Office download–how to find the downloaded file on your computer and copy it to a known location

I recently purchased Office Home and Student 2010 directly from Microsoft to take advantage of their “Buy Office now, get the next version free” promotion.

It took about 25 minutes to complete the download and an additional 10-15 minutes to complete the installation.

I didn’t buy the back-up DVD for $14.99, but I noticed that in the “Microsoft Office 2010 – Order Confirmation” email, it said this:

If you purchased an Office download, but did not purchase a backup copy of the software, we suggest you copy your software to an external hard drive or DVD, just in case you need to reinstall it in the future.

The problem is, the email doesn’t tell you where the downloaded software went on your computer or which file needs to be copied to an external hard drive or DVD.

The next section describes how I found the location where the file was downloaded.  This was so I can copy it to a known directory and reinstall or repair Office if I need to.

What happened for me is I found a shortcut on my Windows 8 Desktop that looked like this.  It was placed on my Desktop after installation completed.

I right-clicked on the shortcut and selected Open file location.

Doing this opened Windows Explorer and pointed me to a “Temporary Internet Files” directory where the downloaded copy of Office was located.

The actual filename might be different on your computer but mine was called “X17-75058.exe”.  Hopefully, you can see it clearly on my screenshot.

I right-clicked on the file and selected Copy.

Afterwards, I created a directory under “Libraries –> Public Documents” called “My PC –> Office Home and Student 2010”, went to that location, and Right-clicked and selected Paste in order to copy the downloaded file to a location where I can find it again.

That’s all there is to it.

Now that I think of it, it would’ve been nice if, during install, the installation program would ask me where I wanted to copy the downloaded file rather than have me go through the steps on my own.  Maybe Microsoft decided they’d rather sell the DVD for $14.99 rather than making it more convenient.

In any case, I hope this helps you.  Good luck!

Shutdown, Restart, Sleep, Switch user, or Sign out using Desktop Alt+F4

With Windows 8, because it’s a new Operating System, there are many new things to discover.  One of the things I recently found out was that there is a way to easily Shut down from Desktop mode using the Alt+F4 key combination.  Using this method, it is also possible to Restart, Sleep, Switch users, or Sign out.

This method is particularly handy if you like to use keyboard shortcuts often or you prefer to stay in Desktop mode most of the time.  Here are the steps and screenshots of each step.

1) Pressing the Alt+F4 keys together causes a pop-up window to appear

 

2) Left-clicking on the drop-down list presents you with additional options other than shutting down the computer.

You have a choice to Switch users, sign out, put the computer on sleep mode, shut down, or restart.

That’s all there is to it.  Good luck and I hope you find this helpful.

How To Delete A Theme from “My Themes”

After creating, modifying, and saving themes, you might want to delete unused ones.  The way to delete unused themes is by right-clicking the unused theme and selecting “Delete Theme”.  Right-clicking a theme that is in use will not show “Delete Theme”.  That is because you can’t delete a theme that is currently being used by the computer.  These steps may not have been intuitive but I’m sure there was a good reason why.

The screenshot below shows “Panoramic Forests” as the theme that is being used.  While “Bing Dynamic” is the theme that will be deleted.  That’s all there is to it. 

How to create a Windows 8 System Repair/Recovery Disc

A system repair disc can be used to boot your computer.  It also contains Windows system recovery tools that can help you recover Windows from a serious error or restore your computer from a system image.

Here are the steps to create a system repair disc.  You’ll need a CD/DVD writer and a blank writeable CD or DVD disc.

1. Run the software that creates Recovery Discs by typing “recdisc” in the Start Page.

2. A windows will pop up on the Desktop instructing you to insert a blank, writable CD or DVD disc into your DVD RW Drive.

 

 

3. Once the Windows 8 System Repair/Recovery Disc is created, you’ll be asked to label your disc “Repair disc Windows 8 64-bit” if you are running 64-bit Windows, or “Repair disc Windows 8 32-bit” if you are running 32-bit Windows.

That is all there is to it.

Good luck!

Finally, an OS that fits me

This OS fits me.  Sleek. Fast. Light.  The best I’ve ever seen. 

17 days yearning for more Windows 8.  More news, more tips, more anything that has everything to do with Microsoft’s latest Operating System. 

The Modern UI’s Start page is where it all begins.  It’s also the place where I can tailor my computer to fit me.  It becomes a reflection of what I want to know and what I enjoy doing.  Live Tiles, frequently used programs, websites I monitor daily – just Pin to Start.

The Modern UI allows me to experience my computer in a new, simple, refreshing way.  I don’t use a touch interface, so going Modern means knowing keyboard shortcuts, which has made me use the OS and its applications in a much faster way.  Windows + Z, Windows + Q, Windows key, or just typing to start programs, find files.  Fast.  Efficient.

Is the new interface confusing?  Yes.  Only in the beginning.  But, I know I’ll find my way.  Learning how to use the OS has made it more fun – like making new discoveries.  And this is only the beginning.

This OS fits me.  Sleek. Fast.  Light.  The best I’ve ever seen.

Windows 8 Task Manager lets you know which programs are causing long boot times

One of the cool things about Windows 8 Task Manager is that it provides  information about programs that affect boot up. 

