Need help getting up to speed with Windows
8? See our Windows 8 cheat sheet , which
shows you how to get around (including
with keyboard shortcuts) and offers three
quick tips for getting started with Windows
8.
1. Put "God Mode" in easy reach
You wouldn't know it by looking at the
Desktop or Start screen, but Windows 8
practically bristles with settings you can
customize. The problem is that they're
scattered throughout Windows 8, and it can
be time-consuming to track them down
individually.
However, there is one way to find them all
in one place: You can use what some people
call "God Mode." While the term "God Mode"
has a powerful ring to it, the truth is it's not
a separate mode that you put Windows into.
It's really a hidden folder that gives you fast
access to many settings spread out across
Windows 8. It's easy to put that folder right
on the Desktop.
First, make sure that you can view hidden
files in File Explorer, the system navigation
app that in earlier versions of Windows was
called Windows Explorer. Run File Explorer,
click the View tab, and check the boxes next
to "Hidden items" and "File name
extensions" in the Ribbon at the top.
Then right-click the Desktop and select New --
> Folder. That creates a folder on the Desktop
named "New folder." Rename the folder:
GodMode.
{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}
The folder icon
changes, and it has
the name GodMode.
(Note that the
"GodMode" text isn't
what turns the folder
into a special folder;
instead, it's that long
string of letters and
numbers inside the
curly brackets. You can
use any text you want
before the period just
ahead of the opening
bracket, and it still points to the same folder
and everything works the same.)
Double-click the icon, and you'll launch a
folder filled with dozens of actions, tools and
tweaks, from "Change Automatic
Maintenance settings" to "View update
history." They're organized by category.
Expand or shrink each category by clicking
the small triangle next to it. Each category
displays a number next to it, showing how
many settings there are in it.
"God Mode" offers a plethora of settings and
actions.
To start any action or tweak, double-click it
in the list. In some cases you'll follow a
wizard, in other cases you'll need to fill in
dialog boxes, and in yet other cases you'll be
sent to the Control Panel or another
Windows location to do the work.
2. Put a quick-and-dirty Start
menu on the taskbar
Particularly high on the list of things that
annoy people about Windows 8 is the
omission of the Desktop's Start menu.
Microsoft did its best to stomp it to death --
but it didn't quite succeed. In the Windows 8
cheat sheet I showed you how to use free or
paid add-on programs to get the Start
button and menu back.
If don't want to use third-party software to
get a Start menu, you can build your own
quick-and-dirty one in no time. You won't
get the full traditional Windows Start menu
with Search button, recently run apps, the
Control Panel, your network and so on.
Instead you get a menu that lets you browse
through applications and launch them.
First make sure that you can view hidden
files in File Explorer, as outlined in the tip
above.
Now right-click the Desktop's taskbar and
select Toolbars --> New Toolbar. From the
screen that appears, navigate to
C:\Users\<i>username</i>
\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft
\Windows\Start Menu
where username is your account name, and
click the Select Folder button. That will place
a Start Menu toolbar on the far right of the
taskbar. Click its double arrow to display a
variety of folders (such as Programs and
Computer) that you can browse through
until you see the item you want; click it to
launch it.
To make the Start Menu toolbar go away,
right-click the taskbar and select Toolbars,
then de-select the Start Menu listing.
By the way, you may have noticed that
when you right-click the taskbar and select
Toolbars, there are other pre-built toolbars
you can put on the taskbar. Here are your
choices and what each does:
Address: Adds a box on the Taskbar into
which you type URLs. After you enter one,
press Enter and you'll head to the site in
Internet Explorer.
Links: Displays your Internet Explorer
favorites on the Taskbar.
Touch Keyboard: Displays a keyboard icon
on the Taskbar. Click it to display an
onscreen keyboard.
Desktop: Displays a list of every icon on your
Desktop. It even displays some items that
aren't visible on the Desktop, such as
Homegroup. For any item with a subfolder
beneath it (such as Homegroup and
Network), you'll see an arrow next to it. Move
your cursor to the arrow to see all of the
subfolders beneath it.
To turn off any toolbar, right-click the
taskbar and choose Toolbars, then uncheck
the toolbar.
3. Use and hack the Power User
menu
Microsoft giveth and Microsoft taketh away.
In Windows 8 it took away the Start menu,
but it also provided a very useful new tool:
the Power User menu. Right-click in the
lower-left corner of the Desktop (or press the
Windows key + X) and up pops a text-based
menu that gives you access to 16 tools,
including a Run box, a command prompt,
an administrative command prompt, the
Device Manager and plenty of other useful
power tools.
Windows 8's new Power User menu.
Most choices are self-explanatory, but not all.
