First the disclaimer:
this is my take on how to setup Windows 8 in a manner that makes sense to me. I am not normal. I do not have normal needs and drives. When it comes to computers, I approach them as a programmer/developer — not as a consumer.
Second a short rant:
The movie “Matrix” is not on my list of movies to recommend people watch. I know many people love the movie. I have my reasons for not being a fan boy of the movie. All of that aside, there is a short clip in the Matrix movie in which the audience is shown a view of what the matrix is like for the humans. Isolated in pods, hooked up to feeding tubes, with connections designed to extract energy from the body — thus converting the human race into an array of batteries to be sucked dry for eternity.
Why do I bring up the above vision of the Matrix? Because that is what corporate giants are doing to consumers at this time. In fact, the attribute consumer is a total misnomer. The word should be “consumed.”
Preview of the Setup Process:
As you go through the Windows 8 setup process you will be asked to register your email address and sign-in so that you can be hooked up to easy shopping, app purchase, in-app buying, tracking, syncing, geo-location registration, and more. Basically Microsoft is getting your permission to give marketing firms complete access to you through your computer. “Hey, I see by your computer geo-location device you are in downtown Chicago at the moment, on the corner of 5th and Redding. How about a coupon for a free slice of pizza at Joe’s?” So people will find it swell to have their computer spew an incessant stream of marketing drivel at them. I don’t. Hence the admission of not being normal.
The Setup Process:
Turn on your computer for the first time. If you are going to hook your computer to the internet through a dsl cable, plug it in now. If you are currently accessing the internet through a wireless connection you will be given the opportunity to access that connection.
I don’t remember the details of this process. But I believe this internet setup happens very early. Because one of the next steps is for you to sign-in to microsoft. If you do not have a microsoft account you can create one. OR, if you prefer a modicum of privacy you can skip the login, and skip the creation of a microsoft account.
I definitely did not want a microsoft account. Nor, did I want to sign in so that they could track my preferences and my location. You will, of course, need to make your own decision on the point.
During the setup you will be asked if you want to use the automatic process or select options yourself. I chose the select options myself — and, I’m glad I did.
Going through the manual custom selection process I was able to say no to many privacy invasions. But, then again, I am not using my computer to track my location and prompt me with the nearest restaurant deals, or stores with my favorite brand of shoes. They must be my favorite brand of shoes cause I watched three separate youtube videos featuring those shoes, and my cousin told me in a (no longer) private email purchasing a pair herself. Ranting almost done.
Really the gist of the setup is to follow the prompts (job pretty well done by Microsoft on this account) and answer the questions. They are not hard questions. When in doubt just guess. When given a chance to let the computer do it, or you do it for yourself, choose to do it for yourself.
You definitely need to be connected to the internet to complete this process. Keep that in mind.
After you finally get to the Start screen for your new Windows 8 computer you are in for some shocks. It will look totally different that Windows 3, Win 98, Win Xp, Vista, or Windows 7. However, after a bit of messing around I was able to setup my machine to function more or less like a Windows 7 computer. This does not require turning off the nice new features of Windows 8. It only requires adding some buttons so that you can access things you are used to using like: windows explorer (now called file explorer) and the shutdown button. Yeah, you can’t just find the shutdown button. It takes a little hunting. I found this laptop article very useful to add a shutdown and restart button.
On the Start screen is a good sized button that will take you to the desktop. Try not to delete this button. It is not difficult to delete. So you might be relieved to know that you can put it back. Just google “help I’ve deleted my desktop metro button.” I used this article to get my desktop button back. But, there are many articles that explain it. And, there are at least two different ways of getting the button back that I have found so far.
You might not notice it right away but the Start screen will scroll left and right. This is because there are so many frigging buttons leading to purchase opportunities. After I removed all of the buttons related to stuff I did note care about, I was left with one page of Start buttons.
I removed buttons for things like: ebay, amazon (I can use my browser for those, I don’t need and app). I also removed buttons for buying things from places I had never heard of. I removed live streaming buttons for services I had no interest in (for me that would be espn, and the weather in NY.)
So, after removing unwanted buttons it will be time to add wanted buttons.
Buttons you will need to add:
- File Explorer
- Shutdown — add using this tutorial
- Restart — add using this tutorial
- Control Pane
The basic process of adding buttons to your Start screen is to find the app, then right-click on the app icon, then pin the button to the Start screen.
So how do you use Search: Check out this video for that.
And, how do you pin the button: Check out this text/image tutorial.
After you have the button on your Start screen you can right-click on the button and then select “Pin to taskbar” from the options at the bottom of the screen.
Programs you will need IMO:
Firefox and Chrome — I use these for browsing the web. I install both and then change between the two based on circumstance. Some folks get by with a single browser. I use two because sometimes a page will not work in my preferred browser.
VLC — Guess what, Windows 8 will not play DVD the way you think it should. VideoLan is a good option for playing all sorts of media. You can read more about why you might need this here.
“More to Come” or “Enough for Now”:
The above should give you some idea and a few pointers. Ask me questions if you get lost. At the moment, I need a break from Windows 8 considerations. At a certain point one just needs to get some stuff done — besides fighting the tools that were supposed to be helping.