October, 2013: Getting Started with Windows 8

Windows 8 can be confusing at first, since the interface has changed so much. You'll need to know how to navigate the Start screen as well as the Desktop. 

To Sign In to Windows 8: 
When you're setting up Windows 8, it will require you to create an account name and password that you will use to sign in. You can also create additional accounts, and you'll have the option of associating each one with a Microsoft account. 
1. Click anywhere on the lock screen to unlock the computer. 
2. Your user account name and picture will appear. Type your password and then press Enter to sign in.  Alternatively, you can press the back arrow to select a different user. 
3. The Start screen will appear. 

Navigating Windows 8 
There are several ways to navigate through Windows 8, including hot corners, keyboard shortcuts, and gestures if you're using a computer or tablet with a touchscreen. 

Using Hot Corners 
Whether you're in the Start screen or the Desktop, you can navigate through Windows 8 by using hot corners. 
To use a hot corner, just hover the mouse in the corner of the screen, and it will open a toolbar or tile that you can click. Each corner performs a different task: 
1. Lower left click: When you're using an app, you can click in the lower-left corner to switch back to the Start screen. 
2. Upper left hover: If you have several apps open, you can switch between them by hovering the mouse in the upper-left corner and then moving the mouse down. This displays a list of all of your open apps, and you can click the desired app to switch to it. 
3. Upper left click: If you click in the upper-left corner, it will switch to the previous app that you were using. 
4. Upper right or lower right hover: You can hover the mouse in the upper-right or lower-right corner to open the Charms bar, which you'll use to adjust your computer's settings, manage printers, and more. 

If you have a touchscreen, you can navigate by using swipe gestures instead of hot corners: 
1. Swipe in from left edge lets you switch to a different open app. 
2. Swipe in from right edge opens the Charms bar. 
Using Keyboard Shortcuts to Navigate 
Windows 8 has several keyboard shortcuts that you can use to navigate more easily: 
1. Alt+Tab: You can hold down the Alt key and then press Tab one or more times to switch between your open apps. This feature is called Flip, and it works in both Desktop view and the Start screen. 
2. Windows: When you have an app open, you can press the Windows key to switch to the Start screen. This shortcut also lets you switch back to the Start screen when you are in Desktop view. 
3. Windows+D: You can hold down the Windows key and press D to switch to Desktop view. 


The Charms Bar 
The Charms bar is a toolbar that lets you access your computer's settings, along with other options. You can access the Charms bar by hovering the mouse in the top-right or bottom-right corner. 
The Charms bar contains several icons, which are called charms, and each one contains different options: 
1. Search: The Search charm lets you find apps, files, or settings on your computer. However, a 
simpler way to search is to go to the Start screen and start typing the name of the file or app that you're looking for. 
2. Share: The Share charm is basically a copy and paste feature that is designed to be as convenient as possible. It allows you to "copy" information (such as a photo or web address) and "paste" it into another app. For example, if you're viewing a photo in the Photos app, you can share it with the SkyDrive app, which will upload the photo to your SkyDrive. If you're reading an article online, you can share the address with the Email app, which lets you email the article to a friend. 
3. Start: This switches to the Start screen. If you're already on the Start screen, it will open the most recent app. 
4. Devices: This shows any hardware devices that are connected to your computer, such as printers or monitors. 
5. Settings: This lets you access general settings for your computer, as well as settings for the app you're currently viewing. For example, if you're in Internet Explorer, you can go to the Settings charm to access your Internet Options. 

Coping Without the Start Menu 
Although the Desktop looks very similar to previous versions of Windows, it has one major change: the Start menu has been removed. The Start menu was a very important feature in previous versions of Windows, as it was used to launch apps, search for files, open the Control Panel, and shut down the computer. You can still do all of these things in Windows 8, but they're now found in different places. 

To Launch an App: 
There are several ways to open an app in Windows 8: 
1. Click the app icon on the taskbar. 
2. Double-click the app shortcut on the Desktop. 
3. Click the app tile in the Start screen. 
4. To view all of your apps, right-click the Start screen background and select All apps. 

To Search for a File or App: 
Press the Windows key to switch to the Start screen, and then type what you're looking for. Your search results will instantly appear on the left side of the screen, and search options will appear on the right. 

To Open the Control Panel: 
1. From the Desktop view, hover the mouse in the lower-right corner to access the Charms bar, then select Settings. 
2. Locate and select Control Panel from the Settings Pane. 
3. The Control Panel will appear. You can then select the desired setting to change it. 

