Technology Tips – published December 2015 in the Guide and Digest
by Don Trauger – Kennett
Personalize Windows 10
When you have purchased a new Windows 10 computer or you have chosen to upgrade your Windows 7 or 8 computer you may want to Personalize it . This something to consider after you have configured more important things like your email and home page of your browser.
Personalizing your computer is easy. Click the white icon in the lower left corner of the screen then click Settings just above it. When the Settings window opens click Personalization. When it opens you can select a background picture from either Microsoft’s selections or a picture of yours from the Pictures folder. Below, under Choose a fit, “Fill” is probably your best choice.
Next, click Colors. I suggest that you turn off “Show color on Start, Taskbar, and Action Center”. The other 2 selections should be turned on.
The Lock screen can display either Windows Spotlight, a Picture, or a Slide Show. It’s a screen that will pop up before the login screen. Windows Spotlight allows you to provide feedback about the screen. I saw no effect with the Windows Spotlight setting. Click “on” for fun facts, tips, and tricks although I have seen little if any notifications. Under “Choose an app for detailed status” and “Choose Apps to show quick status” you will supposedly place icons for your selected apps on the Lock screen when you boot. I found that this did not work. It looks like Microsoft has some work to do in the above areas. Scrolling down you will see “Screen timeout settings” and “Screen saver settings”. Click “Screen timeout settings” and choose 5 minutes for battery operation and 10 minutes plugged in. A screen saver setting should not be used for modern computers. I see no purpose to the Lock screen. You can turn it off by going into the Control Panel, click Power Options, click “Choose what the power button does”, then click “Change settings that are currently unavailable”. Scroll down and uncheck Lock and click Save changes.
Click Themes then Theme settings and choose one of the Windows default themes or stay with the existing theme in the My Themes space. Avoid the High Contrast Themes.
Click Start and I recommend the following to be turned on. “Occasionally show suggestions in Start”, “Show most used apps”, Show recently added apps”, “Show recently opened items in jump lists on Start or the Taskbar”. “Use Start full screen” should be turned off.
The last item to personalize is to click on “Choose which folders appear on Start”. These are folders you may frequently use and can be made accessible in the Start Menu. Recommendations are File Explorer (file manager program), Settings, Documents, Downloads, Pictures, Music, and possibly others of your choice.
One last tweak or Personalization is to bypass the need to log in to your computer. You created a login when you created a Microsoft account. It serves no security purpose other than to keep other family members from using your computer without your knowledge.
To bypass the need to log in, right click the white icon in the lower left corner of the screen then left click Run. Type “netplwiz” (no quotes). Uncheck “Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer”. Click Apply then fill in your password in both fields.
Click OK, then click OK again.
The PC Club meetings are open to all regardless of computer experience. If you have questions that need to be answered, be sure to attend on the 3rd Tuesday of each month at 7 PM, upstairs in the Community Center. We’ll cover Windows 10 Personalization on Dec. 15.