Category: Windows 8

This post focuses on the new and reimagined task manager in Windows 8. Microsoft has reimagined Windows, everything in Windows 8 seems new and exciting. Today, we are going to talk about the new Task Manager.

Task Manager has always been a useful tool in Windows. In Windows 7, it used to show the list of opened programs, running services, performance monitor & users tab.

In Windows 8, the purpose of the Task Manager has been reimagined too. Though, the all new task manager still does it’s usual chores, now it supports some cool new features & does focus on a lot of small details that make your PC usage even more easier.

Let’s understand the working of this new Task Manager:

Process Tab:

The process tab tells the user what apps, background processes and windows processes are running in your PC. You can sort these by Name, type, CPU usage, memory usage etc.

Performance Tab:

The Performance Tab shows detailed information of your Processor ( CPU ), Memory & Disk. You can click on the CPU, Memory or Disk field to get more information. As you can see the selected CPU section shows details about your CPU. Normally you would have to download and install a program like CPU-z to get this sort of information. You can easily tell if your CPU supports virtualization or how much Cache does your CPU have.

Same is the case with memory. You can easily tell the speed of your RAM, how many slots are used up and a lot more details.

 

The App History Tab

This tab tells your about the App usage history on your Computer system.

Startup Tab

The startup tab is something that I like the most. Windows 8 users now have even more control of the applications that start when their computer starts. This feature has now been integrated in the new and improved Task Manager in Windows 8 that easily let’s you choose which application to start when your computer starts. If you don’t want a application to start, just select it and select disable.

Services Tab

Services tab is the second most useful feature in the new and reimagined task manager in Windows 8. It let’s the user start or stop a service with just a click. You can even get more information about a service by right clicking it and then clicking on search online.

 

For any questions or queries please use the Comment button.

This post will help you fix an issue with your Windows 8 PC. This problem occurs after you try to setup a virtual machine using Hyper-V in Windows 8. Virtualization technology is dependant on your software as well as hardware. Hyper V uses your computer’s hardware based virtualization support / ability to help make your virtualization environment more performance rich & also to provide better stability.

If your hardware supports hardware virtualization, you should enable it, if there is an option of enabling / disabling hardware based virtualization feature in your computer’s BIOS.

To check :

• Refer the documentation that came with your computer
• Access your BIOS by pressing the DEL or F2 or F10 key (or any other key based on your system, Refer documentation)
• Locate an option that says something like “ Use Hardware Virtualization “ or “Enable Hardware Virtualization”
• Enable the said feature. If by chance the feature is already enabled, Disable it.
• Save & Exit from your BIOS.
• Try booting into Windows.
• If the boot is successful, Follow step 1 to 4 to enable hardware virtualization support.

If this does not solve your problem:

• Check on your Motherboard / Computer Manufacturer’s support website for any BIOS updates they might be offering.
• Please Read the Instructions associated with Updating / Upgrading your BIOS carefully before proceeding and Perform any update or upgrade at your own risk.

If that too does not solve your problem:

• Perform a system Start-up repair operation by booting with the Windows DVD & choosing the repair options.

Windows 8 is proving out to be a great & responsive operating system. It’s an operating system that interacts with the user to provide the best user environment. Windows 8 has some great keyboard shortcuts for the power users.Below is the list of some of the keyboard shortcut combinations in Windows 8 to make your work or play even more faster :

• Win key‌ + C – Opens the Charm menu
• Win key‌ + F – Opens the Search charm
• Win key‌ + H – Opens the Share charm
• Win key‌ + I – Opens the Settings charm
• Win key‌ + K – Opens the Devices charm
• Win key‌ + J – Switch the main app and snapped app
• Win key‌ +O – Lock the screen orientation (portrait or landscape)
• Win key‌ + Q – Opens the Search charm to search apps
• Win key‌ + W – Open the Search charm to search settings
• Win key + X – Open Admin / Command menu ( bottom left of the screen ( POWER USER )
• Win key‌ + Z – Shows the available commands in the application
• Win key‌ + Tab – Cycle through open applications
• Win key‌ + Shift + Tab – Cycle through open applications in reverse order
• Win key‌ + shift + . (DOT) –  Snap app to left
• Win key‌ + . ( DOT) – Snap app to right

 

This post will help you disable Automatic Restart on System Failure in Windows 8, 7, Vista & XP. Whenever a critical error is detected in Windows ( here critical error is referred to STOP errors or better known as BSOD) , your Windows PC restarts itself to prevent any further damage to your computer. It is a safety measure integrated into Windows. But, in order to solve this error we need to know the Error code and information associated with the error. This information is displayed when you turn off Automatic Restart on System Failure.

Below are the steps to disable Automatic Restart on system failure in Windows 8 ( applies to : 8 , 7 , Vista , XP )

• On the start screen ( start menu in 7 )
• Type System
• Click on the link displayed
• Now from the List of links in the left pane
• Click on Advanced System Settings

• Now, Click on Settings in Startup & recovery section

• Uncheck the checkbox that says Automatically Restart
• Click on OK
• Click on Apply ,  OK

Now the next time your computer crashes, it won’t restart, but will show you a screen with error code and some information associated with the error. Note down this information.

