Configuring simply means setting up Windows 8.1 so that it looks and behaves the way you want it to. As released, Windows 8.1 is not fit-for-purpose as a desktop operating sysytem. No doubt you will want to skip past the the garish Lock screen and the ugly tiled Start screen. Although Microsoft has produced another Vista type disaster, this aticle will tell you how to make Windows 8.1 work and look more like Windows XP and Windows 7.
Sign-in: When Windows 8.1 is installed, you will be asked to sign-in with an email address and password. If you already have a Microsoft email such as hotmail, live.co.uk or outlook.com that will provide your sign-in information. If you don't have a Microsoft account you will be expected to create one before you can proceed further. You will need the password to sign on each time you open your Windows 8.1 computer, however, later in this article you will find instructions for skipping this chore.
Emails: Don't let Microsoft bully you into using web mail for your emails such as outlook.com, hotmail.com or worse still g-mail. Resist this unless you like obstacle courses and don’t mind your email being stored on a remote server that might allow any Tom, Dick or Hacker to harvest information from your emails.
The
Mail app in Windows 8.1 does not even support POP3 emails that are
used by 90% of the public. You could use Mozilla Thunderbird for emails but I find this
rather unfriendly. Instead go to:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows-live/essentials
and download the free Windows Essentials suite, this contains an email
client very similar to Outlook Express that will import your backed up Outlook Express contacts and emails. The
Live Essentials suite also provides Movie Maker and Photo
Gallery.
The Lock Screen: Whenever you switch on your Windows 8.1 computer you will be confronted with the garish lock screen. The screen gives no indication that you should press Enter or click the left button of the mouse to proceed to the sign in page. The screen can be changed to something that does not make your eyes bleed, but you can't dispense with the Lock screen altogether unless you have Windows 8.1 Utimate. You can get rid of it if you opt NOT to use a password to sign in, see the lower half of the right column for instructions.
The Lock Screen
The Windows 8.1 Start screen:
This was designed for smart phones with touch screens, therefore it is quite
unsuited to a desktop computer using a mouse and keyboard. To use a touch
screen on a desktop computer means lifting your hands off the mouse and
keyboard every time you need to navigate to somewhere else on the computer;
this does not make ergonomic sense.
To skip past the Start screen,
right click the Task bar at the bottom of the
screen, select the Navigation tab. Then select "When I
sign in, or close all applications on a screen, go to the desktop instead of
Start"
The Windows 8.1 "Start" screen shows tiles.
Icons are the little pictures which you double click to access a program or folder. Icons are only signposts, if you delete an icon, the program or folder is not deleted. Similarly, if you destroy the signpost pointing to your town or village, the town/village is not destroyed.
Put icons on your Windows 8.1 desktop: Right click an empty area on your destop. Windows XP had a My Computer icon on the deskytp. In Windows 7 this icon was renamed Computer. In Windows 8.1, the icon is named This PC which is rather odd as the operating system was designed around a smart phone not a PC. You will need to add the icon to the desktop as follows:
Right click an empty space on your desktop and click Personalise. On the left panel of the next screen, click Change desktop icons. In the next widow Desktop icon settings tick the box next to Computer.click Apply and OK.
While you are in the Desktop icons settings window, you will see three other icons that you may wish to add to the desktop.
