Windows 10 tips and tricks?
- Thread starter lonsun
- Start date
SpyderTracks
We love you Ukraine
It's exactly the same as any windows, no difference, just visually with the start menu, but all the mechanics are the same.
No settings you need to adjust, it works out of the box.
You can install classic shell if you want it to look like windows 7, but it really doesn't take much getting used to and the search makes it so you rarely have to navigate settings or start menu, it's really not very different to the change from XP to Vista in that respect.
Last edited:
ubuysa
The BSOD Doctor
Never run 'tune up tools' - Windows 10 doesn't need them.
Never run registry cleaners - the registry doesn't need cleaning.
When you first set it up take care with the telemetry settings you specify. You can change them later but it's easier to get them they way you want during the initial setup.
Dont try and make Windows 10 look like Windows 7. Take the time to get used to the new UI and how things are done, you'll find it much more efficient once you have.
[emoji846]
SpyderTracks
We love you Ukraine
Also, never use "driver downloaders". They're completely bogus and often are viruses but almost always will cause instability on the system as they'll install bogus drivers.
ubuysa
The BSOD Doctor
Great point, I missed that one! [emoji16]
A few useful shortcuts that you can take over from Windows 7 as well that tend not to be as well documented as some:
Windows Key + X brings up a quick menu to some of the admin tools such as device manager, PowerShell etc
If you have multiple screens, one of the bug bears I have with any version of Windows is not being able to easily set a screen to start on, but if you use Windows Key + Shift + left or right arrow, it will move the application you have focus on across one screen. Bit easier than draggng it - especially if there's no border
Windows key and left or right - snaps an application to the left or right of the screen and pops up currently running applications to choose to snap to the opposite side. Handy for e.g. multiple word documents (although Word has tools to do similar built in).
I always add a few third party tools to my fresh installs as well - Notepad++ (like Notepad on acid), Greenshot (great for grabbing quick screen/area images), FireFox as my go-to browser (Chromium based Edge is also generally available - colleagues seem to like it), 7-zip (can handle a much wider variation of compressed file types such as RAR than the built in Windows tool), VLC media player (again supports a much wider range of formats than the built in player).
One of the steepest learning curves with Windows 10 seems to be for new users getting used to some slightly odd design decisions - if you click the Windows button, bottom left (aka the start button or Windows orb from old) and click on the gear icon, most of them are available there with a bit of digging. If not, they will likely still be in the control panel.
Other than that, it's not as big a jump to go from 7 to 10 as it was to go from 8.x to 10.
Windows Key + X brings up a quick menu to some of the admin tools such as device manager, PowerShell etc
If you have multiple screens, one of the bug bears I have with any version of Windows is not being able to easily set a screen to start on, but if you use Windows Key + Shift + left or right arrow, it will move the application you have focus on across one screen. Bit easier than draggng it - especially if there's no border
Windows key and left or right - snaps an application to the left or right of the screen and pops up currently running applications to choose to snap to the opposite side. Handy for e.g. multiple word documents (although Word has tools to do similar built in).
I always add a few third party tools to my fresh installs as well - Notepad++ (like Notepad on acid), Greenshot (great for grabbing quick screen/area images), FireFox as my go-to browser (Chromium based Edge is also generally available - colleagues seem to like it), 7-zip (can handle a much wider variation of compressed file types such as RAR than the built in Windows tool), VLC media player (again supports a much wider range of formats than the built in player).
One of the steepest learning curves with Windows 10 seems to be for new users getting used to some slightly odd design decisions - if you click the Windows button, bottom left (aka the start button or Windows orb from old) and click on the gear icon, most of them are available there with a bit of digging. If not, they will likely still be in the control panel.
Other than that, it's not as big a jump to go from 7 to 10 as it was to go from 8.x to 10.
