Solve Windows 8 ‘PC ran into a problem and needs to restart’

March 6, 2013 By Pranav PANDEY 1 Comment

I have recently upgraded my Windows 7 to Windows 8 on my HP TM2 laptop and since then the learning curve has been pretty steep and I have learned my new things within windows 8 along with the hidden issues of it. One of the most annoying and recurring was the issue while shutting down my PC. The error I was getting was pretty simple, most of the time while shutting down, windows used to crash and I was getting following error screen:

The error reads as:

Your PC ran into a problem and needs to restart. We’re just collecting some error info and then we’ll restart for you.

A similar error was this one:

Which reads as:

Your PC ran into a problem. This problem caused your PC to restart. You can send info to Microsoft about what went wrong to help us improve Windows.

Initially when I was taken unwillingly to this screen by the great windows OS, I didn’t try to fix it and I thought, may be it’s just a replacement screen for the great blue screen of previous versions of Windows but then I started getting this screen very often and finally I decided to look for a solution and after googling, I found a fix which is pretty simple.

Step 1:

Open power option either by clicking on the battery icon if you are on a laptop else by using shortcut “Window Key + X” and then choosing “Power Options”:

Step 2:

Choose “Change what the power buttons do“.

Step 3:

Once you are on Power Button page, click on the “Change settings that are currently unavailable” text in blue color.

chnage what power button does — Activate unavailable options

Step 4:

If the “Turn on Fast start-up” is unchecked then check it and if its checked then uncheck it and save the changes and you are done.

Activate or deactivate fast shut-down to resolve the issue.

Hopefully, if there is no other hidden surprise in windows 8, you won’t see this message again [fingers crossed].

Windows Blue To Succeed Windows 8!

March 4, 2013 By Abhishek Prakash 2 Comments

It’s not even a year since Windows 8 has been released and rumours are doing the round that its successor codenamed ‘Windows Blue’ might be shipped by the middle of this year. This indeed is weird keeping in mind that Microsoft has termed Windows 8 a ‘success’ despite many people switching back to Windows 7 (not sure if someone went back to Vista).

Where did it start?

The report was first leaked with a official Microsoft job announcement (link removed from the site now) that sighted an experience engineer. The job description read as:

Windows Blue promises to build and improve upon these aspects of the OS, enhancing ease of use and the overall user experience on devices and PCs worldwide.

Microsoft declined to comment on it and thus neither denied it nor accepted it.

Is it really a new OS?

As reported by Win8China the new Windows Blue is a major update to Windows 8 rather than a full fledged system. In other words, it could be termed as Service Pack to Windows 8. But no confirmation has come to whether the Windows 8 will renamed to Windows Blue after wards or not. As speculation goes, it should be free for current Windows 8 users.

Features of Windows Blue:

Windows Blue is supposed to have the following features to provide improvements on Windows 8:

A better search for online contents such as Windows app, fully integrated with Bing (gauche! Kill me please).
Built on new Kernel
Equipped with Internet Explorer 11 (like I’m gonna use it)
Will support smaller (6-8 inches) touch devices. This could be for Surface Mini.
Will be faster and consume less power (I don’t trust it)
Better integration of apps to Windows environment

I sincerely hope Windows Blue to be an improvement on Windows 8 rather than reminding us of Blue from the notorious Blue Screen Of Death. The news about Windows Blue has at least proved one thing, Windows OS are good in alternate version only. Don’t believe me? Take a look at the curios case of Windows OS (Courtesy: 9Gag):

How To Search In Windows 8 Store [Quick Tip]

February 2, 2013 By Abhishek Prakash Leave a Comment

Continuing my journey with Windows 8, I stumbled across several hurdles such as how to shutdown Windows 8, or hibernate Windows 8 etc. One of the crucial feature of Windows 8 is its Windows store. It consists of cool apps for Windows 8, similar to iTunes and Google Play. Only little problem here, no obvious option to search for an app inside the store. In this quick tutorial we’ll see how to search in Windows 8 store.

