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Windows BasicsYour Start MenuYour Start Menu is located in the lower left corner of the screen. When you left click it, it opens a rectangular menu divided into two parts. On the left you will find Accounts, File Explorer, Settings, Power, and All Apps. Other, optional, items like frequently used programs can also be added to this half. On the right are tiles like those found on the Windows 8 Start Screen. 266763564135File Explorer, Settings, Power, and All AppsStart ButtonAccountsTiles0File Explorer, Settings, Power, and All AppsStart ButtonAccountsTilesRight Side MenuTiles represent programs and folders on your computer. They can be easily rearranged, resized, added, removed, and made to show live updates. To move a tile, point to it with your mouse and hold down the left mouse button. As long as the left mouse button is held down the tile will move as your mouse pointer moves. You can move tiles anywhere along the right side of the start menu. To see the options menu, right click on a tile. Different tiles will have slightly different options, but most tiles will have at least unpin (remove tile), resize, and uninstall (remove program). To add a new tile, locate the program you want to create a tile for on the All Apps list and right click it. Select Pin to Start by left clicking it on the menu. Tiles with the Live option will be those with a plain white picture against the colored background. These tiles will periodically check the internet for new, more up to date, news and information. To name a group of tiles, left click on the blank space above them. Left Side MenuAccount, which should show the name the computer identifies you by, allows you to change your account settings, lock the computer, or log off. File Explorer provides a way into your computer’s main storage area. The right pointing arrow next to it is where any folders you have pinned to the quick access list can be found. Settings takes you into a simplified version of the control panel where you can adjust your computer’s appearance and behavior. There are nine available categories. Please note that many of the Related Settings and Advanced Options links will redirect you to the standard Control Panel. Power allows you to shut down or restart your computer. All Apps provides a list of the apps and programs installed on your computer. Some programs will be automatically sorted into folders. To see the contents of a folder, left click the down pointing arrow next to it. To see an alphabet view, click on any letter. Adjusting Your Start MenuSize. You can now easily adjust the size of your start menu. While the start menu is open, move your pointer to the top or right edge. The pointer will change into a double-headed arrow. While you have the double-headed arrow, hold down the left mouse button and drag. Please note that the start menu cannot be dragged so large it fills the entire screen or so small it disappears. Appearance. On the Start Menu, click Settings. In the window that opens, locate Personalize and click on it. It should be the second to last option in the top row. On the left side menu, click on Color. You can let the computer automatically select a color that goes with your background or choose a color yourself. Below the colors you will find an option for how much of your chosen color appears in the menu and task bar.Content. Still in Personalize, find Start. It is the last item on the left side menu. From here you can add additional items to your start menu. You’ll find options for recently used apps, recently added apps, and choose which folders appear on Start. Your DesktopYour Desktop is the main work area on your computer and the first thing you will see when the computer starts up. Like the Start Menu, there are a lot of things you can tweak to make it better fit your tastes and anization. You can drag icons around on the desktop the same way you can on the Start menu. Point to an icon with your mouse pointer and hold down the left button. As long as the left button is held down, the icon will move with your pointer. But that’s not all you can do. Right click on an empty section of the desktop and a menu will appear. The very top item on the menu is View. View allows you to change the size of your icons, arrange them automatically, and snap them to a grid (this forces them to form even rows and columns).Shortcuts. The easiest way to add icons to your desktop is through the creation of shortcuts. If the item you want to create a shortcut for is in All Apps or anywhere on the Start Menu you can simply point to it with your mouse and drag it onto the desktop to create a shortcut. If it is not on the Start Menu you must find where the original file or folder is located. using File Explorer. Once you locate the original, right click on it and find Send To. Send to will open a second, smaller menu. Click on Desktop (create shortcut), it should be the third item down. Appearance. You can change your desktop either by going to Personalize in Settings or by selecting it from the right click menu. This allows you to choose a background image for your desktop or apply a theme to it. Windows 10 does not allow you to change things like window color without altering files or the use of third-party software. Snapping. You can divide your screen up evenly between different programs. It can be divided in half or into 4 quarters. The easiest way to do a half screen snap is to bring your pointer to the title bar and hold down the left mouse button, then drag the title bar to the side of your screen. When you let go, the