Windows 10: The Ultimate User Guide in Using Your Windows 10 (3 page)

The Charms bar was a feature Microsoft introduced in Windows 8. The bar was located on the right side of the desktop. It was supposed to be a useful feature for those using touch screens. The feature could be used to quickly access the power button, the search function, devices, Network, Volume, amongst other resources on your computer.

However, for users who used a mouse, the feature was a nuisance every time you tried to move the mouse pointer to the right side of the screen. This activated the bar and proved to be annoying when selecting items on the desktop.

You could only deactivate it by using registry hacks. In Windows 8.1, Microsoft made it possible to deactivate it following numerous complaints from some users. However, it was still a nuisance for many users.

There are uses who had become accustomed to it. Some actions were easy to perform for these users. There are ways you can now do round this:

Settings

Settings are the equivalent of the control panel, which was available on XP and other operating systems before Windows 8. This was an option easily accessible through the Charm Bar.

To use Settings simply go to
Start
, then choose
Settings
, then you’ll get the configuration settings.

Power Button

This was also easily accessible through the Charms bar. The good news is that you can still quickly access it by going to the
Start Menu
. The Power Button is at the top of this menu
.

Search

The search bar has now been integrated with Cortana and is at the bottom of the screen. When you type your query into the search box, it displays regular results by default. Cortana is still an option that you can use if you so choose.

Active App function

Another useful feature of the charms bar was that it provided app specific controls. It automatically provided the corresponding app specific controls for the app that was active. A somewhat similar feature is available on Windows 10.

The
Hamburger Icon
can be found on the top left corner of the screen. Clicking on it provides a set of options for the active app. It has the standard commands that were available on the app bar plus a set of app specific commands you can use.

Windows snap assist was a convenient and very handy feature that was introduced in Windows 7. With this feature, you could set Windows side by side without having to resize or perform a complex set of moves.

Windows 10 has made it possible to set up to four windows side by side. This can boost your productivity as you don’t have to switch back and forth between the various windows that you are working with. You can write an email on one window, as you keep track updates on social media without having to minimize manually every time.

You can snap apps with a mouse, move windows and perform all tasks quickly and efficiently. It may take a little bit of time to master snap assist. Here are a few options that you have.

• Click the Title bar of the window you want to snap.
  
• Drag it to the edge of your screen.
  
• An outline appears. This outline will indicate where the window will fit once you release the mouse button.
  
• Now drag the window to the direction of the screen you want it to appear.
  
• You may now either drag it to the quadrant indicated, or simply drag it to the screen to get a full-size window.
  

• If you are typing on your keyboard, you can use Keyboard short cuts to access snap assist much faster.
  
• Makes sure you are on the active windows. Use either the
  Windows Key + Left Arrow
  shortcut to move left or the
  Windows Key + Right Arrow
  short cut to move left.
  
• You may also snap it into one of the quadrants by first snapping it to either right or left as indicated above depending on whether the quadrant is on the left or right. Then use the
  Windows Key + Up Arrow
  or
  Windows Key + Down Arrow
  to get it into the desired quadrant.
  
• Once you snap it into the quadrant, you can move it back to the original location using
  Windows Key +
  whichever
  Arrow Key
  that will get it back to that location.
  

Once you snap one window, you can move the other windows around quickly using snap Assist.

When you move the first window using the controls above, snap assist will pop up in case any of the other quadrants are unoccupied. Click on the thumbnails and the other windows will be snapped into the remaining space.

Note:
This will work if you have at less than three spaces left. When you’re left with three spaces on the screen, Snap Assist will not able to perform any action automatically.

The Search box is enhanced to make it easy to quickly access resources such as the Settings, Control Panel, personal files, apps of your computer, as well as get information from the Internet.

The start feature is easy to use, but you may need to do a little bit of configuration. You may simply search for anything by typing in the search box. You will notice that the search box may prompt you to configure Cortana.

If you want to use the Cortana feature, simply click Next and follow the prompts that will pop up.

If on the other hand you don’t want to use the intelligent assistant, simply choose Not Interested and proceed continue as you normally would.

If after ignoring Cortana, you feel you need to use the feature later, simply click search and choose the Gear Icon, then choose search settings and then configure Cortana from there.

Cortana is a very useful digital assistant and has more potential than other digital assistants that have cropped up in the past such as Siri. Even though Cortana was only on Windows Phones previously, Microsoft has decided to integrate it into all devices. This makes it more ubiquitous, which can in turn make it more convenient, since it is available across Windows platforms.

However, the Cortana is one of Windows 10 biggest issues. Cortana is the center of the privacy controversy of Windows 10. There are a number of issues that have been raised:

The first issue is that Microsoft will now be synching the data on your computer with its servers.

• Microsoft collects voice input through Cortana. For Cortana to be as effective as it is, it collects information from your Calendar, contacts, and names of people in your appointment.
  
• According to their privacy statements, it can disclose your data. This includes “
  emails, other private communications or files in private folders.”
  
• These are just some of the issues that have raised alarm to many users who are sensitive of their privacy.
  

There are several ways you can deactivate Cortana.

