There has been many changes to OneDrive over the years and across the different Microsoft Windows versions; from Windows 7, to Windows 8 and 8.1, and now Windows 10. However, one thing has remained the same, OneDrive’s inability to work on removable drives right out-of-the-box. We were able to overcome this in Windows 8 with this earlier tip. Continue reading
OneDrive is a file hosting service provided by Microsoft. This kind of service is also called cloud storage, hence the cloud icon. Continue reading
Remember the “Print Screen” key on your full standard keyboard? You know, the key between the F12 and “Scroll Lock” keys? Well, with our new Surface keyboards, and many other modern laptops and ultrabooks, the Print Screen key is gone. What replaces it now is the Screenshot functionality built into Windows 8. Continue reading
One of the features I missed greatly on my full size desktop keyboard is the easy-access function keys (F1 to F12). Fortunately both the Type Cover and Touch Cover keyboards for the Microsoft Surface has them. Unfortunately, they are only accessible by a key combination of “Fn” and one of the keys on the top row. This can be cumbersome and frustrating for those who are used to full desktop keyboards and uses the function keys a lot. Alas, Microsoft has a solution for those function key aficionados. Continue reading
Well, it’s been a few weeks now since I received my TPT2. And so far…I love it. So much that I barely use my Nexus 7 tablet anymore. I’ll spare everyone the boring unboxing since most people know how to open boxes and remove products from their cushioning and plastic wraps. At least I hope so since at least it doesn’t come in one of those plastic blister packs that require to wear protective equipment to keep from cutting yourself. Anyways, first impressions are that it works a lot better than what a lot of reviews say. The size is awesome and battery life is great. The setup was easy and the one great thing about the new Windows 8 is that once I signed in with my account, it automatically synced settings with my desktop. Some times this sucks, but once I configured what to sync, it just works…unlike other platforms that start with the letter “i” in lower case. There are a lot of aspects to review, let’s start with the Pen since it was one of the biggest selling points for me. Continue reading
So I finally did it…I ordered my new Windows 8 Tablet. No, not’s not a Surface RT nor is it a Surface Pro, but rather a Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet 2. Why? The quick answer is digitizer, size and cost.
For the long answer we need to start at the beginning. It was July 18, 2012 on a typical sunny California day that Microsoft’s Steve Balmer announced a new tablet PC completely designed and built by Microsoft. Ok, so maybe I went too far back. Let’s fast forward a bit.
After seeing the specs for the Surface RT and the Surface Pro I was really torn about one thing, the lack of a digitizer for pen input on the RT. You see, I already have a desktop and laptop to do more serious work, but have been trying to find a slim and portable device where I could take handwritten notes. Some may say, a capacitive stylus does that already and there are a ton of slim tablets using iOS or Android. Well, yes you can use that quarter inch round rubber tip or even a flat plastic disc that pivots on a tiny ball point (yes the Adonit Jot) but the accuracy just isn’t there. I may as well be using my finger! So, for real pen input and handwriting recognition there are two options… Continue reading
Keyboard shortcuts existed even before the mouse was invented. Although we have all become accustomed to using the mouse, touchpad, and touchscreen effectively, keyboard shortcuts are still one of the most efficient ways to navigate the Windows user interface and applications. Below is a list of keyboard shortcuts for the Microsoft Surface running Windows 8 and RT. Most of the listed shortcuts apply across all Windows 8 devices, but there are a few that only apply to the Surface Pro and Surface RT, due to the function (Fn) keys on the Touch and Type covers. Continue reading
Update: I have updated this post for OneDrive and Windows 10 here.
Microsoft’s SkyDrive is great, especially if you use the SkyDrive desktop application for your PC. It synchronizes all your files to your computer so you will always have a local copy to use offline. This is perfect for a mobile device like the Microsoft Surface Pro.
However, with 25 GB of storage on my SkyDrive account and less than 20 GB of free space on my 64GB version Surface Pro, I did not have enough space for all my SkyDrive data on the Surface itself. If you have the 128 GB Surface Pro, or have sufficient space for your SkyDrive data, you may still want to sync SkyDrive to a micro SD card to save valuable, and faster, disk space on the Surface for applications. Continue reading
In the process of doing a complete factory reset of my 32GB Surface RT, I tracked the available free space over the course of a couple updates to see how much space each update uses.
The Microsoft Surface RT was released October 26, 2012. I purchased my 32GB Surface on November 4th, 2012 so the refresh should have brought the Surface RT back to the original Windows RT operating system image before Microsoft applied any updates.
Right after the complete system refresh, the 32GB Surface used 7.89GB with 17GB free space. Continue reading