To Shut Down Your Computer: 
1. Hover the mouse in the lower-right corner to access the Charms bar, then select Settings. 
2. Click Power and select Shut down. 

Working with Start Screen Apps 
Start screen apps are different from the "classic" Windows apps you may be used to. Apps fill the entire screen instead of opening in a window. However, you can still multitask by opening two apps side-by-side. 

To Open an App: 
1. On the Start screen, locate and click the app that you want to open. 
2. The app will open and fill the entire screen. 

To Close an App: 
1. Hover the mouse at the top of the app. The cursor will change to a hand icon. 
2. Click, hold, and drag the top of the app all the way down to the bottom of the screen and then release. The app will close, and you'll return to the Start screen. 
When dragging the app down, it may look like it's "stuck." However, just keep moving the mouse down until the cursor gets to the bottom of the screen, and the app will then close.

Viewing Two Apps Side-By-Side 
Although apps usually fill up the entire screen, Windows 8 lets you snap an app to the left or right side and then open a second app. For example, you might want to keep your calendar visible while you're using another app. 

To View Two Apps Side-By-Side: 
1. From the Start screen, click on the first app to open it. 
2. Click, hold, and drag the top of the app all the way to the right or left side of the screen. 
3. Release the mouse, and the app will snap to the side of the screen. You cannot change the size of the snapped app. 
4. Click anywhere in the empty part of the screen to return to the Start screen. 
5. Click the second app to open it 
6. Both apps will now appear side-by-side. 
Snapping is designed to work with wide-screen monitors. You will need a screen resolution of at least 
1366x768 pixels to use this feature.

September, 2013: Files & Folders

FILES AND FOLDERS – HARD DRIVE ORGANIZATION

Every item on your computer -- documents, photos, videos, music, email, programs, etc. -- is made up of one or more files. These files are always grouped in folders and make up your directory. Groups of folders, called sub-folders, are often filed together in another folder -- just like your filing cabinet. This "filing cabinet" on your computer is called a hard drive. 

 Think of your hard drive as one big file cabinet.  You will stash your work in the file cabinet.  But you can't just throw documents in willy-nilly.  You have to have an organizational structure to your filing system.  

   Folders provide that organizational structure, just as they do in a file cabinet.  First, you will put labeled folders into your cabinet/drive.  Each folder will have a name.  When you view the contents of a hard drive, folders are normally listed in alphabetical order.  

   Inside the folder, you will put your documents, which are called Files.  In order to be able to find your documents later within an overstuffed folder, you will give each File or document a name.   

A file name is made up of two parts:  (1) the name of the document and (2) the file extension.  You may name a file anything you wish, but it is preferable to name a file something you are likely to remember later.  
The second part of a file name is the extension.  In the file text.doc, the word text is the file name and the .doc is the extension.  A period always separates the two.  The extension identifies what kind of a document you have and is determined by the software program in which the file is created.  YOU do NOT need to decide this, nor should you change it.

Some examples of file extensions are: 

.doc - Microsoft Word Document 
.htm - Web document  
.gif - image 
.jpg - image 
.ppt - PowerPoint Presentation 


You can see how this looks on your hard drive in several ways. One way is to use your mouse and right-click on the START button in the lower left corner of your screen and then left-click on "Explore
What you will see is a tree-like diagram. The left side of Explorer (the folder tree) shows all the folders and the right side shows us the contents of the highlighted folder.  The contents of a folder can contain even more sub-folders and individual files.

It is easy to get lost among the pile of folders on most hard disks unless you can actually see the ways the folders are related to each other. The folder tree, located in the left pane, is just such a helpful diagram.

The folder tree shows all of the computer's drives and folders in a nested arrangement, plus some special areas like the Control Panel and Recycle Bin. 

A small symbol, or  , marks drives and folders which contain other folders. Clicking this symbol expands this branch of the folder tree.

Another symbol,  or  , marks something that is already expanded to show its contents. Clicking the symbol will collapse this branch of the folder tree.

You can show or not show dotted lines between equal levels in the folder tree, as shown in the first illustration above.

Windows Vista, by default, does not show the arrows unless the mouse pointer is over the folder tree.


CREATING FOLDERS

You can create new folders in the Explorer window.  In the folder tree – the left pane - click on the existing folder in which you want to create a NEW folder.  For example, click on My Documents (or Documents, if you’re using Vista). In the (My) Documents window, right-click in a blank area. Select New>>Folder.
A new folder will appear in the window. It is named New Folder, but the name is highlighted. You can (AND SHOULD) type a new name for it.  To change the name later, right-click the folder and select Rename. Then, enter another name.

