9781119680574

Dig into the ins and outs of Windows 10

Computer users have been "doing Windows" since the 1980s. That long run doesn't mean everyone knows the best-kept secrets of the globally ubiquitous operating system. Windows 10 All-in-One For Dummies, 4th Edition offers a deep guide for navigating the basics of Windows 10 and diving into more advanced features.

Authors and recognized Windows experts Ciprian Rusen and Woody Leonhard deliver a comprehensive and practical resource that provides the knowledge you need to operate Windows 10, along with a few shortcuts to make using a computer feel less like work.

This book teaches you all about the most important parts of Windows 10, including:

Installing and starting a fresh Windows 10 installation
Personalizing Windows 10
Using Universal Apps in Windows 10
How to control your system through the Control Panel in Windows 10
Securing Windows 10 against a universe of threats

Windows 10 All-in-One For Dummies, 4th Edition is perfect for business users of Windows 10 who need to maximize their productivity and efficiency with the operating system. It also belongs on the bookshelf of anyone who hopes to improve their general Windows 10 literacy, from the complete novice to the power-user.

Woody Leonhard was one of the first Microsoft Consulting Partners and Microsoft beta testers. His monthly Q&A columns in ZD Smart Business magazine have one million readers, and he has been honored with multiple Computer Press Awards. Ciprian Rusen is co-founder and chief editor of Digital Citizen, a tech-focused blog at digitalcitizen.life. He is also the author of a number of technology books on Windows, Microsoft Office, and other topics.

