Windows Tutorials

Windows 8 Consumer Preview: Purchasing Apps

Welcome to HelpDesk TV. My name is Rudy Stebih.

Microsoft has introduced the new app store in Windows 8 Consumer Preview to mirror the mobile version of the app store on Windows phones.

To install an app from the Windows store, open the Start screen, and then click the Store tile. After a few seconds, the Windows app store is displayed. You can scroll across the bottom viewing various featured apps in various categories. You can also view the top paid or the top free apps by clicking on their respective tiles.

If you want to view additional information about the app, just click on the app tile. Click the Install button when your ready to download the app. You’ll notice the app being installed in the top right hand corner of your display. When the app is installed, you will be notified.

To uninstall the app, right-click on the app tile, and then select uninstall. Don’t forget to read the warning before you click the uninstall button a second time.

I hope you enjoyed todays HelpDeskTV. Please join us on our help forums at forums.helpdesktv.ca . Here you can further discuss today’s topic or just to ask another question you need help with. See you there!

  http://youtu.be/23pAMk5CPbE

Windows 8 Consumer Preview: Mouse And Keyboard Shortcuts

Welcome to HelpDeskTV. My name is Rudy Stebih.

Today we are going to talking about mouse & keyboard shortcuts for the new Windows 8 Consumer Preview edition. There are a lot of mouse & keyboards shortcuts I want to get through so let’s get started right away.

First, to open the charms menu, point to the upper-right or lower-right corner. When the charms appear, click the one you want. Using your keyboard, use the Windows logo + C key combination.

To search your PC (apps, settings, and files), or the web, or within an app, open the Charms, and click Search, and then enter your search term. If you’re on the Start page, just start typing your search term. Using your keyboard, Windows logo + Q key will open the search window.

To get to your start screen, open the Charms, and then click Start. Or, point to the lower-left corner. When the Start preview appears, simply click it. Pressing the Windows key on your keyboard will also get you there.

If you want to get to your file commands, like Save & Edit for example, in the app you are using, right-click anywhere there is open space (not on text or any images), and the command bar will appear from below. On the Start screen, you can right-click a tile to also see command options for that tile. Using the Windows logo key + Z combination will also get you there.

To switch to your most recently used app, point to the upper-left corner.  When the app preview appears, click it. To switch to a different open app, point to the upper-left corner again and then pull it down slightly. When the app preview list appears, click the one you want. The usual Alt+Tab key combination will also allow you to switch apps.

To Snap an app to use two apps side by side, Point to the upper-left corner. When the app preview appears, drag it to snap the app to either side of the screen. You can also right-click the preview and select the app you want to snap. Pressing the Windows logo key + Period key in succession will snap the current app.

If you want to see the familiar desktop view, go to the Start screen, and then click the Desktop tile. Using the Windows key + D keyboard shortcut will also do the trick.

To zoom in or out, on the Start screen , use the Summary view icon in the lower-right corner or you can use Ctrl+Scroll wheel. The Ctrl+Plus sign to zoom out and Ctrl+Minus sign to zoom in keyboard shortcuts will work for you as well.

Here’s how you close an app. Point to the upper-left corner. When the thumbnail appears, drag it to the bottom of the screen. You can also use the keyboard shortcut Alt + F4 to close the app.

And finally, to shut down your computer, open the Charms menu, and then click Settings. Click Power, and then select a shutdown option. Using your keyboard, press Ctrl+Alt+Del. Tab to the Power icon. And list of shutdown options now appears. Use the arrow keys to get to the option you want. And then press Enter.

I hope you enjoyed todays HelpDeskTV. Please join us on our help forums at forums.helpdesktv.ca . Here you can further discuss today’s topic or just to ask another question you need help with. See you there!

  http://youtu.be/Mz75kjOqeyY

Windows 8 Consumer Preview: Shutting Down Your PC

Welcome to HelpDesk TV. My name is Rudy Stebih.

Now that you’ve installed Windows 8 Consumer Preview on your computer, and you’ve played around with it for hours, you’re probably now wondering how the heck do I shut down my computer.

Here are 2 ways you can shut down your Windows 8 machine:

First, using the mouse, open the Charms menu, and then click Settings. Click the Power icon, and then select a shutdown option.

Using the keyboard method, you simple press ctrl-alt-del. Then, tab to the Power icon. A list of shutdown options now appears. Use the arrow keys to get to the option you want. And then press Enter.

