[Windows 8] How to set up and use multiple screens

Since Windows XP, multiple screens support has improved so much. I still remember the first time I set up a projector in Windows XP for my teacher- it seemed to be a hardest work for me. However, each versions after XP, the way to set up multiple displays got easier and easier. In Windows 7, I can say that multiple screens supporting was perfect with more options and faster switcher. But how about Windows 8? The answer is “better.” In Windows 8, not only there are so much new features, but you also have more ability to customize your screens. In this article, I will introduce you these new things and how to take their advantage.

HOW TO SELECT BETWEEN SCREENS

First of all, you have to plug all of your needed monitors in. If you have two monitors now, you can select the display mode by pressing Windows + P hotkey (on tablet, you can swipe from the right screen edge, choose “Devices” and select “Second screen.” You will see a panel that show four options, what you have to do is select the option you want.



In most case, if screens are different in resolution, they will adjust automatically. However, you can also change their resolution and some advanced settings by right click/long tap on the desktop and choose “Screen resolution.” In the Screen resolution window, you can see how many screen you already connected and their size compare to each other. If you not sure which screen the number belongs to, you can click “Identify” button; it will show a big number on the screen.
By default, the screens are side by side. For example, I have screen number 1 is on the left and screen number 2 is on the right; that means when I move the mouse to the very right side of #1 screen, the cursor will be continued move to #2 screen. Otherwise, I may place #1 screen above #2 screen and what I want is the cursor will appear in #2 screen when I move it from the bottom edge of #1 screen. So that, the system allows me to change your screens’ position. To do this, you just simple drag the big screen icon in “Screen resolution” window to which position you want. After that, you need to click “Apply” to see your change.
In “Screen resolution” window, you can also change a screen’s resolution by select that screen and click the drop down “Resolution” menu to pick a screen resolution.



HOW TO CHOOSE A SPECIFIC WALLPAPER FOR EACH SCREEN

One of the improvements in Windows 8 about multiple screen settings is the wallpaper customization. Unlikely to Windows 7, Windows 8 allows each screen has its own wallpaper.



You can simple select a wallpaper for a screen by right click/long tap on the desktop and choose “Personalize.” In the new window, you need to choose “Desktop background” icon that places at the bottom. What you have to do next is right click/long tap on a wallpaper you want and select “Set for monitor x”(x is the order number of a monitor).


HOW TO USE “PANORAMIC WALLPAPER” FOR MULTIPLE SCREENS

In Windows 8, there is a new kind of wallpaper called “Panoramic wallpaper” which is a panorama photo that pans through your screens.
What you need first, of course, is a panorama photo. You can go to Windows website to download many Panoramic wallpaper packs. When you are ready to go, you need to choose a panorama photo in “Personalize” window then in the “Picture position” menu, you have to choose “Span” to make your wallpaper lay through the screens. After that, you just click “Save changes” button and you are done.



HOW TO MODIFY TASKBAR BUTTONS FOR MULTIPLE SCREENS

The biggest and most-wanted feature about multiple screens support in Windows 8 is the ability to show the Taskbar on all screens. Moreover, Windows 8 also have options to help you manage opened windows easier by using the Taskbar.
First of all, you have to right click/long tap on the Taskbar and choose “Properties” to open Taskbar Properties dialog. By default, the option “Show Taskbar on all displays” is selected, you just need to focus on “Show taskbar buttons on:” menu. There are three options in this menu.

• All taskbars: show the same full Taskbar with the buttons of all windows on all screens.

• Main taskbar and taskbar where window is open: show the full Taskbar on the main screen, and in another screen, just show the buttons of the windows in that screen.

• Taskbar where window is open: show the full Taskbar in the main screen, except the buttons of windows that are not open in this screen; and in another screen, just show the buttons of the windows in that screen.

After you done with your settings, you need to click OK button to apply all changes.
Additionally, in Windows 8, each screen has its own hot-pots to open Start screen, App switcher, and Charm bar. Like desktop apps, Windows Store apps also can move between screens. To do that, you just drag the app to which screen you want.

