I have used Windows Movie Maker on Windows 7 to make photo slideshows. It worked quite well. With a few clicks, you can produce professional quality slideshows that you can burn to DVDs. When I tried to run the program the first time, I got this error message:

Sorry, Movie Maker can’t start. Make sure your computer meets the minimum system requirements before trying to start Movie Maker again, and the try to update the driver for your video card if Move Maker still doesn’t start.

The message also provides two links for you to troubleshoot the problem. Before I checked the links, I remembered that the Movie Maker was installed before  the Windows 8 upgrade. I tried to download the latest version and install it. Unfortunately, it did not work, either. I received the same error message. I have used Movie Maker on this machine before, so I am pretty sure my computer meets the minimum requirement. I am also pretty sure that my video card driver is up to date because I just updated it a few days ago for Angry Birds. I tried the second link provided by the error message and found a solution to my problem. According to this post, I have to run Movie Maker in compatibility mode. If you are not sure how to do this, here are the step-by-step instructions.

1. Press Windows key + E to run Windows Explorer.
2. Navigate to this directory: C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Live\Photo Gallery if you have 64 bit Windows 8. Otherwise, navigate to this directory. C:\Program Files\Windows Live\Photo Gallery
3. Right click on MovieMaker.exe and select Properties.
4. Click on Compatibility tab. Check the box “Run this program in compatibility mode for:” and select Windows 7.
   
5. Click on OK to close the dialog.

You can now run Movie Maker. If this does not help, there is another post which might be helpful. Give it a try and let us know.

I had trouble running Angry Birds on Windows 7 a few years ago. After my workstation was upgraded to Windows 8, I have not tried to install the game until today.

The game was installed using Intel AppUp. I first installed Intel AppUp and that went well. The installation of Angry Birds also went smoothly. However, an error message popped up when I tried to  run it.

This message was similar to the one I got when I ran it on Windows 7. The problem was due to the graphic card driver. I checked my current driver. The driver on Windows 8 was certified by Microsoft, but it did not work. If you checked Windows Update, there is no updated version of the driver. My graphic card is an AMD Radeon HD 4850. I then visited AMD’s website and downloaded the driver. After the successful installation of the updated graphic card driver, this problem was fixed. Here are the links to the major manufacturers of graphic cards.

Intel

AMD (ATI)

Nvidia

Try to download and install the driver for your graphic card and see if the problem is fixed.

We just found out that, when a HP printer is installed- even if the printer is capable of duplex printing- it may not be enabled for some computers. You will have to manually enable duplex printing. Here is how:

1. Click on the printer you want to enable duplex printing in Devices and Printers.
2. Click on Customize your printer.
3. If you see a button on the left bottom corner that says Change properties, click on it. If you do not see this button, you can skip to the next step.
4. Click on Device Settings and find Duplex Unit (for 2-Sided Printing). Change it to Installed.
   
   
5. If you want to set duplex printing as default, click on General tab and then Preferences …. A new dialog pops up. Click on Finish and then check Print on both sides.

Ever since I upgraded my workstation to Windows 8, I spent most of my time with a desktop and use it like a Windows 7 machine. I rarely use those so-called “Windows Store Apps”. The only app that I use the most often is the Mail app: It allows me to access all my email accounts in one place without going through multiple web sites. However, I recently noticed that the Mail app did not work anymore. I tried several other Windows Store apps and most of them did not work either. The apps just showed spinning circles, and they did not launch at all. I tried to uninstall the Mail app and reinstall it. However, the Store app did not work either!

I found a Microsoft article about apps troubleshooting. Their recommendations are to update your app, sync the app license or reinstall the app. They all requires a working Store app to perform. Since my Store app did not work at all, I could not try the recommended steps to solve the problem.

At the end of the article, it mentions Apps troubleshooter. It’s an application that can try to fix problems related to Windows Store apps. I tried to run the Apps troubleshooter twice. It found different problems each time. This looked promising, but it did not fix my problem.

I then searched for other solutions. I came across one article that mentioned how uninstalling anti-virus software might help. I had McAfee Enterprise 8.8 with patch 3 installed in my computer, so I tried uninstalling it. After McAfee was uninstalled, the apps started to run again!

If all else fails, you might try this to get uncooperative apps to launch again.

