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The .HLP files are Windows help files which were once used extensively by all the Windows programs. Then starting with Windows Vista, Microsoft decided to drop the support for .HLP help files in favor of modern and newer CHM files. If you happen to have an older program that you cannot stop using and it comes with legacy .HLP help files, then you cannot view them. If you double-click on an .HLP file in Windows 8, then it shows the help window explaining why you cannot view the program.

Internet Explorer version 10 which comes pre-installed in Windows 8 has a new feature called Flip Ahead. This feature lets you flip a webpage to the next page on websites with Next links like on Google Search. It is very useful on touchscreen devices as you can just flip pages back and forth on a website just like an ebook. This Flip Ahead feature is not enabled in Internet Explorer by default.

The Shadow Copy feature allows you to restore the older versions of your files. This feature exists in all the versions of Windows Vista and 7, yet Windows provides ability to restore older versions only in the Ultimate and Enterprise editions. This is very annoying for the people who want to restore older versions of their changed files. Now you can use a third party freeware tool called Shadow Explorer that provides the front end to Shadow Copy in any edition of Windows Vista and 7.

If you install a third party web browser (like Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox) in Windows 8 and make it your default web browser, then it disables the Internet Explorer 10 app on the start screen. Now if you click on the Internet Explorer tile on the start screen, it would launch the desktop version Internet Explorer window, and not the full screen Internet Explorer Metro app. There is a simple way to fix this problem, just make Internet Explorer your default web browser again.

The open source project Classic Shell was originally started to provide the classic Start Menu for Windows Vista and 7 users, but now that the Start Menu has totally disappeared from Windows 8, it has been updated to give the Start Menu for Windows 8 users too. It can provide you all flavors of Start Menu – classic Windows 2000 style, Windows XP style, Windows Vista style or Windows 7 style. There are many many settings to choose from. You can even choose various skins for the Start Menu.

Windows 8 comes with the latest version of Microsoft Internet Explore (version 10) pre-installed. Internet Explorer 10 has many new features and is primarily designed for the new Modern interface (previously called Metro interface) of Windows 8. It has a new feature to send the DNT (do not track) header to all websites. What this DNT feature does is asks all websites not to track your website usage which they can use to provide you with improved user experience.

If you have a multimedia keyboard with separate keys for controlling the system volume, then you would be disappointed with Windows 7 because it does not display volume level like Windows 8 or Ubuntu Linux does, when you control volume using your keyboard. This feature can be added in Windows 7 using a third party application called 3VRX. It is a free program that can display volume level as you press the volume up, volume down or volume mute keys on your keyboard.

Windows 8 has an automatic updates feature like its predecessors which automatically downloads and installs updates for Windows. This is a great thing as you always stay up-to-date and fully patched against Windows system vulnerabilities. But the default setting in Windows 8 for automatic updates is very annoying. It downloads the updates by itself without asking the user first. Fortunately, you can configure Automatic Updates and let Windows ask you to download updates when they are available.

If your computer becomes infected with malware, then you must first turn off System Restore in order to scan your system with an antivirus scanner like McAfee Stinger. This is because some of the malware can stay redundant in System Restore points even after malware removal. If you want to scan your system for malware with a tool like McAfee Stinger, then you should first turn off System Restore in Windows 8 using these simple instructions.