Windows 8 Absolute Beginner’s Guide   Make the most of your new Windows 8 device—without becoming a technical expert! This book is the fastest way to take control of Windows 8, and use it to create, connect, and discover… simplify and organize your whole life… learn more, play more, do more, live better! Even if you’ve never used Windows 8 before, this book will show you how to do what you want, one incredibly clear and easy step at a time. Windows 8 has never, ever been this simple!   Who knew how simple Windows 8 could be? This is the easiest, most practical beginner’s guide to navigating Windows 8—whether from a desktop, notebook, or tablet… simple, reliable instructions for doing everything you really want to do! Here’s a small sample of what you’ll learn:   •   Discover Windows 8’s whole new approach to running a computer •   Run Windows 8 the way that’s easiest for you: mouse, touch, or keyboard •   Find and use the old Windows Desktop along with all your favorite Windows XP and 7 programs •   Get online with Internet Explorer® 10 and master its new tools and shortcuts •   Set up your home network, printer, and other devices •   Master quick, easy new ways to use Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn® •   Safeguard your personal information and keep it private •   Enjoy all your digital photos, videos, movies, and music •   Connect with anyone through email, messaging, and video chat •   Discover and play new Windows 8 games, and use Windows to control your Xbox 360 •   Manage even the most gigantic collections of data and media •   Automatically back up your information to external drives, DVDs, or Microsoft SkyDrive® •   Fix problems, protect yourself from viruses, and keep Windows 8 working reliably   Paul Sanna is the author of almost two dozen computer books on topics such as Microsoft Windows, Internet Explorer, and Windows security. He has extensive experience working with and explaining pre-release versions of Windows. He currently advises his clients on software decisions, both for the desktop and for large business projects. 

Table of Contents:
Table of Contents Introduction ........................................................................................................ 1 What Is an Absolute Beginner? ................................................................................ 3 How This Book Is Organized .................................................................................... 3 Conventions Used in This Book ............................................................................... 5  Selects and Selecting ........................................................................................... 5  Special Elements .................................................................................................. 6   1 Starting and Stopping Windows 8 .............................................................. 7 Starting Up Windows 8 .......................................................................................8  Powering Up Your Computer .............................................................................. 8  Choosing an Operating System .......................................................................... 9 Signing In to Windows 8 ......................................................................................... 11 Handling Special Windows 8 Startup Situations .................................................. 16  Restarting Windows After a Problem ............................................................... 16  Waking Up Windows .......................................................................................... 17  Handling Messages You Might Receive While Signing In ............................. 17 Exiting Windows ...................................................................................................... 19  Signing Out of Windows 8................................................................................. 19  Locking Windows 8 ............................................................................................ 20  Putting Windows 8 to Sleep .............................................................................. 20  Shutting Down Your Windows 8 Computer ..................................................... 21  Restarting Windows 8 to Install Updates ......................................................... 21   2 Interacting with Windows 8 ...................................................................... 23 Getting to Know the Windows 8 Interfaces .......................................................... 24  Using the Mouse in Windows 8......................................................................... 24  Using the Keyboard in Windows 8 .................................................................... 26  Using Touch in Windows 8 ................................................................................ 27  Using the Virtual Keyboard ................................................................................ 29 Using Windows Controls in the Desktop App ...................................................... 30  Window ................................................................................................................ 31  Button .................................................................................................................. 32  Option Button or Group .................................................................................... 32  Text Box .............................................................................................................. 33  Check Box ........................................................................................................... 33  Windows 8 Toggle ............................................................................................. 33  List Box ................................................................................................................ 34  Drop-Down List ................................................................................................... 35  Combo Drop-Down List ..................................................................................... 36   3 Learning Windows 8 Basics ....................................................................... 39 Working at the Start Screen ................................................................................... 40  Returning to the Start Screen ............................................................................ 41  Seeing Tiles off the Screen ................................................................................ 42  Displaying All Tiles ............................................................................................. 42  Selecting a Tile ................................................................................................... 44  Moving a Tile ...................................................................................................... 45  Making a Tile Bigger or Smaller........................................................................ 45  Adding a Tile to the Start Screen ..................................................................... 46 Opening the App Bar .............................................................................................. 47 Using the Charms Bar ............................................................................................. 47  Using the Search Charm .................................................................................... 49  Using the Share Charm ...................................................................................... 52  Using the Devices Charm .................................................................................. 53  Using the Settings Charm .................................................................................. 54 Selecting Files in Windows 8 .................................................................................. 55 Finding and Using the Control Panel .................................................................... 57   4 Personalizing Windows 8 ........................................................................... 61 Personalizing Language, Keyboard, and Number Settings................................. 62 Personalizing Colors and Pictures .......................................................................... 65  Personalizing the Start Screen .......................................................................... 65  Personalizing Your Account Picture .................................................................. 67  Personalizing the Lock Screen ........................................................................... 68 Personalizing Tile Groups ....................................................................................... 69  Creating a Tile Group ........................................................................................ 70  Moving Tile Groups ............................................................................................ 