How to Create a Microsoft Surface RT Recovery Drive
Because the Surface RT cannot run traditional Windows desktop programs, it's critical that you create a recovery drive— a USB 4GB (or larger) flash drive containing all the files Windows RT needs to run [more…]
All About Windows 8 Surface Apps
The Windows 8 Start screen serves up a smorgasbord of apps, each built to handle a specific task. But no matter how much the apps differ, every app shares the same basic commands. These tips work in [more…]
Understanding the Windows 8 Charms Bar on Your Surface
The Charms bar in Windows 8, an icon-filled strip that appears along the screen's right edge, works throughout your Surface, from the Start screen to the desktop. [more…]
Downloading Surface App Updates from the Windows Store
On your Surface, the Start screen and the Windows 8 desktop work as separate entities. Downloading updates from Windows Update won't update apps you download from the Windows Store. No, your apps must [more…]
Updating Your Surface via Windows Update
Your Surface automatically downloads waiting updates from Windows Update, but it doesn't always install them until you restart your Surface. To be on the safe side, follow these steps to download the latest [more…]
Surface For Dummies Cheat Sheet
Whether you're using the Windows 8 Pro version of the Surface or a Windows RT model, to get the most out of your device, you'll want to keep your system updated, find out about all of the latest apps, [more…]
Why Should You Buy a Microsoft Surface?
Most computer manufacturers create Windows tablets as cheaply as possible. By coming up with the lowest price tag, they hope to undercut their competitors. Instead of taking this same road to the bottom [more…]
Decide Between the Two Microsoft Surface Tablets
Microsoft sells two types of Surface tablets: Windows 8 Pro tablets and Windows RT tablets. The two models look and behave almost identically. Both share many features: [more…]
Unbox Your Microsoft Surface Computer
The Surface comes artfully packed in a black box. Look closely at the top-right corner, and you can see a white box protruding from inside. It’s either an artful display of design creativeness or a waste [more…]
Three Quick Steps to Charge the Battery of Your Surface
The Surface’s bundled charger is lightweight, smaller, and flatter than many adapters, making it easy to carry. In the North American version, the outlet’s prongs make nice little clicks as they fold in [more…]
Turn On Your Surface for the First Time
After prying off all the cardboard, peeling off the plastic wrappers, and charging your Surface, the fun begins. Follow these steps to turn on your Surface for the first time: [more…]
How to Set Up User Accounts On Your Surface
Unlike competing tablets, your Microsoft Surface lets you create accounts for different users. That lets several people use the same Surface, with all of their information being kept separate from each [more…]
How to Open Apps in Microsoft Surface
The Start screen of your Microsoft Surface heralds a new way of working with Windows and its ecosystem of small, inexpensive apps rather than large, expensive desktop programs. [more…]
Tips for Closing and Switching between Apps in Microsoft Surface
Windows 8 on your Surface tablet does not expect you to close your apps or programs. Older versions of Windows always wanted you to close unneeded programs: You’d click on the little X in the program’s [more…]
How to Organize the Start Screen of Your Surface
Windows 8 does not organize the Start screen of your Surface tablet. As you add apps from the Windows Store, the Start screen tosses them onto its far right edge, where they’re completely out of sight. [more…]
How to Choose Files with the File Picker on Your Surface
When you need to select a file from within a Start screen app on your Microsoft Surface tablet, such as opening a photo to view in the Photos app, you’ll use the File Picker. File Picker is not much of [more…]
Tips for Controlling the Touchscreen of Your Surface
The Microsoft Surface touchscreen technology lets you touch it in seven different ways. Each type of touch does something very different. Although these may sound complicated when reading them, envision [more…]
The Microsoft Surface Touch and Type Keyboard Covers
Part of the Surface’s attraction comes from its two keyboard covers. Thin and lightweight, they click onto the Surface with magnets. The connectors also let the keyboards draw power from the Surface, so [more…]
Type on the Onscreen Keyboard on Your Surface
There’s a free keyboard built into every Surface: the onscreen keyboard, also called the virtual or glass keyboard. (Microsoft’s menus sometimes refer to the onscreen keyboard as the Touch keyboard, not [more…]
Switch between Your Surface’s Four Different Onscreen Keyboards
The free onscreen keyboard built into every Microsoft Surface tablet PC, also called the virtual or glass keyboard, normally looks like the one shown here. But the onscreen keyboard can morph into other [more…]
Tips for Editing Text on Your Surface’s Onscreen Keyboard
Editing a few lines of text on your Surface’s onscreen keyboard can be tricky. Without the pinpoint precision of a mouse pointer, how do you place the cursor in the exact location necessary to excise the [more…]
How to Write with a Stylus on Your Surface
Your Microsoft Surface tablet accepts your handwriting when you draw on it with a stylus—a specially designed, plastic-tipped pen.
Because both models of Surface accept a stylus, you can write by hand anywhere [more…]
How to Connect Your Surface to the Internet
All Surface tablets can connect to the Internet wirelessly—they already contain a built-in wireless network adapter. To connect, you and your Surface need only be within range of a wireless network. [more…]
How to Connect Your Surface to Networked PCs
Your Surface’s hard drive may always seem too small, at least by desktop PC standards. Because you probably can’t fit all of your information onto your Surface, keep an eye out for other places to stash [more…]
How to Change Your Surface’s Wi-Fi Connection’s Settings
Windows 8 offers many handy ways to change or keep track of your Wi-Fi network’s settings on your Surface. However, it’s difficult to find the right switches until you follow these steps: [more…]