Step 1:

When you are in Windows Store, hover the mouse to the top right or bottom right corner of the screen to access the settings menu. Click on the search icon:

Step 2:

When it gives you the option to search, type the keywords for the app you are looking for. As you start typing, Windows starts suggesting what app you might be looking for. In the picture below, I was looking for Evernote and I got several suggestions:

In fact you can search the Windows store from anywhere. When you perform a search, by default it looks in the list of installed apps. But it also has the option to redefine search for Windows Store. Choice is yours.

How To Enable Hibernation In Windows 8

January 31, 2013 By Abhishek Prakash Leave a Comment

Previously we discussed how to shutdown Windows 8. By default the power button in Windows 8 has only three options, Sleep, Shut Down and Restart. Long time Windows users might remember the good old “hibernation” option in previous versions of Windows. Lets see how can we enable the hibernation option in Windows 8 power button.

Step 1:

Press Windows + I to bring the settings options and then click on Control Panel:

Step 2:

In control panel go to Power Options. You can reach it via Hardware and Sound option in control panel:

In Power Options, click on Change what the power buttons do:

Step 3:

In here, click on Change settings that are currently available:

Step 4:

Scroll down to the bottom to see the options in Shutdown settings. Check Hibernation button to include it in power button option. Save changes:

That’s it. No need for a reboot. Next time you click on the power button you will see the hibernation option there. Enjoy

How To Free Up Space By Deleting Previous Windows Installation

January 30, 2013 By Abhishek Prakash 1 Comment

When I first installed Windows 8, the first thing I wondered was how to shutdown Windows 8. Anyways, that was a quite easy. While exploring Windows 8, I found that my C Drive is pretty much full. I have a 100 GB space allotted for C drive and I did not expect it to be full. As you know, a full C drive leads to a slower computing experience, it was my foremast task to clean up the C Drive.

As I see later, my C Drive was full thanks to previous Windows installations. I had previously upgraded Windows 7 to Windows 8 Consumer preview and thus it was taking lots of space (almost 50 GB, can you believe it?). Lets see how you can clean up your C Drive to free up some space on your computer.

Step 1:

Search for Disk Space in Metro. To do that use the Windows key (the one with Windows sign on it) and start typing disk space. Click on Settings from right column to redefine your search. And then choose Free up disk space by deleting unnecessary files to open the disk clean up tool.

Step 2:

In the disk clean up tool, you won’t see the option to delete the files from previous Windows versions. To see this option, click on the Clean up system files.

Step 3:

Choose the drive where you install Windows. Usually its C drive.

Step 4:

It will take some time to scan your system for removable files. Just wait here for some times.

Step 5:

Now it will show you the option of deleting previous Windows installations and temporary Windows installation files. The previous Windows installation will delete all your documents, pictures, music etc that might be present there. So make sure that you have backed up all the things. In case you are not sure, you can check Windows.old folder in C drive to see what it is going to delete.

That’s it. Click on OK to delete the previous installation of Windows. You will have much more free space now on your C drive for a smoother Windows 8 experience.

How To Turn Off, Shut Down Or Restart Windows 8 Easily

January 29, 2013 By Abhishek Prakash 5 Comments

The all new fancy and glassy looking Windows 8 may give you a little bit of trouble with its redefined interface. And the first thing you will notice is that the famous ‘start’ button is missing and so is the option of turn off and restart. In this quick tutorial we’ll see how to turn off, shut down or restart Windows 8 in two clicks.

How To Shut Down Windows 8:

Step 1:

Move the cursor to top right or bottom right of the screen. The launcher will come up. Click on Settings from it.

Step 2:

When you click on the Settings, it will be moved to another pan where you’ll have several options such as Control Panel, Personalization, Wireless Settings etc. There you will find the good old Power button symbol (similar to the first picture in this article). You will recognize it in one go. Just click on it and you will be presented with three options:

Sleep
Shutdown
Restart

Take your pick. Its neat and easy. Just two clicks and you’ll get to choose to shut down or restart Windows 8. Feel free to put your comments in the section below if you face troubles.

