Hassle-Free PC How to clear absolutely everything off your desktop in Windows 8.1

I'd bet that if you polled 10 PC users on the best way to use the desktop on Windows you'd get 11 different answers. How to use the desktop is one of the most personal choices each PC user makes. We've already covered ways desktop hoarders can better manage files that cover up their wallpaper, for example.

Today, we're going to look at a method to keep your desktop as spartan as possible so that all you see when you boot up your PC is a pristine background image.

Here's how to do it in Windows 8.1.

Dump the files and shortcuts

The first thing you're going to want to do is get rid of any files sitting on your desktop. Sometimes this is harder said than done, because there are files that defy any logical categorization.

For those digital odds and ends, I have a folder in my documents library called Junk Drawer. That's where I keep everything that doesn't really belong anywhere else. A similar folder might work for you.

Next, dump all the shortcuts sitting on your desktop. You really don't need them. Any apps you need quick access to are better off being pinned to the taskbar. If you're using your desktop to stash website bookmarks, learn to love your browser's bookmarks toolbar.

Get rid of the taskbar

Hide the taskbar using its properties dialog.

The second thing we'll want to do is hide the taskbar so it only appears when you drop your mouse cursor to the bottom of the screen. Right-click on the taskbar and select Properties.

Under the first tab entitled Taskbar check the box next to Auto-hide the taskbar, then click Apply and OK.

Your taskbar is now gone until you call it back. To test this, drop your mouse down to the bottom of the screen and watch  the taskbar pop back up again.

Recycle the recycle bin

Now we should be left with the Recycle Bin, and any system icons such as your user folder, Network, This PC, and so on. There are two ways to do get rid of these, but I'm going to show you the easiest one. If you want to see the slightly more complex version check out Microsoft's help pages.

One-click and you can hide everything on your desktop.

Right-click on your desktop and select View > Show desktop icons. Did you notice how everything on your desktop suddenly disappeared? Great, you're done.

You could actually use this trick to hide everything including your personal files and get a pristine desktop in one move, but that's not very organized. If you ask me, you're better off organizing any files left on your desktop first.

The one problem with this trick is that it also hides any future files you might save to the desktop as well. But even if you do save something to the desktop you can always find it again by visiting the desktop inside File Explorer.

Now you've got your pristine desktop, but how are you going to throw things out? Right-click any file or folder and select Delete to send it to the Recycle Bin.

But that brings up another problem: How do you empty the recycle bin? You can still get to the Recycle Bin by opening File Explorer and selecting Desktop under Favorites in the left-hand navigation column.  From there just right-click and select Empty Recycle Bin as always.

You can set the limit on how large your Recycle Bin gets.

Another alternative is to limit how much trash your Recycle Bin can hold. Right-click the Recycle Bin from your Explorer window and select Properties. Under Settings for selected location you should see the Custom size radio button selected and a number such as 17292. That number is in megabytes. What it says is that once the Recycle Bin reaches that 17,292 megabytes (that's 16.8 gigabytes!) limit, Recycle Bin will automatically delete its oldest files to keep some space in your trash.

You can change that number to any value you'd like to make it delete files sooner and take up less hard drive space. If you wanted to limit the Recycle Bin to 2GB, for example, you'd change the number to 2048.

The downside of this approach is that whenever you try and delete a file larger than 2GB, Windows will have to permanently delete the file and not send it to the Recycle Bin. That may be a problem if you are prone to restore files you accidentally threw out.

If you really want that pristine desktop, it will take a little getting used to since you have to change (slightly) how you throw out files. But for anyone who wants the cleanest desktop possible, it's a small price to pay.

Windows 10: 12 things you need to know

Simon Bisson

Microsoft gave the first look at its Windows 10 operating system on Tuesday, a major release that will span all hardware from PCs to phones and try to address the ills that have dogged Windows 8.

The event in San Francisco was aimed mostly at enterprise customers, and Microsoft promised an OS that will be more intuitive for the millions of workers still on Windows 7 and older OSes. Here’s a rundown of some of the key points we learned Tuesday about Windows 10.

Further reading: Hands-on with Windows 10: UI changes that look great at first blush

Why Windows 10?

The natural name would have been Windows 9, but Microsoft is eager to suggest a break with the past. “We’re not building an incremental product,” said Terry Myerson, head of Microsoft’s Operating Systems Group.

