Windows 8.1 basic tutorial – The below tutorial is taken from the windows.microsoft.com website. Each lesson will have an accompanying video to assist learning.Link to website - http://windows.microsoft.com/en-ie/windows/tutorial

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-ie/windows/tutorial

Once you start up your laptop you will be asked to login.

The *Start screen will open up first. The start screen is fully customizable and you can choose what you want to see here, websites, apps etc, we will go into more details on this later.

To view the *apps section click the arrow button at the bottom of the start screen, to get back to the start screen just tap the up arrow with your mouse.

To navigate to the familiar *desktop screen click the below tile, you will be familiar with this as in Windows 7.

Here is what the desktop looks like.

To bring up the *charms icons from the desktop, point your mouse to the top right of the screen and scroll down, this will bring out the below bar. The bar will show four icons, Search, Share, Start, Devices and Settings.

Point your mouse to the top left hand side of the screen and click, to see the last Apps you have used. Once you have clicked in the top left corner, scroll down and this will also bring up the *last Apps you have used.

The Start Screen – Going into more details

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-ie/windows-8/start-screen-tutorial

The Start screen is where you can keep track of your favorite Applications, Apps and files. You can scroll down to the apps view to see what is already installed on the laptop. Your Start screen is yours to personalize and make your own.

Pinning apps You can *add apps to the start screen, by clicking on the app, right clicking it with the mouse and then select pin to start. When you pin an app it shows up on the end of your start screen. This app can be moved whenever you want in the start screen.

Pinning other thingsYour favorite websites or folders you used often.

Unpinning apps from startIf you decide you no longer want a tile/ tiles ( you can select more than one at a time ) in start, *right click the tile, click customize and click *Unpin from Start. They will be removed from your start screen, but you can still find them in the app screen or wherever you selected them from from.

Other ways of getting to the Start ScreenAdded is a screen shot below of the other different options available to *get back to the start screen.

Organize your start screen

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-ie/windows-8/start-screen-tutorial

http://www.lynda.com/Windows-tutorials/Personalizing-Windows-81/143607/152318-4.html

The start screen is yours to organize and arrange, you can resize tiles, move them, group tiles to keep track of your apps and use them more efficiently.

*To move a tile on your Start screen

1 On the Start screen, click and hold the tile you want to move. 2 Drag the tile to where you want to place it.

*To resize a tile on your Start screen

1 On the Start screen, right click the tile you want to resize. 2 click Resize. 3 Choose the size you want.

*To create a group of tiles

1 On the Start screen, press and right-click the tiles you want to group together.

2 Drag them to an open space, and when a gray bar appears behind them, release the tiles. This will create a new group.

3 If you want to name the group, click where it says Name group above the group, and then enter a new name. Once you've created a group, you can move the entire group around on your Start screen.

To move a group of tiles

1 On the Start screen, click the zoom icon in the lower-right corner of your screen.

2 click and drag the group of tiles you want to move to where you want it to go.

3 Once you’re done moving groups, click anywhere on the screen to zoom back in.

QuestionsHere are twelve questions on what we have covered during the class, try to complete each task, all the answers are above if you need help or just ask me.

1 Where is the Start screen?2 Find the app section from the Start screen?3 Navigate to the Desktop from the Start screen?4 Find the Charms bar from the Start screen?5 Find the last apps we used from the desktop screen?6 Pin an app to your Start screen?7 Unpin the app from your Start screen?8 Find two different ways of getting back to the Start menu?9 Move a Tile on your Start screen?10 Resize a Tile on your Start screen?11 Create a group of Tiles?12 Move a group of Tiles?

Next lesson – The Desktop