For example, click "Programs and Features"
and you get sent to a Control Panel applet
that lets you uninstall Desktop programs,
look at Windows updates you've installed
and turn certain Windows features on or off.
The Mobility Center sends you to an applet
that lets you do things such as change your
display brightness, screen orientation,
presentation settings and so on. And in case
you didn't realize that the Control Panel still
existed, there's a link to that as well.
Another nice thing about the Power User
menu: It's hackable. You can delete items
you don't want to appear there and add
items you do want to appear there, such as
programs you run frequently or even
individual files.
To do it, you'll first have to make sure that
you can view hidden files in File Explorer, as
outlined previously . Then go to
C:\Users\<i>username</i>
\AppData\Local\Microsoft
\Windows\WinX
where username is your account name. You'll
see three folders there: Group1, Group2 and
Group3. Each has shortcuts to the apps that
appear on the Power Menu. Group1 contains
the Desktop; Group2 contains the Control
Panel, File Explorer, Run, Search and Task
Manager; and Group3 contains two for the
Command Prompt (one of which is an
Admin command prompt), Computer
Management, Device Manager, Disk
Management, Event Viewer, Power Options,
Programs and Features, System and Windows
Mobility Center.
Look back at the Power User menu. Notice
that there are three groups separated by two
faint lines? They correspond to the folders in
the WinX folder. The app in Group1 (Desktop)
is at the bottom, then there's a line, then
there are the apps in Group2, then there's a
line, and then there are the apps in Group3.
To edit the Power User menu, just make
changes to the contents of the folders
Group1, Group2 and Group3. Delete a
shortcut and it vanishes from the menu; add
a shortcut and it appears on the menu.
Delete a shortcut as you would any other
shortcut: Select it and press your Delete key.
(When you delete a shortcut, the file it
points to isn't deleted; only the shortcut goes
away.) To add a shortcut, open the folder
into which you want to place it, right-click
on an empty spot, select New --> Shortcut,
and follow the wizard that appears.
After you've finished deleting shortcuts and
adding new ones, sign out of Windows and
then sign back in. Your new Power User menu
will be waiting for you on your return.
4. Customize the lock screen
When you boot up your PC or wake it from
sleep, it heads right to Windows 8's lock
screen. Along with a large image, the screen
displays the time and date as well as
notifications and status updates from certain
apps -- email, social networks, calendar and
more. It provides a quick rundown on things
you might be interested in seeing without
having to sign into Windows 8. Just wake up
your Windows 8 device and the info is there,
waiting for you on the lock screen.
By default, the lock screen shows
notifications from the Messaging, Mail,
Calendar and Weather apps. But maybe
you'd like to see Twitter updates or info from
another app, or you'd like to change the
image. You can easily customize all that.
The place to go to do it is the Lock screen
settings screen. To get there, press the
Windows key + C to display the Charms bar,
and then select the Settings icon. Click
"Change PC settings" at the bottom of the
Settings pane. The "PC settings" screen
appears. Under Personalize, choose "Lock
screen."
You'll see your lock screen image at the top of
the screen. Just beneath the image are other
images you can use. Click one to make it the
new lock screen image. To find other images
you can use for the lock screen, click the
Browse button and browse through your
pictures. Select the one you want to use and
click the "Choose picture" button to make it
your new lock screen image.
Just below the image on the Lock screen
settings screen is the "Lock screen apps"
section. Here you'll find icons for the apps
that automatically display notifications
and updates on your lock screen.
Click a plus sign and choose an app to display
alerts and notifications on the lock screen.
Over to the right of them are several plus
signs. Click a plus sign and you'll see a list
of apps that can display notifications and
updates. Pick one and it will display alerts
and other information on the lock screen.
Note that when you click a plus sign, you'll
see both the apps that are already
displaying notifications and alerts on your
lock screen as well as those that aren't
currently doing so. If you choose one that
already displays its notifications on the Start
screen, nothing new happens -- the app still
displays notifications, with no change. To
stop an app from displaying notifications,
click it and then click "Don't show quick
status here."
Underneath that section is one that's a little
more baffling: "Choose an app to display
detailed status." The app in this section
displays more information on the lock screen
than other apps.
Here's the Lock screen showing detailed
information from the Calendar app.
Only the Calendar app and the Weather
app can show this kind of detailed
information, and only one at a time. To
change from one to the other, click the icon
that's there and select the other icon. From
then on, that app will show its detailed
status.
If you want neither app to show detailed
status, click the icon and select "Don't show
detailed status on the lock screen." Neither
app shows detailed information, and the
icon changes to a plus sign. If you want to
reinstate detailed weather or calendar
information, click the plus sign and select
either app.
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