71  Naming a Tile Group ......................................................................................... 71 Setting Up Accessibility Options............................................................................ 72 Personalizing How Notifications Work ................................................................. 75 Personalizing How Your Windows 8 Settings Synchronize ................................. 77 Personalizing the Desktop ...................................................................................... 77  Changing the Desktop Background ................................................................. 77  Changing the Mouse Pointers Used on the Desktop ..................................... 79  Change the Desktop’s Color Scheme .............................................................. 81  Setting Up a Desktop Screen Saver ................................................................. 81   5 Connecting to the Internet ........................................................................ 85 Reviewing Important Internet Connection Basics ................................................ 86  Learning About Internet Service Providers ...................................................... 86  Checking the Hardware Required to Connect ................................................ 86 Learning the Internet Connection Services Typically Available .......................... 87  Understanding Routers for Internet Connection Sharing ............................... 90  Understanding Network Adapters .................................................................... 91 Connecting to the Internet ..................................................................................... 91  Connecting to a Wireless Network ................................................................... 91  Connecting Where Free Wi-Fi Is Advertised ................................................... 94  Connecting to Pay-as-You-Go Wi-Fi................................................................. 95  Connecting to a LAN/Wired Network .............................................................. 95  Connecting After Upgrading to Windows 8 .................................................... 96  Connecting After You Restart Your Device ...................................................... 96  Connecting in Other Scenarios ......................................................................... 96   6 Surfing the Web in Windows 8 .................................................................. 99 Introducing Internet Explorer ............................................................................... 100 Navigating to Websites ........................................................................................ 103 Enhancing Your Browsing ..................................................................................... 109  Zooming In and Out ......................................................................................... 109  Viewing Web Pages in the Desktop Browser ................................................ 110  Pinning Websites to the Start Screen ............................................................. 110 Sharing and Printing While You’re Web Browsing ............................................. 112  Sharing Web Pages .......................................................................................... 113  Printing Web Pages .......................................................................................... 113   7 Connecting with the People App ............................................................ 117 Introducing the People App ...........................................................................118 Connecting with Your People .........................................................................121 Checking What’s New with Your People ........................................................125 The Me Page ...................................................................................................127 Setting Up Your Contacts ................................................................................128  Linking to Facebook ......................................................................................... 128  Linking to Google, Hotmail, and Exchange/Outlook/Office 365 ................ 130  Linking to Twitter .............................................................................................. 133  Linking to LinkedIn ........................................................................................... 135   8 Using the Mail App and Messaging to Stay Connected .......................... 137 Exploring the Mail App ......................................................................................... 138 Setting Up Email .................................................................................................... 139  Setting Up Your Email Accounts ..................................................................... 140 Reading Your Email ............................................................................................... 143  Replying to a Message..................................................................................... 144  Filing a Message in a Folder ........................................................................... 145  Deleting a Message ......................................................................................... 146  Forward a Message .......................................................................................... 146  Mark a Message as Unread ............................................................................. 147 Writing an Email Message .................................................................................... 148  Formatting Your Email Message ..................................................................... 149  Addressing Your Message ............................................................................... 151  Attaching a Photo or Another File to Your Message .................................... 152  Checking Spelling in Your Message ............................................................... 152 Using the Messaging App .................................................................................... 153   9 Using the Calendar App .......................................................................... 157 Getting to Know the Calendar App ..................................................................... 158  Starting the Calendar App .............................................................................. 158  Controlling the Calendar View ........................................................................ 159  Setting Calendar Colors .................................................................................. 161 Synchronizing with Other Calendars ................................................................... 162  Connecting to Your Hotmail Account ............................................................ 163  Connecting to Your Gmail Account ............................................................... 164  Connecting to Your Exchange/Outlook/Office 365 Account....................... 165 Entering New Events into Your Calendar............................................................ 167   10 Sharing Your Windows 8 Computer with Others .................................... 171 Windows 8 Users and Account Basics ................................................................. 172 Adding a New User ............................................................................................... 174  Adding a New User with a Local Account ..................................................... 175  Adding a New User with a Windows Account ............................................... 176 Creating a PIN or Picture Password ..................................................................... 179  Adding a PIN to Your Account ....................................................................... 180  Adding a Picture Password to Your Account ................................................. 180 Making Changes to User Accounts ..................................................................... 184  Changing a User’s Type ................................................................................... 184  Removing a User Account ............................................................................... 185   11 Sharing Files and Printers with Homegroup ............................................ 187 Networking with Homegroup ............................................................................... 188 Using the Windows Homegroup .......................................................................... 189  Creating a Homegroup .................................................................................... 191  Joining a Homegroup ...................................................................................... 