program should fill the side of the screen you dragged it to. Once one side of the screen has been filled, Windows will automatically offer you a choice of currently open programs to fill the other half. The easiest way to divide the screen in quarters is to use keyboard shortcuts. Hover your mouse pointer over the app you want to snap and hold down the Windows key, then indicate the quarter you wish to place it in using the arrow keys. So, to place paint in the upper right quarter place your mouse inside the open program. Then, while holding down the Windows key, press first the up arrow and then the left arrow. Arrows must be pressed one at a time. File Explorer. In Windows 10 File Explorer opens to a quick access list of favorite folders. If you would like to adjust this, you can do so by going to File in the upper left corner of File Explorer and selecting Change Folder and Search Options. From here you can chose whether to add recently used files to your quick access display or choose to have File Explorer open to the classic This PC area that lists all of the available storage areas. Edge is Microsoft’s new browser. It replaces Internet Explorer, which is still available in Windows 10 just hidden, as the default browser in the lower left corner. It is considerably lighter and faster than Explorer, but still short a few features, like plugin and extension support, that users of Chrome and Firefox are used to. The main settings and controls are located in the upper right corner of the browser, marked by a button showing three dots in a row. It is worth mentioning that while you can customize Edge there are a few changes Microsoft doesn’t make easy. For instance, if you would like to use a search provider other than Bing in the address bar you have some digging ahead of you. The search setting itself is buried half way down Edge’s advanced settings page, but finding it isn’t enough. New search providers only become available after you visit the search provider’s website and then only if they are compatible with Edge’s detection software. This is not explained anywhere on the settings page. Privacy and Updates. Windows 10 provides a ton of interesting and useful personalization features like Cortana which can be used for scheduling, dictation, super convenient emailing and more. The cost of all this personalization is sending lots and lots of personal information through Microsoft’s servers. The personal information sharing Windows 10 needs to improve your experience using it is not something you have to turn on, it’s already on by default. It is a good idea, early in your use of Windows 10, to open Settings and go into Privacy. You should read over the options carefully and decide exactly what you are and aren’t willing to share. Additionally, many programs like Cortana and Edge also have their own information sharing settings that can be turned on and off. Updates in Windows 10 are run automatically, this includes both all updates to the operating system itself and updates to drivers. (Drivers are the software that let your computer communicate with hardware like the mouse, keyboard, printer, and graphics card.) The settings do not provide you a way to opt out of this, though some versions will let you defer (put off for a while) updates. Go to Settings and select Updates and Security. Advanced Options should be visible near the bottom. From here you can defer upgrades, decide whether you want other Microsoft products updated along with Windows 10, view your update history, and choose how updates are delivered. By default, your computer will exchange parts of updates with other computers in an effort to make the updating process faster. You can adjust how this works or turn it off entirely. If an update or driver is causing problems on your computer Microsoft has provided a program you can download to prevent it from automatically redownloading as soon as you get rid of it. The program and instructions on how to use it are located here: . Keyboard ShortcutsWindows Key+I — open up the settings paneWindows Key+A — open up Action CenterWindows Key+X — open the power user’s menu Windows Key+L — lock your PC Alt+Tab — switch between windowsAlt+F4 — close the current windowWindows Key+PrtScr — take a screenshot saved to your Pictures folderWindows Key+plus/minus — zoom in/out using the Magnifier utilityWindows Key+Q — open up Cortana ready for voice inputWindows Key+S — open up Cortana ready for typed inputWindows Key+E — launch File Explorer Alt+Up — go up one level in File ExplorerAlt+Left/Right — go to the previous/next folder in File ExplorerWindows Key+D — minimize apps to go straight to the desktopWindows Key+Home — minimize all windows except the one you’re actively usingCtrl+Shift+Esc — open the Task ManagerWindows Key+T — cycle through taskbar items Windows Key+Any Number Key — open the app pinned to the taskbar in the numbered position Windows Key+Shift+Any Number Key — launch a new instance of the app in the numbered taskbar slotWindows Key+Ctrl+Shift+Any Number Key — same, but launch the app with admin powers enabledWindows Key+R — open the Run dialog boxAlt+Enter — show the properties of the currently selected fileWindows Key+U — open the Ease of Access CenterWindows Key+Ctrl+D — create a new virtual desktopWindows Key+Ctrl+Left/Right — scroll through your desktopsWindows Key+Ctrl+F4 — close the current desktopWindows Key+Tab — see all your desktops via the Task View pageWindows Key + G – Open the Game menu to take screenshots or record what is occurring on screen. ................
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