Introduction 1

About This Book 3

Foolish Assumptions 4

Icons Used in This Book 5

Beyond the Book 6

Where to Go from Here 6

Book 1: Starting Windows 10 7

Chapter 1: Windows 10 4 N00bs 9

Hardware and Software 12

Why Do PCs Have to Run Windows? 12

A Terminology Survival Kit 17

What, Exactly, is the Web? 21

Getting inside the Internet 22

What is the World Wide Web? 24

Who pays for all this stuff? 25

Buying a Windows 10 Computer 26

Inside the big box 29

Inside a touch-sensitive tablet 32

Screening 36

Managing disks and drives 36

Making PC connections 40

Futzing with video, sound, and multitudinous media 44

Ultrabooks and convertibles 46

What’s Wrong with Windows 10? 46

Chapter 2: Windows 10 for the Experienced 49

If You Just Upgraded from Windows 7 or 8.1 to Windows 10 50

A Brief History of Windows 10 52

Exploring the Versions of Windows 10 55

The Different Kinds of Windows Programs, Er, Apps 56

What’s New for the XP Crowd 60

Improved performance 60

Better video 62

A genuinely better browser is emerging 63

Cortana 63

Other improvements 64

What’s New for Windows 7 Users 65

Getting the hang of the new Start menu 66

Exploring new stuff in the old-fashioned desktop 68

What’s New for Windows 8 and 8.1 Users 69

What’s New for All of Windows 70

The Start menu 70

Microsoft Edge 71

Search 73

Cortana 74

Virtual desktops and task view 75

Security improvements 76

Game mode and Xbox 77

Other Windows 10 apps 78

What you lose 79

Do You Need Windows 10? 80

Chapter 3: Which Version? 83

Counting the Editions 84

Buying the right version the first time 87

Narrowing the choices 87

Choosing 32 Bit versus 64 Bit 89

Which Version of Windows Are You Running? 91

Book 2: Personalizing Windows 95

Chapter 1: Getting Around in Windows 97

Windows’ New Beginnings 98

A tale of two homes 99

Switching to tablet mode and back 102

Navigating around the Desktop 103

Keying Keyboard Shortcuts 109

Chapter 2: Changing the Lock and Login Screens 113

Working with the Lock Screen 114

Using your own picture 115

Adding and removing apps on the lock screen 118

Logging On Uniquely 120

Using a picture password 120

Creating a PIN 124

Windows Hello 125

Bypassing passwords and login 126

Chapter 3: Working with the Action/Notification Center 127

What is the Action Center? 128

What, Exactly, is a Notification? 129

Working with Notifications 131

Working with Settings Shortcuts 133

Chapter 4: Controlling Users 137

Why You Need Separate User Accounts 138

Choosing Account Types 139

What’s a standard account? 139

What’s an administrator account? 141

Choosing between standard and administrator accounts 141

What’s Good and Bad about Microsoft Accounts 143

Adding Users 145

Changing Accounts 148

Changing other users’ settings 148

Changing your own settings 153

Switching Users 154

The Changing Environment 154

Chapter 5: Microsoft Account: To Sync or Not to Sync? 157

What, Exactly, is a Microsoft Account? 158

Deciding Whether You Want a Microsoft Account 159

Setting Up a Microsoft Account 161

Setting up a Hotmail/Outlook.com account 163

Making any email address a Microsoft account 164

Stop Using Your Microsoft Account 166

Taking Care of Your Microsoft Account 167

Controlling Sync 168

Chapter 6: Privacy Control 171

Why You Should Be Concerned 172

Privacy Manifesto 174

The past: Watson to WER 175

Customer Experience Improvement Program 175

Feedback & Diagnostics tab and DiagTrack 176

Denial ain’t nuthin’ but a river 178

Knowing What Connections Windows Prefers 179

Controlling Location Tracking 180

Blocking all location tracking 183

Blocking location tracking in an app 184

Minimizing Privacy Intrusion 185

Book 3: Working on the Desktop 187

Chapter 1: Running Your Desktop from Start to Finish 189

Tripping through Windows 10’s Three Personas 190

Working with the Traditional Desktop 192

Changing the background 193

Cleaning up useless icons and programs 195

Mousing with Your Mouse 196

What’s up, dock? 197

Changing the mouse 199

Starting with the Start button 201

Touching on the Taskbar 204

Working with Files and Folders 205

Using File Explorer 207

Navigating 208

Viewing 210

Creating files and folders 211

Modifying files and folders 212

Showing filename extensions 212

Sharing folders 215

Using the \Public folder 216

Recycling 218

Creating Shortcuts 219

Keying Keyboard Shortcuts 221

Sleep: Perchance to Dream 222

Chapter 2: Personalizing the Start Menu 225

Touring the Start Menu 226

Modifying the Start Menu 228

Changing your picture 229

Manipulating the Most Used section 230

Controlling the left-side lists 230

Circumnavigating the Start apps list 233

