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Main » 2012 » June » 01

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After a lot of rumormongering by various sources about Nokia’s tablet plans, the Finnish phone maker’s design chief has finally confirmed its existence.

Nokia Is Making A Windows 8 Tablet With An Uncertain Launch date

Nokia’s Chief of Design has confirmed that his company is working on a tablet and they intend to make one that competes with the iPad. This news comes nipping at the heels of the Digitimes post that quoted an anonymous component supplier to say the same thing.

Marko Ahtisaari, the Chief of Design for Nokia, let this information slip to a Finnish magazine when he was quoted saying that he is spending about one-third of is working hours on a tablet. Of course, he stopped right there and di did not give out any more details about specifications, form factors or expected release schedule. He simply said that they were working on it.

He did not mention Windows 8 either but then the company is no foolish enough to work on a Symbian tablet when they have such a great OS right in front of them. Plus Microsoft’s presence at Intel HQ will ensure great support from the makers of the said OS and may be even a marketing combo. Google does similar things with its Nexus series of devices where it partners with a hardware manufacturer and provides marketing support in exchange of product development.

Nokia might have gone with Android as well but then that would only mean fragmenting their work force one more time to dedicate a team to the new OS. Windows Phone is already being worked on at Nokia and Windows Phone 8 will be deeply tied in with Windows 8 on ARM — which would be the logical choice for a tablet.

The one interesting thing that Ahtisaari said was that the tablet would be different from the current crop of Android Tablets and it will be designed to steal market share from the iPad. Whilst Nokia is certainly not the first to make claims about competing with the iPad, they would become the first to actually make good on it if they actually manage to put a dent on the iPad Juggernaut.

Category: Windows 8 Tips and Tricks | Views: 8226 | Added by: Adamsummer | Date: 2012-06-01 | Comments (4)

Do you need to know what TCP/IP ports are in use on your Windows 8 PC? Then read this tutorial!

Preview Image


Each and every applications need to occupy an available port or socket when the application wants to be connected to the internet. The application uses that occupied port to communicate and transfer data over internet until the application are terminated. Some applications have dedicated ports, like HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer protocol) uses port 80, FTP (File Transfer Protocol) uses port 21, Telnet has dedicated port 23, SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) uses port 25 etc. Some applications do not have any dedicated ports. When they want to connect to internet they occupy any random available port.

To know which application is using what port, follow these steps.

Use the command line and Task Manager to check the ports

1. Open the Task Manager.You can open Task Manger either by right clicking on the taskbar or by pressing Alt, Ctrl and Delete simultaneously. Now click on the File Tab and then select New Task (Run).

task manager

2. Then the Run window will appear. Check the box below to "Create this task with administrative privileges” . Write cmd into the input area and press Enter.

Open Command Prompt As Administrator

Now, the command prompt will appear having administrative privilege. You will see Administrator is written in the bar. It indicates you have the administrative privilege.

3. Now, simply type this command line

netstat -aon | more

and hit Enter.

Command Line

4. Now you can see a table where the Local Address column will show you the port address and PID column will show the Process Identifier number of the process or application which is listening (using) the particular port. For an example from that table shown in the figure we can tell that Local Address 0.0.0.0:80 or port 80 is being used (Listening) by the process having the PID 1592.

This PID is unique for each and every process.

Listening Ports

... Read more »

Category: Windows 8 Tips and Tricks | Views: 7793 | Added by: Adamsummer | Date: 2012-06-01 | Comments (2)

If you want to get a Metro style start menu with a start button in Windows 8 there are some really handy tools available for download. Give this a try if you need a Start menu.

Preview


Microsoft introduces a new user interface : the Metro User Interface Windows 8.
The Start menu brings the main difference between this and its predecessors.
Some people like the new attractive start menu of ,strong>Windows 8 , some people still prefer that old start menu type.
Which was most easy to access in Windows 7. You can search for files, apllications or open any of the installed
programs from that menu quite easily.

If you want to use both the attractive look of Windows 8 start menu and the easy to access start menu of
Windows 7, then there is a way to combine both the feature. You have to folow the instructions carefully to do this.