Tip:

You can use Windows 8 keyboard shortcut, Windows + I to bring this setting

This was the first ‘problem’ I faced after I figured out how to install Windows 8 without purchasing the license key again. More Windows 8 tricks are coming soon. Stay tuned by liking our Facebook page and subscribing to the blog. Enjoy Windows 8.

What Are The Differences Between Different Windows 8 Editions in DreamSpark

January 24, 2013 By Abhishek Prakash Leave a Comment

If you are a student or a staff of a university that partners in Microsoft’s DreamSpark program (formerly known as MSDN Academic Alliance, MSDNAA), you can get a wide variety of Microsoft products for free and the list includes Windows 8. When you go in to your account of DreamSpark to download Windows 8, you might be seeing not one but around ten Windows 8 options available. In this post, we’ll see what is the differences between different Windows 8 versions in DreamSpark.

Microsoft Windows 8 with Apps 32-bit
Microsoft Windows 8 with Apps 64-bit
Microsoft Windows 8 Debug/Checked Build 32-bit
Microsoft Windows 8 Debug/Checked Build 64-bit
Microsoft Windows 8 SDK 32/64-bit
Microsoft Windows 8 Symbols 32-bit
Microsoft Windows 8 Symbols 64-bit
Microsoft Windows 8 Symbols Debug/Checked Build 32-bit
Microsoft Windows 8 Symbols Debug/Checked Build 64-bit
Microsoft Windows 8 WDF Co-installer 32/64-bit
Microsoft Windows 8 WDK 32/64-bit
Microsoft Windows Hardware Certification Kit 32/64-bit

1 & 2:

If you are looking to install Windows 8 for normal, daily life computing purposes, these two are the real candidates. You can choose either of them depending upon the your processor. Read this to find whether your processor is 32 bit or 64 bit.

3 & 4:

The is used for debugging device drivers. It contains run-time checks for error conditions and has run-time optimizations removed. 32 bit and 64 bit has the same concept as explained above.

5:

This is just the Software Development Kit for Windows 8. It is used for developing Windows 8 apps.

6 & 7:

These are just the Symbols for Windows 8., used for debugging purposes. They are of no use.

8 & 9:

Same as above, but checked again. These too are of no use.

10 & 11:

Used for driver development. WDF means the Windows Driver Foundation and WDK refers to the Windows Driver Kit.

12:

It is extensively used for hardware certification.

Source: Superuser.com

How To Re-Download And Install Windows 8 Without Purchasing It Again

January 21, 2013 By Abhishek Prakash 1 Comment

When we last see how to install Windows 8 consumer preview, little we knew that we will have problems installing Windows 8. As you know, Microsoft has stressed on using Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant for upgrading to Windows 8 from earlier version of Windows. It comes as a surprise why Microsoft is so focused on “upgrade” rather than the famed “DVD installation”.

Anyways, when I decided to install (read upgrade to) Windows 8, I was presented with the infamous Upgrade Assistant that checked my system for compatibility with Windows 8. After I get the green signal from it, I proceeded with purchasing the Windows 8 key. Pretty easy, huh! I thought. The order details about the purchase along with the key was sent to my personal email-id.

It was around mid-night when I started downloading Windows 8. When I woke up the next morning, I found that the Windows 8 download failed automatically in the middle. Never mind, I said, I’ll do it again. And that is where the problem arise. When I ran the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant again, I was asked to purchase Windows 8 again. Now, this irked me. Hello Microsoft! I just fu*king bought it. Why should I buy it again. Duh!

And I am pretty much sure I am not alone. Web is filled with users who encountered problem with downloads such as access is denied, download failed after 100%, download failed in the middle etc.

In this tutorial we will see how to re-download Windows 8 setup files without purchasing it again. This will be helpful to all the people who could not complete the Windows 8 download and are now asked to purchase it again.

How to re-download Windows 8 setup files without purchasing it again:

Remember, that I mentioned that the purchase detail had been mailed to me? The idea is, you must have the “license key” to download the Windows 8 set-up files again. Make sure you have it with you.

Now, go to and download the Windows 8 Setup. Mind that it is not the same as Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant. You can find this link in the email sent to you:

Alternative:

If you don’t have the Windows 8 license key emailed to you, you can download the setup files from the Windows 8 Summary page. You have to provide information that you used while purchasing it such as your name, address etc. This will take you to your order summary. On this page you can find the license key. On the same page you can also find the link to download the setup files.

