Windows 10 Portable Genius E-Book

Paul McFedries

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
• Serie: Portable Genius
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Seitenzahl: 304

Beschreibung

Your no-fluff, fast-paced guide to everything Windows 10 This handy, jargon-free guide is designed to help you quickly learn whatever you need to know about Windows 10. Perfect for novices and experienced users alike, you'll get tips, tricks, and savvy advice on how to install programs, set up user accounts, play music and other media files, download photos from your digital camera, go online, set up and secure an email account, and much, much more. * Shows how to perform more than 150 Windows tasks, including working with files, digital images, and media; customizing Windows; optimizing performance; and sharing a computer with multiple users * Covers installing and repairing applications, system maintenance, setting up password-protected accounts, downloading photos to your computer, and staying safe online With concise, easy-to-follow instructions, and its small, portable size, this is the ideal, on-the-go guide for Windows 10 users everywhere.

Leseprobe

Copyright © 2021 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

ISBN: 978-1-119-76357-4

ISBN: 978-1-119-76507-3 (ebk)

ISBN: 978-1-119-76360-4 (ebk)

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About the Author

Paul McFedries is a technical writer who has been authoring computer books since 1991 and has nearly 100 books to his credit. Paul’s books have sold more than four million copies worldwide. These books include the Wiley titles Teach Yourself VISUALLY Windows 10, Third Edition, G Suite For Dummies, iPhone Portable Genius, Sixth Edition, and iPad Portable Genius, Fourth Edition. You can visit Paul on the web at www.mcfedries.com or on Twitter at www.twitter.com/paulmcf.

Acknowledgments

The only thing more fun than using Windows is writing a book about it! That’s particularly true for an interesting project such as this book, which was made all the more pleasant by the great people I got to work with. They include Associate Publisher Jim Minatel, who was kind enough to ask me to write the book; Project Editor Kezia Endsley, whose just-so suggestions and penetrating questions made this a better book; Copy Editor Kim Cofer, whose eagle-eye for all things ungrammatical made me look like a better writer than I am; and Technical Editor Vince Averello, whose knowledge of the Windows world is nothing short of amazing. Many thanks to all of you for outstanding work on this project.

Windows® 10 Portable Genius

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

About the Author

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1: How Do I Customize Windows?

Working with Settings

Customizing the Start Menu

Customizing the Taskbar

Customizing the Lock Screen

Extending Your Desktop with Multiple Monitors

Setting Up Multiple Desktops

Chapter 2: How Can I Make the Most of Surfing the Web?

Taking Advantage of Tabs

Saving Your Favorite Pages

Customizing Edge

Chapter 3: How Do I Maximize Sending and Receiving Email?

Managing Mail Accounts

Setting Options for Incoming Messages

Setting Send Options

Chapter 4: Can I Use Windows to Manage Contacts and Appointments?

Managing Your Contacts

Tracking Your Events

Chapter 5: What Other Day-to-Day Tasks Can I Perform?

Finding Stuff on Your PC

Configuring the Cortana Voice Assistant

Making Video Calls

Working with Maps

Checking the Weather

Chapter 6: How Do I Max Out the Windows Image Tools?

Getting Images into Your PC

Viewing Your Images

Enhancing Your Images

Repairing Your Images

Chapter 7: Can I Share My Computer?

Sharing Your PC via User Accounts

Sharing Your PC with a Child

Sharing PC Resources

Chapter 8: How Can I Get More from a Tablet PC?

Working in Tablet Mode

Controlling Windows with Gestures

Inputting Text with the Touch Keyboard

Setting Power and Battery Options

Chapter 9: How Do I Work with Documents?

Editing Documents

Taking Notes with OneNote

Working with Files

Chapter 10: What Are Some Ways to Enhance PC Security?

Enhancing Sign-In Security

Locking Your PC to Prevent Others from Using It

Enhancing Your Privacy

Chapter 11: How Do I Increase Internet Privacy and Security?

Making the Web More Secure

Making the Web More Private

Enhancing Email Security and Privacy

Chapter 12: How Do I Maintain Windows?