1. Download Start 8 from here.

Download Start 8

2. After downloading Start8 , install it in your own machine.

Click finish the installation when you are asked.

3. After finishing the installation check the new start menu by double clicking on the Start Button
to see it.

Metro Style Start Menu

Now, you can search the applications , Settings , Files from the search menu.
You can also browse the installed programs from this new start menu as you have doen it till  ... Read more »

Category: Windows 8 Tips and Tricks | Views: 15559 | Added by: Adamsummer | Date: 2012-06-01 | Comments (3)

Some applications always need to be run in an elevated mode, here’s a guide that will teach you how to to always run applications in administrator mode on Windows 8.

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Windows 8 by default runs most of the utilities or applications with least privilege access, which is non-admin mode. Thus Windows 8 helps to protect the system from damaging caused by both malicious virus codes and inexperienced end users. In general cases this is a good thing but, sometimes a user may need an app to run as an Administrator for different reasons.

Many applications need to be run as administrator in order to function properly. As Windows 8 is very new to us, many applications especially the older applications (which were meant for XP or vista) have not been updated to support Windows 8 yet. Sometimes a user may need administration privilege to run these type of applications.

Though Running applications as an Administration can be accomplished by using a simple right click, and then choosing Run as administrator option. But you need to do this same step each and every time you want to launch the application. It is possible to set an app to always run as Administrator.

Simply follow these steps to do so.

Steps to always Start an Application in Administrator Mode on Windows 8

Step 1: Right-Click the Application Shortcut that you want to run as an administrator and then Click Properties from the context menu.

Click on Properties

Step 2: Now, navigate to Shortcut tab at the top. Then Click on the Advanced.

Open Avdanced Option

Step 3: Check the Run as administrator option, then Click OK to finish.

Check Run As Administrator Option

You are done. Now if you click on the shortcut of the application the shortcut will automatically run the application in administrator mode without any extra steps.

Category: Windows 8 Tips and Tricks | Views: 11243 | Added by: Adamsummer | Date: 2012-06-01 | Comments (2)

If you want to create Shutdown / Restart / Lock shortcut icons on your Windows 8 desktop (that you can also pin to the Metro Start Screen) then read this guide.

Shutdown Icon Preview


If you want to create icons for Shutdown / Restart / Lock the machine, to do them directly by one mouse click, this tutorial is for you. If you do not like the shutdown menu in the metro user interface of Windows 8, then you can create icons for each of them in the desktop. Thus any of these can be done just by a single mouse click. If you want to create these icons, see the instructions below.

1. Switch to Desktop Mode by pressing Windows + M simultaneously.
2. Right-click on the desktop and click on New and then on Shortcut.

New Shortcut

3. Now a new shortcut will be shown with a page like icon on the desktop and it will ask you the purpose of creating the shortcut.

Shortcut purpose

Write the following lines for those corresponding purposes.

Shutdown Computer :

Shutdown.exe -s -t 00

Restart Computer :

Shutdown.exe -r -t 00

Hibernate Computer :

rundll32.exe PowrProf.dll,SetSuspendState

Sleep Computer :

rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState 0,1,0

Lock Workstation:

Rundll32.exe User32.dll,LockWorkStation

... Read more »

Category: Windows 8 Tips and Tricks | Views: 8546 | Added by: Adamsummer | Date: 2012-06-01 | Comments (2)

If you want to fully configure your startup apps, then read this simple how-to!
Normal Startup


Start up applications uses RAM & CPU during start up process. If there are a lot of applications during startup it will make your PC slow. You may need to configure ( create new or disable some) these startup applications. This tutorial will tell you how you can configure start up applications in Windows 8.

There are mainly 2 ways to do it. Here they are:-

A. Using "msconfig” program

Press window+R to start "Run”prompt.

Type msconfig into it & press enter.

msconfig

You will see the following window to appear.

msconfigWindow

Go to "Startup” tab. Uncheck unnecessary applications ( i.e these applications will no more start during startup).

StartApp

Click "OK” to confirm. The following window appears. Select "Restart”.

ConfirmRestart

B. Using Startup folder

There is another way to do it.

First of all enable "Hidden Items” option.

HiddenItems

Now go to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup. Paste the application or batch file here.

I have shown an example here.

... Read more »

Category: Windows 8 Tips and Tricks | Views: 8312 | Added by: Adamsummer | Date: 2012-06-01 | Comments (6)

If you are annoyed that your cursors jump while you type, you can easily disable the touchpad in Windows 8 and stop that annoying behaviour of the touchpad.

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While you are typing in your laptop or notebook your hands sometimes touch the touchpad unknowingly, results erratic cursor movement. Then you may find that the lines of text mysteriously intertwined. It is very annoying while you are doing a fast-typing job. To overcome this type of problem you may need to disable the touchpad while typing.

Not only that. While connecting an external Mouse with a laptop, users often want to disable touchpad temporarily.

Disabling touchpad in Windows 8 is quite easy. There are several methods to disable touchpad in windows 8.
Go through these following methods to disable touchpad.

Methods to disable touchpad in Windows 8

Method 1: Disabling touchpad using Touchpad Button

In most of the laptops or notebooks there is a special "Touchpad Enable/Disable button” to enable or disable touchpad in a single click. This is the easiest method to disable touchpad. If your laptop does not have such buttons then try other methods.

Touchpad enable-Disable button

Method 2: Disabling touchpad while typing

1. Download the file TouchFreeze from here

2. Now, install that program and run the .exe file.

4. After installing "TouchFreeze” you can see the TouchFreeze Icon in the system tray. The "Touch Freeze” will run in Automatic Mode.

 Touchfreeze is running in Active Mode

TouchFreeze will now automatically disable touchpad while you are typing. Thus erratic cursor movement will not occur anymore.

Method 3: Disabling touchpad from Mouse Property

1. Click on ControlPanel tile.

Open Control Panel

2. Now click on More Settings option from left side menu.

Click on More settings

3. Old Control Panel Window will open. In Old Control Panel Window search for  ... Read more »

Category: Windows 8 Tips and Tricks | Views: 11678 | Added by: Adamsummer | Date: 2012-06-01 | Comments (5)

Mapping Network FoldersIf you want to quickly access (network) drives, you can simply map a network drive or hard drive in Windows 8 – This is very easy to do.


Quickly Accessing Network Folders via Explorer

1. Press Windows key + E on your keyboard to open the Windows Explorer

2. At the top you will already see the icon Map network drive. Select it. From the dropdown you can also optionally Disconnect network drives

Mapping A Network Drive

3. Click on Browse and select Network.

Mapping Network Folders

4. Wait a few seconds until you get a list of all computers connected your network drive

5. The network folder will look similar to \\username\share

6. Click on Finish and you’re done, you can now successfully access this network drive from within the Windows 8 explorer

Category: Windows 8 Tips and Tricks | Views: 12618 | Added by: Adamsummer | Date: 2012-06-01 | Comments (5)

Accessing All Apps On Windows 8_ThumbWondering what is installed on your PC, but you’re having trouble getting used to the Windows 8 Metro UI? Here’s how to see all apps that are installed.


1. Open the Metro Start Screen

2. Do ONE right-click on the blue background and a new bar at the bottom will appear:

Accessing All Apps On Windows 8.Jpg

3. Click on it and you should get a list of all programs that are installed on Windows 8

List Of All Installed Programs

4. The list is quite long.

Obviously you can also simply open up the Windows Explorer and go to C:\Program Files\, however this is a little bit more handy to start them quickly.

Still can’t see all of your installed programs? Maybe it was not correctly added to the Metro Start Screen

Category: Windows 8 Tips and Tricks | Views: 7316 | Added by: Adamsummer | Date: 2012-06-01 | Comments (2)

Desktop ShortcutsYou are a desktop user and want to see all of your desktop shortcuts on the Windows 8 taskbar? Nothing easier than that.


