How to Print From Metro Apps : Windows 8

Windows 8 is becoming increasingly different from its predecessors with each pre-RTM public releases. Most visible change is Metro apps which are completely different from traditional programs, their closing and installation, even printing options are different.

Metro apps are window-less and don’t carry any menu options, they just open up in full screen. No Print button inside Metro interface of apps in Windows 8. Though, the famous CTRL+P Shortcut works but the way of printing is slightly different atleast from Metro Apps.

How to Print From Metro Apps

1. Turn ON Printer and connect it to Computer.
   Driver Installation and configuration isn’t necessary even if it is your first time. My printer was detected and configured automatically without any extra efforts except plugging in USB chord.
2. Open a Metro App from where you want to print. Maybe Browser, PDF Reader or Maps.
3. Press CTRL+P and charms bar on right side will appear alongwith the Printing devices connected. If nothing appears, move mouse cursor to right bottom (in metro app itself) and click on Devices to get list of printers connected.
4. Customize Printing job like specifying number of copies, Quality of Paper, Page Orientation, Grey-scale or Color, etc.
5. Just Hit “Print” button and look for the printed output in Printer Tray. That’s it.

It must be noted that not all Metro Apps support Printing. For example: I was unable to print from News Apps and some others which I downloaded from App Store.

For Printing in Windows 8, apart from Metro apps, the procedure remains same. I mean you can print using CTRL+P or using File menu in other programs like we used to do in Windows 7 and XP.

This certainly requires more step for printing job as compared to what we used to do till now (File >> Print). But good thing about it is that process remains same across all Metro apps.

When you have successfully learned how to print from Metro Apps in Windows 8, you shouldn’t miss reading Tips to Save Printer Ink to make Cartridge last longer.

Note: You cannot print using Offline Printers in Windows 8. Don’t get confused with the “offline” word shown in Video and screenshot, I did it for demo purpose. If you have connected Printer already and still getting “Offline” then you may need to install correct drivers from manufacturer’s website.

Refresh Windows 8 : New Feature In Windows 8

Windows 8 has come with a novel feature called Refresh. Until now, the only way to fix Windows problems which couldn’t be fixed was to reinstall Windows. Thanks to Windows 8 Refresh, you can save time spent on 1. Taking Backup, 2. Formatting Hard Drive, 3. Install Windows and 4. Restore.

When is Windows 8 Refresh Required? If Windows 8 PC isn’t running properly and facing issues while working, you should Refresh it. This is generally caused by inappropriate setting or misconfiguration.

What is Windows 8 Refresh

The Refresh Your PC option will allow you to revert the system back to its default configuration, the way it was when it came from the factory. However, here, you will not lose your personal pictures, videos, music, files, and any personalization that you’d have done.

Refresh is basically Reinstall of Windows 8. Only difference is that your data, settings, and Metro style apps are preserved.

Windows 8 Refresh Procedure

1. The PC boots into Windows Recovery Environment (RE).
2. Windows RE scans the hard drive for your data, settings, and apps, and puts them aside (on the same drive).
3. Windows RE installs a fresh copy of Windows.
4. Windows RE restores the data, settings, and apps it has set aside into the newly installed copy of Windows.
5. The PC restarts into the newly installed copy of Windows.

As I said, Windows 8 Refresh is time saving method, you don’t even have to reconfigure settings. This is because- All your user accounts and those settings are preserved. You can sign in with the same account and password, and all of your documents and data are preserved in the same locations they were before.

Which Settings are Preserved

• Wireless network connections
• Mobile broadband connections
• BitLocker and BitLocker To Go settings
• Drive letter assignments
• Personalization settings such as lock screen background and desktop wallpaper

Which Settings aren’t Preserved

• File type associations
• Display settings
• Windows Firewall settings

Do I get my Apps Back after Refresh?

All the Metro apps installed from Windows 8 Store will be restored as they were. But, if you have installed Windows 8 app via Sideloading, it would neither be backed up nor restored.

None of the Desktop apps (traditional ones) will be restored. If you want back desktop apps after refreshing PC, the list of software is saved in the form of HTML file on the desktop. So, you have a quick way to see what you might need to reinstall and where to find them.

It should be noted that this will only work if there’s an active Windows 8 recovery partition on your PC. Otherwise, you’ll need the Windows 8 installation media to proceed.

Windows 8 Inbuilt Screenshot Feature

Previous Windows versions too had inbuilt capability of capturing screen or taking screenshot but with Windows 8, it is improved. Unlike, saving the image in clipboard which required you to save in MS Paint like Image editing tools,Windows 8 can capture and save the screenshot image file directly.