Performing a Few Maintenance Chores

Safeguarding Your Files

Using the Windows Recovery Environment

Working with a Recovery Drive

Working with Restore Points

Index

End User License Agreement

List of Illustrations

Chapter 1

1.1 The Home screen of the Settings app.

1.2 When you open a category, click a subcategory on the left to see its settings on...

1.3 For many Windows apps, click Settings (the gear icon) to access the app’s ...

1.4 You can create groups to organize your Start menu apps.

1.5 Use the Start screen settings to personalize your Start menu.

1.6 Use the Taskbar screen to customize your taskbar.

1.7 The taskbar’s notification area.

1.8 Use the Select Which Icons Appear on the Taskbar screen to configure your notifi...

1.9 Use the Turn System Icons On or Off screen to toggle the display of system icons...

1.10 Use the Lock Screen settings to change the background image you see when you loc...

1.11 Use the Multiple Displays list to choose Extend These Displays.

1.12 In the Task View screen, your desktops appear at the top, named Desktop 1, Deskt...

1.13 In the Task View screen, hover the mouse pointer over a desktop to see thumbnail...

Chapter 2

2.1 Click Page Settings to access the new tab page’s customization features.

2.2 Use the On Startup settings to specify what tab or tabs you want Edge to display...

2.3 Click Add this Page to Favorites to place a page in Edge’s Favorites list.

2.4 The Favorites bar gives you one-click access to some favorite pages.

2.5 Use the Search Engine Used in the Address Bar list to tell Edge which search eng...

2.6 Use the Default Theme list to change the Edge appearance.

2.7 Use the Zoom buttons to change the magnification of the current web page.

2.8 Use the switches and other settings in the Customize Toolbar section to configur...

2.9 Use the settings in the Customize Fonts page to configure the default font size ...

Chapter 3

3.1 Use the Add an Account dialog box to choose what type of account you want to add...

3.2 For some email services, such as Gmail shown here, you must give Mail permission...

3.3 Begin by providing Mail with your POP or IMAP account’s address, name, and

3.4 Use the Account Settings dialog box to rename an account.

3.5 Use the Sync Settings dialog box to configure how often Mail checks for incoming...

3.6 For a unified Inbox, click the Sort Messages into Focused and Other switch to Of...

3.7 To no longer group messages by conversation, choose the Individual Messages radi...

3.8 To prevent Mail from pestering you with notifications, clear the Show a Notifica...

3.9 Click the Expand/Collapse icon to see your accounts.

3.10 Use the Email Signature dialog box to define a custom signature for your outgoin...

3.11 Use the Default Font dialog box to define the font that Mail uses when you compo...

3.12 In the Options tab, click either High Importance or Low Importance to set the me...

3.13 If Mail’s spell-checker comes across a word it doesn’t recognize, it...

Chapter 4

4.1 Use the switches in the Sync Options group to specify which content you want to ...

4.2 Click New Contact to open the screen for creating a contact.

4.3 To delete a field, hover the mouse pointer over the field and then click the fie...

4.4 Use this window to choose the area of the image to use as the contact’s ph...

4.5 A vCard file opened with the People app.

4.6 Turn on the Hide Contacts Without Phone Numbers switch to hide contacts that don...

4.7 If People detects a similar contact profile, it displays a suggested contact for...

4.8 The Calendar app in Month view.

4.9 Use this window to enter the details of your event.

4.10 The details screen for an event.

4.11 To connect to your online meeting, open the event and then click Join Online Mee...

4.12 Use the Calendar Settings pane to customize your calendar.

Chapter 5

5.1 Click the taskbar’s Task View icon to open Task View and see your timeline.

5.2 Use the Task View timeline to see your recent activities.

5.3 Type some text in the taskbar’s Search box to see items that match what yo...

5.4 An example Cortana command and its response.

5.5 Use the New Call window to choose the contact or contacts you want to call.

5.6 Use this bar to accept or reject an incoming Skype call.

5.7 Maps asks permission to access your location when you first start the app.

5.8 With location services turned on, make sure Maps can access your precise locatio...

5.9 You can either display your current location or search for the location you want.

5.10 When you choose a location, Maps shows the location on the map and displays info...

5.11 Choose a travel method and starting point.

5.12 Maps usually displays multiple routes you can take to your destination.

5.13 When you first launch Weather, choose a default temperature unit and location.

5.14 You can use Weather’s Settings window to change your launch location.