Turn off Cortana and Bing Using Cortana Settings

This is possible by simply changing the settings on the Cortana settings page:

1.
Click inside the Search box on the Taskbar to launch Cortana. Now click on the Gear icon.

2.
  You should turn the following options to
Off
:

• Cortana can give you suggestions, ideas, reminders, alerts and more.
  
• Search online and include web results.
  

Removing the Cortana Search Box from Taskbar

When you turn off Cortana, you may also want to remove its Search box from Windows 10 Taskbar or simply convert the Search box into a small Search icon by following these steps.

• Right-click on the blank area of the search box.
  
• From the menu that pops up scroll up to
  Search.
  
• Choose the Disabled option.
  

Disable Cortana from Privacy Settings

Privacy is one of the biggest reasons people are opting to disable Cortana. You can stop Cortana from collecting personal data such as contacts, calendar events, speech, handwriting patterns, typing history, etc.

You can disable Cortana, and remove all the data it has collected by doing the following:

• Go to the Start
  Menu
  and pick the
  Settings
  option.
  
• After choosing Settings, you may now go to
  Privacy -> Speech, inking, & typing
  " and click on "
  Stop getting to know me
  " button.
  
• You will now get a confirmation message, click on "
  Turn off
  " button.
  

Once you disable Cortana, the data it has collected will automatically be cleared.

Disable Cortana Using Group Policy Editor

The Group Policy Editor is one way of getting rid of Cortana completely once you’ve decided you can do without it.

Go to Run dialog box
by using the following shortcut
WIN+R
. Type
gpedit.msc
in the Run dialog box and press Enter. It will now launch
Group Policy Editor
.

On Group Policy Editor go to: Computer Configuration, then Administrative Templates, choose, Windows Components then pick the Search option.

Locate "
Allow Cortana
" on the pane on the right. Double click it, and choose
Disabled
to deactivate it.

Note:
This will completely deactivate Cortana. If you change your mind and you feel you need to reactivate Cortana, just follow the steps above but choose
Not Configured
once you get to the
Allow Cortana
option.

Disable Cortana Using Registry Editor

You may want to use the Registry editor because some versions do not have some of the options listed above. If you’re using Windows 10 Home edition, you will notice that the Group Policy Editor is missing.

Activate the Run dialog box by pressing on
WIN + R
keys together. When the Run dialog appears type
regedit
in press Enter. It will now open the
Registry Editor
.

• Now go to the following key:
  
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows
  
• Once here create a new key under
  Windows
  and name it
  Windows Search
  
• In the panel on the right-side, create a new DWORD
  AllowCortana
  and set its value to
  0
  
• After you reboot you computer, you will realize that Windows 10 will have deactivated Cortana.
  
• To reactivate, simply delete the DWORD
  AllowCortana
  that you created in the third step.
  

NOTE:
It is important to be careful when changing the settings on the
Registry Editor
. If you’re not sure what you’re doing, just follow the other steps provided. Some websites have readymade
Registry Editor
Script. If you choose to download, make sure it is a website you can trust.

Customizing User Accounts

Your User accounts have several components associated with it. For example, the properties of the account which include the username and password, your account photo, and the type of account you have. You can manage all these components using your administrator account.

Changing Profile Picture

This is the photo that will be displayed on the
Start
Menu. When you use one of your photos for the logon screen, Windows 10 will  adjust and optimize the photo and saves it as part of the contacts.

You can change the account photo by simply going to
Start
, then click
Settings
.
Next
, in
Settings
, click
Accounts
, click
Browse
.

In the dialog box that opens choose the photo you want. It should accept your photo as long as they are in the following formats, BMP(Bitmap), GIF, JPEG, PNG, DIB, or TIFF.

You can also use your camera or webcam to take a photo which you can instantaneously use for the logon screen. On
accounts
click
camera
and follow the prompts.

Changing Account Types

There are three main types of accounts:

• Guest: Very limited. Mostly set for those who will be temporarily be using the PC.
  
• User Accounts: Have privileges but with a number of limits.
  
• Administrator accounts with full privileges which includes installation and uninstalling software.
  

Needless to say, using an administrator account with full privileges can lead to mistakes thanks to these privileges. You can change accounts to suit your needs and avoid making costly mistakes.

As long as you have multiple Administrator account, you could change it to a standard account. The only limit is when you have only one Administrator account. Changing the last Administrator account into a Standard user account will obviously lead to serious problems.

One of the best practices of using these accounts is to always have two or three Administrator accounts. In case you forget the password of one of the accounts, you can always use the other.

Note: You can change passwords through the Control panel. If you do this, you can lose some settings in the process. For example, if you change an account password through another account, you are bound to lose all the information.

Use the following simple steps to change the account:

• In the Search box, type User Accounts and press Enter.
  
• Once the
  User Accounts page in Control Panel
  , click on
  Manage User Accounts.
  
• You will be required to provide username and password of an administrator, if you are not currently using the Administrator account.
  
• In the User Accounts dialog,
  choose the account you want to change by
  double-clicking on it.
  
• In the Properties dialog box,
  choose the
  Group Membership tab, select either Standard User or Administrator