If you have a valid Windows 8 product key from a giveaway, online purchase or other source but need the official media this article is for you. Don't risk downloading the ISO file from a torrent, there is a chance you will be installing a copy of Windows 8 infested with malware. Instead, Microsoft offers a free download that is much safer.
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Tabs in our Web browsers have become a critical feature so much that I can't imagine using a browser without tabs. They have made browsing the web easier and more productive, yet for some reason we don't have tabs in the second most used browser, Windows Explorer.
Read MoreHitting the F8 key at the right moment while your PC is starting up is much more difficult on fast modern hardware. With boot times as low as a few seconds, the window hit the F8 key and bring up the safe boot menu is very small. Practically impossible for most users unless you have the reflexes of a ninja.
Like most operating systems, iOS and the apps that run on the iPhone and the iPad creates temporary files during normal operation. There is nothing wrong with this behavior as it helps the performance of the operating system and the apps. However, over time these files can add up taking up a significant portion of your storage. iOS does not have an effective mechanism to clean up these files which...
Read MoreWindows 8 includes a very useful feature for laptop users that lets you see the charging history and capacity of your battery. Over time batteries hold less and less of a change so this report is very helpful to identify if it is time to buy a replacement.
Read MoreHibernation is enabled but hidden by default on the new Metro style power menu. You can hibernate at command prompt by typing in shutdown.exe -h but sometimes clicking a button is much easier and faster. This article will help you display the Hibernate option next to the Sleep, Shutdown and Restart options.
Read MoreGoogle Chrome on Windows 8 can be viewed two different ways. The traditional desktop view that we are all familiar with and also a Metro inspired view that runs Google Chrome full screen just like a Metro Style app. If you prefer the desktop the Metro view can be disabled so that no matter what shortcut or app you use that launches a web page, the desktop view of Google Chrome is used.
Read MoreMicrosoft provides a Metro style control panel to personalize the color scheme of accounts on Windows 8 but never provided an interface to customize the lock screen colors where you select accounts and log in. The lock screen colors can be customized just like the rest of the Windows 8 Metro interface but you must edit the registry.
With the November 2012 cumulative update, Microsoft included a new feature for Windows 8 Pro and Windows 8 Enterprise Edition that allows users to customize the default lock screen. Best of all the change is made using group policies which means you can easily deploy it across all Windows 8 machines on a domain. If you do not have a domain you can still use local group policies to apply the change.
Read MoreWindows 8 offers a lot of new features that are easy to use and will make you more efficient. Some of the changes Microsoft made are clearly for users with touch compatible devices. Those changes can often make it annoying or difficult for desktop users so I have put together this collection of tweaks that I use to improve my Windows 8 desktop experience.
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