If you open (click on) this new folder, there will be nothing inside. You can put the other folders inside it. Technically, they're called subfolders.  You can see the hierarchy in the left panel.  Subfolders can also contain folders, however, it can be a hassle to navigate through many levels of folders.  You can also delete folders by right-clicking on them and then clicking on Delete.


CREATING FILES

In Explorer, you can drag and drop files into the folders, if you’ve already created files.  You can also delete files in Explorer.  However, files are NEVER created in Explorer. You would do this in a software program by clicking on File>>Save, then navigating to the correct folder in the Save dialog box. When you find your folder, just click Save. Your file will be stored in the appropriate place.

Explorer is called Explorer for a reason. Don't be afraid to browse your hard disk. Look in all your folders, and try all the programs in the Start Menu. Explore!

August, 2013 - Burn a DVD

Burn a DVD-Video disc with Windows DVD Maker

1. Add and arrange videos and pictures
When making a DVD, you first need to add your videos and pictures. (If you add pictures, they'll play as a slide show on your DVD.) You can arrange your videos and slide show in Windows DVD Maker to change their order on your final DVD. After that, you can preview your DVD to see how it looks, customize it, or start to burn it.

 To add and arrange items on a DVD

1. Open Windows DVD Maker by clicking the Start button  . In the search box, type DVD Maker, and then, in the list of results, click Windows DVD Maker.
Another way to start Windows DVD Maker is to insert a blank recordable or rewritable DVD into your DVD burner, and then click Burn a DVD video disc using Windows DVD Maker in the AutoPlay dialog box that appears.
2. If the Turn your digital memories into a DVD page displays, click Choose Photos and Videos.
3. Do one of the following on the Add pictures and video to the DVD page:
• Click Add items. Locate and select the videos and pictures that you want to add to your DVD, and then click Add.
To select several pictures or videos, press and hold the Ctrl key, and then click each picture or video that you want to add.
Click File, and then click Open project file. Locate the folder that contains a Windows DVD Maker project file that you want to use to create your DVD, click the project file, and then click Open. To learn more about Windows DVD Maker project files, see Work with projects in Windows DVD Maker.
If you want to add more pictures, videos, or music to your DVD, after opening a Windows DVD Maker project file, click Add items, and then click the other pictures and video files that you want to add.
4. To change the order of your videos and slide show, click the video or slide show that you want to move, and then click Move up   or Move down  . You can also move items by dragging them up or down in the list.
5. To remove a video or slide show from the DVD, select the item you want to remove, and then click Remove items.
6. (Optional) To add, remove, or arrange pictures in a slide show, double-click the slide show, do one or more of the following, and then click Back to videos to go back to the list of videos on your DVD:
• Click Add items. Locate and select the pictures that you want to add to your slide show, and then click Add.
To select several pictures, press and hold the Ctrl key, and then click each picture that you want to add.
• To remove a picture from the slide show, select the picture you want to remove, and then click Remove items.
• To change the order that pictures appear in the slide show, click the picture that you want to move, and then click Move up   or Move down  . You can also move pictures by dragging them up or down the list.
7. If you have more than one DVD burner, on the Add pictures and video to the DVD page, select the DVD burner that you want to use from the DVD burner list.
8. Click the DVD title box, type a title that will appear on your final DVD, and then click Next.
9. Do one of the following on the Ready to burn DVD page, depending on what you want to do:
• If you want to preview your disc to see what it looks like, click Preview. Go to the next procedure to learn how to preview your DVD.
• If you want to burn your DVD right away, click Burn. See the last section on this page for more information about burning your DVD.
• If you want to customize your DVD before burning it, begin customizing your DVD menu styles and text. See the next section on this page for information about customizing your DVD menu in Windows DVD Maker.
Note
• If you want to set different options for your DVD, click Options on the Add pictures and video to the DVD, and then specify the options you want to use. For information about the different options you can specify when burning a DVD, see Change Windows DVD Maker DVD-Video settings.

To preview your DVD
By previewing your DVD, you can view the pictures and videos on it. This can help you to determine if you want to make any changes to the DVD before burning the disc.
1. On the Ready to burn DVD page, click Preview.
2. To play the DVD preview, click Play in the preview monitor.
3. To control playback, click Pause  , Play  , Previous chapter  , or Next chapter  , depending on what you want to do.
4. To view the DVD menu, click Menu. Click the Up, Down, Right, or Left arrows to move in that direction on the DVD menu preview, and then click the Enter button to play the selected menu item. Click OK when you are done previewing the DVD.
2. (Optional) Customize your DVD
Windows DVD Maker lets you customize your DVD menu and menu text so you can make the disc your own and give it the look you want. This includes changing the DVD menu style, menu text, and buttons for the DVD menu. And, if you added pictures to your DVD, you can customize how they play as a slide show on your DVD—and you can add music, too.

