Using Windows 8′s “hidden” backup to clone and recover your whole PC. When it comes to backing up and restoring your PC, Windows 8 took a few steps forward and a few steps back. Your settings and apps in the new tablet-y interface (yeah, we're still calling it Metro) are automatically backed up if you use a Microsoft account. That means when you restore your PC, all of the Metro stuff comes back exactly the way you remember it. This has limitations—your desktop applications, anything that wasn't downloaded from the Windows Store, are wiped when performing the most easily accessible type of restore in Windows 8. Beyond Metro, all you get is a file on your desktop listing the applications you've lost. There's also a new backup tool on the desktop side of things, but this has its limits too. Called File History, it lets you automatically back up files to a network drive or cable-connected external hard drive every 10 minutes.
As Peter Bright explained in an article last summer, File History's arrival was paired with the exit of Shadow Copies. Oh, there it is. How to Run Windows XP for Free in Windows 8. How to Create a Custom Refresh Image in Windows 8. We have already shown you how to use the Refresh and Reset features in Windows 8, now we are back to show you how you can create a custom refresh image. This means next time you refresh your Windows 8 PC, you can use a custom image instead of the one that shipped with your PC. When you refresh your PC, all your files as well as Metro applications that you downloaded from the Windows store are kept. This is great, however, all your non-metro applications and PC settings are removed.
If you are like me and have a lot of non-metro apps this can be very annoying, but you can fix this by creating a refresh image that already has your apps installed and your settings tweaked. Creating A Custom Refresh Image Right-click the bottom left corner of your screen and select Command Prompt (Admin) from the context menu. To create a custom refresh image we use the recimg.exe utility. recimg /createimage C:\CustomRefreshImages\Image1 recimg /createimage C:\CustomRefreshImages\Image2. Windows 8 Tip: Master Keyboard Shortcuts. Windows 8 was clearly designed for multi-touch interfaces first, but it also has full featured keyboard and mouse interfaces. So while users of traditional PCs are understandably miffed that their favorite device type is being deemphasized going forward, Windows 8 will not leave you in the lurch. And one of the best ways to get efficient in this new system on traditional PC hardware is to learn the new keyboard shortcuts that Microsoft added to Windows 8.
Many of the new keyboard shortcuts in Windows 8 involve the Windows key, which I’ll refer to as WINKEY from here on out. And where previous Windows versions offered only a limited selection of keyboard shortcuts that involve WINKEY, Windows 8 includes many. Not quite the entire alphabet, but close, plus a large range of other characters too. Charms: The key to most Windows 8 system capabilities Of course, if you’re an overachiever, you may want to access these capabilities directly. WINKEY + Q: Search the current app or Search Apps Lock. How to sync multiple Gmail Calendars using the Mail, Calendar, Hi Leonard As Konolua correctly pointed out, my question is concerning having multiple calendars from a single Gmail account show in the Calendar app. I apologize if I didn't make that clear in my original question. In Gmail you can have multiple calendars under a single Gmail account either from making them yourselves, or from sharing calendars with others.
Right now only the default Gmail calendar (Personal) shows up in the Windows 8 Calendar app - even though I have multiple calendars with my Gmail account. So my question is concerning how to make these show up in the Windows 8 Calendar app. I had the same problem with the Calendar app on Windows Phone, but following this guide ( I was able to make it work. I tried following this guide again hoping I could get it to work for the Windows 8 Calendar app following the same steps, sadly this was not case. Thanks for reading this! Windows 8 Upgrade Diary: What to expect. Windows 8 is here, but plenty of Windows users are still on the fence about whether to take it for a spin. In the wake of Windows Vista, you can't blame Windows users for being cautious; upgrading unquestioningly to the latest version of our operating system is a luxury we may have envied in our Mac OS brethren, who can (usually) look forward to the newest big cat without reservation.
If you're thinking about upgrading to Windows 8 but you're concerned that you might permanently mess up your PC (or be stuck with an OS you don't like), read on to see whether the new Windows is right for you. Meet our test PC For the purposes of this article I decided to use my main desktop PC. It's a home-built system cobbled together mostly from older spare parts, so if anything were likely go wrong with a Windows 8 install, it would probably go wrong with my FrankenPC. Let's get ready to upgrade Windows 8 isn't the boss of me yet, so it doesn't get to tell me what to do. Success!
Using Windows 8. Microsoft giving away Media Center upgrade to Windows 8 Pro users until January 31st. When word came down that Windows Media Center and DVD playback would be a paid upgrade to Windows 8, there were definitely some home theater users that were disappointed. Thankfully, it looks like Microsoft has decided to pay attention to those complaints. For early adopters, at least, the Windows 8 Media Center Pack will be available for free, meaning you'll be able to record TV, watch DVDs, and take advantage of other functionality that used to be bundled in with Windows 7. To get the free copy you'll need to purchase Windows 8 Pro and enter your product key into Microsoft's website by January 31, 2013 — the same date that all of the other promotional pricing for the new operating system ends. We never heard how much the Media Center Pack was going to cost users, but keep in mind that if you are running WIndows 8 you'll still need to purchase the $69.99 Pro Pack to get Media Center.
How to Prepare Your Computer for Windows 8. Windows 8 hardware: laptops, desktops, tablets, and convertibles designed for the touchscreen operating system.