I hope you enjoyed todays HelpDesk TV. Please join us on our help forums at forums.helpdesktv.ca . Here you can further discuss today’s topic or just to ask another question you need help with. See you there!

  http://youtu.be/JgygrIJ85tg

Windows 8 Consumer Preview: The Four Corners

Welcome to HelpDesk TV. My name is Rudy Stebih.

Today we are going to show you how to use the four corners on your new Windows 8 Consumer Preview desktop.

But, first before we get started, I’d like to show you by dragging the scroll bar on the bottom of your screen, you can scroll your Start page left and right.

If you’d like to get a full picture of your start menu, just click on the Summary view icon in the bottom right corner, and your start screen will zoom out. Now you can simply click on a group you wish to view in full screen.

Now let’s explore the 4 corners in Windows 8 Consumer Preview. Dragging your mouse to the top right corner will open your charms menu. Move down to select a charm.

Dragging your mouse in the lower right corner will again open your charms menu. Move up to select a charm.

Now, drag your mouse to the lower left corner until you see the Start tip and then click to open your start screen.

Drag your mouse to the upper left corner until you see the recent app thumbnail appear and then click to bring your recent app to the foreground. Drag your mouse over the upper left corner again until you see the recent app thumbnail and then bring your mouse down to see a list of your recent apps. Click the app from the recent apps list you wish to open.

Also, from the Start screen, you can just start typing to do a search. And then just click on the headings to help narrow down your search until you find the item you are looking for.

And finally, don’t forget to right-click around your desktop to do more. Or right click on a tile.

I hope you enjoyed todays HelpDesk TV.  Please join us on our help forums at forums.helpdesktv.ca . Here you can further discuss today’s topic or just to ask another question you need help with. See you there!.

  http://youtu.be/hFh2NkQ4-4I

Windows 8 Consumer Preview: App Commands

Welcome to this episode of HelpDesk TV. My name is Rudy Stebih.

Today we will show you where the apps commands are now hidden and how to switch between apps.

Commands themselves aren’t new, but they now stay hidden until you need them so you can use the whole screen for what you’re doing.

The app commands appear at the top and bottom of your screen. Right-click in an open space (no text or images) to see them, and then choose the one you want.

Commands might also appear when you select an item like a tile or photo.

Sometimes you want to get back to an app you were just using or quickly switch through your open apps.

Apps enter from the left side of your screen. So move your pointer to the upper-left corner, and then click to bring in the next app.

Using the new Snap feature, you can do two things at once by snapping an app to the right or left side of your screen. Move your pointer to the upper-left corner until a preview appears. When you can see the app, drag it until a border appears, and then move the app to where you want it.

You can now keep the app in one-third of the screen, or you can expand it to two-thirds or full screen with one motion.

I hope you enjoyed todays HelpDesk TV. Please join us on our help forums at forums.helpdesktv.ca . Here you can further discuss today’s topic or just ask another question you need help with. See you there!

  http://youtu.be/9KkMl53azt8

Windows 8 Consumer Preview: Quick Overview

Welcome to this episode of Help Desk TV. My name is Rudy Stebih.

Today we will provide a quick overview of the new Windows 8 Consumer Preview release.

There are a lot of new things to explore in Windows 8 Consumer Preview. So here’s a quick overview.

The first screen you see when you log in to Windows 8 is the new Start screen. Here you Pin apps, contacts, and websites to easily access what you use most. Tiles and notifications show what’s new so you can get important info and updates at a glance.

You can get to the Start screen anytime by pointing your mouse to the lower-right corner of the screen, and when the charms menu appears, click the Start Windows logo. You can also use the Windows logo key on your keyboard to get to Start screen.

Windows 8 comes with a new app store. You can browse, search, see staff picks, or view lists of the most popular apps to find exactly what you want.

Click on the Windows Store tile on the Start screen to get started.

When you sign in with a Microsoft account, your PC is connected to the cloud and:

Your friends’ contact info and status automatically stay up to date from places like Hotmail, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

You can get to and share your photos, docs, and other files from places like SkyDrive, Facebook, and Flickr.

Your personal settings are synced to any PC running Windows 8 Consumer Preview that you sign in to, including your themes, language preferences, browser favorites, and apps.

You can get apps in the Windows Store and use them on any PC running Windows 8 Consumer Preview that you sign in to.

The charms menu provide new and better ways to do things you’ve always done. Here’s a glimpse of what each charm does, but they can do a lot more, so explore what they can do for you.

The Search charm is a powerful new way to find what you’re looking for. When you enter a search term, you can check results from your PC, the web, or within different apps all from the same place.

The Share charm lets you send links, photos, and more to your friends and social networks without leaving the app you’re in.

