Category: Windows 8

Almost everybody knows that you can run applications by typing their full pathname in the Windows Run dialog. But very few people know that you can create aliases for programs to be used in the Run dialog. This way you do not have to type in the full path or name of a program, instead you can just type in the short alias to run a program. Windows does not provide any way to create such aliases, but now you can use Win+R Alias Manager to add, edit and remove Win+R aliases in Windows 8.

The File History feature in Windows 8 keeps a backup copy of all your files that are in your libraries, contacts, favorites, and on your desktop folders. It not only saves the backup of files but their different versions. If the originals are lost, get corrupted, or deleted, then you can restore all of them, including the different versions of your files from a specific point in time. File History is not enabled by default in Windows 8, but you can turn it on easily.

The elevated command prompt is a special command prompt window which is run with the administrator privileges. The benefit of opening an elevated command prompt window is that you can run all commands and programs with the administrator level access. You could open the elevated command prompt easily in earlier versions of Windows using the Start Menu, but in Windows 8 there is no Start Menu. However Microsoft has added some other options to open an elevated command prompt in Windows 8.

The latest version of Microsoft Windows, Windows 8, runs fullscreen apps which have no close or minimize buttons. As a result, many people are getting very confused about how to close them. Even if you switch to other apps, the older apps keep running in the background and consume memory. Fortunately, there are more than one ways to close such Metro or Modern UI apps. All of these methods work in touchscreen Windows 8 devices as well as ordinary desktop computers running Windows 8.

The latest version of Microsoft Windows has a new tiled interface called Modern UI (previously called Metro UI). By default, Windows 8 boots up and shows the Modern UI with all the tiles, clicking on which you can run different apps. You can click on the Windows Explorer tile to switch to the classic desktop. But if you do not like the new Modern UI and crave for the classic Windows 7 desktop, then you can make Windows 8 boot straight into the classic desktop.

Windows 8 SmartScreen protects you from running harmful programs. If you are online and try to run an unsigned application, then SmartScreen does the reputation check from its online database and shows you a warning, but gives you an option to run the application anyway. But if you are offline, then SmartScreen cannot check the reputation and stops you from running it with no options. If you are frustrated by this, then you can disable SmartScreen in Windows 8.

Windows 8 employs many more anti-piracy features compared to its predecessors. To install Windows 8, first of all you need a valid license key. Even after you have installed Windows 8 on your system, you are required to activate it. Without activating Windows 8 first, you cannot get access to various settings and control panel features. Unlike previous versions of Windows 8, Windows 7 can automatically attempts to activate itself as soon as you go online.