Microsoft considered the name “Windows One,” he said, to match products like OneNote and OneDrive and its “One Microsoft” business strategy. But he noted the name was snagged a long time ago, by a young Bill Gates.

Perhaps Microsoft didn’t like the idea of being numerically one step behind Apple’s OS X. (A reporter asked jokingly if subsequent versions will be named after big cats.)

Whatever the reason, Windows 10 it will be.

“When you see the product in its fullness, I think you’ll agree it’s an appropriate name for the breadth of the product family that’s coming,” Myerson said.

What car does it resemble?

Yup, Microsoft came up with a car analogy. It wants you to think of Windows 10 as a Tesla.

“Yesterday, they were driving a first-gen Prius, and when they got Windows 10 they didn’t have to learn to drive something new, but it was as if we got them a Tesla,” Myerson said.

What devices will it run on?

All of them. Microsoft demonstrated only the desktop version Tuesday, but Windows 10 will be for tablets, smartphones and embedded products, too.

Image: Microsoft

“It will run on the broadest types of devices ever, from the smallest ‘Internet of things’ device to enterprise data centers worldwide,” Myerson said. “Some of these devices have 4-inch screens, and some will have 80-inch screens. And some don’t have any screen at all.”

Is there a start menu?

There is, and it tries to combine the familiarity of Windows 7 with the modern interface of Windows 8. That means the menu is split: On the left, apps are displayed in the familiar Windows 7 style, while on the right are more colorful “live tiles” that open the modern, Windows 8-style apps. The start menu is customizable, so you can resize the tiles and move them around, and make the start menu tall and thin or long and flat.

James Niccolai

Will I still toggle between two distinct app environments?

Apparently not. In Windows 8, when you launch a modern-style app, it takes you into that modern UI, and when you launch a Win32-style app, it launches to the traditional desktop environment.

In Windows 10, “we don’t want that duality,” said Joe Belfiore, a corporate vice president with the OS group. “We want users on PCs with mice and keyboards to have their familiar desktop UI—a task bar and a start menu. And regardless of how an app was written or distributed to your machine, it works the way you expect.”

So how does it look now?

If you launched one of the new-style apps in Windows 8, it filled the whole screen and there weren’t many options to resize it. With Windows 10, the familiar “windows” metaphor is back; you’ll be able to resize the new-style apps and drag them around the screen like an old Win32 app. Conversely, if you’re using an older Win32-style app, it will be able to “snap into place” and fill all the available screen space just like the modern apps.

What else is new?

Some users have been confused by the Windows 8 interface and can’t figure out what’s open on their screen or how to get back to an app. Windows 10 has a feature like OS X’s Mission Control that lets you zoom out and see everything that’s open on a PC, then select any app to enter it.

Simon Bisson

You can also have multiple desktop configurations open and switch between them. So if you have two apps on the screen for a particular task, sized just how you want them, and then you change to some other apps, you’ll be able to get back to those first apps easily without having to resize them again. You can navigate through several of these desktop displays at the bottom of the screen.

What’s in it for business customers?

Today’s event was focused primarily on business users; Microsoft will talk about the consumer aspects of Windows 10 early next year. There weren’t a lot of specifics but here are a few points:

— Microsoft promises that Windows 10 will be more intuitive than Windows 8. “Windows 10 will be familiar to end users whether they’re coming from Windows 7 or Windows 8. The workers will be immediately productive,” Belfiore said.

— It will be compatible with “all traditional management systems in use today.” Customers are increasingly using “mobile device management” tools to manage phones and tablets. “Windows phones and tablets support MDM today, but with Windows 10, customers will be able to use MDM to manage all their Windows devices” including PCs, laptops and even Internet of things devices.

— Developers will get “one application platform,” Belfiore promised. “Whether it’s building a game or a line-of-business application, there will be one way to write a universal application that targets the entire product family,” he said.

Will it still be touch-enabled?

Yes. “We’re not giving up on touch,” Belfiore said. That means you’ll still be able to use touch to do things like scroll and pinch-to-zoom on laptops and desktops.

There’s also a new feature, tentatively called “continuum,” for people using two-in-one PCs. When you detach the keyboard from a Windows 10 hybrid, it will ask if you want to go into tablet mode. If you say yes, the UI changes to better match a tablet. The app expands to full screen, for instance, and the start menu switches into a larger-icon mode.

