Windows 8 tips: increase productivity

Disable the lock screen

If you like your PC to boot just as fast as possible then the new Windows 8 lock screen may not appeal. Don't worry, though, if you'd like to ditch this then it only takes a moment.Launch REGEDIT, and browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Personalization (create the Personalization key if it doesn't exist).Click Personalization in the left-hand pane. Right-click in the right-hand pane, select New > DWORD Value, and give it the name NoLockScreen.Double-click your new NoLockScreen value, set it to 1, click OK, and when you next reboot it the lock screen will have gone. If you decide to restore it for some reason, set NoLockScreen to 0 or delete it entirely.

Install anything

Most mobile platforms recommend you only install apps from approved sources to protect your security, and Windows 8 is the same: it'll only allow you to install trusted (that is, digitally signed) apps from the Windows store.If this proves a problem, though, and you're willing to take the security risk (because this isn't something to try unless you're entirely sure it's safe), then the system can be configured to run trusted apps from any source.It's all done via a single Registry key, too. Just launch REGEDIT and set the value of the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Appx\AllowAllTrustedApps key to 1.


 Pin app contents to the Start screen

It's easy to pin apps to the Start screen (right-click, select "Pin"), but you don't have to stop there. Many apps also enable you to pin particular content for easy access later.If you want more ideas for your upcoming holiday in Rome, for instance, you could open the Travel app, right-click, select "Destinations" and choose the "Rome" tile. And then repeat those steps every single time you revisit the page. Or, alternatively, right-click your preferred Destination tile, select "Pin...", and you'll be able to access it directly from the Start screen.Similarly, if you use the Mail app with multiple accounts then just open these, and you can right-click to select separate live tiles for each one - much more useful.

Log in automatically
WARNING: Your account will lose admin privileges as a result of this stepOf course even if you remove the lock screen, you'll still be forced to manually log in every time your system starts. This can also be resolved at speed, though, using much the same technique as in previous versions of Windows.Hold down the Windows key, press R, type 'netplwiz' and press Enter to launch the User Accounts dialog.Clear the "Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer" box and click OK.Enter the user name and password of the account that you'd like to be logged in automatically, click OK, restart your system and this time it should boot directly to the Start screen.

Use six apps at once
Launch a Windows 8 app and it appears full-screen, which is fine on a small tablet but not so impressive when you've got a 27-inch widescreen monitor to fill.Toolbox for Windows 8 helps out, though, by bundling 12 common apps in a single package. You get a Facebook client, browser, calculator, weather app, clock and more. And instead of always appearing full-screen, you can run and interact with two, three, four, even six of these tools, all at the same time.