Once you have downloaded the Windows 8 Setup application (approximately 5 MB in size), you can run it to download the complete Windows 8 files.

Further troubleshoot:

If you have further troubles with a failed download, you may have to remove the existing “failed downloaded” files. For this, you have to delete the following folder:

C:\Users\USER_NAME\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WebSetup

Change the USER_NAME with your own user name. If you are not able to delete it because of “access denied” error, try restarting the computer.

I hope this article helped you in re-download and installing Windows 8 without purchasing it again. Cheers

iPad Vs Surface- Is The Surface Tablet A First Real Threat To iPad?

November 5, 2012 By Medha BN 1 Comment

Apple has almost swallowed the tablet world with its iPad. iPad has all the incredible features any tablet can ever offer to its users. It gives the most incredible experience and reliability any tablet freak may ever expect. Yet, iPad is more a luxury to invest with little ability of using it for productive work. You can browse, play, use social media, network and do business with 3G/4G connectivity and indulge in fun. If this is what you are going to use an iPad then by all means you can invest in it.

The Apple’s iPad USPs are:

Universal compatibility with other ios devices.
It’s all about apps. With an awesome dev support system the huge apps market on itunes brings in quality tested apps to the end users.
No USB port or hardware connecting alternatives and hence no risk of virus infection.
The retina display of iPad kills its competitors!
Though expensive it gives value for money.

iPad is mostly suitable for content absorption and entertainment which can hardly be used for productive purpose; where as in a Surface tab absorption as well as production is highly possible. Really I even struggle to type an article on my iPad with so little space for ten fingers on the screen to move. A light key pad would come in handy any time. With a built-in CPU, Surface is a tablet computer and the real work for real working freaks is really possible!

The Microsoft’s surface USPs are:

Surface is definitely going to be a hit with people who love working on laptops over tablets (anyways working on tablet is a challenge!). It is a touch screen tablet which can be easily converted to a laptop computer making it a workaholic friend on the go.
Surface makes it easy for people who do not like to carry two devices (MacBook air and iPad).
It has USB ports for external hardware connectivity.
Fully loaded with office 2013 which I guess people would love to use.

However, the apps store does not look very attractive for the developers. Less number of quality apps may keep people wondering on the investment. The battery life may be a little disappointing factor if you really need to worry! Screen resolution is not very great either. But as for most of the first generation devices there are some loop holes (if I may call them so) for sure. But the OS Windows RT on surface tablet ought to do its bit in impressing the users.

You have a full-fledged touch screen mobile device i.e. iPhone 5 which also has bigger screen than its ancestor iPhone 4, then why invest in a tablet like iPad 3 or mini again! Macbook-Air falls in the league of lightest laptops which is bulkier as compared to surface. Ultimately the better option would be to consider buying a tablet come laptop i.e. Surface. Still better I would watch out for the surface-pro which is yet to be released! Surface Pro please take my money but limit it to $1000 or below!!!

Unless you have all the bucks to invest in a touchscreen phone, a tablet, a laptop and desktop it’s anytime a good idea to look for a device loaded with most of the hardware and software features of these devices.

Taking on and beating a company is another thing when the real question about usability, affordability, mobility or luxury arises. Which one are you planning to buy or think is a good investment?

Making Your Computer Experience Better

Step 1:

Step 2:

Step 3:

Step 4:

Where did it start?

Is it really a new OS?

Features of Windows Blue:

Step 1:

Step 2:

Step 1:

Step 2:

Step 3:

Step 4:

Step 1:

Step 2:

Step 3:

Step 4:

Step 5:

How To Shut Down Windows 8:

Step 1:

Step 2:

Tip:

1 & 2:

3 & 4:

5:

6 & 7:

8 & 9:

10 & 11:

12:

How to re-download Windows 8 setup files without purchasing it again:

Alternative:

Further troubleshoot:

The Apple’s iPad USPs are:

The Microsoft’s surface USPs are: