Create A Desktop Shortcut To Your Windows 8 Apps and Software

What many of you do not know is that I often use the blog to document tips, that I come across, for my own future reference. Today’s post is a good example of this. Recently I discovered that I can create a Windows 8 desktop shortcut that will launch the Windows 8 GUI (graphical user interface) menu for all of the apps and software that I have installed on my computer.

As you well know, if you are a Windows 8 user, there is no Start Menu. This shortcut, in essence, will go to serve the same purpose of the Start Menu; however, in appearance it does not look like the Start Menu you have been accustomed to. The good about this is, that once you click the shortcut and you get to the apps screen, you can simply start typing to search for the app or software program you are looking for. For example, let’s say I want to launch the calculator that is built into windows. I simply click on the shortcut that will launch the Windows 8 GUI menu or apps screen, then start typing calculator and very quickly the tile to launch the calculator will appear.

To create this desktop shortcut, here is what you have to do:

Right click on desktop and click New -> Shortcut

A dialog box will appear prompting for a location of the item.  Copy and Paste the following into the dialog box, then click Next:

%windir%\explorer.exe shell:::{2559a1f8-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}

After you click on Next, another dialog box will launch prompting you to give the shortcut a name. In this case, I named the shortcut Windows 8 Apps.  After you enter the name for the shortcut, click on Finish.

Click on your newly created shortcut, to launch the Windows 8 Apps Screen (menu)…

What I am finding, by using this shortcut technique, I am using the Windows 8 GUI menu (or apps screen) on a regular basis.

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Four Ways To Easily Get To The NEW and IMPROVED Windows 8 Task Manager

The NEW and IMPROVED Task Manager that we find in Windows 8 was designed in such a way to not overwhelm the end user and can be quite useful, especially when you need to shut down a task (or program) that is not playing well with your computer. When you first open the Task Manager in Windows 8, you are going to initially find a very basic interface (see below) that will only show what tasks (or programs) are currently active. This basic interface was an on purpose design, with the idea that it makes it easy for the non-technical type of person to get to the task manager, review and shut down  tasks (or programs) quickly, then get out.

To get to the more expanded (advanced) options to the Task Manager, you will need to click on “More Details”, which in turn will give you what you see in the screenshot below.

The expanded view is more for the technically inclined individual; however, I encourage new visitors to the Task Manager to not be afraid and go for the tour. You will find tabs for the processes running on your computer, performance gauges, Windows 8 App History, the programs starting up on your computer (which you can disable for troubleshooting purposes), Users, Details (on the programs and processes that are running), and Services.  I especially like the Details tab where if I see a process or program that is running that I am not sure of, I can right click on that process or program and perform a Google search to see what exactly the program or process is. So you see, the Task Manager has come a long way and can be used as a great troubleshooting tool.

Now that I have briefly covered the Task Manager, here are four ways to open the Task Manager up in Windows 8?

1. At the Windows 8 Start Screen, simply start typing “Task Manager”.  You will see the screen populate with a “Task Manager tile.  Click on the tile…
2. From the Windows 8 Start Screen or the Windows 8 Desktop use the hotkey Ctrl – Shift – Esc on your keyboard.
3. At the desktop level, move your mouse pointer to the bottom left corner of the screen until you see the Start Screen Button appear. When the button appears, right mouse click on the button and select Task Manager from the menu.  Also note the other options on that menu.
4. Believe it or not, this is the one I use the most. I guess it is because I have used it from day one when Windows was born. It is what I call the “three finger salute”.  Hit the Ctrl – Alt – Del keys simultaneously on the keyboard. You will be taken to the solid colored screen (usually blue by default) where you can select Task Manager.  To come out of that screen, simply Esc on the keyboard.

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Two Options to Boot Windows 8 To The Desktop

Typically when you boot Windows 8 you will land either on the Lock (or Login) Screen or the Start Screen; depending on how you have Windows 8 configured. To get to the desktop, you have to click on the Desktop tile on the Windows 8 Start Screen. This change has really thrown a lot of folks off of their game.

There are couple of ways to fix this so that you will land on your desktop, instead of landing on the Start Screen. One option is to download (and buy) Start8 by Stardock. The advantages of this option is that there is a configuration setting in Start8 that will allow you to boot to the desktop; PLUS, Start8 creates a Start Menu (which is a missing component in Windows 8). So this option is really a win-win option, all the way around. There are many other third party options out there, but I lay my trust in Stardock’s reputation.