CONCLUSION
In my opinion, these new functions in multiple screens support of Windows 8 are very helpful. It makes me work with two or three screens without any confusion. Hope you can feel like that too.


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[Windows 8] How to change the folder where screenshots are saved

Windows 8 not only brings many new features, but it also level-up some great features from Windows 7. One of them is the ability to take screenshot. In Windows 7, you can use the new Snipping Tool to take and edit screenshot. And this tool still there in Windows 8, but there is another very cool new way to directly take a screenshot then it will be automatically saved to the default location. By default, all screenshots that shot by this way is saved in C:\Users\[username]\Pictures\Screenshots; if you may want to save screenshots to other location, this is an article you should read. Additionally, I also will show you how to restore the screenshot location to default.

HOW TO TAKE AND SAVE A SCREENSHOT

Before Windows 8, the basic way to take a screenshot is pressing the Print Screen (Prt Sc) key then copy to Paint and save it. In Windows 8, you just need a hotkey to take and automatically save your screenshot to default location. The hotkey is Windows + Print Screen. If the Print Screen key on your keyboard need to be fired by Fn key (mostly happens in laptop keyboard), you can press Windows + Fn + the key that contains Print Screen (Prt Sc) key. After that, you can go to C:\Users\[username]\Pictures\Screenshots to see your screenshots.

HOW TO CHANGE THE DEFAULT SAVED SCREENSHOTS LOCATION

To change the default saved screenshots location, you need to follow these steps.

• Open default location by this path: %userprofile%\pictures\screenshots
• Right click/long tap on the empty space then choose Properties.
• In the Properties window, you should switch to Location tab then click the button “Move…”

• After that, you have to choose the folder you want to change to and click Select Folder.
• When you press OK button, you will be asked to confirm the action, so that just click Yes.
• Once the process completed, you may notice the new folder’s name has changed to Screenshots. From now on, all of your screenshots will be saved to that folder.

HOW TO RESTORE THE DEFAULT SAVED SCREENSHOTS LOCATION

If you have changed the screenshots location then you want to restore it to the default location. You just need to do these simple steps.

• Navigate to your screenshots location.
• Right click/long tap on the empty space then choose Properties.
• In the Properties window, you should switch to Location tab then click the button “Restore Default.”
• You should click Yes button in the Create Folder and Move Folder dialog, which will be appeared when you choose OK button.

CONCLUSION

This is my favorite tool in Windows 8 because it helps me to create a screenshot much faster and easier. I have changed the default location to a SkyDrive folder so that I can access my screenshots then write an article everywhere. Hope this article is helpful to you.


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[Windows 8] How to share Internet connection with your phone, tablet, other computers, and other devices (aka how to setup hosted network)

Despite having tons of new things, Windows 8 also eliminates many traditional features such as Start menu. One more thing that Windows 8 lacks the ability to create Ad-hoc networks. Ad-hoc network is a very powerful Windows feature for sharing your Internet connection with other devices (phone, tablet, other computers, etc.). In the general, with Ad-hoc network, you make your computer a Wi-Fi hotspot and other Wi-Fi enabled devices can use your Internet connection.

Unfortunately, Windows 8 can not longer make Ad-hoc networks. It can, however, still share an Internet connection with other devices (phone, tablet, other computers, etc.) using a hosted network (which is similar to Ad-hoc network). In this article, I will show you how to set up a hosted network in Windows 8.
(Using a hosted network can also be thought of as tethering your Internet connection.)

Step 1: CHECK FOR COMPATIBILITY TO CREATE HOSTED NETWORK

First of all, you have to check whether your wireless card supports hosted network. To do this, you should open Command Prompt by pressing Windows button (on tablet, swipe from the right edge then choose Search button) then type “cmd” (without the quotes). You may see the “Command Prompt” result on the left side and you have to right click/long tap on it then choose “Run as administrator” in the app bar below.

In Command Prompt window, you should run this command to check your wireless card: ‘netsh wlan show drivers‘ (without the quotes).

After the process has finished, you need you focus on the line “Hosted network supported.” If it shows “Yes,” that means you can create a hosted network, and the “No” answer means you can’t.