Chapter 6

6.1 Use this dialog box to choose the device from which you want to import your imag...

6.2 You can choose images individually by clicking their check boxes.

6.3 Click Preview to see a preview of the scan, then adjust the rectangle to set the...

6.4 Click an image file to display the Picture Tools tab.

6.5 Open an image in Photos and then click the right-pointing arrow to view the next...

6.6 The toolbar commands you see when you open an image in the Photos app.

6.7 Adjust the size of the rectangle to specify the area of the image you want to ke...

6.8 Use the Filter pane to apply and adjust a filter.

6.9 Drag the Vignette slider to apply a vignette effect to your image.

6.10 Use the Light sliders—Contrast, Exposure, Highlights, and Shadows—to...

6.11 Use the Color sliders—Tint and Warmth—to adjust the colors of your i...

Chapter 7

7.1 On the Start menu, click the current user’s tile to see a list of the PC’...

7.2 Boot your PC or sign out of the current user to get to the sign-in screen, which...

7.3 Use the Change Account Type dialog box to choose the user’s new account ty...

7.4 Use the Family tab of your Microsoft account to set restrictions on a child’...

7.5 Use the Activity tab to enable weekly activity reporting for a child’s acc...

7.6 Use this window to specify when the child can access the PC.

7.7 Add a user and then choose that user’s permission level.

7.8 Windows displays this dialog box after it has shared the document or folder.

7.9 Clear the Use Sharing Wizard check box to switch to using advanced sharing optio...

7.10 Click the Share This Folder check box.

7.11 The name of the user or group you added appears in the folder’s Permission...

Chapter 8

8.1 Windows in tablet mode.

8.2 In the Action Center, tap Tablet Mode to toggle tablet mode on and off.

8.3 The default touch keyboard layout.

8.4 Tap Keyboard Settings to see the available touch keyboard layouts.

8.5 Tap Standard to see the full-size keyboard shown here.

8.6 Tap &123 to see numbers and other symbols.

8.7 With many keys (such as the © key shown here), you can tap and hold the key...

8.8 Use the stylus to write your text within the handwriting panel’s large tex...

8.9 Windows converts your handwriting into regular text and inserts the characters i...

8.10 The Power icon is completely black when the battery level is at 100 percent.

8.11 The Power icon is half black when the battery level is down to 50 percent.

8.12 Tap the Power icon to see this window.

8.13 Use the Power & Sleep setting to create a custom power plan for your tablet ...

Chapter 9

9.1 In most apps, you use the Save As dialog box to save a new document to your PC’...

9.2 In WordPad, the font formatting commands appear on the Home tab.

9.3 Use the Find feature to locate a word in a document.

9.4 Use the Replace feature to replace one word with another.

9.5 Use Character Map to insert special symbols into a document.

9.6 A new notebook displayed in the OneNote app.

9.7 A text note and its container.

9.8 A bulleted list in a notebook page.

9.9 A to-do list in a notebook page.

9.10 In File Explorer’s View tab, choose a file view from the Layout section.

9.11 File Explorer’s Preview pane in action.

9.12 File Explorer’s New Item menu often contains extra items, such as the Micr...

9.13 Compressed folders appear in File Explorer as a folder icon with a zipper.

9.14 Double-click a compressed folder to view the files it contains.

9.15 Pull down the Open list.

Chapter 10

10.1 Enter your PIN twice to confirm it.

10.2 Windows shows you the progress of the fingerprint scan.

10.3 Windows displays a PIN that should match what you see on your mobile device.

10.4 Activate the Dynamic Lock feature to automatically lock your PC when your paired...

10.6 Some of the privacy settings associated with the Camera resource.

10.5 Turn the Allow Apps to Access Your Location switch Off to prevent app access to...

10.7 Click an app’s switch to Off to prevent the app from displaying notificati...

10.8 You can configure Windows to no longer track your activity.

10.9 If you’re selling or donating your PC, you’ll want to remove everyth...

Chapter 11

11.1 Edge displays the Pop-ups Were Blocked on this Page icon when it blocks one or m...

11.2 When you sign in to a site, Edge displays the Save Password dialog box to ask if...

11.3 Click the site’s More Actions icon and then click Delete.

11.4 Use the Clear Browsing Data dialog box to clear some or all of your browsing dat...

11.5 Click the Block Third-Party Cookies switch to On to prevent advertisers from tra...

11.6 Click Strict to maximize tracking prevention.

11.7 Edge asks you for permission to allow a site to determine your location.

11.8 Click the Ask Before Accessing switch to Off to block all websites from determin...

11.9 To prevent Mail from showing images in messages, make sure both External Content...

