Windows 8 no longer includes the traditional Start Menu that Windows users have become associated with using. Instead they replaced it with a new interface called the Windows Start Screen that many people find to be not as intuitive as the traditional Start Menu. This is especially the case if you are not using a touch screen. With this in mind, a free program called Classic Shell has been updated to support the ability to add a Start Menu to Windows 8.

In Windows 8 you are able to create a Start Screen tile, or pinned site, that is associated with a particular web site. You can then click on the pinned site tile and Internet Explorer will automatically open to that site. When launching a web site in this way, the Internet Explorer 10 Pin button may become a jump list button which contain common tasks for that web site that help you navigate the site better. This functionality, though, is dependent on the site and not all sites provide these extra menus. At BleepingComputer.com we offer a special jump list menu to help navigate the site if you would like to test out this feature.

In the past, the built-in method to create a screenshot in Windows was to use Alt+PrintScreen or PrintScreen to copy a screenshot into the clipboard. You would then have to paste that image into another program that has the ability to save it as an image file. Though this method works, it was inconvenient, required an extra program, and was confusing for less experienced computer users. With the release of Windows 8, Microsoft included a really useful feature where you can automatically take a screen shot and save it as a file. There is only one issue with this method and that is to automatically create a file you will be taking a screenshot of the entire screen and not just a particular Window.

If you had upgraded Windows 8 using the Windows8-Setup.exe executable, rather than through a DVD, it can be difficult to troubleshoot your computer in the event that it is not starting properly or you cannot access the Advanced Startup Options menu. This tutorial will walk you through creating a Windows 8 DVD on another computer that can be used to troubleshoot problems starting or using Windows 8. Please note that in order to create this DVD you will need to have your Windows 8 product key and access to a working computer.

When Windows is installed on your computer it can be installed as a 32-bit version or a 64-bit version. For most people, whether they use a 32-bit or a 64-bit version of Windows does not make a difference. It is, though, important to know whether you are running a 64-bit or 32-bit version of Windows when performing certain tasks on your computer. For example, if you install new hardware or update existing hardware drivers, then you need to know what version of Windows you are using so you can download the appropriate driver. This tutorial will explain how you can determine if you are running a 32-bit or a 64-bit version of Windows.

In Windows 8, Microsoft created an additional PC Settings section that you can use to customize some settings related to the Windows Start Screen and other basic settings. If you wish to gain access to the full range of settings in Windows 8, though, you must use the desktop Control Panel. The desktop Control Panel is the same as what we remember from previous versions of Windows, but is just not as intuitively accessed as it used to be. This tutorial will walk you through the various ways you can access the desktop Control Panel.

Windows 8 has a settings screen called PC Settings that allows you to change some basic preferences and computer settings directly in the Windows 8 Start Screen. This screen allow you to change settings that include backgrounds, colors, synchronization preferences, and synchronization preferences. This tutorial will explain how to access these PC Settings and provide basic information about what each settings category allows you to configure.

In Windows there are certain programs that are configured as the default one to use for certain tasks. Windows will then use these default programs when a person performs a particular action in Windows. For example, even if you have multiple web browsers installed in Windows, only one will be configured as the default. This default web browser will then be used whenever you perform a particular task in Windows that relates to web browsing such as clicking on links in emails or opening up HTML documents. This tutorial will walk you through configuring your default programs in Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8. Though this tutorial will not cover setting your default programs in Windows XP, the concepts are the same.

This tutorial will explain how to add Gmail to the Windows 8 Mail app. This tutorial will also walk you through troubleshooting issues you may encounter when using 2-step verification on your Google account.

When you are logged into Windows 8, Windows will display your full name next to your account picture on the Start Screen. Normally you can use the User Accounts control panel to change the full name that is displayed for an account in Windows. If you are using a Microsoft Account in Windows 8, though, you will no longer be able to change your full name in Windows as it synchronizes it with the settings for your account on live.com. In order to change the name that is displayed for a Microsoft Account in Windows 8, you will instead need to logon to live.com and modify your name there.