STEP 2: CREATE A HOSTED NETWORK
If you still in Command Prompt window, you are ready to go. If you don’t, just simple open it again. To create a hosted network, you should do these steps.

• Enter this command in Command Prompt window then press enter.

netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=networkname key=password

• In the command, networkname and password is the name and password you want to set for your network. For example, I can create a network named “sample” with password “123456789” by this command

netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=Sample key=123456789

• After that, you network now has been created. What you have to do next is turn it on by enter this command.

netsh wlan start hostednetwork

• Once you see the line “The hosted network started,” that mean you successfully create a hosted network.

STEP 3: SETUP THE NETWORK
After creating the hosted network, you just have to do some simple things to make it available to other devices.

• Open “Network and Sharing Center” by right click/long tap on the network icon in system tray then choose “Open Network and Sharing Center.”
• In Network and Sharing Center window, you can see your current connected network. In my example, the current one is named “ZOOM” which is a Wi-Fi connection; I have to click on the blue line “Wi-Fi (ZOOM)” that places on the right side. Additionally, I notice that my hosted network’s connection name is “Local Area Network *14.”

• Then I should click “Properties” button in the new opened window.
• In Properties window, I will choose “Sharing” tab then check the box “Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s Internet connection.”
• Below that is a drop down list, I will choose it and select “Local Area Network *14,” which is my new hosted network.
• Finally, I just click OK button and wait for it to be finished.

• In the photo below, I use an iPhone to connect to my hosted network. And it just works perfectly.

CONCLUSION

In my opinion, this is a very interesting thing in Windows 8. Before I had a Wi-Fi router in my house, I had used this feature to share my desktop computer’s Internet to my phone. Hope you can find this article helpful.


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[Windows 8] How to mount or unmount ISO files and how to burn ISO files

ISO file is the archive file type like ZIP file, but it is used for optical disc. For example, when you download a Windows installation file from Microsoft website, you will receive an ISO file which can be “burned” to a DVD. Windows 7 is the first version of Windows that support burning ISO file to disc. In Windows 8, there is a big improvement for supporting ISO file; that is the ability to create a virtual drive from ISO file (aka mounting ISO file). Generally, my laptop doesn’t have a CD/DVD drive, so I can’t play a game that requires a disc is always in the drive. With Windows 8, I can create a virtual CD/DVD drive from the ISO file in order to make my game work. In this article, I will show you how to do this.

MOUNT OR UNMOUNT AN ISO FILE

In Windows 8, you just need some clicks/taps to mount an ISO file. First of all, you have to navigate to your ISO file. Then, what you have to do is just double click on it to mount that file. If you have other default program that open ISO file, you may want to right click/long tap on the file then choose “Mount” on the menu. After that, you will see a CD/DVD drive that appears in Computer; that means now you can use it like a real optical drive.

To unmount an ISO file, you have to open Computer. Then, you need right click/long tap on your virtual drive and choose “Eject.” That’s it. You should know that unmounting the ISO file doesn’t affect or remove your ISO file.

HOW TO BURN AN ISO FILE TO DISC

Burning an ISO file in Windows now is extremely easy. What you have to do is navigate to your ISO file, then right click/long tap on this. After that, select “Burn image to disc” in the menu.

In the new dialog, you can choose your burners (if you have more than one). Then just simple click “Burn” and it will do everything for you.

CONCLUSION

Before using Windows 8, I had to use third-party software to mount an ISO file; some are free but others aren’t. Now, I can do all of that stuff without installing anything. Enjoy!


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[Windows 8] How to prevent uninstallation of apps from Start screen

Start screen is a big new thing in Windows 8 from which you can launch all of your installed programs. When you install an app (desktop app or Windows Store app) its tiles will be placed in the Start screen. It becomes a main place to do anything you want. Even now, you have the ability to uninstall apps when you are in the Start screen. In previous versions of Windows, you can uninstall apps by using Control Panel. However, Windows 8 only allows uninstall Windows Store apps directly from Start screen; for desktop apps, you are still need to using Control Panel. Sometimes, you may want to prevent a user from uninstalling a Windows Store app to avoid problem with your apps. In this article, I will show you how to do this with Local Group Policy Editor.

