In this section:
Windows 8 has several built-in features with which you can keep your computer system running at its best or to help you restore your computer if it experiences a problem. You can use these tools to get Windows operating system updates that can fix security vulnerabilities, clear out unused bits of data from your hard disk to improve performance, back up your data, and restart your computer in the case of a computer crash.
If you aren’t that technically savvy and feel you need help troubleshooting your computer, try using the Remote Assistance feature in Windows 8. With this feature, you can invite someone using another computer to access your computer and help you solve your problem.
In this section, you discover how to use various tools in PC Settings and the Control Panel to keep your computer performing optimally.
Periodically, Microsoft sends out updates to its operating system to make improvements or fix problems that have surfaced. You can set Windows 8 to download and install these updates automatically. You can also choose to just have the most urgent updates downloaded to your computer.
Click the Control Panel app in the results.
Click System And Security.
Click the drop-down arrow in the Important Updates field and choose Install Updates Automatically, which is Microsoft’s recommended setting.
If you prefer, select the Recommended Updates check box to have less-important updates installed.
Click OK.
Tip
If you’d rather have more control over downloaded updates, you can choose either the Download Updates But Let Me Choose Whether To Install Them, or the Check For Updates But Let Me Choose Whether To Download And Install Them option. These options enable you to pick and choose among the updates, downloading only those you need.
If you don’t choose to download updates automatically or you don’t want to wait for the next automatic update, you can initiate an update manually. Windows 8 then checks for any updates that are available at that time. In some cases, Windows requires that you restart your computer after downloading updates.
Resetting Windows 8 to factory settings is a last-ditch effort to get a damaged system back up to speed. You might also want to reset a computer before selling it to somebody else so that your files and apps are unavailable to them. When you reset Windows 8, any files you created or any apps you downloaded will be gone. All Windows 8 settings will be returned to the default settings.
Press Windows logo key+I.
Click Change PC Settings.
Click General.
Scroll down in the right pane.
Under Remove Everything And Reinstall Windows, click the Get Started button.
On the next screen, click Next.
Click either Only The Drive Where Windows Is Installed or All Drives.
Click Thoroughly or Quickly, depending on how important it is that all files be recoverable.
If Windows is somehow corrupted or experiencing a problem, one option is to restart it but have the system boot up (retrieve the system settings) from a source other than your computer. You can choose to use a USB stick or DVD that contains either the Windows operating system or a system image that you’ve saved so that you can get the system working and troubleshoot any problems.
If you want to try to clean up any buggy behavior on the part of Windows 8 but don’t want to lose your files, downloaded apps from the Windows Store, and settings, consider using the Refresh procedure. Though less drastic than resetting your computer, a Refresh will often solve your problem.
When you save data and apps to your hard disk or view or download temporary Internet files, those bits of data can be stored at various locations across your hard disk. Over time, the out-of-date bits of data can cause your computer performance to slow down. Disk Cleanup allows you to erase stray bits of data and consolidate your hard disk to improve your computer’s performance.
On the Start screen, begin to type Control Panel.
Click the Control Panel app in the results.
Click System And Security.
Click the drop-down arrow on the Drives field, and select the drives to clean up.
Click OK.
Clear any check boxes for items that you don’t want deleted.
Click Delete Files.
Now and then, it’s a good idea to back up the files in your computer so that you don’t lose anything important. You can use the backup feature in Windows 8 to copy files from libraries, the desktop, your contacts, and your favorites to a specified location, typically an external hard disk. File History is a new backup feature in Windows 8. Essentially, when Windows detects that a change has been made to a file, it will create a new backup of that file. This is a nice safety net, but it doesn’t take the place of backing up your files periodically.
Connect an external storage device to your computer.
On the Start screen, begin to type Control Panel.
Click the Control Panel app in the results.
Click System And Security.
Click Save Backup Copies Of Your Files With File History on the next screen.
If necessary, click Turn On to turn File History on.
When the process is complete, click the Close button.
When Windows saves files, it stores them in non-adjacent areas on your hard disk. A bit of a file can be in one area and other bits in another. Windows uses a directory to tell it where to go on the drive to retrieve all of the bits in the file. Over time, you end up with little fragments of files on your hard disk, including some that don’t belong there, perhaps because you deleted a file and a few bits didn’t get deleted. Defragmenting your hard drive frees up space by deleting those fragments.
On the Start screen, begin to type Control Panel.
Click the Control Panel app in the results.
Click System And Security.
Click Defragment And Optimize Your Drives.
Click to select the drive to clean up.
Click Optimize.
When the procedure is done, click Close.
Task Manager is a utility program that keeps track of the various programs and processes that are running on your computer. Most of the data in Task Manager will be useful only to very technical people, but Task Manager also enables the rest of us to shut down running programs that might be causing a computer to seize up.
Sometimes you will need to restart your computer, either because it crashes (stops working) and you want to get it working again or because you’ve made a change that requires restarting, such as uninstalling a program or downloading updates. Windows 8 provides a Power button in the Settings charm panel so you can quickly perform a restart.
Press Windows logo key+I.
Click Power.
Click Restart.
Tip
After some actions, you are often offered the option of restarting—for example, to finish making updates to your computer. However, if you don’t need those updates immediately, you don’t have to restart your computer at that time if it’s not convenient. When you next turn off and then turn on the computer, the process will be completed.
Remote Assistance involves sending an invitation to somebody asking for help. That person can then click an attachment to the email to accept and access your computer system, move around your computer, and use various tools to pinpoint and fix any problems you might be having. Always make sure that you know and trust any person who you allow to access your computer using Remote Assistance.
On the Start screen, begin to type Control Panel.
Click the Control Panel app.
Click System And Security.
Click Invite Someone You Trust To Help You.
Click Use Email To Send An Invitation to send a message using an email account that you’ve configured in Windows 8.
Enter the recipient’s email address.
Modify the message if necessary.
