Category: Windows 8

In the latest version of Windows, version 8.1, Microsoft has added support for customizing the Start screen background image to be the same as your Windows desktop background. But if you are still using the Windows version 8, then you can also set a custom background for the Start screen using a free tool called Windows 8 Start Screen Customizer.

Microsoft has finally decided to bring back the Start button in Windows 8.1 after seeing the disappointment of users arising from the missing Start Menu. This Start button is not much of help – all it does is open the Start Screen. If you right-click on it, it opens the Win + X administrator menu. In Windows 8.1, you can adjust whether to show command prompt or PowerShell in the Win + X menu when you right-click on the Start button.

Microsoft has released Windows 8.1 which comes as an update to the Windows 8. This new version has many new added features that were missing in the Windows 8. For example, Microsoft has finally decided to bring back the Start button in Windows 8.1 after seeing the disappointment of users arising from the missing Start Menu. Another feature enables you to boot straight to the desktop instead of the Modern UI Start screen.

Often you hear that this software is for 64-bit Windows and that one is for 32-bit Windows. But how do you know if your computer is running 64-bit Windows or 32-bit Windows? You can go through system information settings and find it out, or you can simply use the freeware 64bit Checker to find out if your system is 64-bit or 32-bit.

Microsoft PowerPoint is a great application for creating presentations. The only problem is that it needs Microsoft PowerPoint to display the presentation. If your work place or school does not have Microsoft PowerPoint installed, then you can convert your PowerPoint presentation into Adobe Flash movie and show it anywhere you want. The flash movie can be run inside any web browser. The freeware tool PPT to SWF Scout allows you to convert PPT (PowerPoint) files into SWF (Adobe Flash movies).

Have you ever felt annoyed that when you copy a video from your PC to your smartphone or tablet, it just does not work. The Android or iOS device just refuses to play that video file. This is because of the wrong video format. If you want to play videos in these mobile devices then you should first convert your videos to a supported format like MP4. The free program EasyBrake can help you convert videos in just one click.

When you buy a new PC and use it for the first time, you have to install dozens of applications on it. But downloading and installing them from their individual websites takes too long and is a very frustrating task. DDownloads, a freeware application, can help you download and install hundreds of applications for Windows from a single window interface.

GhostBuster is a nifty tool that can be used to remove the ghosted devices from your PC. This is very helpful when you try to update the drivers of your computer hardware as the older (ghosted) devices do not interfere during driver update if the they are removed first. This also can be used to remove the references of USB keys or mobile phones ever connected to your PC for the privacy reasons.

It happens all the time that you leave your PC running and get busy doing some other things (like attending to a phone call, watching a TV show or talking to a friend). Leaving your PC powered on for no reason not only wastes the electricity but it also reduces the life of the computer hardware. A freeware tool called SmartPower presents the solution by automatically hibernating your PC when it is idle.

IObit Driver Booster is a free Windows application that can automate the driver updating process which may take many hours if you try to do it manually. Updating the drivers in Windows may boost your system performance and add many new features to your existing hardware. It creates restore points before installing the new drivers, so if anything goes wrong, you can always roll back your drivers to the older versions.