The other option that I came across is by WinAero. This option is a more techie type option that requires a little work on your part; however, this option does not require you to install any third party software. It modifies system policy and allows to Explorer to read the registry key which controls Metro behavior. If you think you may be interested in this option, [click here]. WinAero also has some other Windows 8 utilities that you may be interested in, as well.

In summary, I am thinking that Microsoft will eventually get this right by giving us an option to restore the Start menu and by giving us an option to boot to the desktop. Microsoft reminds me of many of the smart (intelligent) people I know. They are smart, but they lack common sense.

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The Easy Way To Close A Windows 8 App

As I mentioned in an earlier article, I never had any “hands-on” experience with Windows 8 until it was officially released by Microsoft back in October. I intentionally did this so that I would have that first time user experience (and challenge); like most of you will have.

As I continue to “find my way” there was one thing I started to wonder about. Was there a way to easily close a Windows 8 app once I opened it? In reality, in the scheme and design of things when it comes to Windows 8, you will find that it really does not matter; however, I wanted to know. I eventually found the answer that works for me on my desktop computer and find myself doing this all of the time now.

When you are working from the “Start Screen” (see screenshot of my Start Screen below) and click on an app, the app will open maximized on your screen and you will immediately notice that there is no close button or minimize button.

What you have to do, is this:  When the app is open move your mouse cursor to the top of the screen. When the cursor reaches the top of the screen a “hand” will appear (see cropped screenshot below). When the “hand” is visible on the screen, hold down the left button on your mouse, drag to the bottom of the screen, and the app will disappear (and close). As you are performing the dragging action, visually you will see the app shrink down from full screen to a much smaller screen (or window). Once you teach yourself to do this, I will guarantee it will become second nature to you when you want to close an app.

Note:  The cropped screenshot you see above is a Windows 8 app called SmartCalc.

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Access Any File You Need From Your PC From Anywhere With The NEW SkyDrive

A hot news item this week in the world of computers and information technology has been the re-design of Microsoft’s SkyDrive from its’ standard file management interface to the more metro look (that is the defacto Windows 8 GUI). If you have a Hotmail (or Outlook.com) account, then you can easily get access to SkyDrive. I highly recommend you take advantage of SkyDrive, because Microsoft is really getting this right.

With SkyDrive, you get 7 GB of free storage with SkyDrive—that’s enough for over 20,000 Office documents or 7,000 photos. For most people, this is plenty of space. But if 7 GB isn’t enough, you can add even more storage for a low yearly fee.

It was not the metro look that captured my attention or that you can now upload and store any type of file; instead, it is a very powerful feature in SkyDrive that allows you to remotely access your files and folders on your Windows (or Mac) computer from anywhere you have internet access. For example, if I am at work and I need a document file from my computer at home, I simply log onto SkyDrive account where I am able to see my entire file/folder/drive(s) structure on my computer at home. This sort of reminds me when I used to manage network attached storage devices (NAS), with the end user interface being quite similar to this.

As long as your home computer is “on” and is running the SkyDrive software, you can access any file you need from your home computer—from anywhere.

In fact, you can browse through files just like you would if you were sitting in front of that PC. Want to show someone a photo on that home PC? You can view photo slide shows and videos on that PC from any browser, from any computer.

Fetch files from your Windows PC from anywhere

Here’s how it works, straight from the horses’ mouth:

1. Download SkyDrive for Windows.
2. Make sure you leave the box checked during setup that will allow you to “Fetch your files from anywhere.” (You can also choose this later by clicking the SkyDrive icon () in the notification area, at the far right of the taskbar, and clicking Settings. On the General tab, under Fetch files, select Make files on this PC available to me on my other devices, and then click OK.)
3. Open your browser and sign in to SkyDrive.com.

4. Your PCs that have SkyDrive for Windows installed will appear in the Computers menu. Choose the computer that has the file you want, and you can view, print, or download the file you forgot.

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iPAD – A Possible Solution For When You Cannot View The Contents Of Your Email

Yesterday, was a first with me that taught me that I need to be now thinking outside the box; the Windows OS box that is…  A friend of mine, in his 80’s, asked if I could help him with an email problem he was experiencing on his computer. What I was expecting was a computer sitting on or under his desk or a notebook computer, but what I found was that this well seasoned friend of mine was using an iPad.  I was like, hmm, hmm, and hmm… ; where do you turn this thing on at (just kidding). I actually had an iPad in my hands a few times, so I did at least know where the home button was located.

