Windows 8.1 is generally an improvement on Windows 8 . For a start, you get the Start button back and SkyDrive is integrated so files sync from the cloud, even on Windows RT.
Microsoft has already come out with fixes for some of the early
problems we've seen, such as mouse lag in certain games, so make sure
you're up to date on Windows Update.
If you see issues with
Wi-Fi, check for updated drivers from your PC maker. Also, many registry
checkers cause problems for the Windows 8.1 search service, so try
turning those off.
But there are some annoying changes that you
can fix yourself – such as libraries that no longer show up in Explorer,
or the shortcut that used to open the snipping tool being reassigned to
search, for example.
Not only that, there are some tweaks we
think make Windows 8.1 more usable. Here's what we're doing to all our
new Windows 8.1 systems to get them running smoothly.
One
of the most annoying issues with Windows 8.1 is when the newly
integrated SkyDrive won't sync files. Often, that's because you have a
lot of files trying to sync and your PC is hibernating or going to sleep
before it's done. When you turn your PC back on, SkyDrive sync spends
so long rebuilding the sync list that it doesn't get through all the
files before you're turning off your PC again – with all the new files
you created only making the backlog worse.
Open the SkyDrive app
and wait a couple of minutes and you should see the total numbers of
files that need to upload and download. Tap the numbers to see a list of
files with sync progress bars. Create a power profile that doesn't turn
your PC off after a set time, switch to that and leave your PC plugged
in overnight, and SkyDrive should plough through all the files. If there
are files causing problems, they'll be listed here as well, so you can
find and fix them.
2. Get compatibility view back in IE
IE
11 includes a lot more web standards than before, but many sites still
relegate all versions of IE to specially written pages designed for
older, less standard versions. If a page didn't look right in IE 10, you
could click the blue Compatibility icon in the address bar to load it
in as if you were using one of those old browsers. You don't see that
icon for most sites in IE 11 because it now only appears if a site is
listed by Microsoft as having compatibility problems.
Fortunately,
you can add individual sites to the list yourself. Click the Settings
cog next to the tabs and choose Compatibility View settings. The current
site will be highlighted. Click Add to put it on the list and you'll
see the button again. Alternatively, press F12 and use the Document mode
dropdown to make IE pretend to be a range of different browsers, which
can fix sites Compatibility View doesn't.
Add specific sites to the Compatibility View
3. Trust this PC
Until
your PC is marked in your Microsoft account as 'trusted' it won't sync
Wi-Fi passwords, website logins and other useful but sensitive
information. Usually it's entrusted during setup (or when you add a new
user account) by typing in a code Microsoft emails or texts to you. If
you skip that step you can still use your PC, but secure details won't
sync.
Microsoft will also stop trusting any devices you don't use
for two months. Turn that back on in PC Settings, Accounts. Under Your
account, choose 'More account settings online'. This loads the browser
and asks you to sign in to your Microsoft account. Select the check box
that says 'I sign in frequently on this device. Don't ask me for a
code.'
You'll get a code by email, text message or whatever
method you've chosen for authentication. Once you type that in, your PC
will be trusted and will sync secure information. If you haven't already
set up any trusted devices, look on the Password and security info page
and choose Edit security info to pick how to authenticate new devices
first.
Authenticate your machine for syncing
4. Get all the apps on your Start screen to install
When
you upgrade to Windows 8.1 you'll see tiles for all the apps you had
installed (and if you pick the Start screen layout from another Windows
8.1 PC you'll see the tiles for all the apps you had installed on that
PC). That doesn't mean you actually have those apps though. Look
carefully and you'll see an arrow in the corner of some tiles, or if
they're on the All Apps screen they'll say 'install' under the app name.
You have a placeholder for the app, not the app itself. Just tap
the tile and Windows 8.1 will install the app from the Store for you.
If you have a lot of apps that need installing, go to the Store and pick
My Apps from the app bar to get them all at once. If you're using Avast
anti-virus, this can cause problems with apps installing. Remove the
shortcuts to the problem apps in the
users/user/appdata/local/microsoft/windows/applicationshortcuts folder.
Re-instate your app tiles
5. Get rid of the pop-up tips
The
first time you start using Windows Store apps you'll see pop up tips
teaching you how to open the Charms bar and switch between apps.
Annoyingly, you'll keep seeing them unless you follow their instructions
at least once. If you don't have a touchscreen, use your mouse to do
what the tip is suggesting. After you've done it once, you won't see the
tip again.
