5 Best Windows 8 Tricks That You Probably Aren’t Aware Of

Windows 8 consumer preview has bought lots of new features and tricks that we have already covered in our previous windows 8 articles. But it stands to say that windows 8 is hailed one of the most revolutionary windows OS till date.

Windows 8 Tricks

There are still many people out there who are using the consumer preview as their daily OS because it’s just so amazing that you will fall in love with it. So we have decided to share with you some of the best tricks that we haven’t covered yet and most probably most people are unaware of.

So we have prepared a guide which will make using windows 8 a wonderful experience.

1. Disable The Lock Screen

Windows 8 lock screen is a very interesting new feature which helps it to stand apart from previous versions. But when you log in or turn on your PC getting from lock screen to your log in screen involves extra key stroke. So here is how you disable the lock screen

  • Type gpedit.msc in the start menu and press enter to launch the group policy editor
  • In group policy editor navigate to computer configuration > administrative templates > control panel > personalization
  • Double click do not display the lock screen option and set it to enable. Then click ok
  • Now you can boot directly to the log in screen and if you combine this with skipping the start menu then you will be able to boot directly to desktop

2. Take And Save Screenshots Instantly

This is a new feature that has been implemented in the windows 8 and which makes taking screenshot very snappy and easy. To take screenshots instantly just hold down Win key + print screen key.

The screen shot will be saved in my pictures folder directly.

3. Display Administrative Tools

The administrative tools are hidden by default in windows 8 but if you use them regularly then you can unhidden them very easily.

  • Either press WinKey + C to display the charms menu or take the mouse pointer to bottom or top right corner of the screen and click settings on charms menu
  • After you click on settings then look for the option show administrative tools and move the slider to yes
  • You will be able to see administrative tools on start screen and in all apps list

4. Control Automatic Maintenance

Windows 8 has a very good automatic maintenance system that runs software update, security scans and performs system diagnostic. By default its set for 3am which you can change.

  • Click on the flag icon on your system tray icon and then click on open action center
  • You will notice automatic maintenance under the maintenance category. Click on change maintenance settings to customize it
  • In this screen you can set the time when you want the maintenance tasks to run and also you can set it to wake up your windows to run the tasks if your windows was sleeping

5. Customize The Search Application

Whenever you want to search the metro apps appear as options there. If you have loads of metro apps the list can get crowded so here is how you can trim this option.

  • Click on settings charm and then click on more pc settings
  • In PC settings now click on search
  • You can slide the slider to off if you don’t want the apps to appear on the search option

There you have some of the best 5 features that you weren’t aware of. We hope they helped you to make the metro UI more streamlined for you.

Do let us know if you come across some other tips and tricks.

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