HOW TO UNINSTALL WINDOWS STORE APP

If you haven’t known how to uninstall a Windows Store app in Start screen, you can do it by right click/long tap on the app’s tile then choose “Uninstall” button in the app bar.

HOW TO PREVENT USER FROM UNINSTALLING WINDOWS STORE APP

To disable the Uninstall button in the Start screen, you can follow these steps.

• Open “Settings Search” by pressing Windows + W hotkey (if on a tablet, swipe from the right edge of your screen, tap “Search”, and tap “Settings”).
• Then you need to type “policy” and select the result “Edit group policy.”
• In Local Group Policy Editor window, on the left side, you need to navigate to this location:

User Configuration/Administrative Templates/Start Menu and Taskbar

• You will see the setting “Prevent user from uninstalling application from Start;” what you have to do is double click it.

• In the new window, you just need select “Enabled” and click OK to apply the change. Then you are done.

CONCLUSION

Enjoy!


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[Windows 8] How to always show all users on the login screen

Like many older versions of Windows, Windows 8 definitely supports multi-account. However, a small change that annoys some users is it automatically shows only the last signed out user on the login screen instead of displaying all users of the system. At the login screen you can click/tap the small arrow button in the UI to show all users but that can be a bit annoying to always do to see all users. Therefore, in this article, I will show you a tweak to make Windows 8’s login screen always display all users.

CAUTIONS

I found out that once you applied this tweak, the Lock screen will be go away. That means in the startup process, it will only show you the login screen.
Additionally, if you want this tweak work, you shouldn’t change the color scheme in PC Settings after finishing the tweak. Once you has change the color, you have to do those steps below again.

HOW TO ALWAYS SHOW ALL USERS ON THE LOGIN SCREEN

First of all, you need to know that we will make some change in the Registry, which is a very sensitive part of Windows, so that you may want to backup your Registry before do anything with it.
After that, you should follow these steps to always show all users on the login screen.

• Open Registry Editor by pressing Windows key then type “regedit” (without the quotes) and choose “regedit.exe” result on the left. If you are using a tablet, you should wipe from the right screen edge, select “Search” then type “regedit” and choose “regedit.exe” result.
• Once Registry Editor has opened, in the left side, you need to navigate to this location:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\UserSwitch

• In the right side, you will see “Enabled” value. What you have to do is double click it then change the value in “Value data” field to “1.”
• Now, you’re done. You need to restart your Windows to apply the change.
• Just remember that the default value of “Enabled” is 0, so when you want to show only last signed out user like before, you just have to change the value to 0.

CONCLUSION

I have a Guest account on my laptop but no one can find it on the login screen because of this default setting. Thanks to this knowing, my problem now is solved. Hope you will too


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[Windows 8] How to change how long notifications stay on screen

Windows 8 is the first version of Windows that has an effective notification system. When you finish installing an app or a new message has just arrived, you are shown notifications on screen — sort of like Android and iOS. For some people, the default amount of time notifications show for may be too long or too short to read the information. Additionally, when you have too many notifications, the long appearance of a notification may prevent others from showing. Therefore, in this article, I will show you how to change how long the notifications are shown for.

If you feel annoyed by notification system, you can completely turn it off. The other choice is just disable their sounds. You may want to read the previous article to discover what you can do with notification system.

HOW TO CHANGE HOW LONG THE NOTIFICATIONS ARE SHOWED

To do this tip, you need to follow these steps:

• Open PC Settings by move your mouse to the left hotpot (on tablet, swipe from the right screen edge) and choose Settings.
• In the Settings panel, you need to choose “Change PC settings” at the bottom.
• What you have to do next is select “Ease of  Access” on the left side in PC Settings screen.
• On the right side, you will see the option “Show notifications for,” and you can choose how long you want notifications to display on screen. The length varies from five seconds to five minutes. I recommend that the notifications time should under 15 seconds.

• Once you make your selection, you are done!

CONCLUSION

Enjoy!


