Working in Windows

See also Computers 101 for more basic information.

• Windows 8
• Windows 10
• Also see our newsletter index for a variety of miscellaneous subjects.
• Applications
  • Some information on various application issues, hints, etc.
• Blue Screen (of death) errors.
  • BSOD's the computer world's joke that's not at all funny.
• Backup
  • Windows backup and another slick way to back things up.
• Calculator
  • A bit improved in Windows 7+
• Clean it up
  • How (and what) to clean up
• Command Window
  • How to get to the command prompt
• Compressing (Zipping) Files
  • Reducing the size of large or multiple files to make them emailable (Yep, we made up a new word)
• Control Panel hints
  • Where to find almost all information and settings
• Cut, Copy Paste
  • Hints and ideas
• Default Save in folder
  • How to change where your stuff goes when saving
• Defrag since Windows 7, defragging the disk is not nearly as beneficial as under previous operating systems, but if you want to anyway, you need to (locate) then right click the computer's C: drive > Properties > Tools
• Diagnostics:  Memory, Reliability, Steps Recorder,
  • Windows has these built in diagnostic tools that may help with odd problems
• Dos and Don'ts
  • Hints/ideas for your computer
• Extensions view/hide
  • How to show/hide file extensions
• Fix-It Center
  • At Microsoft:  A wide variety of quick fixes for a wide variety of common issues, many just a click of a button
• File association issues
  • When your computer does not know what program to use with a specific file, i.e., the "chose a program" option appears
• File Explorer
• Folder Sharing
  • When you want to share folders with other computers on your network.
• High CPU usage
  • Hardware
• How to capture the screen
  • When you want a "copy" of what you see on-screen
• Icons added Sept '14
  • Want to change the appearance of icons? 
• √ MSConfig and items running
  • Control what starts up with the computer.  See our Hijacked! page.
• Pin to...  (older newsletter)
  • How to "pin" an application or data file to Taskbar, Start menu, etc. 
  • See also Frequently used lists and Windows 8 Application shortcut hints.
• Print the list of files in a folder
  • Print the contents of any given folder
• Printer Slow?
  • Could be lost of causes, but try this...
• Problem solving / Performance Issues
  • Try Microsoft's SysInternals suite
• Quick keys
  • (A.K.A. Hotkeys) Similar to shortcut keys, quick keys can make computing a whole lot quicker and easier!
• Recently used lists
  • Or "Frequently" used list are very handy for documents or files that you may open on a regular basis...
• Restarting in the Safe Mode
  • Here's how
• Running out of disk space?
  • Maybe not...
• Selecting multiple files
  • How to select all or just specific files
• Send to folder tricks 
  • The right click and Send To is a slick feature but this makes it even better!
• SFC /scannow
  • System File Check.  Run this when having odd issues...
• Shortcuts, Icons, Oh My!
  • What they are, how to make use of them.
• Shortcut keys
  • Add a combination of keys to open applications, e.g., Ctl+Shift+C to open the calculator
• Show details
  • How to view/sort files by name, date, etc.
• Show Extensions and Hidden files
  • How to see those hidden file and see file extensions
• Taskbar settings:  Most Recent and combining icons.
• USB issues
  • USB means universal but maybe not so much...
• Windows 8 quick keys
• Windows Power settings
  • Computer won't wake via the mouse or other wake issues?  Set what happens when you press the computer's power button.  When the computer decides to sleep after just a few minutes, etc...
• Windows Restore
  • How to bring your computer (or files) back to a working state.
  • Download recovery ISO
• Windows run
  • A list of things you can do via the run command.  May just make things a bit quicker!
• Window Updates
  • Do them!  But our article has some information that may be useful.  Contains a few suggestions what to do when Windows Updates are not working.
  • When Windows 7 takes a long time to show updates
• Windows Media Player issues
  • If you were unfortunate enough to have used the Windows Media Player (WMP) rather than iTunes for music and have moved to a new computer, you may find the WMP license is not installed.  If you attempt to play "protected" music you may get a license error and if you attempt to correct it, you may get an error page indicating you need the Internet Explorer 7 or later - even though you have IE11! - Nice going Microsoft...