Register your product to gain access to bonus material or receive a coupon.
Windows 8.1 Absolute Beginner's Guide
- By Paul Sanna
- Published Nov 5, 2013 by Que. Part of the Absolute Beginner's Guide series.
Book
- Sorry, this book is no longer in print.
Description
- Copyright 2014
- Edition: 1st
- Book
- ISBN-10: 0-7897-5224-7
- ISBN-13: 978-0-7897-5224-6
Make the most of your new Windows 8.1 device–without becoming a technical expert! This book is the fastest way to take control of Windows 8.1, and use it to create, connect, and discover…simplify and organize your whole life…learn more, play more, do more, live better! This book shows you how to do what you want, the way you want, one incredibly clear and easy step at a time. Windows has never, ever been this simple!
Who knew how simple Windows 8.1 could be?
This is the easiest, most practical beginner’s guide to using your new Windows 8.1 desktop, notebook, or tablet…simple, reliable instructions for doing everything you really want to do! Here’s a small sample of what you’ll learn:
• Run Windows the way that’s easiest for you: mouse, touch,
or keyboard
• Make the most of the Charms Bar and other new shortcuts
• Get online with Internet Explorer® 11 and master its new tools
• Retrieve up-to-the-minute news, sports, weather, and financial data
• Set up your home network, printer, and other devices
• Safeguard your personal information and keep it private
• Enjoy all your digital photos, videos, movies, and music
• Easily connect with anyone through email and the People app
• Discover and play new Windows 8.1 games
• Control your Xbox from Windows with Xbox® SmartGlass™
• Manage even the most gigantic collections of data and media
• Automatically back up your data to the cloud
• Fix problems, protect against malware, and keep Windows working reliably
Sample Content
Online Sample Chapter
Organizing the Windows 8.1 Start Screen
Sample Pages
Download the sample pages (includes Chapter 3 and Index)
Table of Contents
Introduction 1
What Is an Absolute Beginner? 3
How This Book Is Organized 3
Conventions Used in This Book 4
Selects and Selecting 4
Special Elements 5
1 Your First Hour with Windows 7
Starting Up Windows 8
Signing In 9
Introducing the Start Screen 13
Returning to the Start Screen 14
Seeing Tiles off the Screen 15
Displaying All Apps 16
Using the Charms Bar 17
Using the Search Charm 19
Using the Share Charm 21
Using the Devices Charm 22
Using the Settings Charm 23
The Help and Tips App 24
Handling Special Startup Situations 25
Restarting Windows After a Problem 25
Waking Up Windows 26
Password Notifications 27
Exiting Windows 28
Signing Out of Windows 8.1 29
Locking Windows 8.1 29
Putting Windows 8.1 to Sleep 29
Shutting Down Your Windows 8.1 Computer 30
2 Interacting with Windows 31
Getting to Know the Windows 8 Interfaces 32
Using the Mouse in Windows 8 32
Using the Keyboard in Windows 8 34
Using Touch in Windows 8 35
Using the Virtual Keyboard 36
Using Windows Controls You Find on the Desktop 38
Window 38
Button 38
Option Button or Group 40
Text Box 40
Check Box 40
Windows 8 Toggle 41
List Box 42
Drop-Down List 43
Combo Drop-Down List 44
3 Organizing the Start Screen 45
Organizing All Those Tiles 46
Selecting a Tile 46
Moving a Tile 47
Making a Tile Bigger or Smaller 48
Adding a Tile to the Start Screen 49
Show More Tiles 50
Personalizing Tile Groups 51
Creating a Tile Group 52
Moving Tile Groups 54
Naming a Tile Group 54
4 Making Windows Your Own 57
Personalize the Start Screen 58
Personalize Your Account Picture 61
Personalize the Lock Screen 64
Setting a Lock Screen Slideshow 65
Lock Screen Apps 66
Personalizing the Desktop 67
Changing the Desktop Background 68
Changing the Mouse Pointers Used on the Desktop 69
Change the Desktop’s Color Scheme 71
Setting Up a Desktop Screensaver 71
5 Using Windows Store Apps 75
Learning Basic Windows Store Apps Info 76
Running Windows Store Apps 77
Starting a Windows Store App 77
Starting Additional Windows Store Apps 79
Stopping a Windows Store App (If You Must) 79
Using the App Bar to Change an App’s Settings 81
Managing Windows Store Apps 82
Using the App Switcher 82
Configuring App Switching with the Mouse 83
Switching to the Previous App 84
Showing Multiple Windows Store Apps on the Screen 85
Uninstalling Apps (If You Can) 89
Shopping at the Windows Store 91
Purchasing an App 93