   To change the DVD menu text

1. To customize the text for the DVD menu, on the Ready to burn DVD page, click Menu text, and then do one or more of the following:
• Click the Font box, and then select the font for the menu text.
• Click the Font Color  , Bold  , or Italic   buttons to select the font color and formatting.
• In the DVD title box, type the title that you want to use for your DVD.
• In the Play button box, type a label for the button people can click to play your DVD.
• In the Scenes button box, type a label for the button that people can click to view the different scenes on the DVD.
• In the Notes button box, type a label for the button that people can click to view any notes you enter for the DVD.
• In the Notes box, type any notes that you want to appear on your DVD.
The Notes button and Notes page only appear on the DVD if you include information in these fields.
2. A static preview of your changes appears in the preview pane on the right side of the screen.
3. To preview the DVD menu and see how it looks, click Preview. Click OK when you're done previewing the DVD.
4. Click Change Text to save the text changes and to return to the previous page.

   To customize the DVD menu style

1. To choose the menu style for your DVD, click one of the DVD menu styles on the right side of the Ready to burn DVD page.
2. Click Customize menu, and then do one or more of the following:
• Click the Font box, and then select a font.
• Click the Font Color  , Bold  , or Italic   buttons to select the font color and formatting for your DVD menu text.
• If you select a menu style with both foreground and background video options, near the Foreground video box, click Browse, locate the video or picture that you want to appear in the foreground, and then click Add.
• To have a picture or video appear as the background for the main DVD menu, near the Background video box, click Browse, locate the video or picture that you want to appear in the background, and then click Add.
• If you want music to play while the DVD menu is displayed, near the Menu audio box, click Browse, locate the audio file (such as an MP3 or WMA file) that you want to use, and then click Add.
• Click the Scenes button styles box, and then select the shape for the scenes buttons on your DVD.
3. To preview the DVD menu and see how it looks, click Preview. Click OK when you're done previewing the DVD.
4. (Optional) If you want to save the customized DVD menu settings as a new DVD menu style and return to the previous page, click Save as new style. In the Style name box, type a name for your customized menu style, and then click OK.
You can use this customized DVD menu style for this DVD and other DVDs you create using Windows DVD Maker.
5. Click Change Style to save the changes you made for this DVD and to return to the previous page.

   To choose the settings for a slide show on the DVD

1. To set the settings for a slide show on your DVD, on the Ready to burn DVD page, click Slide show.
2. On the Change your slide show settings page, do one or more of the following:
• Click Add music, find the music files (such as MP3 or WMA files) that you want to use, and then click Add.
Depending on the length and settings for the slide show, you might want to add additional music. To do so, add another music file.
• If you added more than one audio file and you want to change the order in which the music files play in the slide show, click an audio file that you want to move, and then click Move up or Move down.
• To remove an audio file from the list, in the Music for slide show list, select the audio file, and then click Remove.
• To make the slide show and music last the same amount of time, select the Change slide show length to match music length check box.
The amount of time each picture displays is shown next to Picture length.
• To specify the duration for each picture to display in the slide show, clear the Change slide show length to match music length check box (if it's selected), and then click the amount of time (in seconds) in the Picture length list for each picture to display.
• To choose the kind of transition you want to use between pictures, select a transition type from the Transition box.
• To add pan and zoom effects to the pictures you include in your slide show, click Use pan and zoom effects for pictures.
• If you want to see the slide show as it will appear when you play your DVD, click Preview, and then click the slide show. Click OK when you're done previewing.
3. Click Change Slide Show to save the changes you made and to go to the previous page.
3. Burn the DVD
After you've added and arranged the files (and customized your DVD if you chose to do that), you're ready to start burning your DVD.

   To burn your DVD

1. When you're ready to start burning your DVD, click Burn.
The time it takes to burn your DVD depends on a few things, such as the amount of video you added to the DVD, your computer system resources, as well as your DVD burner.
2. After the DVD is burned, you can do one or more of the following on the Your DVD is ready page:
• To make another copy of the current DVD, remove the burned DVD, insert a new recordable DVD, and then click Make another copy of this DVD.
• To close the page, click Close.