Chapter 12

12.1 Use the Automatic Maintenance window to schedule when Windows performs automatic...

12.2 Use the This PC window to read and see how much free space is left on a drive.

12.3 Use this window to enable, configure, and run the Storage Sense feature.

12.4 Use the Advanced Options screen to select a troubleshooting tool.

12.5 Use the Startup Settings screen to restart Windows for troubleshooting.

12.6 Windows booted in Safe Mode.

12.7 Select the USB flash drive you want to use as your PC’s recovery drive.

12.8 Choose the restore point you want to use.

Guide

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

About the Author

Acknowledgments

Table of Contents

Begin Reading

Index

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Introduction

If you head down to your local bookstore (assuming, of course, that by the time you read this, the entities known as “local bookstores” still exist) and peruse the Computer Books section, you’ll almost certainly see several Windows books that are nothing less than gargantuan. We’re talking here about books that weigh in at well over a thousand pages and make even the thickest phone book (again, assuming such a thing exists in your time) look like a mere pamphlet.

Who would want to read such a book, much less write one? Well, as someone who has written more than one of them, I can tell you the answer with some authority: Windows is a sprawling, complex beast that some say is easily the most complicated piece of software ever created. If you want to teach people everything there is to know about Windows, then the resulting tome is going to be big—very big.

Ah, but there’s the rub: How many people want or even need to learn everything there is to know about Windows? That’s right: very few. The rest of us just want to know how to get things done using Windows with a minimum of fuss and as little bother as possible. The rest of us aren’t members of the Windows Fan Club; we’re not Windows geeks; we don’t want to look under the hood to see what makes Windows run. The rest of us have a job to do—a job that means using a Windows PC—and we just want Windows to help as much as it can and then get out of our way. The rest of us, in short, don’t need a massive, encyclopedic guide to all things Windows. What we Windows users really need is a reference that’s easier to read, more convenient, and doesn’t require a regular weight-training regimen to lift. What we really need is a portable reference that enables us to be more productive and solve problems wherever we and our PCs happen to be.

Welcome, therefore, to Windows 10 Portable Genius. This book is a Windows guide that’s presented in an easy-to-use, easy-to-access, and eminently portable format. In this book, you learn how to get more out of Windows by learning how to access all the really powerful and timesaving features that aren’t obvious at a casual glance. In this book, you learn how to avoid the more annoying character traits of Windows and, in those cases where such behaviors can’t be avoided, you learn how to work around them. In this book, you learn how to prevent Windows problems from occurring, and just in case your preventative measures are for naught, you learn how to fix many common problems yourself.

A few special elements provide guardrails and inspiration. Notes help you delve a bit deeper into some topics, Cautions give advice and help you steer clear of problems, and Genius boxes convey the pro tips that will make you more efficient, more productive, and more impressive in the results that you crank out from Windows.

This book is for Windows users who know the basics but want to take their Windows education to a higher level. It’s a book for people who want to be more productive, more efficient, more creative, and more self-sufficient (at least as far as their Windows life goes, anyway). It’s a book for people who use Windows every day but want to incorporate Windows into more of their day-to-day activities. It’s a book for people who pooh-pooh the notion that you have to be a geek, a nerd, or a computer scientist to get the most out of Windows. It’s a book I had a blast writing, so I think it’s a book you’ll enjoy reading.

Chapter 1: How Do I Customize Windows?

You’ve probably found that Windows works pretty well right out of the box. Microsoft has configured Windows with default settings that make Windows relatively easy and efficient for most users. Ah, but your purchase of this book shows that you don’t fall into the Most Users category. You are your own, unique self, and that uniqueness cries out for and deserves a correspondingly unique Windows experience. Fortunately, as you learn in this chapter, Windows is bristling with tools that enable you to customize almost every aspect of the system, including the Start menu, taskbar, and Lock screen.