Press WIN+PrntScrn button and you will notice screen flickers and screenshot is captured similar to iPhone minus the capture sound.

It should be noted that inbuilt screenshot tool captures complete screen. If you want a tool to capture single window or specific area on screen, you can download ScreenPresso which is a free alternative of Snagit.

Windows 8 Screenshot Folder

All screenshots taken are saved directly as image file (PNG) in a directory. And this screenshot folder of Windows 8 is in Pictures folder which can be accessed from User’s library.

To be more specific: C:\Users\Username\Pictures\Screenshots

Screenshot images filenames are saved in this manner “Screenshot (X)” where X is the number count.

It also works the old way! This function not only saves the screenshot as image but also in your clipboard. So, go to Paint or any Image editor and click Paste to get the image there instantly.

How To Change Windows 8 Screenshot Folder

Go to the directory where screenshots are saved. Right click and access properties of that folder.

Last tab is “Location” where you can see a “Move” button. Click on Move to set new directory as Screenshot saving location. Click Apply to save the changes.

While applying changes, you will be asked whether you want to move existing content to new directory or not. I will leave this up to you.

Click either Yes or No, future screenshots will be saved at new location specified.

Reset Windows 8 Screenshot Count

I noticed that even after deleting previous screenshots file, Windows 8 doesn’t forget the count. This can be problematic or in better word “irritating”. But, here’s a trick with which you can reset the capture count of screenshots in Windows 8.

Capture count is saved in a registry which has to be over-written to start from 1.

To do that: Go to Registry Editor – Press WIN+R >> Type “regedit” in Run command. Navigate to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer

On right side, you will see a key named “ScreenshotIndex”. Right click on it and select Modify.

Change the value to 1 and press OK.

Don’t worry, if there is already a file with same number, counter increments automatically and image is saved with next number in file name.

If going to long process looks tedious, you can download a registry key to Reset Windows-8 Screenshot Count in ScreenshotIndex key. Open the zip folder, it contains one registry key which can reset count by just double clicking on it.

Nirbhaya and Fight Back: Android Apps to Protect Women Against Crime

Recent Rape case in Delhi has raised many eye brows and Women’s safety in country is in question. Technology can be your friend to tackle such situations like attempt to molestation and protect women against Crime. Here are two apps designed and configured specially for women to protect themselves.

These emergency tackling Android apps for women alert phone contacts in one click via SMS. Text includes your name, kind of emergency and GPS location.

Nirbhaya

Nirbhaya means Fearless. App’s name is a tribute to the girl who was a victim of recent Rape case in Delhi, India. This app is built to tackle emergency situations by notifying closed ones (Family or Friend) just by hitting one Panic button.

App lets you customize Contact Groups for various kinds of emergencies like Accident, Molestation, etc. You can feed the emergency numbers like Police Station, Ambulance, Office Supervisor number (in case you are working) and any custom contact from Phonebook.

In case of Danger, you just click one Panic button and your family, friends and Police will be alerted about it along with your GPS location via SMS.

Along with text message notification, it also supports Facebook and Email integration. It means, emergency message can also be posted on your wall instantly during emergency.

Download Nirbhaya

Fight Back

Fight Back is another sophisticated app to tackle emergency situations specially designed for women’s safety. It uses GPS, SMS, location maps, GPRS ,email and your Facebook account to inform your loved ones in case you are in danger.

This app tracks user’s movement through GPS (Global Positioning System) and sends location information to the server. It also displays user’s current location on the Google map.

To use this app, you have to register account on Fight Back portal and provide your phone number and device name to get download link. After that, specify phone numbers and email IDs to alert during emergency.

Working is similar to the Nirbhaya app but in addition, Fight Back has web interface too. On web, you get to see number of alerts sent and track location using the Google Map.

Download Fight Back

Conclusion: In my tests, Fight Back was better than Nirbhaya. Fight Back uses its own SMS gateway to send texts instead of your own number unlike Nirbhaya which uses our own number. But, Fight Back was better at retrieving location and instantly sending SMS where Nirbhaya app failed.

Though advertised and said to be designed for women, Apps can be used by men too for their protection.

Facebook App For Windows 8

Australian graphic designer, Fred Nerby has decided to create a conceptual design of Facebook Windows 8 App. A systematic and ultimate social network app focused on tablets with a style reminiscent to that present in the entire ecosystem of Microsoft Windows 8 (Metro). So, it would not surprising that a future application of Facebook for Windows 8 would be somewhat like this.