1. Open the regular Windows 8 desktop by clicking on the Desktop user tile

2. Right-click on the taskbar and select Toolbars, Desktop

Enable Desktop Shortcut Toolbar Windows 8.Jpg

3. You can now access all desktop shortcuts using the Desktop toolbar:

Desktop Shortcuts

Category: Windows 8 Tips and Tricks | Views: 7592 | Added by: Adamsummer | Date: 2012-06-01 | Comments (1)

Internet Explorer 10 Location Windows 8_ThumbYou are a desktop user and want to use the regular, non-metro edition of the Internet Explorer? It’s still there, you just have to know where to look.


1. Open the Windows 8 explorer by hitting Windows key + E on your keyboard

2. Double-click on your C:/ or main drive and go to C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\

Internet Explorer 10 Location Windows 8.Jpg

3. Right-click on iexplore and select Pin to taskbar

4. You can now open the real, non-metro Internet Explorer 10 right from your taskbar:

Accessing Internet Explorer 10 From Taskbar

Optionally, you can pin it to "Start” and access the non-metro browser via the Metro Start Screen, but I will only use the Metro screen on mobile devices.

Category: Windows 8 Tips and Tricks | Views: 14714 | Added by: Adamsummer | Date: 2012-06-01 | Comments (6)

Don’t know what the pagefile.sys file is good for and you can’t delete it? Learn more about this system file in this tutorial and why you shouldn’t delete it.

Preview Image


What is pagefile.sys?

Pagefile.sys is a file (system file) created and used by system (XP,Windows7, Windows 8) as ‘virtual’ memory and it is saved on hard drive. When physical RAM is fully used and there is need for more physical RAM, any data loaded in RAM and not in immediate use, can be swapped to the page file and thus free physical RAM for immediate use. The swapped data can be transferred back into physical RAM if needed at any time. Windows doesn’t work well without a page file.

Virtual memory is usually at least as large as installed physical RAM. But recommended size for a Page File is 1.5 to 2 times the installed physical RAM. so,Pagefile.sys can be quite big in size. Again, an unnecessarily huge Page file will increase boot time of the system. So, making the Page File too large will not necessarily improve performance.

Deleting Page File is not recommended. But if the size of the Page File is so large, that it increases system boot time or you need some urgent disk space, you may need to delete the Page File.

Follow these steps carefully to delete pagefile.sys file.

Steps to get rid off pagefile.sys

1. First of all open Computer or My Computer. Here you can see all the hard Drives and Portable Media drives attached with your PC.

2. Now, click on "System properties”, near the top of the window to open the System control panel.

Select System Properties

... Read more »

Category: Windows 8 Tips and Tricks | Views: 7565 | Added by: Adamsummer | Date: 2012-06-01 | Comments (1)

Do you know what DMA is? Here’s how to enable it for some of your hard drives

dma preview

What is DMA ?

DMA stands for "Direct Memory Access”.

dma preview

As the name refers DMA means tranfer of data between IO and disk without intervention of CPU.
The IO processor gets the control of IO buses along with control buses.

Suppose you have connected your peripheral device, e.g., pen drive to you computer. Now you are copying some data from hard disk to that pen drive.

Now to transfer data, the CPU must have to control that. But using CPU only for copying data is not efficient. Here comes DMA controller.
It takes the charge of data transfer betwen devices and frees CPU for other tasks.
But remember the hardwire should actually support DMA & It can only be enabled or disabled using the OS

Steps to enable it

The whole process can be divided in the following steps:-

1. Open Control Panel from the Metro UI.

opening control panel

2. Search for Device Manager.

search device manager

3. Click on device manager & open Device Manager (Administrator password may be needed). After opening you will see a screen like the following:

open device manager

4. Expand IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers.

controllers expanded

5. Right-click on any label where "Channel” is present & Click on properties (I have used ATA Channel 0)

... Read more »

Category: Windows 8 Tips and Tricks | Views: 11481 | Added by: Adamsummer | Date: 2012-06-01 | Comments (0)

According to a report from Bloomberg, Microsoft will be able to deliver the finished version of Windows 8 by the end of this year around October.
Windows 8 rumored to be coming in October 2012

Windows 8 Coming In Time For Early Christmas

Bloomberg has reported that Microsoft is on track for a late 2012 launch for Windows 8. The tech giant will apparently release the OS to manufacturers by the end of this summer and will officially launch the OS in October so that it has the period leading up to Christmas to gain everybody’s attention.

