Windows 10: PC Tips and Tricks

Fingleberries

Hi All,

With less than a week to go before Windows 10 is released to the general public, there are bunch of Windows Insiders who have been running it for almost a year in various incarnations.

I reckon that there are a lot of tips and tricks that have been learned over the year that could help newcomers to get the most out of the new OS. So, I figured that we could create a new thread where we could share what we've learned.

To get the ball rolling here are a few that I have picked up along the way.

Keyboard, Mouse and Touch shortcuts

• New Touch and Keyboard shortcuts (Microsoft.com)
• Keyboard Shortcuts at a Glance (Microsoft.com - similar to the above link, but all the keyboard shortcuts are displayed in a single page)

Storage / OneDrive

• How to get Unlimited OneDrive Storage (TechKnow.ie - disclaimer: I write for this site)
• [URL="OneDrive Tip: Map Your Cloud Storage as a Drive in File Explorer"]How to Map OneDrive as a Network Drive[/URL] (Thurott.com - Useful given the new sync method for OneDrive could possibly overload your hard drive, especially on a tablet)

Misc

• God Mode for Windows (pcworld.com - Useful Power Tools in one place)
• Remove Clutter from Taskbar (pcworld.com - make Cortana an icon or remove her, rather than a large search box)
• Change the size of your Start Menu (pcworld.com - you don't have to cram everything into the default Start Menu size)

If you have any other tips or tricks that you have learned with your time, why not take a moment or two to note them down here.

Thanks.

ablelocks

any tips or advice on preparing for installation would be appreciated too! i have a dell xps 15 laptop, a surface pro 3 and an older desktop to upgrade.

Fingleberries

ablelocks wrote: »

any tips or advice on preparing for installation would be appreciated too! i have a dell xps 15 laptop, a surface pro 3 and an older desktop to upgrade.

Copied from MajorNelson.com

Take a moment to verify Your System Requirements
If you want to upgrade to Windows 10 on your PC or tablet, you can find the system requirements here.You can also check to see if your system meets the system requirements by selecting “check my PC” in the Get Windows 10 app.

Archive Your Old Data & Create A Back Up
Even though the Windows installation asks you if you want to keep files on your computer when you start installing, it’s always a good idea to archive any files you want to keep. One of the best ways to archive files you want to keep is using an external hard drive or uploading the files to OneDrive. It’s also a good idea to create a backup of your system prior to commencing the Windows 10 installation, just in case something goes wrong or you want to revert back to your previous setup.

Here are a couple Microsoft Support pages for creating backups, but there are plenty of resources available online talking about this in greater detail.

–Back up your programs, system settings, and files (Windows 7)

–What happened to Backup and Restore? ()



Perhaps a bit more advanced, mostly for those playing games and the like.

Be aware of Hardware Drivers With A New Version Of Windows
Whenever you install a new version of Windows it’s always a good idea to verify you’re using compatible drivers to avoid any hardware conflicts or stability issues. Many hardware manufactures already have Windows 10 drivers (or beta drivers) available now with updates coming soon after Windows 10 releases. Tech savvy PC enthusiasts can use the device manager or DXDIAG tools to identify their specific hardware and drivers, and see if the manufactures have already released Windows 10 drivers. It’s a good idea to download these to a portable drive so you have them available during your Windows 10 installation, just in case you need them.

–Open Device Manager
–Run DirectX Diagnostic Tool

Generally if your machine runs Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 OK, it should run Windows 10 without problems. Backing up your data is just an extra step - just in case the worst happens, but might not be needed.

CatInABox

The best advice I'd give is the older your machine, the longer you should wait to upgrade.

This will give the manufacturers of all the parts time to update their device drivers, which, hopefully, will mean a pain free upgrade. Please note that some devices probably won't be supported by their makers, which is probably rare, but still disappointing when it happens.

unkel

I've used Windows 10 on my main PC that I use for both work and leisure for many hours every day, since the very first release 10 months ago. I have upgraded to every single publicly available version of Windows 10 since and I have had very little trouble

This PC is almost 7.5 years old...

I've also installed Windows 10 on numerous other computers, from very old to very new, laptops, desktops, netbooks and tablets again with very little trouble. I even managed to install it on a €85 tablet (although admittedly that was a challenge back then )

In my experience it is more stable than any other version of Windows ever made (and I have extensive experience on every version of Windows since the early 90s), it uses a smaller footprint and fewer resources than any version of Windows made in the last 10 years.

I'm gonna say it. Well done, Microsoft.

Andrew76

I have a spare laptop that I upgraded to the Technical Preview a good while back but it's stuck on build 9926. When I check for new Preview builds it says there's none available (I've installed all import Windows Updates) - any ideas on how to get a newer build?

MickH503

Andrew76 wrote: »

I have a spare laptop that I upgraded to the Technical Preview a good while back but it's stuck on build 9926. When I check for new Preview builds it says there's none available (I've installed all import Windows Updates) - any ideas on how to get a newer build?

This sort of worked for me to force an update from Win 7 to the release version today. Not sure if it work on a system that already has an early Win 10 on it ... worth a try.

Or try installing from a DVD or USB flash drive as per instructions here.

Andrew76

MickH503 wrote: »

This sort of worked for me to force an update from Win 7 to the release version today. Not sure if it work on a system that already has an early Win 10 on it ... worth a try.

Or try installing from a DVD or USB flash drive as per instructions here.

Cheers, I'll give them a try later. Just want to play around with the latest build for a while before putting it on my main PC.

/Edit: Managed to upgrade using your second link. Used the Media Creation Tool to download to USB and ran the setup from there. Cheers!
This looks very snazzy compared to build 9926. :cool:

theothernt

If you were running the earlier preview builds (going back a number of months), it is recommended to do a fresh install as some the older 'cruft' can cause issues.

And if you have upgraded from an older build and you see various issues, you can always 'reset' Windows back to a fresh, clean version.

Fingleberries

Microsoft have released a DVD player app in the Store, but it looks like it's only available if you updated from a version with Media Centre (for now)