Fred says that he wanted to create a design that would improve the understanding and relationship between the user and the content. “Today, where the visual impact is crucial, the design of Facebook is not really showing essential information that people want to see in a way they want to see.”

The designer approached the platform from a user perspective and focused on specific and custom data while maintaining a visually appealing interface. Facebook has done a good job in this, for a long time, but we’re still not seeing the magnitude of what is possible within this powerful platform.

Fred believes that the design and development of social networking is based on the personal information on user profile. And that’s true because we are inundated with banners, advertisements and other media based campaigns that disrupt user mindset.

When Will Official Facebook Windows 8 App Release?

At the moment, there are no known company plans to create its official application for Windows 8. Even though one of its major rivals in the world of social networking, Twitter has officially announced that it is developing its own application for the new system. There are was one app developed by Pearls Apps called “Facebook” in Windows 8 App store but looks like it is also removed now.

In Late 2012, conducted a Facebook and Windows 8 hackathon at their office. So, chances are that Microsoft is internally dealing with the social network, so that consumers can finally have an official Facebook application in Windows 8.

I just wish that Facebook should get inspired by this beautiful conceptual design while building an app for Windows 8 app Platform. I so loved it. Do you?

Windows 8 Top 11 New Features and you may know

Microsoft change its interface in the new operating system and like Apple store you can use App store for downloading applications. Microsoft support USB 3.0 .Microsoft first time use the concept of Touch interface in windows 8 .If your laptop is touch enabled then you can use touch screen in windows 8 . Price of windows 8 is not too high you can buy this from online or offline mode both.

3 EDITION

Microsoft launch 3 version of windows 8

Windows 8 Enterprise       >	For corporate license users, System administration.
Windows 8 RT                  >	For computer and tablets where there is ARM processor
Windows 8 Pro                 >	For normal user

All features are available in windows 8 pro accept windows 8 enterprise edition. you can upgrade your old PC to windows 8 or install a fresh copy of windows.

Boot Up Time

Windows 7/VISTA          >	37 sec to 1 minute
Windows 8                    >	8 sec to 20 second

Like Android in windows 8 first time you have to sign in when you open PC. Hotmail , Skydive or Xbox user can directly sign in.

The main advantage of login into boot time is that you would not to login many time into these storage account, and if there is office 2013 then you can save your data into online storage directly .

If you don’t want to login in boot time then you have a option of “switching to local account”.

Security Options

You can make your security password in your pc , your Microsoft account password. If you don’t have  Microsoft account then here is also standard password available. you can make your picture grosser  password also for picture password option.

User Interface

Start screen is differ from other Microsoft OS and users are really enjoying this. Like Android there is full screen start screen in the windows 8 .You can choose 1 design from 20 design. Start button is available on mouse hover .

Refresh Or Reset

Like mobile there is refresh or reset button .This option can help you when your PC is slow .Only one click you can refresh your PC. Reset button useful when you want to erase data from your PC. This button hard reset your PC.

Lock Screen

In the new OS you can customize your lock screen. User can customize background screen and notifications. You can see user appointments list of calendar and email list .

Multitasking

There is 2 type of multitasking in Windows 8 .You can switch to user apps  from switcher gesture. There is another built in feature is “SNAP “ which makes multitasking very easy .

Window Store

Microsoft first time provide OS X and features like Apple app store to store window. There is both free and paid options. User can download application .Here is also top free games option for downloading.

UEFI Not BIOS

In the windows 8 you will find that there is totally change old BIOS now there is UEFI(Unified Extensible Firmware Interface).

The main reason of high speed of boot process is UEFI.UEFI stops to load the unauthorized operating system. Its anti malware features stops the boot loader attacks.You can repair your PC from remote networks.

USB 3.0

USB 3.0 is 10 time faster then USB 2.0 .You can also save your laptop battery life by using this USB 3.0 port. If there is USB 2.0 then it will also support 2.0.

Task Messenger

It is totally new look .As program load there is active apps , background process and windows process list in the task messenger .User can know which process and apps taking how much space.User can see in the performance tab that how much much space CPU ,Memory ,Disk, Bluetooth and WIFI occupying .

How to use Flash Drive as RAM in windows 8

Requirements For Virtual RAM

1)Minimum 2 GB pen drive .

2)USB(Universal serial bus) 2.0 or later.

You can use your pen drive as RAM(Random Access Memory) in windows . There are two types of memory

1)RAM – Random Access Memory

2)ROM- Read Only Memory

When the system is boot all the data is saved in ROM we can’t normally remove data from ROM because it is also called permanent memory of our system.

