Wipe the Drive Before Donating Your Old Computer

If you are getting rid of a hard drive and want to render all or some of its data unrecoverable, you have two options. You can download Eraser to securely wipe any file or folder, and you can use Darik's Boot and Nuke SE (DBAN) to write over the entire drive. To use DBAN, download it and burn it as an ISO disc, then boot from it. It will provide you with instructions on the welcome screen.

WINDOWS MOBILITY CENTER

One of the handiest additions to Vista is the Windows Mobility Center, which lets you view and modify plenty of laptop-specific settings, all in one convenient place. Bring it up by hitting Windows key + X, or navigating to Start > Control Panel > Mobile PC > Windows Mobility Center. There, you can adjust your display's brightness, adjust speaker volume, change battery settings, turn your wireless network adapter on or off, configure an external display, set up synchronization partnerships with mobile devices or a desktop computer at home or at the office (see Work Offline below), or control your PC's settings for presentation use in a business environment (see Presentations below).

Display Multiple Clocks

If you're a frequent traveler or have friends or family in another time zone, you can set up Vista to display multiple clocks at once. Click on the clock in the Start bar, then click "Change date and time settings"¦," and then the Additional Clocks tab. Check the box next to "Show this clock" for each additional clock you want to add, then specify the time zone and display name for each clock. After you apply your changes by clicking OK, clicking on the clock in the Start bar will show you the clocks for every time zone you've selected.

Slide to Shutdown Feature

Quickest way to shutdown a Windows 8.1 device aside from hitting the device's power button.  In desktop mode create a shortcut (right-click on the desktop > New > Shortcut). When prompted for the location of the item, simply enter: C:\Windows\System32\slidetoshutdown.exe. Once completed pin the shortcut to the Start Screen and/or Task Bar and once evoked, simply swipe the screen downward via finger or mouse to power off the device.

Windows Key + PrntSc to Auto Save Screenshots

Alt + PrntSc as been around a while, however one of the challenges is that the key combination creates a screen shot that has to later be pasted in a image editing software application.  With Windows Key + PrntSc, the image is automatically saved as a PNG image that could be shared to help troubleshoot or promote best practices.

Windows Key + X Quick Access Menu

This is the keyboard equivalent of right-clicking the bottom left hand side of both the Windows 8.1 desktop  or start screen which enables the Quick Access Menu enabling users to perform functions such as shut down the device, log out, access the command prompt, access the control panel and other administration type functions.  The Quick Access Menu can even be customized to replace the command prompt with PowerShell functionality for further automation enablement.

Launching Modern Applications From The Desktop

As you may be aware, Windows 8.1 now allows you to start directly on the desktop instead of the start screen. Many applications for Windows 8.1, such as our very own CANITPRO.NET app, are now being developed to take advantage of the modern interface provided in Windows 8.1.  There is however the ability to run modern developed applications from the desktop and here's how:

In the Command Prompt Screen (Search Charm > CMD) type explorer shell:AppsFolder and hit Enter. Once completed, the following folder will appear:



You are now able to run the modern application from the desktop, or create a shortcut and/pin it to the desktop bar.