Working with Settings

Customizing the Start Menu

Customizing the Taskbar

Customizing the Lock Screen

Extending Your Desktop with Multiple Monitors

Setting Up Multiple Desktops

Working with Settings

Most of your Windows customization work involves tweaking settings, which are options—usually in the form of a check box, switch, radio button, or list—that control the look and operation of either Windows itself or of a particular app that’s installed on your PC.

Opening the Settings app

When you want to customize Windows, you’ll almost always need to open the aptly named Settings app, which is home to most Windows customization options. The Settings app is so important that Windows gives you a dozen or so ways to open it. Here are the six most useful methods:

Click Start and then click Settings (the gear icon).

Press Windows+I. (The Windows key is the one that has the Windows logo on it; you’ll find it on the lowest row of the keyboard, to the left of the spacebar, between the Ctrl and Alt keys.)

Click the Notifications icon on the far right of the taskbar and then click All Settings.

In the taskbar’s Search box, type

se

(which should be enough to display the Settings app in the search results; if not, continue typing

settings

until you see Settings in the results) and then press Enter.

If you have Cortana enabled (see

Chapter 5

), say “Hey Cortana” and then say “Open Settings.”

Right-click the Start icon and then click Settings.

Whichever method you use, you see the Home screen of the Settings app, as shown in Figure 1.1.

From here, you can either use the Settings app's Search box to locate the setting you want or click a category to see the subcategories and settings associated with that category. For example, Figure 1.2 shows the screen that appears when you click the System category. When you click a subcategory on the left, the settings for that subcategory appear on the right (such as for the Display subcategory shown in Figure 1.2). To return to the previous Settings screen, click the Back arrow in the top-left corner; to return directly to the Home screen, click Home.

1.1 The Home screen of the Settings app.

1.2 When you open a category, click a subcategory on the left to see its settings on the right.

Use the taskbar’s Search box to quickly search for the setting you want to work with. Click inside the taskbar’s Search box, type settings:, a space, and then begin typing the setting name. For example, to work with the Show More Tiles on Start setting, type settings: show more, then click Show More Tiles on Start from the search results that appear.

Synchronizing settings between PCs

If you use the same Microsoft account to sign in to Windows on multiple devices, you can get a more consistent and more efficient experience by synchronizing your settings on all those devices. Here’s how to set this up:

Open the Settings app.

Click Accounts.

Click Sync Your Settings.

The Sync Your Settings screen appears.

Make sure the Sync Settings switch is set to On.

Click it to toggle it On if needed.

In the Individual Sync Settings section, set the switch to On for each type of setting you want synced.

The four setting types are Theme, Passwords, Language Preferences, and Other Windows Settings.

Accessing an app’s settings

Most apps also come with a collection of their own settings, which you can work with to get more out of the app or to customize the app to suit the way you work. For most Windows apps, there are two main ways to access settings:

Open the app and click Settings (the gear icon), which usually appears in the lower-left corner of the screen (see

Figure 1.3

).

In the Start menu, right-click the app, click More, and then click App Settings.

1.3 For many Windows apps, click Settings (the gear icon) to access the app’s options.

Customizing the Start Menu

Although you can use keyboard shortcuts and features such as the taskbar to launch and work with apps and other features, to perform most of your Windows work, you need to negotiate the Start menu. Therefore, you can make your Windows chores easier and more efficient if you take a few moments to customize the Start menu to suit your needs.

Pinning an app to the Start menu

If you have an app that doesn’t appear as a tile on the Start menu, you usually open the app by first navigating the Start menu’s apps list to locate the app, possibly negotiating one or more submenus along the way. For an app you use often, you can avoid this extra work by pinning the app so that it appears permanently on the right side of the Start menu. After you have pinned an app, you launch it by displaying the Start menu and clicking the app.

Follow these steps to pin an app to the Start menu:

Click Start.

Locate the app that you want to pin to the Start menu.

Right-click the app and then click Pin to Start.

A tile for the pinned app appears on the right side of the Start menu.

