Sunday, 12 January 2014

How to Upgrade to Windows 8.1 From Windows 8


1a. Click settings on the Charms menu.

Charms Menu
1b. Click Change PC settings.

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1c. Select Windows UpdateSelect Windows update
1d. Click the Check for updates now button to see if there are any new files. Check for updates now
1e. Force any updates to install immediately by clicking on the “We’ll install . . . automatically” link then Intall.

Install updates
2. Open the Windows Store app.Load Windows Store

3. Click the Update to Windows 8.1 button. If you don’t see this button on the screen, check for updates again, close and reopen the Windows Store or reboot your machine.

Click Update to Windows 8.1
4. Click the Download button to confirm. 

Click the download button
You may have to wait 30 minutes or more for the install to download, but you can keep using your computer during this time.
Downloading WIndows 8.1
5. Click Restart Now when prompted.
Click Restart
Your computer will then take several minutes installing Windows 8.1, complete with at least one reboot. You can walk away from your computer and do something else for 5 minutes or more because your input won’t be required for a while.
6.Click “I Accept” when presented with the License terms.

Accept License Terms
7. Click Use Express Settings at the bottom of the screen. You can also choose custom settings, but we find the Express settings work well for most users.

Use Express Settings 
 8. Sign in to Windows as you normally would.


Sign in to account
9. Allow Windows to send a security code to your phone if it prompts you. You can skip this step, but may not be able to sync your account across PCs without performing it later.

Let Windows SMS you a code
10. Enter the code you received on your phone at the prompt.

Enter the code
11. Click Next on the Skydrive screen.

Click Next on SkyDrive
You will then have to wait a few minutes while Windows finishes the install process. You’ll see some messages on the screen that say it is setting up and installing apps. 


After another couple of minutes, the Windows 8.1 Start screen will appear and you’ll be ready to go 

Tuesday, 19 November 2013

whats new in windows 8.1

The Start button is back. But not the way lot of people hoped. Yes, there's a start icon in the lower left corner of the desktop, but all it does is take you to the modern start screen -- just like the empty corner did before the upgrade. It's like a passive-aggressive genie granted you a wish by delivering the literal thing you asked for, not what you intended to get. On the other hand, there is a handy context menu in the Start button -- right click to get access to nearly two dozen items, including a new path to shutting down the PC.


Boot directly to the desktop. People hated booting to the start screen. And even though the desktop was always just a click away, Microsoft acquiesced and gives you the ability to bypass the start screen. To do that, right-click the taskbar and choose Properties, Navigation. You can also control other elements of Windows 8 here, like disabling the "hot corners."


Snapping is better. The nightmare that was modern app snapping in Windows 8 is finally over. Now you can snap more than two apps side-by-side, and easily drag the windows around to adjust their widths automatically. It makes the modern experience actually usable. In just a few days with Windows 8.1, I've found myself using modern apps a lot more because of this. Clicking an external link in the Facebook app, for example, automatically opens the browser and positions the apps side-by-side -- a very nice experience.

You can search "everywhere." The search experience in the modern start screen was, frankly, confusing. In Windows 8.1, when you search you see results from everywhere at once -- the local hard drive, the Web and apps.
Vastly improved PC settings. One of the best examples of how half-baked Windows 8 was that the modern control panel ("PC Settings") only controlled a small set of Windows features, probably because Microsoft simply didn't have time to build out the new control panel in a comprehensive way. So you still needed to go to the legacy desktop control panel for most of you adjustments. No more: The revamped PC settings still isn't complete, but it does so much more that you rarely need to visit the old control panel.
Seamless desktop and start screen. There are a variety of visual improvements and wallpaper changes, but hands down the best one is the coherent background in the desktop and start screen. One reason, I think, that people didn't like the start screen in Windows 8 was the fact that it was a jarring change to switch between the desktop and modern experiences. Now, you can keep the same background, so the start screen seem like it was designed to be an extension of the desktop -- the change is small, but incredibly important.
Deeper SkyDrive integration. Microsoft is definitely following through on its intention to make the Internet cloud an integral part of Windows