The Start charm takes you to Start screen or, if you’re on the Start screen, back to your last app.

The Devices charm is a handy way to do things like sending files and streaming movies to printers, TVs, and more.

The Settings charm is how you do basic tasks like shutting down your PC and changing the volume. It’s also used by apps to configure things like account and privacy settings.

As you can see, the charms appear on the right side of your screen. Just move your mouse to the lower-right corner to see them, and then choose the one you want. We’ll be diving into these individual charm items in later videos.

I hope you enjoyed todays HelpDesk TV. Please join us on our help forums at forums.helpdesktv.ca . Here you can further discuss today’s topic on shutting down your computer in Windows 8 or just to ask another question you need help with. See you there!

  http://youtu.be/Eo9IhwcaO3M

Windows 8 Tablet Simulator

Thank you for joining us today. I’m Rudy Stebih and welcome to Episode 4 Windows 8 Tablet Simulator here on Help Desk TV.

By now you’ve had a chance to look over our Windows 8 videos featured on the desktop. But how would you like to experience Windows 8 on a Tablet. I know, I hear you. You were not one of the conference attendees at Build that were treated to a Samsung tablet to take with them to preview & develop Windows 8 apps on. Not to worry though. Windows 8 Development Preview comes bundled with a Windows Tablet simulator. And all you have to do to experience this is to:

Start the file explorer. And click on:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Windows Simulator\Microsoft.Windows.Simulator.exe

After a few seconds, the virtual tablet will pop up giving you your very own virtual tablet experience inside of Windows 8.

First, before we go any further, make sure you have clicked on the hand icon on the side bar to start the touch simulation. You will notice that now your mouse icon has a ‘+’ symbol surround by a circle attached to it. This we will call your ‘Finger Target’. Essentially, anywhere you place this finger target, and click the mouse button, will simulate a finger press.

Following along those lines, if you click the left mouse button on the tablet screen, and hold the mouse button down, then swoosh your mouse pointer to the left and letting go of the mouse button near the end of your swoosh, the tiles will scroll to the left. Doing this procedure in the reverse direction will scroll the tiles to the right.

Now, to get at the ‘Charm’ menu, place your finger target on the right side of the tablet screen, and click-drag to the left.

Clicking anywhere on the screen will hide the ‘Charm’ menu.

If you’d like to change the tablet screen resolution, just click the little square box on the side bar, and from the pop up menu, select the screen resolution of your choice. You can then drag one of the corners of the tablet to resize the window as normal.

Just above the tablet resolution button, there are 2 buttons to rotate the tablet to simulate a portrait orientation. Selecting one or the other button will rotate the tablet either in the clockwise or counter clockwise direction.

By clicking on the big windows logo on the bottom of the tablet, you will simulate pressing the Windows key on the ‘Charm’ menu.

Now comes my favorite feature. Selecting the double arrow icon on the side bar will activate the pinch/zoom feature. And you will now notice that your mouse cursor has 2 ‘Finger Targets’. You simulate a pinch zoom by holding the left-mouse button down while rotating your mouse scroll wheel to either zoom in or zoom out. After finishing zooming the page to your desire magnification, left-clicking and dragging the mouse around, will move the zoomed window inside your tablet screen.

And now lastly, left clicking and dragging from the left side of the screen will switch between your active apps.

I hope you enjoyed todays Help Desk TV. If you have a comment about this program, a question, or a shortcut you would like to share with me, send us an e-mail message to [email protected].

Thanks for watching!

  http://youtu.be/M7wk_Jogujk

Windows 8 Internet Explorer 10 (IE10)

Thank you for joining us today. I’m Rudy Stebih and welcome to Episode 3 Internet Explorer 10 in Windows 8 Development Preview Edition here on Help Desk TV.

So after spending all this time installing Windows 8, what’s the first thing you will want to try out. Yup, just like most people, the new IE10.

From the ‘Start’ Metro UI, click on the Internet Explorer tile. And your now in the new Internet Explorer 10.

Along the bottom, you will see the new browser bar. Clicking in that bar will bring up any frequent or pinned websites that you have visited. Just click on a tile or type in a website address in the browser bar.

If you looking for the first site to visit, head on over to:

http://ie.microsoft.com/testdrive

…and try out some of the demos. Don’t forget to scroll down and hit the ‘More Demo’ link. Right clicking will bring on the contextual menus in IE10 or remove them.

Along the top you will see the new Metro style tabs list. Allowing to create a new tab by clicking the ‘+’ button.