The Speed of your system totally depends on processor and RAM.When we run any programs like Operating system(windows,linux),movies ,files etc  it stores in RAM. If our RAM size is small then it can reduce our system performance and processor work.

To increase your system performance you have two options

1)Buy another RAM and put it into empty RAM slot if available.

2)Make your flash drive(Pen Drive) as Virtual RAM.

Step 1

Put pen drive in USB 2.0 port.

Step 2

Right click on the pen drive.

Step 3

Go to the readyBoost Tab.

Step 4

Select use this device.

Step 5

Specify your device size for RAM ,4 GB best size.

Now your current running files and programs will occupy the space like RAM.

Unlock Logon Logoff Unlock Sound Effects in Windows 8

• Press Win key + R to bring up the Run Dialog box. Type regedit and press Enter.

•  As the Registry Editor opens, navigate toHKEY_CURRENT_USER\AppEvents\EventLabels.

In EventLabels you will find many options, scroll down and find Windows Logon, logoff, Unlock options. Select the one for which you want to get sound options in Sound Control panel.

• After selecting your option, you can see ExcludeFromCPL on the right with adefault value 1. Double Click on it and change the value from 1 to 0. click on ok.

• You can repeat the same procedure for the sound events you want to enable. Once you are done close the Registry Editor. Open the Sounds Control Panel, the unlocked sound events will be present there.

That’s all you need to do for unlocking Logon, Logoff and Unlock sound events. there is no risk in editing in this category i.e in the Events Labels. If you feel you have done something wrong, just change the values of ExcludeFromCPL. 0 means not excludes whereas 1 denotes that its excluded from Sound Control panel.

Quick Boot Mode in Windows 8: What Is It And How To Disable

Boot time of an operating system is always one of the most discussed items when a new version is released. Therefore, manufacturers are always looking for a way to improve the startup performance of their systems. For Windows 8, the changes are easily noticed thanks to Fast Startup or Quick Boot mode as people call it.

Microsoft added this as a default feature in Windows 8 to reduce boot load timing and start the new session as fast as possible. If we go by the demo, it showed that Windows 8 PC on SSD booted in 7 seconds only.

Really awesome, isn’t it? But lets us go into depth of this feature and learn more about Windows 8 Quick Boot and its limitations.

What is Widows 8 Quick Boot

According to what was published on the MSDN blog, Microsoft conducted a survey of consumers in order to know how many people actually turn off the computer and how many use the hibernation/standby operating system. The portion of Windows users who shut down the PC at the end of a day’s work was much larger than expected, reaching 57% of respondents.

Despite knowing that the power consumption of computer is low, many people said that they turned machines off to save on electricity bill. Others said they just like to “start from scratch” with the RAM free of any residue.

Therefore, Microsoft has developed a way to make computers with Windows 8 which will not consume energy when absolutely turned off. And then launching a session whenever turned ON with short time interval between pressing the power button and using the system.

In practice, the new feature blends the traditional startup mode with hibernation. The great thing that Microsoft was thinking of a way to just make use of the core OS from hibernation mode and the rest of the functionality is indeed off. That way, when the power button  pressed, the part of the OS that takes longer to load is already initialized, while just load other resources.

While the normal boot process of a system, you must load drivers and services, while with the fast boot mode part of the service is read from a hibernation file – which can be found on your hard disk by running the command “dir/s/ah hiberfile.sys” at the system prompt. Thus, the boot time is from 30% to 50% faster.

• Speed Up Windows 7 Boot with Bo GUI

Not everything is perfect

Despite being a great way to speed up the operating system boot, fast boot mode also has some problems. Many applications require a restart of Windows for the changes to take effect, a very common practice in anti-virus and other security applications or libraries that need to modify the system registry.

With Quick Start enabled, most of the changes end up not being applied because the hibernation file used at boot time of the system is recorded before the machine off (obviously). So, the next time you turn on your computer, Windows has no way of knowing what modifications applied before finalizing your shipment.

While applications are not suited to work perfectly with fast startup mode activated, the best way to avoid some important information being lost during the boot operating system is disabling the feature. The procedure to accomplish this task you will find below.

How to disable it?

The process to disable the fast boot mode of Windows 8 is pretty simple. Check out the steps below.

1) Go to the new system Start menu and type “Power Options.”

2) As a result screen that opens, select the “Settings” in the rightmost column, and select the item “Choose what the Power button do.”

