If you like your PC to boot just as
fast as possible then the new Windows 8 lock screen may not appeal.
Don't worry, though, if you'd like to ditch this then it only takes a
moment.
Launch GPEdit.msc (the Local Group Policy Editor) and
browse to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates >
Control Panel > Personalisation.
Double-click 'Do not display the lock screen', select Enabled and click OK.
Restart and the lock screen will have gone.
If
you can't easily find GPEdit.msc by searching in the Start screen,
search for 'mmc', and then press Enter. On the File menu, click
'Add/Remove Snap-in', then in the 'Add or Remove Snap-ins' dialog box,
click 'Group Policy Object Editor', and then click 'Add'.
In the
'Select Group Policy Object' dialog box, click 'Browse'. Click 'This
Computer' to edit the Local Group Policy object, or click 'Users' to
edit Administrator, Non-Administrator, or per-user Local Group Policy
objects, then click 'Finish'.
02. Install anything
Most
mobile platforms recommend you only install apps from approved sources
to protect your security, and Windows 8 is the same: it'll only allow
you to install trusted (that is, digitally signed) apps from the Windows
store.
If this proves a problem, though, and you're willing to
take the security risk (because this isn't something to try unless
you're entirely sure it's safe), then the system can be configured to
run trusted apps from any source.
Launch GPEdit.msc (see above
for instructions on how to find it), browse to Computer Configuration
> Administrative Templates > Windows Components > App Package
Deployment, double-click 'Allow all trusted apps to install' and select
Enabled > OK.
03. Log in automatically
WARNING: Your account will lose admin privileges as a result of this step
Of
course even if you remove the lock screen, you'll still be forced to
manually log in every time your system starts. This can also be resolved
at speed, though, using much the same technique as in previous versions
of Windows.
Hold down the Windows key, press R, type 'netplwiz' and press Enter to launch the User Accounts dialog.
Clear the "Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer" box and click OK.
Enter
the user name and password of the account that you'd like to be logged
in automatically, click OK, restart your system and this time it should
boot directly to the Start screen.
04. Replacing the Start menu
If Windows 8's search and navigation tools still leave you pining for the regular Start menu, installing ViStart will replace it with something very similar.
Download
the program and install it, carefully; it's free, but the Setup program
will install the trial of a commercial Registry cleaner unless you
explicitly tell it otherwise.
But once that's out the way, your
old Start button will return in its regular place, and clicking it (or
pressing the Windows key) will bring back the usual Start menu complete
with search box and all the usual menus.
The program has a few flaws - on launch it gave us an e-mail icon for Outlook Express, for instance - but otherwise works well.
There's also Start8 from Windows customisation veterans Stardock. It provides similar functionality to ViStart but with a more up-to-date look.
05. Windows key shortcuts
Win : switch between the Start screen and the last-running Windows 8 app
Win + C : displays the Charms: the Settings, Devices, Share and Search options
Win + D : launches the desktop
Win + E : launches Explorer
Win + F : opens the File Search pane
Win + H : opens the Share pane
Win + I : opens Settings
Win + K : opens the Devices pane
Win + L : locks your PC
Win + M : minimises the current Explorer or Internet Explorer window (works in the full-screen IE, too)
Win + O : toggles device orientation lock on and off
Win + P : switch your display to a second display or projector
Win + Q : open the App Search pane
Win + R : opens the Run box
Win + U : open the Ease of Access Centre
Win + V : cycle through toasts (notifications)
Win + W : search your system settings (type POWER for links to all power-related options, say)
Win + X : displays a text menu of useful Windows tools and applets
Win + Z : displays the right-click context menu when in a full-screen app
Win + + : launch Magnifier and zoom in
Win + - : zoom out
Win + , : Aero peek at the desktop
Win + Enter : launch Narrator
Win + PgUp : move the current screen to the left-hand monitor
Win + PgDn : move the current screen to the right-hand monitor
Win + PrtSc : capture the current screen and save it to your Pictures folder
If
you're a fan of keyboard shortcuts and don't like the idea of scrolling
through app tiles to find the program you need, don't worry, Windows 8
still supports a useful old shortcut. Which is perfect if, say, you're
looking to be able to shut down your PC with a click.
Launch the desktop app, right-click an empty part of the desktop and click New > Shortcut.
Browse to the application you'd like to launch here. Of for the sake of this example, enter shutdown.exe -s -t 00
to shut down your PC, or shutdown.exe -h -t 00
to hibernate it, and click Next. Type a shortcut name - 'Hibernate', say - and click Finish.
Right-click
the shortcut, select Pin to Start and it should appear on the far right
of the Start screen - just drag the tile wherever you like.
07. Intelligent screengrabs
If
a Windows 8 application is showing something interesting and you'd like
to record it for posterity, then hold down the Windows key, press
PrtSc, and the image won't just go to the clipboard: it'll also be
automatically saved to your My Pictures folder with the name
Screenshot.png (and then Screenshot(1).png, Screenshot(2).png and so
on).
You might hope that pressing Win+Alt+PrtSc would similarly
save an image of the active window, but no, sadly not. Maybe next time.
08. Photo Viewer
Double-click
an image file within Explorer and it won't open in a Photo Viewer
window any more, at least not by default. Instead you'll be switched to
the full-screen Windows 8 Photos app - bad news if you thought you'd
escaped such hassles by using the desktop.
If you'd like to fix this, go to Control Panel > Programs > Default Programs and select Set your default programs.
Scroll down and click Windows Photo Viewer in the Programs list.
Finally,
click 'Set this program as default' if you'd like the Viewer to open
all the file types it can handle, or select the 'Choose default' options
if you prefer to specify which file types it should open. Click OK when
you're done.