194  Leaving a Homegroup ..................................................................................... 195  Troubleshooting Homegroup Connections ................................................... 195 Setting Up Sharing ................................................................................................ 196  Disabling Sharing for Specific Files or Folders .............................................. 196  Sharing Files and Folders Only with Specific Users ...................................... 197 Sharing Your Printer ............................................................................................. 198 Seeing Stuff Shared By Others ............................................................................. 199   12 Mastering Windows 8 Apps .................................................................... 203 Learning Basic Windows 8 Apps Info .................................................................. 204 Running Windows 8 Apps ..................................................................................... 205  Starting a Windows 8 App ............................................................................... 205  Starting Additional Windows 8 Apps ............................................................. 206  Stopping a Windows 8 App (If You Must) ...................................................... 207  Using the App bar to Change a Windows 8 App’s Settings ........................ 207 Managing Windows 8 Apps ................................................................................. 208  Using the App Switcher ................................................................................... 209  Switching to the Previous App ........................................................................ 210  Showing Two Windows 8 Apps on the Screen .............................................. 210 Shopping at the Windows Store .......................................................................... 214  Purchasing an App ........................................................................................... 215  Managing Your Account .................................................................................. 216   13 Working with the Desktop App .............................................................. 221 Introducing the Desktop App .............................................................................. 222  Starting the Desktop ........................................................................................ 222  Returning to the Start Screen .......................................................................... 224 Keeping the Desktop Organized ........................................................................ 225  Automatically Line Up Icons on the Desktop ............................................... 226  Arrange the Desktop by Icon Type ................................................................ 227  Change the Size of Desktop Icons.................................................................. 227  Hide All Desktop Icons .................................................................................... 228 Working with the Taskbar ..................................................................................... 228  Receiving Alerts and Notifications .................................................................. 228  Adding Toolbars to the Taskbar ..................................................................... 230  Displaying Special Icons on the Desktop ....................................................... 231   14 Using Windows Desktop Programs ......................................................... 235 Introducing Windows Desktop Programs ........................................................... 236 Running Programs on the Desktop...................................................................... 237  Running Multiple Windows Desktop Programs ............................................. 237  Making It Easy to Start Your Favorite Desktop Programs ............................ 239  Saving Files to the Desktop ............................................................................. 239  Exiting Desktop Programs ............................................................................... 241 Working with Windows ......................................................................................... 241 Installing and Removing Programs ...................................................................... 245  Installing Program............................................................................................. 245  Removing Windows Programs ........................................................................ 245   15 Organizing Files and Folders with Windows Explorer ............................. 249 Files and Folder Basics .......................................................................................... 250  Understanding Files ......................................................................................... 250  Understanding Folders .................................................................................... 251 Exploring Your Files and Folders with Windows Explorer ................................. 252  Working with Libraries ..................................................................................... 254  Navigating the Folder Tree ............................................................................. 255  Customizing the Content Pane ....................................................................... 257  Exploring the Preview and Details Pane ........................................................ 259  Folder Options .................................................................................................. 261 Navigating Through Your Folders ....................................................................... 263 Selecting Files and Folders ................................................................................. 266  Selecting a Single File at a Time ..................................................................... 266  Selecting Multiple Contiguous Files ............................................................... 267  Selecting Multiple Noncontiguous Files ........................................................ 268 Common Files and Folders Tasks ........................................................................ 269   16 Storing Files on Drives, Disks, and the Cloud ......................................... 273 Working with External Drives ............................................................................... 274  Connecting Your Drive the First Time ............................................................ 275  Naming Your New Drive .................................................................................. 275 Storing and Sharing in the Cloud ........................................................................ 276 Saving Data to DVDs ............................................................................................. 279 Data Backup Strategies ......................................................................................... 282 Backing Up with File History ................................................................................. 283  Setting Up File History ..................................................................................... 283  Backing Up ........................................................................................................ 287  Restoring Files .................................................................................................. 287   17 Setting Up Hardware the Easy Way ........................................................ 289 Setting Up Your Display ........................................................................................ 290  Adjusting the Resolution (Making the Screen Bigger or Smaller) ............... 290  Setting Up Multiple Monitors .......................................................................... 292 Setting Up Your Mouse ......................................................................................... 294  Changing the Mouse Pointers Used on the Desktop ................................... 298 Setting Up Your Keyboard .................................................................................... 299 Setting Up Sound .................................................................................................. 301  Setting Up Your Speakers ................................................................................ 301  Selecting Sounds for Windows Events ........................................................... 303 Setting Up Power Use ........................................................................................... 305  The Easy Method to Set Up Power Use ......................................................... 306  The Really Easy Method to Set Up Power Use .............................................. 