If you are like me – you rely heavily on the Num Lock key and having it disabled on boot is extremely annoying – using a quick registry change you can enable Numlock by default in Windows 8.

HOW TO enable NUMLOCK ON STARTUP​

1. Press the Windows Key to open the Tile (Metro) screen
2. Type: regedit to search for the Windows Registry Editor and press Enter.
3. When the Registry Editor loads – navigate through:
4. HKEY_USERS,.DEFAULT, Control Panel, and Keyboard.
5. Locate the InitialKeyboardIndicators entry and right-click it, select Modify.
6. Enter 2 into the box.
7. Click OK to save the changes.

How to disable Numlock on Startup​

Follow the same steps till: Step 6 than instead of 2 type: 2147483648.

Changing your user photo in Windows 8 is remarkably easy and helps make a standard Windows 8 installation… More… You!

1. Open the Start screen and click your user picture
2. Click Change Account Picture.
3. Click the Browse button.
4. Navigate the browser until you find an image you want to use and click it.
5. Select Choose Image.
6. Done – you have now changed your Account Picture.

Navigating around Windows 8 can be a lot faster and more efficient with the use of keyboard shortcuts called Hotkeys – the below guide is a list of Windows 8 hotkeys for navigating the user interface.

Windows Key – Opens the Start screen
Windows Key+Tab – Metro app switcher
Windows Key+C – System charms
Windows Key+Z – Application charms
Windows Key+I – Settings menu
Windows Key+K – Devices menu
Windows Key+H – Share menu
Windows Key+F – Search files on Start screen
Windows Key+Q – Application search on Start screen
Windows Key+W – Settings search on Start screen
Windows Key+. (Period) – Snap Metro app to the right side of the screen
Windows Key+Shift+. (Period) – Snap Metro app to the left side of the screen (only works on wide-screen monitors)

Networking is a marvel of interconnected devices and languages – Windows networking protocols help that happen by making sure 2 devices are sharing the same method of communicating. This is a quick reference guide on what each Protocol and Client on the Windows OS does.

Client for Microsoft Networks
Used to access other shared resources on your local network running the File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks protocol.
QOS Packet Scheduler
Used to provide traffic management on your network for applications that support the protocol.
File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks
Used to share your printer and files on your computer with other computers on your local network.
Microsoft Network Adapter Multiplexor Protocol
provides the ability to load balance between two or more network cards.
Microsoft LLDP Protocol Driver
Used to create the network map used in the Network browser and Networking and Sharing Centre.
Link Layer Topology Discovery Mapper I/O Driver
Used to discover other computers connected to your local network.
Link Layer Topology Responder
Used to identify your computer to other computers connected to your local network.
Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6)
A new version of the IPv4 protocol. Unless you are connected to an IPv6 network (most of you are not), you can safely disable this protocol.
Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)
Primary network communication protocol. Do not disable this protocol.

Imaging computers using Windows Deployment Services or System Center – can be painful when you don’t know the MAC address of a computer finding a MAC address through PXE boot can be quite useful – this needs to be done from the physical workstation.

1. Start the computer
2. Tap F12 to start network boot as soon as the computer starts to boot
3. You should get to a black screen with some white writing – select Pause/Break on your keyboard to pause this screen the MAC address should display.