Installing Previously Purchased Apps On A New Windows Phone

        installing apps in Windows 8 phone

Having to repurchase all the applications after changing your old Windows Phone is quite shocking. But fortunately, you can re-download all the applications which you had downloaded onto your old Windows phone. It is also possible that you may have forgotten the names of numerous applications you had downloaded. At such cases, you can find out the names of the already downloaded applications from the purchase history of your Windows account. Once you get to the purchase history, you can download and install all these applications in bulk.

Instructions to trace your purchase history

• Go the Windows Phone Store from a PC. Navigate to the top right of the screen and select the My Phone option, where you can find the field to log in. Enter the login credentials to access your account. Make sure that you use the account which you used previously, when you log in to view your purchase history and re-download the applications.
• Once you have access to your account, you can find the link which leads to the purchase history page. Click on this link. This link is also available from the drop down menu where you found your login entry.
• Now enable the network connection in your Windows Phone by turning it on. Locate the games or apps that you wish to re-download and install. Click on the Reinstall button when you are prompted.
• You will not able to install many of the applications in the list remotely. This happens when the particular software you try to download is exclusive. You will be able to download these applications only from the application section of the phone vendor, in the Store. In such a scenario, you may have to re-download them by accessing the store.
  

                    Windows 8 Mobiles

• Wait until the download process is completed.

The above listed steps would have been helpful to you for the Windows 8 installation of some of the frequently used applications and games on your Windows Mobile. Now, you do not have to worry about switching from your old Windows 8 phone to a new one. Many who hesitated due to the fear that they might not be able to re-download, have gotten back their favorite applications, on their new Windows phones. Interestingly, this latest feature of Windows 8 installation guarantees you your favorite apps and games, and always.

How To Create Custom Shortcuts In Windows 8?

New Windows 8 OS

The new Metro UI is extremely user-friendly, especially for the touch-screen interface. The traditional desktop icons are replaced by tiles. Windows 8 installation creates the tile icons for most of the programs and applications that comes bundled with the operating system.

You can add new tile icon shortcuts for any recently installed programs or applications by following these steps.

How to add metro shortcut for an app?

The new Windows 8 supports the full screen running of apps. This would enable you to use the touch screen interface to full advantage, especially when using image or video editor apps. To add a custom short cut for a particular app to the Metro UI, do the following.

• Use the search option from the Windows charm toolbar. Select an application which you are likely to use very often. Let’s say you are choosing the Windows Paint application.
• Once you right click on the Windows Paint App from the options displayed, select ‘Pin to the Start’ option to add a short cut of the application to the Start Screen.
• A shortcut for the Windows Paint application is now present on the UI Start screen. The tile icon can be dragged and placed anywhere on the screen.
• To remove it follow the same step and select the ‘Unpin from Start’ option to remove the shortcut from the main screen.

How to customize the metro shortcut for a function?

Suppose you want to create a customized tile icon for a function like Windows shutdown.

• Go the Desktop screen and right click on the mouse. From the options shown, prompting you to create a new file, choose to “create a new shortcut”.
  

         Windows 8 Metro UI

• The short cut wizard will appear asking you to give the details for the new short cut. Type in ‘shutdown.exe /s/t 00’ in the box given there. This creates a new short cut for the shutdown function. Click next. Give a suitable name for the created short cut and select Finish.
• The newly created shortcut will appear on the home screen. You can change this icon by right clicking on it. Choose the option to change the icon from the “short cut properties” window.
• You would find an array of icons meant for the UI loaded during the Windows 8 installation. Select one of them and press ‘Ok’.
• Now pin this short cut to the Start screen.

Similarly you can add and customize tile icons for many applications and functions on the new Windows 8 touch screen interface.

Windows 8 In New Zealand

          Installing Windows 8

For a limited time, in New Zealand the new operating system Windows 8 was available in stores as DVDs. Nevertheless, it was just a onetime chance, as they were not replenished once they sold out. Now the only way you can buy the new operating system is from the official Microsoft website. Any system that has Windows 7, Windows Vista or Windows X with the Service Pack 3 installed can simply download the new OS for less than 50 dollars. Apart from PCs and laptops, it can also be used on tablets and smart phones as well.

On touch enabled PCs and tablets, it works by simply swiping your finger and on computers that do not have touch enabled hardware, it works using the keyboard and the mouse. On running the Windows 8 setup utility, users are given a choice between swapping between your earlier Windows version with the new one keeping all other documents and applications intact or you can go for a clean Windows 8 installation by removing everything off your PC. The latter would be a better choice as a clean installation will eliminate any files or fragments that was used for the previous installation and which are no longer necessary.

The Windows 8 installation takes less than half an hour. To bring up the five Windows 8 Charms integral to the new software operation: Start, Search, Share, Devices and Settings, point your mouse to the corner.

