Windows: How can I make Windows 8 / Windows 8.1 usable?

Computer Tips - Windows: How can I make Windows 8 / Windows 8.1 usable?

Date: 2013jan22 Update: 2016mar4 OS: Windows8, Windows8.1 Q. Windows: How can I make Windows 8 / Windows 8.1 usable? A. Replace Internet Explorer:

http://getfirefox.com

Learn these keyboard short cuts:

Windows-D go to the Desktop Windows-C open the Charms bar (Metro menu on the right) Windows-X open a menu of several handy things. Windows-R open Run - so you can enter an program name to run Ctrl-N open a new window in explorer

Add the missing start button:

Install Classic Shell http://classicshell.net

Metro interface keeps butting into desktop:

Right-click on Classic Shell start button for its settings > Select Advanced settings > Windows 8 Settings > Disable active corners > All Tweak the registry: Windows-R > regedit In HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ImmersiveShell make a key called EdgeUI in there make: DisableCharmsHint:DWORD = 1 DisableTLcorner:DWORD = 1

Disable Charms bar (Only available in Windows8.1+)

Right click on task bar > Properties > Navigation > Corner navigation Unclick all items in there.

Stop edge swipes:

To avoid the charms bar appearing "randomly" when using my trackpad I had to go into the Control Panel > Mouse > Elan And disable edge swipes.

Change file associations to avoid Metro apps starting. In Powershell:

Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppXProvisionedPackage -online | Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage –online

Install a desktop PDF reader and associate the .pdf extension to it:

http://www.davekb.com/search.php?target=PDF-XChange

Stop windows from maximizing when you drag them (why would they do this?)

Turn off snap on http://www.davekb.com/search.php?target=turn+off+snap+on

Keep Desktop programs off Metro start screen:

Sorry, I don't know how to do that.

If you every want to go back to Metro:

Move mouse around bottom-right corner until charms bar shows Click on Start

Optionally, turn on delete confirmations

http://davekb.com/search.php?target=windows+delete+confirm

If you ever want to get the Metro start menu

http://davekb.com/search.php?target=metro+start+menu