Ease of Access Settings in Windows 8
Within the “PC settings” app window in Windows 8, you can click the “Ease of Access” category at the left side of the screen to display accessibility settings in the area to the right. You can click the “On” and “Off” toggle switches shown in order to enable or disable the accessibility settings shown. The settings that you can enable or disable are “High contrast” and “Make everything on your screen bigger.” You can then select what you want “Pressing Windows + Volume Up will turn on” to do by selecting a choice from the drop-down menu. By default, this enables the Narrator feature. You can also select how long you want to “Show notifications for” from the adjacent drop-down. You can also set the default “Cursor thickness” from the drop-down that is shown.
Sync Settings in Windows 8
Within the “PC settings” app window in Windows 8, you can click the “Sync your settings” category at the left side of the screen to display Windows 8 synchronization settings in the area to the right. Within this category, the options are grouped into three main subcategories listed at the right side: “Sync your settings,” “Settings to sync,” and “Sync over metered connections.” Note that in order to change any settings shown within this category, you must first sign-in to your Windows computer using a Microsoft user account, versus a local user account, and you must also have internet connectivity.
Within this category, you can click the “On” and “Off” toggle switches shown in order to enable or disable the settings shown. To enable Microsoft user account syncing, enable the “Sync settings on this PC” option. You can then choose what options to synch by enabling or disabling the following settings: “Personalize,” “Desktop personalization,” “Passwords,” “Ease of Access,” “Language preferences,” “App settings,” “Browser,” and “Other Windows settings.” Under the “Sync over metered connections” section you can enable or disable the “Sync settings over metered connections” and “Sync settings over metered connections even when I’m roaming” options. You can enable the “Metered Internet connections” setting to sync data usage settings amongst devices to help prevent extra charges.
HomeGroup Settings in Windows 8
Within the “PC settings” app window in Windows 8, you can click the “HomeGroup” category at the left side of the screen to display Windows 8 HomeGroup settings in the area to the right. You can click the “Create” button shown here to enable these settings and create a HomeGroup if they are not displayed. Once the settings are displayed, the options are grouped into three main subcategories listed at the right side: “Libraries and devices,” “Media devices,” and “Membership.” The options shown here allow you to change your home networking configuration and file sharing options.
You can click the “On” and “Off” toggle switches shown within the “Libraries and devices” section in order to enable or disable sharing of the files, folders, and devices listed. These settings are: “Documents,” “Music,” “Pictures,” “Videos,” and “Printers and devices.” You can enable sharing of content with TVs and gaming consoles by enabling the “Media devices” “On/Off” switch. In the “Membership” section, you can view the “HomeGroup” password, which is required by any devices that wish to join your home network. If you want to remove your computer from the HomeGroup network, you can click the “Leave” button to leave.
Windows Update in Windows 8
Within the “PC settings” app window in Windows 8, you can click the “Windows Update” category at the left side of the screen to display Windows Update information in the area to the right. If you have configured Windows Update to automatically check for updates, that information will be displayed here. You can also view when the last check for updates occurred. You can click the “Check for updates” button to manually check for updates, if desired.