After reading this post, you will be able to create a recovery media in Windows 8. This media can be used in situations when your Windows installation fails to start. This Recovery media is a recovery partition for your Windows 8 PC. You can simple boot from this & repair your computer to a stable situation. You can use a USB Pen drive that has more than 256 MB of disk space. Alternatively you can also use a CD / DVD disk to create the recovery media.

Follow the steps to make the recovery disk

• Go to start screen & type recovery,
• click on settings on the right pane.

• Now Click on Create a recovery disk

• Click yes or allow when prompted for Administrator privileges
• You might have to provide a password as well

• Click next
• Insert the USB pen drive if you have one that has more than 256 MB of space
• Else Click on Create a system recovery disk with CD or DVD

• If you selected CD / DVD

• Insert a blank CD / DVD into the drive you selected herein.
• Click on Create Disk
• Done

Hope this post helps you create a System recovery disk ( media ) in Windows 8

This post explains a new feature in Windows 8, that enables the users to refresh their PC to a state comparable to a new Windows Installation. Refresh your PC is a feature intended for those users, who after some months of usage start to face problems with their PC. This might be due to a number of reasons from problem with files or settings or maybe a installed program affecting your system stability.

To use this feature go to the start screen:

Type Refresh your PC :

Click on Refresh your PC :

Press Next & follow the wizard’s onscreen instructions

This article focuses on the users who wish to add / configure another email account in windows 8 mail app. Many of us think that the mail app in Windows 8 just supports a Microsoft email account i.e. hotmail , outlook, msn, live. But on the contrary you can also configure some other service providers email address with the Microsoft Mail app in Windows 8.

Below are the steps to help you do that :

Go to the start screen

 

• Open the Mail app
• Take you mouse to the top right hand corner
• a menu bar will open
• Click on settings
• Click on Accounts
• Click on Add an Account
• Below is the screenshot of Add an account window

 

 

• Click on the desired provider, if listed
• else
• Click on other account
• Type in the required information as provided by your email provider

 

For any question & queries or to correct a mistake in my content, feel free to use the comment form.

After reading this post you will be able to fix a STOP error or better known as BSOD ( Blue screen error ) in Windows 8. The error code is something like Clock Watchdog timeout. Below is the screenshot of this error:

The image above is for reference only.

Note: FOR SSD users : Make sure you are running latest AHCI Drivers & AHCI in BIOS. Also if the problem persists, secure erase your SSD and install Windows 8.

UPDATE: Windows 10 users

If you are facing this error, make sure your Windows is updated & if a BIOS update for Laptop or Desktop PC motherboard is available, update it. Remember BIOS update must be done on your own risk, if done incorrectly, it can make your PC unusable. Refer your system documentation and seek your system /motherboard manufacturer’s support on this.

Fix for Windows 10 – If you are using UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface), Rebuild your BCD as suggest in this post – Click here

Fix:

Step 1

• Use Windows update to download and install all the necessary updates for your windows PC
• To use Windows update, just start typing windows update on the start screen & choose windows update from the results displayed

Step 2

• Go to your system or motherboard manufacturers support website
• Download the latest SATA / AHCI drivers
• Make sure the downloaded drivers are for Windows 8
• Also, download and install the latest chipset drivers

Step 3

• Go to run ( windows key + R )
• type SFC /SCANNOW
• let the process run and finish
• Restart your computer

Step 4

• Remove any USB storage devices attached to your computer
• If this computer is a desktop make sure your hard disk drive is seated properly
• also make sure that the hard disk data & power cables are connected properly

Step 5

• Go to your BIOS by pressing the key ( refer the documentation that came with your computer / motherboard ( usually it’s DEL , F10 , F2 )
• Locate a setting called AHCI or SATA mode
• make sure it’s set to AHCI or BOTH

This should solve your problem, if not use the comment section to notify me.

After reading this post you will be able to fix an issue where none of your Windows 8 UI apps formerly known as Metro UI apps wont launch. You try opening the app and it creates multiple entries in device manager, but the application itself will not launch. This issue happens when your Windows 8 system detects a time-out. Your application is required to open in a specific time & due to some problem your application times out and does not open, while you do see a splash screen. In some cases when you press ALT + TAB, you can still the splash screen of your app.

Fixing the issue:

• Go to Your computer / system manufacturers support website
• Select Windows 8 as your operating system
• Download and Install the latest SATA / AHCI drivers ( storage controllers )
• Restart your computer

Step 2

• Press Windows key + X
• Click on Command Prompt (admin)
• type SFC /SCANNOW
• let this run & wait until the process finishes
• restart your machine

Step 3

Antivirus Update

• This step mostly applies to AVAST & Norton users
• Either Update or Uninstall / Reinstall your Antivirus application
• To Uninstall, Go to start screen & type uninstall a program
• Select your antivirus from the list & click on uninstall.
• OR
• Update your antivirus software
• Open your Antivirus software application
• Locate the update section
• Press update icon
• let the updates finish
• Restart your computer

Method 6

Microsoft Apps Troubleshooter

• Download and run Microsoft apps troubleshooter from this link

Method 7

Check if UAC is Disabled

• Go to the start screen
• Type control panel
• Locate View ( Top Right corner )
• Set View to Large icons
• Open User accounts
• Click on Change User Account Control Settings
• Set it to the Second Level from the Top

 

This should fix your problem. If not, use the comment section below to notify me & i will try to fix your issue further.