          Windows 8 on tablets

The Start screen was the biggest change to Windows 8. Although Windows has always made improvements with every new version, even faithful Windows users were completely alien to the new Start screen. Even then, it was a refreshing new change as compared to the previous versions. The new Start screen has numerous features, some unseen and unnoticed, that can be advantaged. Every app on your Start screen can be accessed without having to touch your mouse. Simply toggle around the apps using the different arrow keys and hit enter when you reach the application that you want to open.

All in all, the new Windows 8 with its enhanced user experience and numerous new benefits is quite a remarkable OS. What makes the Windows 8 different from its predecessors is that, with a polished and smooth look, it feels complete. With an even better performance than that in the previews, this new OS is completely worth every penny of yours.

Automatic Updates For Windows 8

Windows 8 automatic updates

Microsoft Windows 8 had both positive as well as negative reviews. There are many new features in the platform, which may cause difficulties for the traditional users. With the new Metro style user interface, it seems annoying for many users to open the applications through the live tiles, which work best with touch screen devices. Many users have decided to move on with Windows 8, and upgrade their older versions. Those who give a high rating for the Windows 8 operating system say that faster performance, developed apps, new looks, are some of the features that makes it different. Though there may be some issues in the operation, another plus point of Windows 8 is that it comes with a solution for any issue. This article will help you to disable the automatic updates option of Windows 8.

More on Windows 8 update issue

The automatic updates option of Windows 8 will be switched on with the recommended settings opted during the  installation. The operating System warns you of upcoming updates, but there is no option to postpone the updates as in Windows 7. Windows 7 users receive a warning message to download the update or postpone the update installation. This would help them to update the system when they finished their work. But in Windows 8, the OS simply pops up a message on the screen saying Windows will install updates in 15 minutes regardless of the running applications and in the process the users are forced to save their work in a hurry.

Turning off Automatic Updates during Windows 8 installation

Installing Windows 8

Following steps can help you in disabling Windows 8 to install updates automatically;

• Go to the desktop of Windows 8 and open the Charms bar. If you are on a touch screen device, swipe in from the right to access the bar. Other users can access the Charms bar by moving the mouse pointer from the right side corner of the screen to the top.
• Select “Settings” from the charms bar, and open “Control Panel”
•  Go to the “System and Security” menu and open “turn automatic updating on or off” under “Windows Update” section. You can opt for your preference in the resulting drop down menu.
• Selecting “Download update but let me decide when to install them” option will stop Windows 8 from installing the updates automatically. This option will let the user decide the time of installation of updates.

Make use of above mentioned instructions to disable automatic updates in Windows 8 operating system. For more, read through the Windows 8 installation topics.

Demerits Of Windows RT

      Different Windows 8 problems

Microsoft, the software giant, has provided us with Windows 8, and amid great hype. But other than that, they also got us Windows RT, which also supports the Surface platforms. Surface tablets are really admired by users, and if running Windows RT, they work really great. But before you take the decision to buy a machine running Windows RT, you need to be aware of the problems this specific version of the OS poses. There are a bunch of problems that you’re better off knowing beforehand.

Windows 8 problems in the RT version are different from those you see in the Pro version. When you consider the Windows 8 problems in general, Windows RT is more faulty than the rest.

Demerits of the RT version

• Usage of flash on certain approved websites

You‘ve almost certainly played your fair share of Flash based programs on websites. What you might not have noticed is that this actually requires permission from Microsoft. And this permission is only selectively granted, and as far as the RT is concerned you need to have it.

• Older apps won’t function on Windows RT

There are several popular applications that have been used on older versions of Windows for quite a long time. On Windows RT, you’ll find yourself unable to run iTunes, Google Chrome, Adobe Photoshop and a few other programs. This would definitely rankle a longtime user. Also, a few of the games like World of Warcraft are not supported by Window RT.

• Purchase apps from Windows Store alone

        Various Windows 8 problems

You need to make your purchase of Windows 8 software from the Windows Store alone, rather than purchasing it from retailers like Wal-Mart, Best Buy or others. The software that you purchase from them will never work on Windows RT. This is how Microsoft has changed its plan for promoting Windows 8. If you happen to purchase software from other source, you would definitely encounter Windows 8 problems.

• Limited availability of apps

The number of apps that are available for Windows RT is quite small, at only around a thousand, though Microsoft is expecting the number of apps to rise somewhat by the end of January.

• Windows Media Player, and Outlook, do not work with Windows RT.
• Windows RT cannot be purchased separately; you only get it bundled with the device.

The above points were assembled with the view to help you decide whether Windows RT is a good option or not. If not, you could always just stick to the older versions of the OS.