it Next, you ll be asked to enter and confirm a 4-digit PIN number. Do so then tap Finish So now, instead of needing to enter a long password, you ll just have to enter a 4 digit PIN to access your device. It s a lot quicker than entering a long alphanumeric password. If you want, you can have both a picture password and a PIN. You can switch between them via the sign-in options item below the password or PIN fields. If you re using a picture password, you ll have to click the Switch to password button first to see it. 18 P a g e

Backup your Surface If you ve been using computers for any length of time you probably know that you should backup your files. You need to protect your data in case something bad happens. This is especially true with tablet computers (like the Surface) and laptops since they are more likely to be dropped or stolen. In this section, we ll go over what you can do to make sure your data stays safe, even if the worst happens to your Surface. We re going to be using the File History functionality built into your Surface to perform backups of your data because it is simple to set up and works well. Backup my Surface with File History File History is built into Windows 8.1 and can back up your files either manually or automatically depending on how you have it configured. It will, by default, get the files in the following locations: Libraries Contacts Internet Explorer Favorites Desktop Local OneDrive files If your files are lost, damaged, or deleted, you can simply restore them. You can also do what s called a point in time restore where you can get a particular version of a file. This is especially handy if you accidentally changed a file but can t remember exactly when it happened. You can just go back far enough to a day you re sure it was correct. To begin backing up and creating a history of your files, you ll first need to set up File History and select a save location. You have two choices for the save location: External Drive or Network. The External drive option has the advantage of allowing you to take your backups with you anywhere whereas the Network drive option will allow for continuous backups to happen when your network drive is mounted. 19 P a g e

Setup File History Backups (USB Drive) Plug a USB drive into your Surface Swipe in from the right edge of the screen Select Search Enter File History in the search box Select File History from the results Tap Turn On Once you do this, it will automatically start backing up to the USB drive. Simple, huh? Anytime you want to back up your files, just go to the File History screen and tap Run Now with your backup USB drive plugged in. Setup File History Backups (Network Drive) If you want to use a network drive as your backup target, simply skip the plug in a USB drive step in the directions above and you will get this screen when you start File History. At that point, just tap on Use Network Location and browse to the shared drive you want to use as your backup target. Using a network drive has some advantages: You don t have to worry about losing your USB drive with your backups. It will automatically do backups when it can see the network drive. The downside is that you need to have a separate computer (or network share) configured to serve the file share. You can also add multiple locations so that you could have backups on both a USB drive and a Network drive. This is a really good way to ensure maximum protection of your data. To setup multiple locations, simply tap Select Drive from the File History window and browse to the additional location. Restoring your files Knowing how to restore your files is just as important, if not more so, as backing them up. In this section, we ll go over how to restore your files from a File History backup. Plug the USB drive with your backups into your Surface (If you used a network share as your backup location, make sure you can connect to it) Swipe in from the right edge of the screen 20 P a g e

Select Search Enter File History in the search box Tap Settings and select File History Choose Restore Personal Files You will see a screen like the one below. Select the file(s) you wish to restore. You can select the date to restore from by swiping left and right or by using the arrows at the bottom of the screen. You can also use the search box if you can t find the file by browsing Select what you want to restore to its original location, then tap the Restore button. If you want to restore your files to a different location than the original, press and hold the Restore button, tap Restore To, and then choose a different location. Your data should now be safe in the event that your Surface is lost, stolen, or broken. 21 P a g e

Summary We hope that you have found this short quick-start guide helpful in getting started using your Surface tablet quickly and easily. If you followed along, you should now have your Surface configured, backed up, and secured with a Picture password or PIN. In addition, you should have a good handle on the basics for interacting with your Surface using both touch and the pen. As you use your Surface 3 or Surface Pro 3, you ll discover more cool and productive things you can do with it. Over time, as your proficiency increases, you ll start to wonder how you ever lived without it. Finally, remember that you can visit www.lovemysurface.net at any time for more tips and advice on just about anything relating to a Surface tablet. About the Authors Tim was born in a small town in Ohio. He was always fascinated with computers. After attending college for electrical engineering he joined the Army where he worked with microwave and satellite communications systems. Before co-founding JTRTech, he worked at a major university as an IT Director where he met his wonderful wife, Joanna. Joanna was born in Poland and is bi-lingual. Her family immigrated to the United States when she was 15. She is now a US citizen and lives in Puerto Rico with her husband Tim. She, too, was formerly an IT Director and loves all things technology. Tim and Joanna both felt that the Microsoft Surface tablets received unjust reviews from the media early on and so they started Love My Surface to help other Surface owners become more productive. 22 P a g e

Appendix A: Surface 3 and Surface Pro 3 Type Cover Now that your Surface is configured, let s go over the Type Cover and how to use and maintain it properly. The Type Cover, as the name implies, contains a keyboard and acts as a protective cover for the Surface s screen when closed. In addition to those functions, it also features a touchpad and magnetic connectors to allow you to easily attach and detach it from the Surface. When open, the keyboard is attached to the Surface and folded out in front of the tablet. When open the keyboard cover acts very much like any other laptop keyboard and keypad you may have used in the past. When folded behind the tablet, it allows you to use your Surface as a tablet computer without detaching the keyboard. Important Keys Below is a diagram outlining important features on the Type Cover you need to be aware of. NOTE: The Type Cover shown above is for the Surface Pro 3. The Type Cover for the Surface 3 is very similar but slightly smaller. 23 P a g e

Care and Maintenance For the most part, they Type Cover does not need much maintenance. However, there are a few things you should do to keep it in top working condition Avoid spilling liquids on it: This should go without saying but, be careful. If you do accidentally spill something in it, turn it upside down and shake gently so the liquid can work itself out. Next, place it face down on a dry paper towel overnight to allow it to dry out. Wipe it down with a clean cloth: Once a month or so, take some rubbing alcohol and dampen a clean cloth (if the cloth drips when you wring it out, you used too much) then wipe down the Keyboard Cover front and back. Clean the connectors: Sometimes, the connection between the keyboard and Surface gets oxidized or dirty. When that happens, the keyboard or trackpad may start acting up. To prevent such issues, use a pencil eraser to gently scrub the metal connectors on both the Type Cover and Surface. You should do this once every 3 to 6 months. If you start having problems with your Type Cover keyboard or touchpad, you can check out the Love My Surface website (http://lovemysurface.net) and search for Keyboard Problems to find some helpful advice on how to solve your problems. 24 P a g e