The Start screen in Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 allows you to pin Desktop app shortcut for fast access. After pinning a shortcut, the Start screen shows a tile with the app's icon and its name. In Windows 8.1, Microsoft has improved the visual appearance of such tiles by making the background color of the tiles match the icon's predominant color. The one thing the Start screen lacks is the ability to change the pinned app's icon. Let's look how it can be done.
How to open file or folder properties quickly in Windows File Explorer
You can see many details of a file or folder on your disk drive from its Properties. You can even access the metadata of media files from Properties. Properties can be accessed using the mouse by right clicking on the file or folder and then choosing Properties from the context menu. However, there is a faster way to open Properties too. In this article, I would like to share with you a way to open file or folder properties directly without opening the context menu or the Ribbon.
Learn all the possible ways to open PC Settings in Windows 8
Windows 8 features a new, touch-friendly UI to change your operating systems settings via a special app called "PC Settings". Along with classic Control Panel which remains in the Desktop, the PC settings app allows you to change the most important parameters of your PC. You can manage your user accounts, devices, change your personalization preferences and network settings, and so on. Since Windows 8.1, many more settings from the classic Control Panel are available in PC Settings. In this article, we shall see all the ways to open the PC Settings app in Windows 8.
How to install a blocked extension in Google Chrome
After the latest update to Google Chrome, it has started preventing users from installing extensions from any other place except the official Chrome Web Store. Also, if you have some extensions installed which are not from the Store, the browser will block them too. The primary reason why Google made these changes is security: they want to protect their users from malicious extensions. However, if you are sure that an extension you downloaded previously is safe to install, here is how you can bypass the restrictions.
How to rename your Windows 8.1 tablet
In Windows 8.1 and Windows 8.1 Update, Microsoft has evolved many PC Settings and made them independent of the classic Control Panel which you access from Desktop mode. In the initial release of Windows 8, in order to rename your tablet, you had to use the Advanced System Properties applet. It was an old applet and not touch friendly. Thankfully, Windows 8.1 provides a new useful otpion to rename your tablet.
How to get the CRX file for Google Chrome extensions
Ever since Google announced that add-ons for Google Chrome can only be installed from their web store, many users want to know how they can obtain *.crx files directly for their favorite Google Chrome extensions. CRX files are the packed version of the extensions and can be used to install them offline, without visiting the Google Chrome web store. In this article, I would like to share a very simple way to obtain the crx file for any Chrome extension quickly.
Corals theme for Windows 8
Tips on how to save the capacity of your phone or tablet battery for a longer time
Modern lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries which are used in smartphones and tablets are longer lasting than their nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) counterparts, but still require some care. Everyone would want to prolong the battery life of their device as long as possible. In this article, I would like to share some lesser known tips to help you prolong the battery life of your mobile devices on a single recharge as well as extend the overall life of the batteries.
Enable delayed loading of previous session tabs on startup in Opera
Opera 23 features delayed loading of previous session tabs on startup. This new option is a really great improvement in the browser as it improves performance: Opera will start much faster and consume less CPU resources on startup. However, by default this feature only works in tandem with Opera Turbo (Off-road mode). If you want to try the lazy loading feature of tabs in Opera 23, but don't need Off-road mode, here is a trick for you which enables delayed loading of previous session tabs regardless of the Off-road mode state.
How to open advanced settings of a power plan directly in Windows 8.1
By default, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7 and Vista come with three power plans: High Performance, Balanced, and Power Saver. These plans are designed to quickly let you switch a group of hardware and system power settings (like display, sleep, etc). These power settings affect how long your battery lasts and how much power your PC consumes. It is possible to customize these power plan settings but it requires too many clicks to get there. If you change these settings often, you can use a special command to directly open them.