The publication, just like most other predictions about the upcoming OS, cited unnamed sources who were close to the matter. The report also said that there will be less then five ARM devices at the time of the launch, which seems to tie up to Dell, Lenovo and others claims. One of them, we believe will be from Nokia, given how tightly they are working with Microsoft at the moment.

The lighter ARM-based tablets running Windows 8 are what Microsoft will be depending on to carve out market share from the huge numbers that rival Apple now commands thanks to their iPad. The iOS maker in fact disclosed sales figures for the iPad on Monday during the earnings call saying that over 3 million iPads had already been sold since the Friday on-sale date.

Microsoft has already promised to ship ARM devices at the same time as other devices, making it possible for everyone to choose which one they want at the very beginning. However, since WoA (Windows on ARM) will not see a public preview like the main Windows 8, there are rumors about the actual progress being made.

If there are only abut five ARM tablets on the market at launch, then they might not pose that much threat to the iPad. However, combined with the x86 tablets that most companies are working on, Windows 8 might create a visible dent on the iPad’s market.

Category: Windows 8 Tips and Tricks | Views: 6863 | Added by: Adamsummer | Date: 2012-06-01 | Comments (2)

It is possible to bring back the Windows 8 Start button and Orb using various tools and tricks

Bring Back Windows 7 Start Menu Buttons

Want to bring back the Start and orb buttons? Here’s a guide

Want that old Windows look in the Windows 8 beta? Well it’s possible to bring the Windows Start button and Start orb can back, and here’s how.

1. Download ViStart, an app which remakes the Windows 7 Start menu
2. When you start and run ViStart, make sure to decline options for toolbars bundled with the app. Assuming you don’t want them, of course
3. Once installation is complete the Start button and orb should be back

We said "should.” Some users have been reporting problems with the orb and Taskbar overlapping, so for those of you who run into issues here’s a lengthier guide on sorting out the problem.

1. First, you’ll need to another blank toolbar. Create a folder, and put it anywhere. Right-click on the Toolbar, then New Toolbar. Find the folder you created and click Select Folder. The folder will be added to your Taskbar, in the bottom right corner
2. Right-click on the Taskbar and uncheck Lock the Taskbar. Now drag and drop the new folder toolbar to the start of the Taskbar.
3. There should now be an empty area between the folder toolbar and the program buttons. Uncheck both the Show Text and Show title options. Move the program buttons near the start orb.
4. Lock the Taskbar, and you should have a Start orb that isn’t overlapping anything.

Bring back classic Start menu

If you don’t want to bring back the Start menu button and Start orb however, then you can bring back the classic Start menu instead. While this guide is for Windows 7, the desktop side of Windows 8 is basically the same in its basic functions.

1. First, right-click on the Taskbar and select Toolbars, New Toolbar
2. It’ll open a dialog box, so paste in %ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
3. Next press Enter and click on the Select Folder button. Now Programs is added to the toolbar. Now uncheck Lock the Taskbar
4. Finally drag the Taskbar so the Programs toolbar is next to the Start orb, and you’re done!

Category: Windows 8 Tips and Tricks | Views: 9323 | Added by: Adamsummer | Date: 2012-06-01 | Comments (6)

If you are having troubles booting Windows 8, you should most certainly try to fix the master boot record after booting into the safe mode or using the cmd launch option when booting from the Windows 8 DVD

Command Written

What is MBR?

Preview image

MBR or Master Boot Record is the second most important thing after the BIOS which can affect the windows startup in your PC.

This is the fixed "starting point” for booting a machine. When the machine is booted,

it looks here for required instructions and informations on how to boot the disk and load the operating system.

Many virus writers try to affect this critical portion.

Boot viruses are of this type.