306  The Manual Method to Set Up Power Use .................................................... 308   18 Printing, Scanning, and Faxing in Windows 8 ......................................... 309 Printing in Windows 8 ........................................................................................... 310  Setting Up a New Printer ................................................................................. 310  Printing in Windows 8 ...................................................................................... 311 Faxing in Windows 8 ............................................................................................. 313  Sending a Fax ................................................................................................... 314  Receiving a Fax ................................................................................................. 315 Scanning in Windows 8 ......................................................................................... 316  Setting Up Your Scanner ................................................................................. 316  Scanning in Windows 8 .................................................................................... 316   19 Safe and Private Internet Computing ...................................................... 319 Understanding Internet Threats and Risks .......................................................... 320  Web Browsing Risks ......................................................................................... 320  Learning About Risky Attachments and Other Email-Related Threats ....... 321  Learning Phishing Threats ............................................................................... 322  Avoiding Virus Threats ..................................................................................... 325 Defending Yourself ................................................................................................ 325  Reviewing All-in-One Internet Defense Suites .............................................. 325  Defending with Windows Defender ............................................................... 326  Checking Your Security Status at the Action Center .................................... 330  Using SmartScreen to Avoid Dangerous Websites ....................................... 330  Covering Your Internet Tracks ......................................................................... 332  Browsing Quietly and Invisibly with InPrivate Browsing ............................... 333  Using Windows Firewall ................................................................................... 334 Managing All Your IDs and Passwords ................................................................ 334   20 Performing Routine Maintenance ............................................................ 337 Keeping Current on Windows Update ................................................................ 338 Delete Unused Files .............................................................................................. 341 Defragmenting Your Drive .................................................................................... 343 Update Internet Security Definitions ................................................................... 345 Sample Maintenance Schedule ............................................................................ 345   21 Troubleshooting and Solving Problems in Windows 8 ............................ 347 Using the Troubleshooting Wizards .................................................................... 348 Using Task Manager to Close Unresponsive Programs ..................................... 349 Understanding Refresh and Restore .................................................................... 350  Getting a Do-Over with Refresh ..................................................................... 351  Restarting from Scratch with the Reset Option ............................................. 352 Reviewing Your System Core Info ........................................................................ 353   22 Keeping Current with the Bing Apps ...................................................... 355 Introducing the Bing Apps ................................................................................... 356 Read the News That’s Fit to Bing ........................................................................ 357 Getting the Bing Weather Report ........................................................................ 359 Keeping Score with Bing Sports .......................................................................... 361 Getting the Bing Money Story ............................................................................. 362 Vacationing with the Bing Travel App ................................................................. 364 Trending Topics with Bing .................................................................................... 366 Finding Your Way with Bing Maps ....................................................................... 367   23 Enjoying Your Digital Photos .................................................................. 369 Learning Photos App Basics ................................................................................. 370 Browsing Through Your Photos ........................................................................... 374 Working with Your Photos .................................................................................... 375 Bringing In Your Facebook and Flickr Photos .................................................... 377  Bringing In Facebook Photos .......................................................................... 377  Bringing In Flickr Photos .................................................................................. 379  Bringing In SkyDrive Photos ............................................................................ 379   24 Enjoying Movies and Videos in Windows 8 ............................................. 381 Getting Started with the xbox video App ........................................................... 382  Setting Up Your Xbox LIVE Account .............................................................. 382  Adding Your Videos to the Videos Library .................................................... 384 Moving Through the xbox video App ................................................................ 386 Shopping for Videos.............................................................................................. 391  Making a Purchase ........................................................................................... 391  Renting a Selection .......................................................................................... 392   25 Listening to the Music in Windows 8 ...................................................... 395 Getting Started with the Music App .................................................................... 396  Learning What’s Where in the Music App ..................................................... 397  Setting Up Your Xbox LIVE Account .............................................................. 399 Loading Your Music into Windows 8 ................................................................... 401  How to Link Your Music ................................................................................... 401  How to Move Your Music ................................................................................ 402 Browsing Through Your Music ............................................................................. 403 Playing Music ......................................................................................................... 405 Purchasing Music ................................................................................................... 405 Importing and Creating Music CDs ..................................................................... 407  Importing Music from a CD ............................................................................. 408  Creating a Playlist and Music CD .................................................................... 409   26 Gametime with Windows 8 and Xbox 360 .............................................. 411 Using Xbox LIVE with Windows 8 ........................................................................ 412 Setting Up Your Xbox LIVE Account .................................................................... 413 Controlling Xbox from Windows 8 ....................................................................... 416  Installing Xbox SmartGlass .............................................................................. 417  Using Xbox SmartGlass .................................................................................... 418 Learning the Xbox Games App ........................................................................... 420   Index .............................................................................................................. 423