As you can see, in the snapshot below, Task Manager lets you know the name of the program and its impact on startup – how much disk data is moved and how the program affects CPU usage.  Once you are able to determine the bottlenecks and which programs are not necessary, you can disable them in Task Manager (using the button on the lower right of the window) and improve your boot up times.

In all my years of using computers, I don’t think there has been any Operating System that has provided that kind of information in a clear manner.  Just wanted to point out one of the cool improvements to new users or those thinking about some of the benefits of Windows 8.

Pinning Live Tile Stock Quotes to the Start Page using the Finance App

I’m having a great time learning about the Windows 8 Operating System.  I’ve been trying to get a better hang of using the Start Screen and its Apps.  One App that I use often is the Finance App by Microsoft to monitor news and stocks of companies that I’m interested in.  It turns out that it is possible to place a Live Tile of a stock symbol on the Start Page.  Here are the steps to do so.  It’s actually pretty simple.

Step 1) Start the Finance App

Step 2) With your mouse, right click on the Stock symbol you want to pin to the Start page

Step 3) left-click the Pin to Start button

Optional Step 3.5) Enter a label in the box provided

Step 4) Left-click the Pin to Start blue button

Step 5) Check your Start page.  There should now be a new Live Tile of a stock symbol added somewhere at the far right of your Start page.  It should be actively updating.

There are some improvements that I think could be made to the Finance App.

1. A maximum of 10 Tiles can be pinned to the Start page.  It would be great if more can be pinned, say 15 or 25.

2. If a stock price falls below the day’s starting price, having the tile turn red would make it easier to see that the price fell.  Currently, the tile is green whether the price fell or rose above the day’s starting price.

Overall, though, I think it’s a great app.  The layout of the full screen view of charts, news, and related information, is  visually appealing.  The information presented and how it is presented is exactly what I’d want to see.

Summary of Windows 8 Keyboard Shortcuts

Using keyboard shortcuts greatly increases the efficiency of using a computer with Windows 8 installed.  I find that it also has made my use of Windows 8 much more enjoyable than Windows 7.

Here is a quick list of useful Windows 8 Shortcuts for those of us who will be using a keyboard when interacting with Windows 8.

Key combo:

Key combination	Action
Windows+C	Open charms
Windows+D	Desktop
Windows+E	Explorer
Windows+F	Search files
Windows+H	Share charm
Windows+I	Settings charm
Windows+K	Devices charm
Windows+L	Lock session
Windows+M	Minimize window
Windows+O	Lock screen rotation
Windows+Q	Search charm
Windows+R	Run box
Windows+S	Launch snipping tool (for OneNote)
Windows+T	Running apps tiles
Windows+W	Search settings
Windows+X	Open system utility settings menu
Windows+Y	Glance at desktop
Windows+, (comma character)	Peek at desktop
Windows+Enter	Turns on Narrator

For Live Apps

Windows+. (period character)	Snap app left
Windows+Shift+. (period character)	Snap app right
Windows+Z	App options
Windows+Tab	Cycle through app history
Alt+F4	Close an app

For a complete list, see the following link:

http://blogs.windows.com/windows/b/windowsexperience/p/win8_keyboard_shortcuts.aspx

Why is Runtime Broker consuming so much memory

After upgrading from Windows 7 Ultimate to Windows 8 Pro, I began downloading Apps from the Store.  After several days of using (and enjoying) Windows 8, I noticed that memory usage was getting pretty high and that Runtime Broker was consuming a lot of memory.  I found out the root cause in my specific case and am posting it here hoping my findings would help others.  To make a long story short, the problem was a bad App called The Time.

I uninstalled all the Apps I had previously downloaded and re-installed them one-by-one.  Each time, I jotted down the following:

Why is Runtime Broker consuming too much memory?

Hypothesis: Appears to be a badly written App.

10/31/2012 8:58am

Runtime Broker memory consumed is 19.5MB then went to 19.1MB

11/1/2012 12:13am

memory used by Runtime Broker is consistently in the range of 19.6-19.7MB

11/1/2012 12:14am

installed The Time (the one created by Jeff Key).  Runtime Broker memory consumed is 19.7MB

11/1/2012 12:17am

Runtime Broker memory consumed is 20.7MB

11/1/2012 12:31am

Runtime Broker memory consumed is 59.3MB <— increasing 40MB per 15 minutes

As you can see, it was only after I installed The Time by Jeff Key did Runtime Broker memory usage begin to increase significantly.  Although the snapshot from 12:17a.m. to 12:31 a.m. was only for 14 minutes, it is showing an increase of roughly 40 MB per 15 minutes.  After 8 hours, (8 hrs x (60min/hr)  x (40MB/15min) =1280MB (or 1.2GB) will be consumed. After 16 hours, 2.4GB will be consumed. It is a symptom that The Time app has a memory leak. Any application, especially this kind, should not be doing that and will begin to slow your computer down.

To recover from this, I had to uninstall the application and restart the computer.  I needed to restart the computer to get my memory usage back to normal levels.  If I didn’t restart, the leaked memory is never recovered.

Good luck to you and I’m glad to be of help to you and whoever else is out there.