Is there a Command Prompt?

You’re kidding, right? Well, actually there is. Microsoft showed how it now supports shortcuts like CTRL+C and CTRL+V so you can paste in a directory listing from another app, for instance. Belfiore called it a “niche, geeky feature” but said he wanted to show the diverse range of users the OS is trying to support.

When will it be released?

The OS will launch around the middle of next year, after Microsoft’s Build conference. Before that, a select group of “Windows insiders” will receive a “technical preview build” for laptops and desktops on Wednesday this week, followed “soon after” by a preview for servers. Previews of other device categories will follow later.

How will it be priced?

Microsoft isn’t saying anything about prices yet, or any incentive programs to get people to upgrade from older OSes.

Spotify (for Windows Phone)

• Pros

  Huge music catalog. Good-looking interface. Fine sound quality.

• Cons Can't specify songs to play in free version. No artist bios. Song queue isn't editable.
• Bottom Line

  Spotify for Windows Phone offers a decent interface, a large music catalog with good discovery tools, excellent sound quality, and free shuffle play, but several functionality gaps hold it back.

By Michael Muchmore

Spotify made a big splash a few years ago as an European music service that everyone in the U.S. couldn't wait to get. Why? Because unlike the U.S. leader, Pandora, Spotify lets you play the exact song you specified, rather than just songs with similar "music DNA." Unfortunately, the mobile versions of Spotify don't let you play tunes on demand without a $9.99-per-month subscription, but the Spotify Windows Phone app (free) is well-designed and well-stocked with music.

Starting Up
You get the Spotify app as a free download from the Windows Phone Store. A Spotify Premium subscription ($9.99 per month) not only lets you specify exactly which songs and albums you want to play, but also removes skip limits and advertisements. That's the same price as an Xbox Music pass and Rdio's mobile subscription. The price winner in the space is Slacker, which offers offline listening and no-limit track skipping for just $3.99 per month (on-demand streaming costs $9.99 per month, the same as the others).

The Spotify app is a reasonable 9MB installation, is available in 26 languages, and requires the usual permissions. You can easily sign in with your Facebook account, or fill out a form with email and other details. I tested the app on a Nokia Lumia Icon.

Interface
Spotify has a decent-looking interface. Screen-filling tiles elegantly take you into the sounds you enjoy, and when you pin the app tile to the start screen, it shows the album art and the name of the track that's playing. Spotify doesn't, however, have an option to show those on the lock screen as Rdio and Slacker do. The hamburger menu button offers Search & Browse, Discover, Radio, Playlists, Inbox, Friends, and Settings. Search & Browse sports a search box at top, but also photo tiles below offering 18 genre categories.

Ads are annoying in unpaid accounts, and seem more frequent than most streaming music services. In one listening session, I heard a 30-second ad right after the first song—something I've never encountered in another streaming service. As with most free streaming music services, you get just six skips per hour if you're not thrilled with the song currently playing; you can't go back and play the previous track without a paid account.

Another shortcoming is a complete lack of artist bio, background information, and similar music suggestions. Rdio, Xbox Music, and particularly Slacker, are all stronger in this respect.

Finding Music
The main way to find music is through the Search & Browse menu option, which presents top playlists, new releases, and a wealth of genre and mood options. Drilling down into Spotify's browse categories yields a hearty selection of playlists in every sub-genre you're likely to want. A Mood section lets you choose your music based on whether you're running, driving or snoozing. There's even a PMS Playlist!

There are two primary ways to listen to music on the Spotify Windows Phone app: You can listen to a playlist or streaming Internet radio. You can browse artists and their albums as well, and add the latter as a playlist. If you're a subscriber, you simply tap on any song title to play it. If you're not a subscriber, you can play any artist, or even a particular album, but only in shuffle mode. Starring a song in curated playlists adds the tracks to your own Starred playlist. Adding an album as a playlist is also a snap, but unlike Xbox Music or eMusic, you can't actually buy the music for your permanent collection.

Another way to listen is with the Queue feature, which I found perplexing: You tap a list icon while browsing a song to add it to the queue, but there's no way to edit your queue in the app. I often found myself tapping this extra times, only to be subjected to the same music over and over.