Resizing the Start Menu 235

Changing Tiles on the Start Menu 236

Organizing Your Start Menu Tiles 238

Add, add, add your tiles 238

Forming and naming your groups 239

Chapter 3: Personalizing the Desktop and Taskbar 241

Decking out the Desktop 242

Resolving Desktop Resolution 247

Setting the screen resolution 247

Changing the size of text, apps, and other items 249

Using magnification 250

Putting Icons and Shortcuts on the Desktop 252

Creating shortcuts 253

Arranging icons on the desktop 255

Tricking out the Taskbar 258

Anatomy of the taskbar 259

Jumping 259

Changing the taskbar 261

Working with the taskbar 263

Chapter 4: Internet Explorer, Chrome, and Firefox 265

Which Browser is Best? 267

Considering security 268

Looking at privacy 269

Picking a browser 270

Setting a browser as your default 272

Using Internet Explorer on the Desktop 274

Navigating in IE 275

Changing the home page 282

Dealing with cookies 283

Why you should stop using IE 285

Customizing Firefox 286

Installing Firefox 286

Browsing privately in Firefox 288

Bookmarking with the Fox 290

Changing the default search engine 292

Adding Firefox’s best add-ons 294

Optimizing Google Chrome 295

Installing Chrome 296

Navigating in Chrome 297

Searching on the Web 300

Finding what you’re looking for 301

Using Advanced Search 303

Pulling out Google parlor tricks 305

Referring to Internet Reference Tools 305

Internet speed test 306

DNSstuff 306

Monitis Traceroute 307

Down for everyone or just me? 308

The Wayback Machine 308

Chapter 5: Hey, Cortana! 309

The Cortana Backstory 311

Make Cortana Respond to “Hey, Cortana” 312

Setting up Cortana 316

Using Cortana Settings 317

Useful or Fun Commands for Cortana 320

Chapter 6: Maintaining Your System 323

Rolling Back with the Three Rs 324

Creating Password Reset Questions 326

Establishing password security questions 327

Using password recovery questions 329

Making Windows Update Work 330

Maintaining Drives 331

What is formatting? 331

Introducing hard-drive-maintenance tools 332

Running an error check 332

Defragmenting a drive 334

Maintaining Solid-State Drives 335

Zipping and Compressing 336

Compressing with NTFS 338

Zipping the easy way with compressed (zipped) folders 340

Book 4: Using the Built-in Windows 10 Apps 343

Chapter 1: Using the Mail and Calendar Apps 345

Choosing a Mail/Calendar App 347

Comparing email programs 348

Comparing Calendar apps 352

Choosing the right package 353

Drilling Down on Windows 10 Mail 354

Creating a new message 358

Searching for email in the Mail app 361

Mail Settings 361

Adding a new email account 362

Setting extra options 364

Avoiding Calendar App Collisions 365

Adding Calendar items 367

Struggling with Calendar shortcomings 368

Beyond Email 369

Chapter 2: Keeping Track of People 371

The Contact List in Windows 10 372

Putting Contacts in the People App 373

Adding accounts to People 373

Editing a contact 377

Adding people in People 379

Putting a Contact on the Taskbar 380

Alternatives to the Win10 People App 382

Chapter 3: Zooming the Photos App and Beyond 385

Discovering What the Windows 10 Photos App Can Do 386

Touring Photos 386

Editing Photos 389

Setting Settings 392

Adding Photos 394

Importing Pictures from a Camera or an External Drive 394

Working with Albums 395

Storing and Managing Photos Online 395

Chapter 4: Noting OneNote 401

Getting Started in OneNote with or without a Pen 402

Setting Up Notebooks, Sections, Pages 403

Embellishing on a OneNote Page 407

Sending to OneNote 409

Setting Settings 411

Chapter 5: Maps, Music, Movies — and TV 413

Making Maps 414

Basic map functions 414

Navigating with the Maps app 417

Taking a map offline 418

Get Your Groove Music On 420

Getting Your Music and Movies into the Apps 422

Running around the Groove Music App 425

Finding music and playlists 427

Running around the Movies & TV App 428

Book 5: Connecting with the Windows 10 Apps 431

Chapter 1: Introducing Edge 433

A Walk through Microsoft Edge 435

Working with the Immersive Reader 439

A Sampler of Edge Settings 440

Adding Edge Extensions 445

Chapter 2: Using Skype in Windows 10 449

Signing Up with Skype 450

Making First Contact 454

Adding a Contact 455

Settings 458

Making Group Calls 459

Recording Calls 460

A Few Tips from Skype-ologists 461

Exploring Skype Alternatives 463

Chapter 3: Navigating the Microsoft Store 467

Checking out What a Universal Windows App Can Do 469

Browsing the Microsoft Store 472

Searching the Microsoft Store 475

Updating Your Microsoft Store Apps 476

Chapter 4: Games, Games, and Games 479

Searching the Store for Games 481