3) The System Settings window is displayed. Locate the option “Shutdown Settings” and uncheck “Turn on fast startup (recommended)”.

4) If the items are disabled and you’re unable to make the desired changes, click on “Change settings that are currently unavailable”, this further up the screen. Do not forget to press the “Save Changes” for the change to take effect.

Ready! The Quick Boot Mode is disabled. To enable it again, just follow the above steps again and check the “Fast Start (recommended)”.

Why You’ll Leave Windows 7 and Love Windows 8

At first use, it may seem that Windows 8 is terribly confusing but as you get used to it, you will start loving it. Well, forced personalization is a reason behind that disappointment but there are solutions to fix it. If you overlook that one thing, Windows 8 is filled with surprises and awesome features.

Personally, I was annoyed by Metro screen so, now I directly skip to desktop instead of start screen and brought the start menu back on Windows 8. It doesn’t mean that I have disabled those Metro features completely. It is just that forcing me to see those things when not in need was annoying. I do access Start screen when I need any metro app and access Charms bar with WIN+C hotkey.

So, I ain’t missing anything from Windows 7 and at the same time getting some more novelties of Windows 8. Here are some of those things which will make you leave Windows 7 and start loving Windows 8.

Windows 8 App Store

There are high chances that you will fell in love at first sight with Windows 8 App store. It has apps for all your existing and future needs. Imagine accessing website for Net banking, booking Flight tickets, listening music or simply reading newspaper. Now, all these things are just a click away on live tile of an app on your Windows 8 start screen.

App stores are customized region-specific. I was amazed and at the same time enormously happy to see all the names of services as apps which I often use online. Watching movie, shopping, gaming, social networking and more..

I agree that they are new and first user may find himself clueless to close it. This is because they are different from traditional apps which you were using on Windows 7. Read more about Windows 8 App structure and development.

Good thing about these apps is that you don’t have to download and then install it manually. It is similar to app store on your mobile phone; One click and it will be automatically downloaded and installed.

Not just quantity but Windows 8 app store has been developed quality wise in really a short span of time. You will suddenly start loving the interface and appearance of these apps. The way we navigate and the app interacts is appreciable. I guess developers are seeing a potential in Windows 8 growth in market and as a result pouring out apps for each and everything on this new platform.

Fast Startup (Quick Windows booting)

Windows 8 boots up faster than any of its predecessor and that feature is called as Fast Startup which is enabled by default. It reduces boot load timing and starts the new session as fast as possible. If we go by the demo, it showed that Windows 8 PC on SSD booted in 7 seconds only.

This feature has its own disadvantages which you can read more and learn how does windows 8 boot faster.

This is another thing which will impress anyone.

Better Process and Service management

I am not saying this because interface of Task manager has been changed but I observed running processes are managed in optimized way. A clear comparison between Windows 7 and Windows 8 memory management is a proof that you will have better computing and multitasking experience on Windows 8.

So, I just want to say that take time, learn, explore and you’ll love it! And you will love it in a way that there won’t be any looking back.

God Mode in Windows 8- Secret Code Folder For All Settings

God Mode isn’t new; it was discovered in Windows 7 itself. It is a secret folder or better I’d say a hidden feature in Windows 8. It enables you to access all settings and controls at one place and hence the name- God mode. Here is how to get inside God Mode folder in Windows 8 with a secret code.

Creating God mode folder is just like any other folder. You just need to create a new folder and add Gode mode to it.

God Mode Code for Windows 8

.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

For example: Create a new folder and rename it to God Mode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}. You will notice that it is no more a normal folder but its icon has changed which looks like Control Panel.

Open it to access God Mode folder of Windows 8.

Just like God, you have full control over Windows 8 system settings from here. May be managing sound devices, adding a startup item or editing group policy or even as simple as changing Date and Time

Folder shows a loong list of settings name categorized under sub-headings. How to find a specific settings of windows 8 in God Mode? I would recommend using the search box to find the thing you are looking for instead of browsing the list.

Type which setting you want to access or what you want to change in search box on upper right corner. List will now show settings restricted to your keyword only. This makes it easy to work.

Here, you get control on 254 setting items which covers almost all areas.

God Mode Alternative in Windows 8

On Windows 8 however, there is another way to access most essential settings without creating a god mode folder.

Access Charms bar (WIN+C) and click on Search icon. Type what you want and then click on Settings. All those things in God Mode are now here on left of the sidebar.

That’s all. It’s about gaining control. In case, you mess up changing the values, make sure to keep Refresh PC at hand to Reset Windows settings to default.