The Catalog
Spotify wouldn't have gained the huge user base it has without a deep music catalog. Indeed, I was hard pressed to find significant holes in its musical offerings—from high-profile names like Coldplay, Led Zeppelin, and Michael Jackson to obscurities such as the Clerkes of Oxenford and Boyz Nite Out. I did run into one instance of a "This song is not available in your area." A note of caution about content: I found no setting for explicit content in the app, and indeed I did hear the F-word in a hip-hop number!

As for music quality, I was initially listening at Normal, which sounded quite good to me. I didn't hear that squeaky mp3 compression you often hear, especially on strings and in large symphonic works. But you can up that to High and Extreme quality, for both streaming and downloading. Music quality is not a problem in Spotify.

Internet Radio
You can start an Internet radio station from any song that's playing in a playlist. The Radio main menu choice also offers recommended stations and a list of 31 genres, from Alternative to Trance. The display changes while you're listening to a station rather than a playlist: You'll see thumbs up and down buttons, and, as is the custom with music apps, these refine your station to your taste.

The app did a good job of finding relevant tuneage. For example, when I started a station based on the outstanding choral group Stile Antico, I heard other renaissance choral tracks, whereas the same attempt in Slacker brought me—gasp—folk music!

Social
Not only can you share playlists you create with other users via the standard Facebook and Twitter channels (something also possible in Xbox Music and Rdio), but you can follow other Spotify users within the app (and garner followers for your own playlists). Users, in this case, includes performers, radio stations, record labels, and even companies such as McDonalds.

I only wish it were easier to add favorite performers as follows through their albums and by searching. The app does suggest follows, however, and you can easily follow Facebook friends if you've connected that social network. Your Inbox shows what's new among those you follow, but Rdio does a better job in this area. It shows not only the contact's playlist, but also their recent activity and top albums.

As is often the case with Windows Phone apps compared with the larger-market-share platforms, this version of Spotify lacks some features: There's no equalizer, or cross-fade/gapless playback option. But those are really niceties: You get the bulk of what Spotify is about.

Spot On Sounds?
If Spotify is your preferred purveyor of music, this app can certainly satisfy your needs. It offers a huge catalog, fine audio quality, music suggestions, Internet radio options, and offline listening. Paying subscribers can even specify particular songs and albums to play. That's all pretty much identical to what you get in Rdio, Slacker, and Xbox Music. But there's no permanent (DRM-free) music purchasing or artist information like you get with Xbox music. 

Rdio (for Windows Phone)

• Pros

  Decent interface, with Windows Phone-specific features. Large music catalog. Good sound quality.

• Cons Free account not very functional. No Internet radio station creation. Play controls don't show while you're multitasking in app. Weak social-sharing capabilities.
• Bottom Line

  Rdio is an excellent music streaming service, but you wouldn't know that from its Windows Phone app.

By Michael Muchmore

Rdio (free; $9.99 per month for full song plays) is the cool new kid among streaming music services, with a trendy but usable design and a full-featured Web interface. The service's Windows Phone app brings some of this slickness, along with Rdio's large selection of music, but it's pretty deficient compared with the Web and iPhone versions of the service. Missing are basics like similar-music radio station creation and adding social contacts. And the free version is little more than a song-preview service.

Getting Started With Rdio
You get the free Rdio app from the Windows Phone Store. It's a very small 2MB download, though its storage usage will balloon if you download a lot of songs for offline listening. I tested the app by installing it on a Nokia Lumia Icon. You can sign up with any email address or with your Facebook credentials. Next, you accept the terms of service, and choose whether you want Rdio to take over your lock screen with album art for currently playing songs.

The first thing you'll see is the upgrade option, but you won't need this for three days: The app automatically starts as a trial of the $9.99 per month Rdio Unlimited subscription, which offers on-demand song playing and offline listening. If you're not a paid subscriber, you can't do much besides play 30-second previews of songs you find. By comparison, Slacker and Spotify's free versions at least let you play shuffled albums and related songs in Pandora style. While Rdio's Web and iPhone versions do this, too, the Windows Phone app doesn't.