Along the bottom is your browser bar, pin the website to your pin list, and your forward and backward arrows. You can even open up the legacy desktop view from here.

I hope you enjoyed todays Help Desk TV. If you have a comment about this program, a question, or a shortcut you would like to share with me, send us an e-mail message to [email protected].

Thanks for watching!

  http://youtu.be/sUyy6yb3Fik

Windows 8 Mouse and Keyboard Commands

Thank you for joining us today. I’m Rudy Stebih and welcome to Episode 2 Mouse and Keyboard Commands in Windows 8 Development Preview Edition here on Help Desk TV.

In the last video, we showed you a brief overview of how to move around Windows 8 and shutdown the system. We need to show you a couple more mouse and keyboard commands before we can further our adventure into the new world of Windows 8.

Let’s start with a reminder on how to access the new ‘Charm’ menu.  You simply hover your mouse over the lower left corner of your desktop, until the ‘Charm’ menu appears. The Windows + C combination will also bring up the ‘Charm’ menu. This is how you will always return to the new ‘Start’ Metro UI. You can also just hit the ‘Windows’ key on your keyboard if you have it.

The Alt-Tab combination still works in Windows 8 by allowing you to switch to any open app. As simply as repeatedly pressing the Tab key while holding down the Alt key until the app you wish to bring to the foreground is highlighted, and removing your finger from the Alt key will bring your app to the foreground.

The Windows-Tab key combination will automatically rotate amongst the open apps and bring them to the foreground.

Using the arrow keys will allow you to move around the Start screen. As well, using the Page UP or Page DOWN keys will move the Metro UI a block at a time.

Windows + D will take you to the legacy desktop view. While Windows + L will lock the PC, a right-click or Windows + Z will bring up contextual menus on a full screen app.

Right-click on a tile on the ‘Start’ screen brings up options to unpin, resize and uninstall apps.

A couple more keyboard shortcuts for you. Windows + Y makes all your open windows (and the Metro UI) transparent, so you can see the desktop beneath. Windows + E invokes Windows Explorer. And finally, Windows + R brings up the Run prompt.

I hope you enjoyed todays Help Desk TV. If you have a comment about this program, a question, or a shortcut you would like to share with me, send us an e-mail message to [email protected].

Thanks for watching!

  http://youtu.be/0yrEpKuiUdE

The Metro UI In Windows 8

Well hello everyone.

And welcome to my newest series on the Help Desk TV network for the latest operating system release by Microsoft codenamed Windows 8. So far, Microsoft has only released the Development Preview, so we will be limited in showing you all the new features. But as the releases continue, we will be here for you to show how Windows 8 has been re-imagined.

In this first video, we will briefly show you how to get around the new Metro UI and shut down the system after your done for the day.

So now you’ve installed the Windows 8 Developer Preview Release on your desktop. And you’ve re-booted the machine, only to find yourself on this screen. As you ask yourself, now what?

What you see here is the new Windows 8 lock screen. There are 3 ways you can proceed forward from this screen:

By using your mouse, just drag the lock screen up off your desktop

Also, you can just double click anywhere on the screen

And finally, you can just press any key on your keyboard.

Once the lock screen has disappeared, you are now brought to your log on screen. Go ahead and type in your password.

And there you have it folks. The NEW Windows 8 Metro UI. Apps are now represented as tiles as opposed to icons because there is more space to show app data in these tiles. You’ll notice several of my feeds update in real time. A new feature for this new Metro UI.

Although the new Windows 8 environment is heavily designed for the touchpad, you can move around with your mouse or keyboard. First, just scroll the Metro UI with your mouse using the scroll bar along the bottom edge. Clicking on a tile will open that app on your screen.

To return to the start screen, just hover the mouse on the lower left corner of the screen until the ‘Charm’ menu pops up, and select ‘Start’.

If you want to visit the Windows 7 legacy desktop, simply click the ‘Desktop’ tile.

Clicking the ‘Start’ icon in the lower left corner will, as you guessed it, return you to the start menu.

When you’ve had enough of Windows 8 for one day, and you want to shut it down, you can either:

Use the Ctrl-Alt-Del key combination and select how you would like to proceed, or

Open the ‘Charm’ menu by hovering in the lower left corner, and selecting ‘Settings’. There you can now click on the power icon and choose how you wish to proceed.

I hope you enjoyed todays look into the new Windows 8 platform here on HelpDeskTV. If you have a comment about this program, a question, or a shortcut you would like to share with me, send me e-mail to [email protected]

Thanks for watching!

http://youtu.be/KOspgxPltIc