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[Windows 8] How to add a Control Panel shortcut or tile to the Start screen

By creating the Start screen, Microsoft wants it to become the place where you to go start everything. However, this is kind of hard with Control Panel because it has no tile on the Start screen. As you already known, there are other ways to open Control Panel in Windows 8 – using the Charm bar, accessing by the Administrative menu, and using traditional ways. However, if you want to be able to open Control Panel from Start screen, you have come to the start place. In this article, I will show how to open Control Panel in Windows 8 from the Start screen — by adding a tile on Start screen.

HOW TO PLACE A TILE OF CONTROL PANEL ON THE START SCREEN

Basically, we will create a shortcut of Control Panel that can be pinned anywhere in the Start screen. To do that, do the following:

• First of all, you will need to create a shortcut in a folder (once you create a shortcut, you will pin it to Start screen — keep following these directions, we will show you how). You need to navigate to the location you want to place your shortcut. For example, I will create the Control Panel shortcut on the desktop. Then, to do it, you have to right click/long tap on the empty space then choose ‘New’ and select ‘Shortcut’.
• In the Create Shortcut window, you should enter this location into the box:

%windir%\explorer.exe shell:::{26EE0668-A00A-44D7-9371-BEB064C98683}

• After clicking the ‘Next’ button, you will ask to give it a name. Then click ‘Finish’.
• Now, you will see the new shortcut in your place with a Libraries icon. What you need to do next is apply the Control Panel icon to it. To do this, you first have to right click/long tap on the shortcut then choose ‘Properties’.
• In the ‘Properties’ window, you should click ‘Change icon’ button.
• In the new window, you need to enter the following into the box:

%SystemRoot%\system32\SHELL32.dll

• What you have to do next is find the Control Panel icon, select it then click ‘OK’.

• You can see now the shortcut has the name Control Panel and the correct icon. Now you have to pin to the Start screen. Just right click/long tap on the shortcut and choose Pin the Start.

• You’re done! There is now a tile of Control Panel on your Start screen.

CONCLUSION

Enjoy!


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[Windows 8] How to jailbreak Windows RT tablets to install desktop apps

“Can I run desktop apps on Windows RT devices (such as Microsoft Surface RT)?” That is the main question most users are confused by when it comes to Windows RT. And officially, the answer is “No.” That means Windows Store is the only source of apps for Windows RT tablets. Because of the ARM architecture of Windows RT, legacy desktop apps need to be reconstructed and must be available through Windows Store to be run on Windows RT tablets. However, every rule can be broken. People at XDA-Developers have found a way that allows you to install uncertified reconstructed desktop apps on Windows RT devices. In other words, they have found out how to ‘jailbreak’ Windows RT and in this article I will show you how to do it.

BEFORE WE BEGIN

First of all, take note that jailbreaking allows you to run desktop (i.e. non-Windows Store) apps on your Windows RT tablet. However, that does not mean you will be running traditional Windows programs like Photoshop, AutoCad, etc. The catch with jailbreaking your tablet is you can only install desktop apps specifically designed to run on ARM architecture. That means developers need to reconfigure their apps to specifically run on Windows RT. The conundrum is most developers that are reconfiguring their apps for Windows RT are offering the apps through Windows Store. So, in a way, jailbreaking won’t be useful until more developers release ARM-based desktops apps for Windows RT. Still, it is good to know how to do it.
Also, take note this method *should* work for all Windows RT tablets. However, proceed further at your own risk. Not only may jailbreaking void your warranty, but it may cause Blue Screen of Death or other issues. dotTech and its writers are not responsible for any gain or harm incurred by following this guide.
Lastly, take note Microsoft has said they may disable jailbreaking in the near future, if they want to.