Steps to fix MBR for Windows 8

1. Insert your Windows 8 DVD. Restart PC & start booting by pressing a key.

2. Click on next

click next

3. Now, click on Repair your computer .

Click Repair

4. Next, click the option Troubleshoot among the 3 options shown on screen.

Troubleshoot selected

5. Click on Advanced options.

Advanced selected

6. Then click on Command prompt.

Click on Command Prompt

7. The following prompt will appear.

... Read more »

Category: Windows 8 Tips and Tricks | Views: 31282 | Added by: Adamsummer | Date: 2012-06-01 | Comments (11)

If you are having problems finding all your programs, read this tutorial to learn how to find all of your Windows 8 apps, programs, tools

Preview image

Microsoft Windows 8 comes with the streamlined, touch-friendly Metro User Interface. Metro UI replaces Windows start button and menu with a grid of tiles. If you are new in Windows 8, you must have seen that the installed programs are not appearing in the start menu, which was there till Windows 7. The Metro UI tiles launch software.

If you want to find out the shortcuts of the installed programs to access them, then read the instructions below.

Finding Programs (UI: Developer Preview Very Similar To Consumer Preview)

1. First switch to Metro user interface by pressing Windows button.

Metro UI

2. See the bottom right corner of Metro user Interface .You will see a Rightward Arrow icon there. Click on that icon quite a few times till your program icon appears on the screen.

Click On Arrow

3. If you want to open the program normally, then just left click on that icon.

Click On icon

But if you want to open the program with Administrative privilege,then Right click on it. Now click on Advanced and select Run as Administrator.

Run Program As Administrator

Now the program will be opened with administrative privilege.

Category: Windows 8 Tips and Tricks | Views: 7192 | Added by: Adamsummer | Date: 2012-06-01 | Comments (5)

First of all there is no boot.ini file in Windows 8, Windows 7 or Vista. It is now the boot manager. Go through this tutorial before editing boot settings in Windows 8.
Preview Image

What is boot.ini?

In Windows 2000, Xp and Windows 2003 boot.ini file can be seen. Its default location is C:\(drive, where the default or Primary OS is installed). It contains boot configuration data. This file is used by these Operating Systems to display a menu of operating systems currently on the computer and allows users to select what operating system to load.

What about Windows 8, 7 or Vista?

Windows 8, Windows 7 or Vista works differently. If you try to boot these Operating Systems using BOOT.INI and NTLDR, it will fail. NTLDR can’t load Windows 8 even if you have the boot.ini entry. For example, if you install Windows 8 in unallocated space on a computer running Windows XP and look inside the XP partition, you will find that the boot.ini file is changed and two lines have been added before the original boot.ini script.

Modified Boot.ini

There is a hidden system partition. As the system partition does not have a drive letter assignment, it can’t be seen. BCD or Boot Configuration Data is stored in a folder named \boot on this system partition. Like Windows 7, Windows 8 uses a boot manager (bootmgr.dll) which consults with the BCD ( in Boot folder) to locate the boot loader ( winload.exe).

What is the location of bootmgr.dll in Windows 8?

Bootmgr.dll is a hidden system file and it is located generally in the root directory of C:\ drive (always not necessary, it depends on installation history). If you are confused, simply navigate to Disk Management. The drive labeled System, Active will be the location of bootmgr.dll file.

Change Boot configuration in Windows 8

You may change boot configuration by editing bootmgr.dll. But it’s not wise to mess with bootmgr.dll unless you have good knowledge about it. However if you are determined to change bootmgr.dll, it is advised to create a recovery image of your existing system.

There’s a utility tool, EasyBCD to edit Boot Configuration. It is free for limited and non-commercial use.


Download EasyBcd

Category: Windows 8 Tips and Tricks | Views: 149654 | Added by: Adamsummer | Date: 2012-06-01 | Comments (2)

Windows 8 is designed to scale to all possible screen sizes and that includes extremely high pixel density displays such as the Retina Display standard used by Apple.
Windows 8 Metro Will scale automatically to give you smooth displays on high resolution and high pixel density screens

Windows 8 To Bring High Resolution Screen Devices To The PC Market

If there’s one thing that is inspiring a lot of vendors right now, it is a certain high resolution display toting device that has a pixel density (PPI or Pixels Per Inch) that matches the limit of the human eye. This has triggered a chain reaction where manufacturers are trying to come up with displays that not only have higher resolutions but go beyond the boring 72-96PPI range and venture in to densities that range from over 100 to nearly 300 PPI.

