Enabling Metro UI On A Netbook

     Windows 8 OS

One of the major features of the new Windows 8 platform is its Metro UI. This new style, a feature already present in the Windows Phone 8, uses tiles on the display screen. However, old netbooks that run Windows 8 cannot view these tiles properly, and this causes a pop up error every time the computer is turned on. This mainly stems from the fact that having the minimum required screen resolution recommended by Microsoft is necessary for the Metro UI to work seamlessly. In addition, Windows 8 drivers need to be compatible with the user’s netbook.

However, most netbooks, once hailed for having a small size and low weight, are not compatible to run the Metro feature. The minimum screen size recommended by Microsoft is 1024*768, while most netbooks only have a maximum screen size of 1024*600 pixels. This is a shame because; Windows 8 tiles are large, use every square inch of your screen and is extremely touch friendly. But your system does not need to have a touch interface for Windows 8 to work, but will lose a few touch friendly features and cool graphic effects.

How to run Windows 8 Metro style

Run the “Registry Editor” by typing in “regedit” without the quotes, on the start screen of Windows 8. Tap the Registry Editor when it appears on the left side of the screen

1. To adjust the display settings so as to accommodate the Metro UI, in the Registry Editor, hit “Ctrl+F” key together to launch the find tool. Find an entry called “Display1_DownScalingSupported” without the quotes. Once you find the entry, double click on the entry to bring up a box and change the value from 0 to 1. Click “OK” when you are done.
2. Again, search for other entries having the same name, and if found, repeat the same procedure as above. Once all the Display1_DownScalingSupported entries have been changed, exit the Registry Editor.
3. Restart your computer for these effects to take place.
   

         Windows help

4. Next, right click on the desktop after clicking on the Desktop button from the Start Screen.
5. Finally, select “Screen resolution” and from the drop down menu, choose a new resolution that is compatible with Windows 8 like 1152*864 or 1024*768.

After the last step, visit the Start Screen to find the Internet Explorer, Weather, and other apps fully functioning with the new resolution. This shows that, applying a few tweaks to the Windows 8 drivers, the user can experience all the functions of Windows 8.

So now, any netbook user, following a few steps carefully, can have a fully functional Metro user interface along with their Windows 8 operating system.

Advancing With Windows 8 Cloud Apps

Windows 8 help & Support

Cloud computing refers to storing a users’ application over the internet. It entrusts remote services with a user’s data, software and computation. As per Cloud computing supporters, it also allows companies to avoid open infrastructure costs, and stress upon schemes that distinguish their businesses instead of infrastructure.

Computer users are not new to this feature, as users utilize this feature unintentionally all the time while uploading documents on social networks, or reading an article on Google Docs. Windows 8 has an inbuilt feature called CloudApp, which allows users to share images, links, music & video files, etc. You just have to drag the desired file to the menu bar to upload it. A link, automatically copied to the clipboard can be used to share the uploaded file with your contacts.

Windows 8 Microsoft ID

While setting up Windows 8 for the first time, you will have to create a Microsoft ID, which will be your user account. This ID synchronizes all your information together, and stores all your preferences & personal settings. Thus, it helps you to log in to any other Windows 8 computer with your Microsoft ID and the background, tiles & settings of the computer change as per your customized settings. Also, the changes including ease of access, browser settings, and language settings will be set as preferred. Keep your Windows 8 drivers updated to avoid any problems.

     Keep your Windows 8 drivers updated

Cloud feature can be used to connect several accounts to one location in the Windows 8 applications such as Windows Mail, Messenger, People and Calendar. Opening the profiles of your contacts, whether they are connected with you through any social network can be done with a single app. In addition, you do not need to backup your data on a hard drive to synchronize it with another PC as you can use the cloud feature to do the task for you. Using cloud, you can backup all the essential data and share it with multiple computers or any portable devices.

The launch of Windows 8 may have mixed reviews, but the operating system has yet to reveal many features for its users. Features like cloud computing, when combined with Windows 8, brings the best for users. You just have to keep your Windows 8 drivers updated to avoid any issues. Windows 8 market growth may be gradual, but it is steady.

What Causes BSOD In Windows 8

    Windows Technical Support

Blue Screen of Death also known as BSOD is a fatal error that results in system crash. It got its name because of the blue color of the generated error screen. This error will pave way for losing unsaved works and it reports severe software or hardware issues associated with the computer. Restarting of the computer is necessary to make the computer function again once this error occurs.

Black Screen of Death is a critical error, which forces the computer to shut down and is named after the black color of the resulting error screen. It is usually found in Windows 3.x systems and arises due to the non-functioning of the DOS program.

BSOD in Windows 8

Even Windows 8 cannot avoid the Black or Blue Screen of Death error. In addition to these, activation problems are also affecting Windows 8. Reports indicate that Black Screen of Death error occurred in Windows 8 rather than Blue Screen of Death as expected. Since Windows 8 sales is not up to the level as expected by Microsoft, these errors could worsen the scenario further.