Enabling Game Mode 483

Using the Game Bar 484

Testing Your Connection to Xbox Live Services 486

Bringing Back the Classics 487

Book 6: Socializing and Sharing from Windows 10 491

Chapter 1: Using OneDrive 493

What is OneDrive? 494

Setting Up a OneDrive Account 496

The Four States of OneDrive Data 498

Changing the States of OneDrive Data 505

Sharing OneDrive Files and Folders 506

Chapter 2: Getting Started with Facebook 509

Choosing a Facebook App 511

Signing Up for a Facebook Account 512

Choosing basic Facebook privacy settings 516

Interpreting the Facebook interface lingo 520

Building a Great Timeline 521

Using the Facebook Apps for Windows 10 525

Chapter 3: Getting Started with Twitter 527

Understanding Twitter 528

Setting Up a Twitter Account 532

Tweeting for Beginners 536

Beware hacking 536

Using the @ sign and Reply 537

Retweeting for fun and profit 538

Direct Messaging 538

Hooking Twitter into Windows 539

Chapter 4: Getting Started with LinkedIn 541

Signing Up for LinkedIn 542

Using LinkedIn for Fun and Profit 546

Book 7: Controlling Your System 549

Chapter 1: Settings, Settings, and More Settings 551

Introducing the Settings App 553

Spelunking through the Control Panel 556

Putting Shortcuts to Settings on Your Desktop 558

God Mode 562

Installing New Languages 563

Chapter 2: Troubleshooting and Getting Help 565

Troubleshooting the Easy Way 566

Troubleshooting the Hard Way 567

Tackling installation problems 567

Problems with installing updates 571

System Stability and Reliability Monitor 580

Windows Sandbox 582

Tricks to Using Windows Help 583

The problem(s) with Windows Help 584

Using different kinds of help 584

How to Really Get Help 585

Snapping and Recording Your Problems 588

Taking snaps that snap 588

Recording live 590

Connecting to Remote Assistance 593

Understanding the interaction 593

Making the connection 594

Limiting an invitation 598

Troubleshooting Remote Assistance 599

Getting Help Online 600

Chapter 3: Working with Libraries 603

Understanding Libraries 604

Making Your Libraries Visible 604

Working with Your Default Libraries 608

Customizing Libraries 610

Adding a folder to a library 611

Changing a library’s default save location 613

Creating Your Own Library 614

Chapter 4: Storing in Storage Spaces 617

Understanding the Virtualization of Storage 618

Setting Up Storage Spaces 621

Working with Storage Spaces 625

Storage Space Strategies 626

Chapter 5: Taking Control of Updates and Upgrades 627

The Case Against Windows Automatic Update 628

Terminology 101 629

The Great Divide: Home versus Pro 631

Keeping Your Windows 10 Machine Protected From Updates 632

Postponing Windows 10 Updates 636

Keep Up on the Problems 637

Stopping Windows 10 Updates from Rebooting Your PC 638

Chapter 6: Running the Built-In Applications 641

Setting Alarms & Clock 642

Getting Free Word Processing 645

Running Notepad 645

Writing with WordPad 647

Taming the Character Map 650

Calculating — Free 651

Painting 653

Chapter 7: Working with Printers 657

Installing a Printer 658

Attaching a local printer 659

Connecting a network printer 661

Using the Print Queue 663

Displaying a print queue 663

Pausing and resuming a print queue 664

Pausing, restarting, and resuming a document 665

Canceling a document 666

Troubleshooting Printing 667

Catching a Runaway Printer 669

Book 8: Maintaining Windows 10 671

Chapter 1: File History, Backup, Data Restore, and Sync 673

What Happened to the Windows 7 Backup? 674

The Future of Reliable Storage is in the Cloud 674

Backing Up and Restoring Files with File History 676

Setting up File History 676

Restoring data from File History 680

Changing File History settings 683

Storing to and through the Cloud 686

Considering cloud storage privacy concerns 687

Reaping the benefits of backup and storage in the cloud 688

Choosing an online backup and sharing service 689

Chapter 2: A Fresh Start: Restore and Reset 693

The Three R’s — and an SF and a GB 694

Resetting Your PC 697

Resetting Your PC to Factory Settings 701

Starting Fresh 703

Restoring to an Earlier Point 704

Enabling System Protection 706

Creating a restore point 706

Rolling back to a restore point 708

Entering the Windows Recovery Environment 710

Chapter 3: Monitoring Windows 713

Viewing Events 714

Using Event Viewer 714

Events worthy — and not worthy — of viewing 716

Gauging System Reliability 718

Chapter 4: Using System Tools 723

Tasking Task Manager 724

Task Manager Processes 726

Task Manager Performance 727

Task Manager App History 728

Task Manager Startup and Autoruns 728

Task Manager Details and Services 731