As a result, Windows 8 would have to scale not only in terms of resolution but also in terms of pixel density. So on the same 10inch screen, it might have to fit in many times more pixels than the basic 96 PPI. Microsoft takes to their Building Windows 8 blog in order to explain how they have achieved this feat and how they intend to make sure that they are competitive with the iPad’s (and the iPhone’s) retina display.

High Pixel Density Along With High Resolution Is Not New In Windows

Windows, like any other modern OS, has always been capable of display more pixels per inch at a given resolution. Since most displays have been using about 96PPI, higher resolutions have not usually been a problem because the screen size would increase with the resolution (because the pixel density is constant) and the elements on screen would remain perfectly readable.

But then came the situation where the same screen size now has higher resolution because of great pixel density. So a 20pixel onscreen element that was perfectly legible on a 96ppi screen, would become very difficult to decipher on a 200ppi screen. Thankfully, Windows has had a way of countering this by increasing the pixel density of the whole OS so that you don’t have to squint to do your regular work.

But it has had its problems because some applications would not draw right with a new pixel density. And some elements or applications would simply become too big and go off screen or behind the taskbar. Result — most users would accept that at 96ppi, things would be slightly small but still usable if you don’t scale them. And since you are using a mouse, your system it still quite usable.

Switch over to touch and this escalates from a minor annoyance to a huge problem. Everything has to be nice and well defined and of a goodly size to be usable. This is a problem that touch device users frequently face on websites and it is not going to go away because higher pixel density is not becoming mainstream.

Metro To Scale Smoothly On High Pixel Density And Resolution Minus Hiccups

So when it came to Windows 8, Microsoft had to find a solution to this and that is what they have done on the Metro side of Windows 8. Microsoft is already anticipating displays that match Apple’s Retina Display. In their illustration of the common screen sizes, there’s a 10.1” screen that has a resolution of 2560×1440 pixels, making the density around 291ppi. The same resolution on a 11.6” device would have 253ppi.

Expected screen sizes, resolutions and their respective pixel densities for Windows 8

As you can already see, these densities are a far cry from the 72-96ppi that we are used to. On common laptop screens, the densities will remain higher than the current average at around 125-157ppi.

Since Metro was designed from ground up to be extremely scalable, designing apps that scale across all screens is much easier. One of the ways this has been done is by limiting the minimum size to 1024×768 and a widescreen minimum of 1366×768. Snapped view will always be exactly 320 pixels wide. And the apps have resizing limitations as well. They will always maintain an aspect ratio of 16:9 or 4:3 depending on the screen. With all these rules in place, the number of possible situations where an app will have to adapt becomes manageable and quite predictable.

Scaling has also been limited to either 140% or 180%, which seems random at first but this will allow 1920×1080 and 2560×1440 screens to display content that are apparently the same size as 1366×768 but much sharper.

Apple Retina Display Matching Screens To Be Common On Windows 8, Says Microsoft

Microsoft mentioned that resolutions of 1920×1080 and 2560×1440 on 10inch and 11inch screens will be quite common on Windows 8 tablets, hinting at the fact that they will take on the newest iPad head on; at least as far as the display is concerned. Windows 8 will be intelligent enough to scale automatically to fit the screen.

The apps on Windows 8 Metro work on a system that automatically scales them to fit the screen. Developers will be required build scaling support right in and some of the elements will be automatically scaled by the system.

Category: Windows 8 Tips and Tricks | Views: 6793 | Added by: Adamsummer | Date: 2012-06-01 | Comments (1)

If you want to get back the classic start menu in Windows 8, refer to the tutorial below.

