Category: Windows 8

Windows 8 PC Reset

Note
If you upgraded your PC from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1 and your PC has a Windows 8 recovery partition, resetting your PC will restore Windows 8. You’ll need to upgrade to Windows 8.1 after the reset has finished.
Warning
All of your personal files will be deleted and your settings will be reset. All apps that you installed will be removed. Only apps that came with your PC will be reinstalled.

 To reset your PC

  1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, tap Settings, and then tap Change PC settings.
    (If you’re using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, click Settings, and then clickChange PC settings.)
  2. Tap or click Update and recovery, and then tap or click Recovery.
  3. Under Remove everything and reinstall Windows, tap or click Get started.
  4. Follow the instructions on the screen.
Note
You’ll be asked to choose whether you want to erase data quickly or thoroughly. If you choose to erase data quickly, some data might be recoverable using special software. If you choose to erase data thoroughly, this will take longer but it makes recovering data less likely.

Boot Windows 8 to Desktop

There are a number of ways to boot Windows 8 to the Desktop (bypassing the Start screen).  I have an HP T610 thin client I am getting setup as a master image and this is the method that worked for me.
Update:  I abandoned this method and decided to just boot to the start screen.  I made some adjustments and added Log Off, Shutdown and Restart tiles for the end-users.
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Modify the registry:

  1. Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionWinlogon
  2. Change the value in Shell from explorer.exe to explorer.exe /select,explorer.exe
  3. Reboot system.

Note:  When booting directly to desktop in this manner, an Explorer window will be opened each time.

Windows Embedded 8 System Requirements

This is a quick reference for me for Windows Embedded 8 versions system requirements.  All the information can be found at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee504814(v=winembedded.70).aspx.
Windows Embedded 8  (Industry 8)

  • 1 GHz or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
  • 1 GB of system memory (x86) (2 GB recommended for x64)
  • 16 GB of free space on the hard disk (HDD) or flash-based Solid State Drive (SSD) (20 GB recommended for x64)
  • Microsoft DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM driver
  • At least one of the following bootable media types:
    • Bootable DVD-ROM drive
    • Bootable USB 2.0 port and a USB Flash Drive (UFD) with 5 GB of free space (7 GB for x64) or access to a local network
  • BIOS that supports Windows Preinstallation Environment 4.0 (Windows PE 4.0)
  • Additional requirements to use certain features:
    • A tablet or monitor that supports multi-touch to use touch features
    • A screen resolution of at least 1024 x 768 to run Windows 8 apps
    • A screen resolution of at least 1366 x 768 to snap Windows 8 apps

Windows Embedded 8.1

  • Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster with support for PAE, NX, and SSE2 (more info)
  • RAM:              1 gigabyte (GB) (32-bit) or 2 GB (64-bit)
  • Hard disk space:              16 GB (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
  • Graphics card: Microsoft DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM driver

Additional requirements to use certain features:

  • To use touch, you need a tablet or a monitor that supports multitouch (more info)
  • To access the Windows Store and to download, run, and snap apps, you need an active Internet connection and a screen resolution of at least 1024 x 768
  •               Microsoft account required for some features
  • Internet access (ISP fees might apply)
  • Secure boot requires firmware that supports UEFI v2.3.1 Errata B and has the Microsoft Windows Certification Authority in the UEFI signature database
  • Some games and programs might require a graphics card compatible with DirectX 10 or higher for optimal performance
  • Watching DVDs requires separate playback software (more info)
  • Windows Media Center license sold separately (more info)
  • BitLocker To Go requires a USB flash drive (Windows 8.1 Pro only)
  • BitLocker requires either Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 1.2 or a USB flash drive (Windows 8.1 Pro only)
  • Client Hyper-V requires a 64-bit system with second level address translation (SLAT) capabilities and additional 2 GB of RAM (Windows 8.1 Pro only)
  • A TV tuner is required to play and record live TV in Windows Media Center (Windows 8.1 Pro Pack and Windows 8.1 Media Center Pack only)
  • Miracast requires a display adapter which supports Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) 1.3, and a Wi-Fi adapter that supports Wi-Fi Direct
  • Wi-Fi Direct Printing requires a Wi-Fi adapter that supports Wi-Fi Direct and a device that supports Wi-Fi Direct Printing
  • Free internet TV content varies by geography, some content might require additional fees (Windows 8.1 Pro Pack and Windows 8.1 Media Center Pack only)
  • To install a 64-bit OS on a 64-bit PC, your processor needs to support CMPXCHG16b, PrefetchW, and LAHF/SAHF
  • InstantGo works only with computers designed for Connected Standby

Windows 8 File History

If you enjoyed Windows 7 Previous Versions feature, Windows 8 changes this up completely. It is now called File History and is not accessible from the Properties context menu of a file or folder.
In Windows 8, File History is not enabled by default. You must turn it on and choose where to store your files.
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Check out more in-depth blog entries for this feature from Extreme Windows Blog and a deeper dive into File History on the Building Windows 8 blog.