Frequently Asked Questions for Windows 8

Yesterday I bought a hard drive at MicroCenter (a Seagate Momentus XT) and swapped out the hard drive in my laptop and installed Windows 8.  Here are some of the gotchas I encountered:

How do I restart in Windows 8?
Move your mouse to the upper right hand corner.  When the pop up menu appears, click settings, then click power, then click restart.

How do I shutdown in Windows 8?
Move your mouse to the upper right hand corner.  When the pop up menu appears, click settings, then click power, then click Shutdown.  By default the power button will put the computer into sleep.  To change this, go to the new start menu, type in "Power Options" and change the power button to shut down.  Then press the power button.

How do I get my desktop start bar back on Windows 8?
Don't bother with any of the reg edits on you tube, they don't work.  You will need to install a third party tool.  This is the only one that works that is not in beta:  http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/ 

How do I change the pointer or mouse speed or acceleration in Windows 8?
Believe it or not the settings in the new start menu really doesn't do much in Windows 8.  In the new start menu in Windows 8, type in Control Panel.  Click the Hardware and Sound Link and then mouse.

How do I find the programs that I have installed in Windows 8?
In the new start menu, start typing and search for your program name.

How do I switch programs in Windows 8?
The normal Alt-Tab switching is available if you have a keyboard.  Alternatively, go to the upper left hand corner with your mouse then go to the tiny tabs on the left.  Click on the program you which to switch to.

How do I close a program in Windows 8?
Go to the upper left hand corner with your mouse then go to the tiny tabs on the left. Right click on the program you wish to close and select close.

How do I get to my desktop in Windows 8?
Click the desktop icon.

How do I get back to the new start menu in Windows 8 when I am on the desktop?
Press the windows key.

If you like this FAQ please tweet and Facebook it to your friends.  If you have any more questions about Windows 8, comment to this post.