When I first installed Windows 8 on Virtual PC, I ran into a problem: the Guest Additions were not compatible with Windows 8. I had to use Recovery mode to refresh my Windows 8 installation. The Recovery mode was automatically invoked after I failed to boot the virtual machine up several times. I tried the Guest Additions today, thinking that it would be compatible with Windows 8 after a few months passed. It turned out that the Guest Additions were still not compatible with Windows 8. I ran into the same problem again; the virtual machine booted up to a black screen. I tried to reboot the virtual machine several times, hoping that it would invoke Recovery Mode for me to uninstall the Guest Additions. However, the Recovery Mode did not run automatically this time. I found a trick to force the Windows 8 virtual machine to boot to Recovery Mode. All you have to do is to disable the network adapter. Here are the steps:

1. Select the Windows 8 virtual machine and click on Settings.
2. Click on Network and make sure Enable Network Adapter is not checked for all 4 adapters.
3. Start the virtual machine and it will enter Recovery Mode.

The biggest change of Windows 8 is the Metro interface. While the Metro interface is good for a tablet, it’s not designed for desktop computers. I upgraded my main workstation to Windows 8 a while ago. I use the desktop about 99% of time, and I only use the Metro interface when it’s necessary.

I found that if you have multiple monitors, you can configure it so that Metro only shows on the second monitor. This works very well, and the interface does not interfere with the applications on the main monitor. Here is how to do it.

1. Move the cursor to the corner of the second monitor.
   
2. Click on the Start icon.

This activates the Metro interface on the second monitor. From now on, whenever you press the Windows key, the Metro interface will show on the second monitor. Note that this change only applies to the current session. You’ll have to do it again the next time you log on.

My work desktop crashed a few days ago, I thought it might be better to install Windows 8 on it instead of trying to fix the Windows 7 installation. After a few days, I really missed the gadgets that were on my desktop before. I first tried some clock programs from the App store and did not like them at all. I decided to find out if I could just get the Windows 7 gadgets back.

To my surprise, it is not difficult. All you need to do is to install a program called 8GadgetPack from this site:

http://8gadgetpack.bplaced.net/

Just install it and you can use the Windows 7 gadgets again. Not only I was able to use the default gadgets, I could also use the gadgets I downloaded before I upgraded my machine to Windows 8. The program is actively maintained and it’s free. Give it a try if you want to use Windows 7 gadgets again.

Dell is offering a free eBook for those who register on their site.

http://marketing.dell.com/windows-8-ebook

The book gives a nice overview of the new OS. The printed copy of the book sells for about $14.00.

From the Back Cover

When I installed Windows 8 on a VirtualBox virtual machine, I also installed the VirtualBox guest additions. After the guest additions were installed, I could no longer boot the virtual machine up. All I got was a black screen. After rebooting the virtual machine several times, I saw the option to recover the PC. I then tried the Refresh your PC optio,n and I was able to recover my PC/virtual machine. There are two options for you to recover your PC: refresh and reset. According to the Building Windows 8 blog, the differences are:

• Reset your PC – Remove all personal data, apps, and settings from the PC, and reinstall Windows.
• Refresh your PC – Keep all personal data, Metro style apps, and important settings from the PC, and reinstall Windows.

Note that after you refresh your PC, only the apps you bought from the App Store will be restored. You will have to re-install the applications you installed from a disc or downloaded from the web. Here are the steps to refresh your PC:

1. When Windows 8 detects there is a problem starting up, it boots to the Recovery screen automatically.
2. At the Recovery screen, click on See advanced repair options.
   
3. Click on Troubleshoot.
   
4. Click on Refresh your PC.
    
5.  Click on Next.
   
6.  Click on the account you want to use.
   
7. Enter the password and click on Continue.
   
8. Insert your Windows 8 installation or recovery media.
   

That’s it. The whole process takes several minutes to finish.  If you are still able to boot your machine up, you can also refresh your PC as another option. To refresh your PC while in Windows, follow these steps:

1. If you are not at the start screen, press the Windows key.
2. Type in refresh.
3. Click on Settings
4. Click on Refresh your PC.
5. Follow the wizard to finish it.

The GUI for Windows 8 has changed significantly. In addition, it has changed the way you run an application. Here are the steps to run the elevated command prompt:

1. Press Windows key.
2. Type cmd.
   
3. Right-click on Command Prompt and click on Run as administrator at the bottom.
   
4. Click on Yes.