Interface
Rdio has a classic Windows Phone interface, with left-to-right swiping between functions. In this case your choices are the home screen (with links to your profile, collection, playlists, queue, and Now Playing), Heavy Rotation, Recent Activity, Top Charts, and New Releases. Under all these pages is a Search button that lets you find any artist, song, or album.

On your profile page, you can see your collection, playlists, followers, and following list. Swipe right and you'll see your top albums and recent activity. One thing I prefer about Spotify's interface is that you always see the currently playing song across the bottom no matter what you're doing in the app. With Rdio, you have to navigate back to your home screen and choose Now Playing just to pause or skip.

Rdio's Music Selection
Rdio's catalog is more than large enough to suit most tastes. Along with the latest popular and indie hits from four major record labels, you get the tunes of Michael Jackson and Jimi Hendrix, but Led Zeppelin and Beatles lovers need to look elsewhere. The jazz and classical sections are well-stocked, and you also get comedy if you prefer laughing to singing along. It's not quite iTunes' selection, but it will work for most users. 

Though there's no setting in the app for sound quality, I tested with my phone connected to high-quality PC speakers using Shostakovich's fiery 10th Symphony as performed by the Liverpool Philharmonic as a test track. In a back-to-back comparsion, the sound was every bit as good as Spotify's High Quality mode.

Social
Rdio has a pretty good social story, but not so much in the Windows Phone app. You can't share a song or album while playing it; in fact I could only find users to follow using another version of Rdio, such as the website. From the app, however, I could see recent activity by those I followed and subscribe to their playlists. One unique capability of Rdio is collaborative playlists, which is a good idea.

Rdio for Windows Phone Needs a Redo
Rdio is one of the cooler music services around, but its Windows Phone app needs work. Yes, it lets you find and play the music with high-quality sound from its strong catalog. And yes, it lets you see what your contacts are up to, but, especially in the free version, it's just way too limited. No radio, no social sharing, and no full song plays for free.

Hopefully Rdio will upgrade its Windows Phone app so that it can compete with the likes of Spotify, Slacker, and Xbox Music. Once we've reviewed all of those services on the Windows Phone platform, we'll designate a new Editors' Choice for on-demand streaming music apps. But in its current form, the Rdio app isn't much of a contender. Meanwhile, you can check out Pandora, our Editors' Choice for Windows Phone Internet radio apps.

Hassle-Free PC Need help? Microsoft Stores offer free tech support, PC tune-ups, malware removal

Windows users without a hefty dose of technical knowledge always have a tough time getting help. If you don't have a geeky friend handy, PC problems often mean dragging your computer down to the Geek Squad or local PC shop, where you'll be charged a crazy amount of money to have malware removed or speed up a slowing PC.

No more!

If you live near a Microsoft Store some of the peskiest PC problems can now be fixed in-person for free. Microsoft's retail locations recently started offering their Windows-focused answer to Apple's Genius Bar: the Answer Desk.

Longtime Windows users may remember the name Answer Desk as a website that debuted in 2011, offering live 24/7 technical support. The Microsoft Store's Answer Desk is an extension of that original service.

But instead of getting help online, you can now bring your virus-laden PC into the Microsoft Store and the retail outlet will fix it for free, as Lifehacker points out. It also doesn't matter if you bought your PC at the Microsoft Store, Best Buy, or Staples. If it runs Windows, Microsoft will try and fix it.

Microsoft Answer Desk website

An overview of the Microsoft Answer Desk's free in-person help options. (Click to enlarge.)

Currently, Microsoft's free tier at the in-person Answer Desk includes extended diagnostics on any device, software repair or support, virus and malware removal, and PC tune-ups for improving performance.

If your problem is a little more severe, Microsoft will charge $49 to help with warranty issues, hardware upgrades/installations, app installs, Windows 8.1 upgrades/installs, data backup migration, and OneDrive setup across all your devices.

Okay, so maybe Microsoft is still gouging PC users a little bit—almost $50 to set up OneDrive, really?—but it's not nearly as bad as you'll find at other places. Best Buy's Geek Squad, for example, will charge $200 just to remove viruses and spyware from your PC via an in-store drop off. And some of those premium tech support areas—such as OneDrive setup—are free if you buy a new PC from the Microsoft Store.

Even if you're not a Microsoft Store shopper, the next time you have a problem with your PC that no one else can help you with, consider scheduling an appointment with the Microsoft Store's Answer Desk.