Managing Your Windows Store Account 94
6 These Are a Few of My Favorite Apps 99
Email, Calendar, People 100
Maps 104
News 105
Sports 107
Food and Drink 107
Weather 108
Photographs 109
Reader 111
Music, Games, Video 113
Music 113
Games 115
Video 117
Additional Notable Apps 118
7 Setting Up Search, Share, and Notifications 121
Using Windows Search 122
Performing Search 123
Setting Search Options 124
Using Windows Share 127
Setting Share Applications 129
Setting Share Options 130
Fine-Tuning Notifications You Receive 132
8 Learning About the Windows Desktop 135
Introducing the Desktop 136
Getting to the Desktop 137
Returning to the Start Screen 139
Working with the Taskbar 139
Receiving Alerts and Notifications 140
Adding Toolbars to the Taskbar 142
Keeping the Desktop Organized 143
Automatically Line Up Icons on the Desktop 144
Arrange the Desktop by Icon Type 145
Change the Size of Desktop Icons 145
Hide All Desktop Icons 146
Displaying Special Icons on the Desktop 146
9 Working with Windows Desktop Programs 151
Introducing Windows Desktop Programs 152
Running Programs on the Desktop 154
Running Multiple Desktop Programs 154
Making It Easy to Start Your Favorite Desktop Programs 156
Saving Files to the Desktop 156
Exiting Desktop Programs 158
Working with Windows 158
Installing and Removing Programs 162
Installing Programs 162
Removing Windows Programs 162
10 Performing Easy Windows Configuration 165
The Control Panel 166
Setting Up Your Mouse or Touchpad 167
Mouse Settings 167
Touchpad Settings 170
Setting Up Your Keyboard 171
Changing Keyboard Settings 172
Personalize Language, Keyboard, and Date Formats 173
Setting Up Your Display 176
Adjusting the Resolution (Making the Screen Bigger or Smaller) 176
Setting Up Multiple Monitors 178
Adjusting Brightness 180
Setting Up Power Use 183
The Easy Method to Set Up Power Use 184
The Really Easy Method to Set Up Power Use 184
The Manual Method to Set Up Power Use 185
Customizing Corner Navigation 185
Setting Up Sound 186
Setting Up Your Speakers 186
Selecting Sounds for Windows Events 188
Ease of Access 190
11 Connecting to the Internet 195
Reviewing Important Internet Connection Basics 196
Learning About Internet Service Providers 196
Checking the Hardware Required to Connect 196
Learning the Internet Connection Services Typically Available 197
Understanding Routers for Internet Connection Sharing 199
Understanding the Network Adapter 200
Connecting to the Internet 201
Connecting to a Wireless Network 202
Connecting Where Free Wi-Fi Is Advertised 204
Connecting to Pay-as-You-Go Wi-Fi 205
Connecting to a LAN/Wired Network 205
Connecting After Upgrading to Windows 8 206
Connecting After You Restart Your Device 206
12 Surfing the Web 207
Figuring Out Which Browser to Use 208
Navigating to Websites 210
Entering the URL of a Site You Want to Visit 210
Searching the Web 211
Following a Hyperlink to Another Page 213
Revisiting a Site You Visit Often 214
Opening a Tabbed Site 215
Navigating Back and Forth 215
Enhancing Your Browsing 216
Zooming In and Out 216
Playing Videos and Music on the Web 217
Viewing Web Pages in the Desktop Browser 218
Pinning Websites to the Start Screen 219
Sharing Web Pages 221
Printing While You’re Web Browsing 222
Using the Desktop Browser 224
Creating Shortcuts to Websites 224
Opening All Links in the Desktop Browser 225
13 Managing Your Contacts 229
Introducing the People App 230
Connecting with Your Contacts 233
Setting Up Your Contacts 237
Linking to Facebook 238
Linking to Google, Outlook.com, and Exchange/Office 365 240
Linking to Twitter 241
Linking to LinkedIn 243
14 Setting Up and Using Email 247
Exploring the Mail App 248
Setting Up Your Email Accounts 250
Setting Up Your Google, Yahoo, AOL, or Outlook.com Account 251
Setting Up Your Exchange/Office 365/Outlook.com Account 252
Manually Setting Up an Email Account Using IMAP or EAS 253
Reading Your Email 255
Replying to a Message 256
Filing a Message in a Folder 258
Deleting a Message 259
Forward a Message 260
Mark a Message as Unread 261
Managing Junk Mail 261
Writing an Email Message 262
Addressing Your Message 264
Formatting Your Email Message 264
Attaching a Photo or Another File to Your Message 267
Checking Spelling in Your Message 268
Managing Your Inbox 268
Creating Folders 269
Flagging Messages 271
Printing Emails 271
15 Managing Your Calendar 275