Classic start menu

IMPORTANT: THIS TUTORIAL IS INTENDED FOR WINDOWS 8 DEVELOPER PREVIEW

Microsoft introduces Metro User Interface in Windows 8. The main difference between Metro UI and its
Predecessor is that, it doesn’t have the start menu like before. Rather it brings a new type of start menu with an exciting new look. But still many users prefer the old start menu, where everything can be done in one place, from searching to opening an application. If you also want to use that old start menu in Windows 8, then follow the instructions carefully.

1. Switch to Desktop Mode by pressing Windows + M simultaneously.

2. Press Windows + R to open the Run window. Now type regedit and then press Enter.

Regedit

3. Now navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > Explorer.

4. Right click onRPEnabled and select Modify.

RPEnabled

By default this value will be 1. Set this value to 0 to get back the old start menu like in Windows 7.
... Read more »

Category: Windows 8 Tips and Tricks | Views: 6834 | Added by: Adamsummer | Date: 2012-06-01 | Comments (4)

If you are new to customizing Windows, read our tutorial how to install icons in Microsoft’s latest iteration Windows 8

Installing Custom Icons


Sometimes you may want to add new icons created by yourself or found elsewhere in existing windows library.In such a situation this tutorial is really going to be helpful to you. You can easily create new customized .ico files and use them as your custom icons. process.
Just follow these steps properly to install custom icons in Windows 8.

A. Get new icons

You can create your own icons using various drawing editor like paint or Adobe Photoshop etc.
There are also some free sites to create icons online like this.
Create an icon and save it as ".ico”. For example I have created this one:- My Icon

If you have not already created your own icon you can download icons from this site or from this site.
Save this to your desktop.

B. Use the new icon

Say you want to change the windows explorer icon. Follow these simple steps.

1. Go to Metro UI screen & right click on the "Windows Explorer” icon. As soon as you click you will see "Advanced” option in the bottom right corner.

Right Click

2. Click on "Advanced” icon & select "Open file location”.

Open file Location

3. After the window has opened right clock on "windows explorer” & click on "Properties”.

Property

4. In the properties window go to "Shortcut” tab. Press "Change ... Read more »

Category: Windows 8 Tips and Tricks | Views: 7055 | Added by: Adamsummer | Date: 2012-06-01 | Comments (3)

This tutorial will help you to learn how to log off in Windows 8. This can also be used to shutdown, restart or switch user accounts

How to log off


Your computer can have multiple user account. You may need to leave the computer for other’s use or you may want to Log off your computer from an user account and log in to another account for any testing purpose. In that case follow the instructions below.

Steps to Log Off Windows 8 via Start Screens

1. First switch to Metro user interface by presing Windows button.

Metro UI

2. See the top right corner of Metro user Interface . You will see your User name is written there.

user name

3. Now click on the User Account icon and the following window will appear.

log off

Now click on Log Off to log off the machine.

Category: Windows 8 Tips and Tricks | Views: 6689 | Added by: Adamsummer | Date: 2012-06-01 | Comments (2)

If you want to install Windows 8 on a new partition, read this guide that explains how to access the "advanced” installation options

Preview image


Do you want to give Windows 8 a try? But not sure to use Windows 8 as your Primary Operating System. Don’t worry, you can easily dual boot Windows 8 with your existing operating system. You just need a free Primary partition on your hard disk to install Windows 8. First of all you need to download 32 bit or 64 bit .iso file of Windows 8. Then Burn it to a DVD carefully.

Now, follow these steps carefully to install Windows 8 on a new partition.

1. Insert the DVD of Windows 8 and reboot the machine. It will automatically start to load the Windows files from your bootable DVD. If it does not detect the bootable Windows 8 installation DVD then make sure you have changed the boot option in the BIOS menu so that your optical drive is recognized before your active primary hard drive.

language preference

2. Set language preferences and then install Windows 8.

install now

3. When you are opted for Custom or Installation. Click on Custom(Advanced) .

select custom

4. Then select the drive except the current Windows directory and install Windows 8.
When the installation is finished and machine is rebooted, then you will see two option for booting Windows Developer Preview and the previous one.

dual os

Category: Windows 8 Tips and Tricks | Views: 7098 | Added by: Adamsummer | Date: 2012-06-01 | Comments (9)

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