HOW TO JAILBREAK WINDOWS RT

Typically jailbreaking is a very complicated process. However, thanks to a tool created by netham45 of XDA-Developers, it is very easy.
To jailbreak your Windows RT tablet, do the following:

• Download Windows RT Jailbreak Tool on your Windows RT tablet.
• Once downloaded, right click/long tap on the downloaded file and choose “Extract all.” Select the destination folder where you want to extract the files and extract them.
• Now restart your device. Let it boot normally until it reaches the login screen. Login and go to the desktop. Now you must wait about two minutes at the desktop before doing the next step.
• Once you have waited two minutes, find the files that you extracted earlier and run the file “runExploit.bat”.
• Once you run the file, you need to follow on-screen instructions to do the jailbreak. You may be prompted multiple times, with things like being asked to run jailbreak on login, uninstall the jailbreak, or to run the jailbreak only once, asked about a ‘Developer License’ (which you have to tap ‘I Agree’), asked to login to your account (which you must login), and asked if you want to continue (to which you have to say say yes). Simply follow whatever on-screen instructions you receive and you will have a jailbroken device in no time.
• Done!

Conclusion

Enjoy!


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[Windows 8] How to install classic start menu on Windows RT tablets, including Surface RT

Now that you have jailbroken your Windows RT tablet, you probably want to know what you can do. One thing you can do is get back the classic start menu. In this article, I will show you how to install the classic start menu for Windows RT. Take note you must have a jailbroken Windows RT tablet for this to work. If you have not jailbroken yet, read our guide to learn how to do it.

Also note installing this classic start menu will disable Windows RT’s Start screen.

HOW TO GET BACK CLASSIC START MENU ON JAILBROKEN WINDOWS RT DEVICES

To get classic start menu on Windows RT tablets, do the following:

• Download the installer file.
• After downloading it, you need to extract it by right clicking/long tapping on the downloaded file and choose “Extract all.”
• Then you need to run “ClassicStartMenu.exe” file. There will be a dialog that asked you to run the file, you have to click/tap “More info” link in it then click “Run anyway” button.

• If you don’t see the Start menu appear right away, you have to restart the Explorer.exe process by using Task Manager. To do this, you need to right click/long tap on the taskbar then choose Task Manager. In Task Manager window, you should find “Windows Explorer” then right click/long tap on it and select “Restart.”

• On the first start of Classic Start Menu app, you will select which style of Start menu you want (Classic, XP, and Windows Vista/7 style). Then you are good to go.

• Moreover, this app provides you many advanced settings for your Windows RT system. To enable this mode, you should choose “All settings” button at the left bottom of Classic Start Menu app’s window. There is a bunch of settings for you to customize Start menu, Sound, Search box, etc.

CONCLUSION

Enjoy!


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[Windows 8] How to disable startup sound on your Windows 8 computer or tablet

Everyday, I spend hours in my college’s library to do my homework and I am always disturbed by the startup sound from people’s computers. By default, when you start your computer, it will make a sound to get your attention. However, in the classroom or the meeting, it’s not a very good function for you — people may stare at you due to that sound. Therefore, in this article, I will show you how to turn off startup sound in Windows 8.

HOW TO DISABLE STARTUP SOUND IN WINDOWS 8

This tip is very easy to do, you just need to follow these steps.

• Go to the desktop (if you are in Windows Store app or the Start screen) then right click/long tap on the empty space.
• Next, you have to choose “Personalize.”

• In the Personalization window, you can see many options to change the theme, wallpaper, and what you need to do is looking at the bottom of that window then choose “Sounds.”

• Then, in the Sounds window, you just have to uncheck the option “Play Windows Startup sound” to turn off startup sound in Windows 8.
• After that, click/tap OK button to finish and you are good to go.

CONCLUSION

Enjoy!


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[Windows 8] How to start, stop, and setup Automatic Maintenance, a feature that automatically scans for viruses, spyware, updates, and more

Not only does it come with many new features, but Windows 8 also improves on features from previous versions of Windows. One of them is Maintenance – the feature that automatically diagnoses your system. It can scan for viruses, spyware, update the system, and other works to keep your Windows healthy. By default, Maintenance is set to start at a specific time (3:00 a.m.) daily; if it can’t run at that time, it will do it when the system is idle. In this article, I will show you how to control this feature – include set time, and start and stop it manually.