To remove an app tile from the Start menu, click Start, right-click the tile, and then click Unpin from Start.

Arranging and sizing Start menu tiles

Here are some useful techniques for restructuring the Start menu’s tiles to suit the way you work or play:

Move an app tile within the Start menu.

Click Start, then click and drag the app tile to its new position.

Group app tiles.

Move an app tile below any existing tile to create a new group. Hover the mouse pointer just above the moved app, then click the Name Group text box that appears. Type your group name (see

Figure 1.4

) and then press Enter. Move other apps into the new group as needed.

1.4 You can create groups to organize your Start menu apps.

Change the size of a Start menu tile.

Click Start, right-click the app’s tile, click Resize, and then click the size you want. In all cases, you can choose either a Small or Medium square. With some apps, you can also choose either a Wide rectangle or a Large square.

Customizing Start menu settings

The Start menu offers a few settings that you can tweak to customize how the Start menu works. Open the Settings app, click Personalization, and then click Start. This opens the Start screen (see Figure 1.5), which offers the following switches:

Show more tiles on Start.

Set this switch to On to expand the size of the Start menu to show more tiles.

You can also widen the Start menu by dragging the right edge of the menu.

Show app list in Start menu.

Set this switch to Off to remove the list of installed apps from the Start menu. If you set this switch to Off, you can still access the apps by opening the Start menu and then clicking All Apps.

Show recently added apps.

Set this switch to On to see newly installed apps at the top of the Start menu’s app list.

Show most used apps.

Set this switch to On to add a Most Used section to the top of the Start menu’s app list. Windows uses the Most Used section to display the apps you launched most frequently.

Show suggestions occasionally on Start.

Set this switch to Off to prevent Windows from displaying suggestions (that is, ads) about which apps to install.

Use Start full screen.

Set this switch to On to have the Start menu take up the entire screen when you open it.

Show recently opened items in Jump Lists on Start or the taskbar and in File Explorer Quick Access.

Set this switch to On to see a Recent section when you right-click an app that enables you to open items such as documents.

Choose which folders appear on Start.

Click this link to open the Choose Which Folders Appear on Start screen, which includes a switch for each potential Start menu folder. For each switch, set the switch to On to display the folder, or Off to hide the folder.

1.5 Use the Start screen settings to personalize your Start menu.

Customizing the Taskbar

The taskbar that runs across the bottom of the Windows screen gives you one-click access to the Start button, the Search box, the Cortana voice assistant, and Task View (see Chapter 5). The taskbar also enables you to switch to a running app (by clicking the app’s taskbar button), access an app’s recent documents (by right-clicking the app’s button), and launch an app (by clicking its button; see the next section). In short, the taskbar is one of the most useful and most important features in Windows, so you need to know how to customize it to suit your needs. The next few sections tell you everything you need to know.

Pinning an app to the taskbar

Pinning an app to the Start menu, as I discuss earlier in this chapter, is helpful because it puts the app just two clicks away. If you have an app that you use frequently, you might prefer to have that app just a single click away. You can achieve this by pinning the app to the taskbar. You can pin an app to the taskbar either from the Start menu or from the taskbar itself:

Pinning an app via the Start menu.

Open the Start menu, right-click the app that you want to pin to the taskbar, click More, and then click Pin to Taskbar.

Pinning an app via the Taskbar.

Launch the app that you want to pin to the taskbar, right-click the running app’s taskbar icon, and then click Pin to Taskbar.

Either way, Windows adds an icon for the app to the taskbar.

To change the order of the taskbar icons, drag a taskbar icon to the left or right and then drop it in the new position. Note that this technique applies not only to the icons pinned to the taskbar, but also to the icons for any running programs.

If you no longer want an app pinned to the taskbar, you should remove it to reduce taskbar clutter and provide more room for other app icons. To remove a pinned app icon, right-click the icon and then click Unpin from Taskbar.

Customizing taskbar settings

The taskbar comes with a few settings that enable you to customize the look and operation of the taskbar, which can help you be more productive. Open the Settings app, click Personalization, and then click Taskbar. This opens the Taskbar screen, shown in Figure 1.6.

There are a ton of settings here, so here’s a look at the most important ones:

Lock the taskbar.