The problem he was facing was that the email client suddenly had stopped displaying the contents of any of his emails. The left side of the email client showed the email titles; however, when you finger tapped an actual email, it was no longer showing the content of the email on the right side of the window. After navigating around in the settings and confirming the settings were properly set, etc…, I came to the conclusion that this was a bug in the email app that was causing it to hang and wasn’t releasing itself from memory.

If you remember, several days back I posted the article All It Took Was Unplugging The Computer and Plugging It Back In as a potential fix to many computer problems. With this thinking in mind, I told my friend, “Let’s try this… We will completely shutdown the iPad, count to 10, then restart it”. What I soon learned is that he had never completely shutdown the iPad since he owned it.

Note: Folks, these tablets (iPads, Androids, etc…) are like giant smartphones and if you ever owned a smartphone (or cell phone) you soon learn that you need to completely power down the unit on occasions and reboot it.  What this does is refresh the operating system and releases any memory resident programs or issues that have been cached.

Sure enough, after restarting the iPad and it came back to life, I went back to the email client and voila’ problem solved.  My friend was back in business and could now read his email.

After praising my friend, who is in his 80’s, for knowing more about an iPad than I did, I went home and did some further research on this specific problem and found it is quite a common problem. As a result, to help other iPad owners, here are some of the solutions you can try if you are unable to view the contents of your email:

Solution #1:  Completely power down the iPad.  Hold in on the hold  button (which I called the power button) that is at the top right corner of the iPad. A red slider will appear.  Slide the slider to the right to power the iPad “off”.  Count to 10, then restart the iPad.

Solution #2: You can perform what is similar to ctrl+alt+del on your computer by holding both the sleep and home buttons together (for approximately 10 seconds) until you see the Apple Logo.  Ignore the red slider.  The iPad will reboot.

Solution #3:  Simply double click the home button, press and hold the mail icon and tap when the red dash appears to refresh or (kill) the app.

Again, I am not an iPad expert and these solutions may vary from generation to generation of iPad. Also, for anyone that is into computers and information technology, be aware that you now have the tablets on your plate to deal with.

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Flex The Muscle of Gmail’s Search Options

Have you ever noticed that when you use a computer, a software application or just about any tech related device, you only scratch of the surface on how to use these technologies?

What I have found, from experience working as a former IT professional and helping others, is that people want to only know the basics and really not a whole lot more. A lot of this, especially in the generation I come from, is the fear that you will break it, or mess it up…

Being the geeky person that I am, I love to flex the muscles of the software, the devices, the computers, etc… to see what hidden features I can find. I especially love doing this with software, which is my true passion when it comes to computers and technology. I am not an expert of any one thing, but what I have found is that if you can think it, the software or device most likely can do it. In other words someone has already thought it out for you. You just have to flex its’ muscles to find it (which can be a fun learning experience).

Today, was no exception for me… I was exploring the features and flexing the muscles of my Google Gmail account. What motivated me on this was that I needed to search for a specific email, containing specific text, out of literally thousands of emails that have been collected over a period of years. What I discovered was very powerful search options in Gmail that is hidden from plain view.

When you open up Gmail and go to your inbox you will see a search box at the top of the window. At first glance, this search box appears to be a very basic search box that provides the ability to search your email; however, if you notice to the right side of the search box, you will find an arrow that is pointing down (see screenshot below). This small arrow is actually very difficult to see.

If you left mouse click on the arrow, a drop down box with an array of search options are revealed that will allow you to perform more refined searches. In my case I was looking for an email that contained the text “security officer”. I was amazed at how efficient and how fast the search operation performed. Every email that I had archived that contained the text “security officer” quickly populated my screen.  You can also search specific areas of Gmail (such as the inbox, drafts, sent mail, spam, etc…) by clicking on the “All Mail” button (see below).

Now, this get’s even better…  Using the above screenshot, you will notice at the very bottom right corner another option, labelled “Create filter with this search” that will allow you to flex Gmail’s muscles even further.

If you click on “Create filter with this search”, another window will appear that will reveal some very powerful filtering options that could save you a tremendous amount of time and applies to any future email messages you receive.

As we continue to evolve in the world of technology, we continue to accumulate more and more information AND continue to reveal more and more about ourselves. It is important that you “have no fear” to explore and flex the muscles of these technologies to make yourself more efficient, more productive, more secure and most importantly to protect your privacy.

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