Getting to Know the Calendar App 276
Controlling the Calendar View 277
Setting Calendar Colors 279
Synchronizing with Other Calendars 280
Connecting to Your Hotmail Account 281
Connecting to Microsoft Accounts 282
Connecting to Your Gmail Account 283
Adding Events to Your Calendar 284
16 Enjoying Your Digital Photos in Windows 291
Learning Photos App Basics 292
Accessing Pictures Stored on SkyDrive 293
Transferring Pictures from a Flash Drive 294
Browsing Through Your Photos 296
Working with Your Photos 298
Organizing the Pictures Library 301
Renaming Your Pictures 303
17 Sharing Your Windows Computer with Others 307
Windows 8 Users and Account Basics 308
Adding a New User 310
Adding a New User with a Local Account 311
Adding a New User with a Microsoft Account 312
Creating a PIN or Picture Password 316
Adding a PIN to Your Account 316
Adding a Picture Password to Your Account 317
Making Changes to User Accounts 319
Changing a User’s Type 320
Removing a User Account 321
Maintaining Security 322
Setting Password Policy 323
Using the Screensaver to Add Security 325
18 Sharing Files and Printers 327
Networking with Homegroup 328
Using the Windows Homegroup 329
Creating a Homegroup 330
Joining a Homegroup 332
Leaving a Homegroup 333
Troubleshooting Homegroup Connections 333
Setting Up Sharing 334
Disabling Sharing for Specific Files or Folders 336
Sharing Files and Folders Only with Specific Users 337
Sharing Your Printer 339
Seeing Stuff Shared by Others 340
19 Managing Files and Folders 343
Files and Folder Basics 344
Understanding Files 344
Understanding Folders 345
Exploring with File Explorer 347
Working with Libraries 348
Navigating the Folder Tree 351
Customizing the Content Pane 353
Exploring the Preview and Details Pane 355
Folder Options 357
Navigating Through Your Folders 360
Selecting Files and Folders 362
Selecting a Single File at a Time 363
Selecting Multiple Contiguous Files 363
Selecting Multiple Noncontiguous Files 364
Typical Files and Folders Tasks 365
20 Working with SkyDrive 369
Introducing SkyDrive 370
Adding Files to Your SkyDrive 373
Managing Files on Your SkyDrive 374
Viewing SkyDrive Status 376
Configuring SkyDrive File Storage 378
Saving to SkyDrive as Default 378
Managing Photo Storage Considerations 379
Synchronizing SkyDrive 380
Manage Metered Connections Considerations 382
Using SkyDrive from the Desktop 384
Offline Availability 385
21 Having Fun with Movies and Videos 387
Getting Started with the Xbox Video App 388
Setting Up Your Xbox LIVE Account 388
Adding Your Videos to the Videos Library 391
Moving Through the Xbox Video App 393
Shopping for Videos 398
Making a Purchase 398
Renting a Selection 399
22 Enjoying Music 403
Getting Started with the Music App 404
Learning What’s Where in the Music App 404
Setting Up Your Xbox LIVE Account 407
Loading Your Music into Windows 8 408
How to Link Your Music 409
How to Move Your Music 412
Browsing Through Your Music 412
Playing Music 414
Creating Playlists 415
Purchasing Music 416
Importing Music and Creating Music CDs 418
Importing Music from a CD 419
Creating a Music CD 421
23 Having Fun and Playing Games 423
Using Xbox LIVE with Windows 8 424
Setting Up Your Xbox LIVE Account 425
Controlling Xbox from Windows 8 427
Installing Xbox SmartGlass with an Xbox 360 428
Using Xbox SmartGlass 430
Learning the Xbox Games App 433
24 Safe Web Browsing 437
Understanding Internet Threats and Risks 438
Web Browsing Risks 438
Learning About Risky Attachments and Other Email-Related Threats 440
Learning Phishing Threats 441
Avoiding Virus Threats 443
Defending Yourself 444
Reviewing All-in-One Internet Defense Suites 444
Defending with Windows Defender 445
Checking Your Security Status at the Action Center 449
Using SmartScreen to Avoid Dangerous Websites 449
Covering Your Internet Tracks 451
Browsing Quietly and Invisibly with InPrivate Browsing 452
Using Windows Firewall 453
Managing All Your IDs and Passwords 455
25 Troubleshooting and Solving Common Problems 457
Handling Special Windows Startup Situations 458
Restarting Windows After a Problem 458
Messages You Might Receive While Signing In 459
Using the Troubleshooting Wizards 460
Using Task Manager to Close Unresponsive Programs 462
Understanding Refresh and Restore 463
Getting a Do-Over with Refresh 463
Restarting from Scratch with the Reset Option 465
Index 469