Microsoft Windows

Draft

This page just includes some notes.

Windows 8.1 notes

User Interface

The missing start menu

(rumoured to be back sometimes late 2014)

Win 8.1 doesn't have a start menu, i.e. you will have to find your program in the alphabetical list of "apps". There exist replacement programs, e.g.

• Classic Shell (opensource, freeware) - Tested and approved on my recent Win 8.1 Dell XPS-15 - Daniel K. Schneider (talk) 18:00, 8 July 2014 (CEST)
• Vistart (commercial)
• Start8 (commercial)
• Download StartIsBack (commercial)
• Pokki (freeware)

Read How to get the Start menu back in Windows 8 by Lance Whitney, CNET, May 27, 2014.

Some standard shortcuts:

Windows-X

Displays some frequently used admin tools

Windows-R

Display the "run" box

Windows-W

Search the settings

Java installation

• http://java.com/
• Exit from Firefox, before installing Java. Else it may not install the plugin and not even tell so ....

Keyboard Layout Generator

• In principal, the old MKLC program made for XP is still working ...

Windows 7 notes

To know about your system, look at the System Information panel

Start button -> run. Type msinfo32

This panel allows you browse by categories most things you may want to know about your system. To change configurations however, you need other tools, e.g. the ones you can find in the Administration tools.

Admin Tools

• Services allows to stop/start services and to define how they should start
• System Configuration: Examine the Start (Démarrage) tab to stop software that starts when you boot and that you don't want to (e.g. the multiple Adobe tools ...)

Network traffic monitoring

Install http://www.winpcap.org/ + a client

Input

• Windows - Alt Key Numeric Codes

Also:

AltGr-e (or ALT-CTRL-e) creates €

AltGr-7 creates | (not the same as ¦)