 Causes

It is identified that these errors are linked with the hardware, Windows updates and Windows 8 drivers. BSOD error transforms the computer to a non-responsive mode to block the hardware or data damage. It can occur due to the installation of incorrect drivers on your system. The presence of old or unsupported versions of hardware installed on your computer that are not compatible with Windows 8 can also cause this error. Apart from these, a hard disk or hardware error during Windows 8 installation is also a known cause for Black Screen error.

Fixes

You can perform the following troubleshooting steps to avoid this error on your Windows 8 OS.

• Navigate to the Programs and features option from Control panel and remove the unwanted drivers that are not compatible on Windows 8.
  

        Various Windows 8 drivers

• Download and install the latest versions of drivers that are compatible on your Windows 8. For instance, you can update or install Windows 8 drivers like Realtek AC97 Audio Driver, Broadcom Bluetooth 2.0 Driver, and Video Controller Driver etc. Once the drivers are installed or updated, restart your computer for the changes to apply.
• Upgrade the hardware attached to your computer to the latest one so that it functions well on your Windows 8.

You should be able to solve these issues by your own now. Else, if the issue persists, contact Microsoft Technical Support to sort it out as they have the sufficient resources to assist you better.

How To Disable Driver Signing In Windows 8

Get support for Windows 8 drivers

Windows 8 is the latest version of Windows operating systems, which is very suitable for use in personal computers, business desktops and mobile devices like tablets and smart phones. Development of Windows 8 has been initiated by the search for an efficient platform-independent high-compatible operating system having an enhanced user interface, and it was introduced to the market in October 2012. This operating system brings significant changes in the system platform, especially improving the performance on devices like mobile phones and tablets, intended to compete with mobile operating systems like Android and Apple’s iOS, which have already secured their place in the mobile market.

The new touch interface and the kernel based on the Metro design language are quite remarkable. The enhanced Windows 8 drivers are also praiseworthy in providing a very good user experience. However, the driver signing in Windows 8 can be a trouble occasionally; fortunately, we can disable it very easily. I am including a few guidelines on Windows 8 drivers to disable their signing in.

Method 1

• First, you have to open an Elevated cmd window. This can be done either by opening the Power User Tasks Menu or by clicking on the Command Prompt.
• Then you should type bcdedit -set loadoptions DISABLE_INTEGRITY_CHECKS and bcdedit -set TESTSIGNING ON commands in the cmd window.
• Now you can restart Windows and the driver signing will be off.

Method 2

• From the Windows 8 Charms bar, you have to click on the Settings option. In order to bring up the Charms bar you need to move your mouse to the bottom right corner of your screen.
  

  Enjoy features of Windows 8 drivers

• Then you should click on Change PC settings.
• Then you have to select the General option that lies on the left side.
• Towards right, you need to scroll down and click on the Restart Now button which is under the Advanced Startup.
• You need to wait for a little time and when the menu comes up, click on Troubleshoot.
• Then you should click on the Advanced Options icon. Select Windows Startup Settings and click Restart.
• When your computer restarts, you should select Disable Driver Signature Enforcement from the menu.
• After Windows boots, you have to install unsigned drivers that you want to use and restart again. Now everything will work fine.

Windows 8 is a very efficient and powerful operating system, which is capable of giving a productive and user friendly environment.

Tutorial On How To Update Drivers In Windows 8

                               Updating Windows 8 drivers

All of us know that Windows 8 is the latest OS release from Microsoft. It has got many advanced features which are quite different from the previous editions of OS from Microsoft. However, Windows 8 does not have built in drivers for all the hardware it works with. You may have to update the drives manually not only to ensure smooth functioning of the PC, but also to facilitate new features for the hardware.

Read through the steps provided below to equip yourself with ideas on how to update Windows 8 drivers.

Instructions

• Check for latest Windows 8 drivers in the websites of the hardware manufacturer. It will ensure that the driver you download is latest and valid.  Create a folder, download and extract the latest drivers.
• Navigate to Windows 8 control panel and launch the Device Manager.
• Once the Device Manager is launched, hit or touch the icon and open the category where the devices with driver updates are under.
• Right click on the particular device which requires drive updates and select “Update Driver Software”. This will launch the ‘Update Driver Software wizard’.
• Press on “Browse my computer for driver software” when you are prompted with a question “How do you want to search for driver software?”
• Once you r press on “Browse my computer for driver software”, you will find a drop down menu to choose from. Select the option “Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer” which you see close to the bottom of the window.
• Select  “Have Disk” option which you find on the bottom-right below the text box.
• You will now see ‘Install From Disk’ window. Select the browse option you find on the bottom right corner of the window.
• When you are prompted to ‘Locate File’, navigate to the folder where you have downloaded and extracted the drivers (Step 1).
• Select any INF file from the file list and double click to open it.
• Press the ‘OK’ button on the ‘Install From Disk Window’. 
• Select the recently extended hardware in the text box and hit or press ‘Next’.
  

                         Microsoft Windows 8

• Your Windows 8 drivers update will now begin.
• Once the update process is completed, a window with a message ‘Windows has successfully updated your driver software’ will appear.
• Close the window and then the Device Manager.
• Reboot your PC now.

Windows 8 does not often prompt you to reboot the PC after the driver update. However, it is recommended to reboot the PC as the there have been some registry changes due to driver update which might cause negative impact to some application unless you execute a restart.