HOW TO START OR STOP MAINTENANCE MANUALLY

Note: in Windows 8, it doesn’t allow you to turn off Maintenance completely. You can only start it manually and stop it when you know it is running.
To start or stop Maintenance, you should do following.

• Open Action Center by click/tap on the flag icon in the system tray (the place at the right bottom of the desktop screen) and choose “Open Action Center.” By some reasons, if there is not that flag icon, you can press Windows + W hotkey (on a tablet, swipe from the right edge, choose Search then select Settings on the right) then start typing “action center” (without the quote); after that, running the “Action Center” result on the left.

• In Action Center window, you will see “Security” and “Maintenance” section; you need to click/tap on the section Maintenance to expand it. Then, the part “Automatic maintenance” shows you the latest time of maintenance and you can choose “Start maintenance” to start maintenance.

• Once maintenance has started, you can see a flag-with-clock icon appears in the system tray. If you want to stop maintaining, even it started automatically, you can click “Stop maintenance” in Action Center like the way to start maintenance above.

HOW TO CONFIGURE MAINTENANCE

As I have said before, the system automatically runs maintenance at 3:00 a.m. every day by default. If you want to change that time, you can follow these steps.

• Pressing Windows + W hotkey (on a tablet, swipe from the right edge, choose Search then select Settings on the right) then start typing “maintenance” (without the quote).
• After that, you should choose “Change Automatic Maintenance settings” result on the left.

• In this window, you can select what time you want the system to start maintain. If you want to wake up the computer at that time to maintain, you can check the box “Allow scheduled maintain to wake up my computer at the scheduled time.”
• Then click/tap OK and you are good to go.

CONCLUSION

Maintenance uses a lot of system resources, so make sure that you didn’t set the automatic time during work time. Otherwise, enjoy!


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[Windows 8] How to change Lock screen background and how to add app notifications on Lock screen [Guide]

Start screen and Lock screen are two new big things in Windows 8. As you already know, Start screen is the place of live tiles and other desktop app icons; it plays the role that Start menu did in previous Windows versions. In addition, the new operation system has Lock screen, like a mobile phone. There are many things that can be show on Lock screen and in this article will show you how to customize it, plus the Start screen too.

How to Change Lock Screen Background

Like many other platforms, Windows 8 allows you to change its Lock screen background. To do this, you need to open “PC settings” by bringing up Charms menu (Win + C or swipe/click on the right edge of your screen), then clicking on “Change PC Settings” and then choosing “Personalize”.
Once PC Settings has opened, on the right side you will see the preview of your Lock screen; below it are five recent backgrounds you have used so far. From here you can either pick one of the recent backgrounds you used to select your own photos as the background. To do this, you just simple click “Browse” button and then select what picture you want. It is as easy as that.



You should know that there will be a thin transparent black layer placed over the photo you select in order to make the texts are easier to read on the Lock screen. In my experience, you may want to choose a dark picture to set as background rather than a light one because the texts will be more readable while they are always white even though Windows 8 puts that thin black layer over your photo.

How to display app notifications on the Lock screen

The Lock screen is not only the place to show up your beautiful photos but it can also provide short notifications from your apps. The best part is you can choose which apps are allowed to display notifications on the Lock screen. Windows 8 allows seven different apps to show a quick notification and one app to display its detail status on the Lock screen. For example, quick notification for Mail app only shows the number of new emails while the detail status of Calendar app provides you with what event is going to happen with its time and location.



To modify apps notifications on the Lock screen, you need to go back to the same “Personalization” screen I talked about earlier when explaining how to change the Lock screen background. If you forgot, let me remind you — this can be done by bringing up Charms menu (Win + C or swipe/click on the right edge of your screen), then clicking on “Change PC Settings” and then choosing “Personalize”.
Once you are at the “Personalize” screen, click on “Lock screen” and scroll to the bottom to the “Lock screen apps” section. You click on the big plus button under “Lock screen apps” then choose the app that you want to display its notification on the Lock screen. When picking apps, you need to remember that these apps always run in the background so they will regularly consume power (which is a concern if you are on a tablet).

CONCLUSION

Isn’t the Lock screen so much better now that you have customized it? Enjoy!


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