6. Put libraries back
You don't have to keep
your photos, music and videos where Windows suggests. You might have
them on an external drive, on SkyDrive or on another PC. Adding the
folders you use to the libraries in Windows means you get to choose
where files live, but you can still find them quickly, especially in
Store apps. But Windows 8.1 hides Libraries in Explorer. To put them
back in the navigation pane, open the View tab on the ribbon and choose
Options, Change folder and search options, then put a tick next to Show
libraries.
7. Fix file associations
You don't have to open
pictures in the Photos app or music in the Xbox Music app. If you
missed the notification letting you pick which program to use the first
time you opened a file, go to Explorer and select a file you want to
change the default for. Click the arrow next to the Open button and pick
'Choose default program…' to change to the software you want to use.
8. Put desktop IE back on the Start screen
The
tile for the desktop version of IE is gone from the Windows 8.1 Start
screen. You can't put it back so if you don't want to click the desktop
tile and then open IE from the taskbar, you have to make desktop IE the
default and then the tile for the modern version of IE launches the
desktop browser instead. Click the Settings cog in desktop IE, choose
Internet Options > Programs and put a tick next to 'Open Internet
Explorer tiles on the desktop'.
Make IE desktop launch from a tile
9. See more tiles
Perhaps
because of the 8-inch tablets Microsoft is pushing this year, the
default in Windows 8.1 puts only a few, larger tiles on the Start
screen. Open the Settings charm, choose Tiles and you can make the tiles
smaller so you see more of them. You can also add the Windows admin
tools like Event Viewer to the 'All apps' list here.
Get more tiles on a single screen
10. Squeeze in more text and apps
If
you have a large, high resolution screen, you might want the high DPI
that's the default setting in Windows 8.1. Alternatively, you might want
to have smaller text and see more information at once – more messages
in Mail, more of a web page on screen, and so on.
In PC Settings
choose PC and Devices > Display (or open the Search charm and search
for 'size'). The dropdown under 'More options' lets you change the size
of apps and text from Default to Smaller, which puts yet more tiles on
the Start screen and makes text smaller in your apps. It also lets you
snap three apps side by side on a Surface 2 screen rather than just two
(or four on a larger screen). If that makes desktop programs look too
small, you can change the DPI there separately - right-click on the
desktop and choose 'Screen resolution' then 'Make text and other items
smaller or larger'. You can drag the scale between Smaller and Larger or
check 'Let me chose one scaling level for all my displays' to see the
options as radio buttons instead.
Get a high DPI for your high-res screen
11. Get an admin account
When
you set up Windows 8.1 it guides you through signing in with a
Microsoft account or making a local account. Signing in with a Microsoft
account gets you all the handy settings synced, but it means you don't
get the choice of creating an admin account - and there are still plenty
of times you need to be an admin in Windows. Open the control panel and
pick 'Change account type' under User Account and Family Safety, select
your own account and choose 'Change the account type', then pick
Administrator.
12. Use Bing images as your lock screen
The
Windows 8 Bing app is gone in Windows 8.1 and with it the option to see
the Bing daily image as your lock screen. But you can still do it with a
third-party app like Image of the Day.
13. Update Office to get snipping back
Windows
8.1 uses the Windows-S shortcut for the Search pane instead of the
Snipping tool (a handy way of grabbing a section of the screen) and
doesn't give it another keyboard shortcut. You have to find the Snipping
tool in Explorer, right-click and choose Properties and open the
Shortcut tab to add your own keyboard shortcut (using Ctrl-Alt).
If
you have Office 2013 installed (including the free version in Windows
RT) which uses OneNote's snipping tool, make sure you've applied all the
updates and you get the Windows-Shift-S shortcut for snipping.
14. Fix disappearing USB drives
Windows
8.1 powers down USB drives when you're not using them to save your
battery (keeping the USB port live uses power on your PC). USB drives
are supposed to turn themselves back on automatically when you want to
use them, but it turns out quite a lot of drives don't manage that.
Check the list here
and if your drive is named there, try upgrading the firmware. If that
doesn't help, find the drive details in Device Manager and use those to
add a key to its settings in the Registry that stops Windows turning it
off (there are full instructions at the link above).
15. Put remote pictures back in the Photos app
The
Windows 8 Photos app showed pictures from Flickr, Facebook, SkyDrive
and your other Windows 8 PCs as well as local images. The Windows 8.1
version defaults to just showing the pictures on your PC and you can't
add the online images back. However, if you include the picture folders
on networked PCs in the Pictures library (using Explorer) you'll see
those images in the Photos app, as long as those PCs are turned on and
running a version of Windows that has the search indexer. This means you
can see photos on a Windows 8 PC but not on a NAS. Open Explorer,
select the folder you want to include in the Network section and click
Easy access in the ribbon, then choose Include in library, Pictures.
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