Managing Startup Apps from Settings 732

Installing a Second Hard Drive 733

Running a Virtual Machine 736

Book 9: Securing Windows 10 745

Chapter 1: Spies, Spams, and Scams Are Out to Get You 747

Understanding the Hazards — and the Hoaxes 748

The primary infection vectors 749

Zombies and botnets 751

Phishing 754

419 scams 758

I’m from Microsoft, and I’m here to help 761

0day exploits 762

Staying Informed 763

Relying on reliable sources 764

Ditching the hoaxes 764

Is My Computer Infected? 766

Evaluating telltale signs 767

Where did that message come from? 767

What to do next 769

Shunning scareware 771

Getting Protected 773

Protecting against malware 773

Disabling Java and Flash 774

Using your credit card safely online 775

Defending your privacy 777

Reducing spam 779

Dealing with Data Breaches 781

Chapter 2: Fighting Viri and Scum 785

Basic Windows Security Do’s and Don’ts 786

Making Sense of Malware 790

Deciphering Browsers’ Inscrutable Warnings 793

Chrome 793

Firefox 795

Chapter 3: Running Built-In Security Programs 797

Working with Windows Security 798

Adjusting Windows Security 800

Running Windows Security manually 802

Controlling Folder Access 804

Judging SmartScreen 806

Booting Securely with UEFI 810

A brief history of BIOS 810

How UEFI is different from/better than BIOS 811

How Windows 10 uses UEFI 813

Controlling User Account Control 813

Poking at Windows Defender Firewall 816

Understanding Firewall basic features 817

Speaking your firewall’s lingo 818

Peeking into your firewall 819

Making inbound exceptions 820

Chapter 4: Top Security Helpers 825

Deciding about BitLocker 826

Managing Your Passwords 829

Using password managers 829

Which is better: Online or in-hand? 830

Rockin’ RoboForm 831

Liking LastPass 832

Keeping Your Other Programs Up to Date 834

Blocking Java and Flash in Your Browser 835

Fighting Back at Tough Scumware 838

Securing Your Communication with PIA 839

What’s a VPN? 840

Setting up a VPN 841

Book 10: Enhancing Windows 10 843

Chapter 1: Working Remotely with Windows 10 845

Enabling Remote Desktop Connections 846

Connecting with Remote Desktop Connection 847

Connecting a Second Monitor 849

Installing a Webcam 851

Adding Clocks to the Taskbar 852

Chapter 2: Using Android, iPhone, and Kindle with Windows 10 855

What, Exactly, is Android? 856

Getting clear on Android 858

Making Windows talk to your Android phone or tablet 858

Linking an Android Smartphone to a PC 860

Linking an iPhone to a PC 863

Turning a Smartphone into a Webcam for Your PC 864

Running iTunes on Windows — or Maybe Not 865

Deciding whether to use iTunes for Windows 866

Installing iTunes 868

Setting up iTunes 869

Moving files from Windows 10 to an iPhone 870

Controlling Windows 10 from an iPhone or iPad 872

Wrangling E-Book Files 873

Introducing popular e-book formats 873

Reading e-book files on your PC 874

Organizing your e-book files with calibre 875

Getting Media from Your PC to Your Kindle 878

Emailing books from your PC to your Kindle 878

Receiving emailed books from a friend 879

Adding music to your Kindle 881

Chapter 3: Getting Started with Gmail, Google Apps, and Drive 883

Finding Alternatives to Windows with Google 884

Setting Up Gmail 888

Moving an Existing Account to Gmail 892

Using the Google Apps 894

Moving Your Domain to Google 898

Chapter 4: Using Web-Based Outlook.com (nee Hotmail) 903

Getting Started with Outlook.com 904

Bringing Some Sanity to Outlook.com Organization 909

Handling Outlook.com Failures 911

Importing Outlook.com Messages into Gmail 913

Weighing the Alternatives 915

Chapter 5: Best Free Windows Add-Ons 917

Windows Apps You Absolutely Must Have 918

File History 918

VLC Media Player 919

LastPass 920

Recuva 921

The Best of the Rest — All Free 922

Nextpad (Notepad replacement) 922

Ninite 923

Revo Uninstaller 924

Paint.net 925

7-Zip 925

qBittorrent 926

Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, or 927

Other interesting free software 927

You may not need to buy Microsoft Office 928

Don’t Pay for Software You Don’t Need! 929

Windows 10 has all the antivirus software you need 930

Windows 10 doesn’t need a disk defragger 930

Windows 10 doesn’t need a disk partitioner 930

Windows 10 doesn’t need a Registry cleaner 931

Windows 10 doesn’t need a backup program 931

Don’t turn off services or hack your Registry 932

Index 933

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Windows 10 All-in-One For Dummies

Windows 10 All-in-One For Dummies

1119680573

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials

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