How-To: Change lock screen, UAC settings, file/folder permission, etc.

[mouse24]

The (not)all encompassing guide to windows 8.

Forewarning, for most of these tutorials theres only one or two ways to do them so the methods I use will likely be in other places to, I am trying to put my own spin on it by being as concise and noob friendly as possible. Also, pictures... Everyone loves pictures, right?


I personally like the "insert random string of characters and use the search function" thats so popular around the gamefaqs area and other generic walkthrough sites, so thats what I will be using.


Changing lock screen . . . . . . . . . . QSTN#1
Changing UAC settings . . . . . . . . . . .QSTN#2
Logging in as Admin . . . . . . . . . . . . . QSTN#3
Changing file/folder permissions . . . .QSTN#4
Adding a Partition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . QSTN#5



[QSTN#1] Changing lock screen background
Well I can say this, after changing the logon/lock backgound for windows 7, windows 8 requires just a bit less work.
Lets get started, This is fairly simple though it does require logging on as admin though. If you don't know how to do that, its covered in QSTN#4



First of all get a picture you want as a lock screen background... You done? (Also enable hidden files, go into control panel, icon view, Folder Options, view, tick show hidden files and folders, hit apply.
Should look like this.

Good, now navigate to > my computer > (whatever your boot drive is) > programData > microsoft > windows > SystemData (if you have problems opening this file, go to section QSTN#4) > S-1-5-18 > ReadOnly .... Now once inside you should have a folder named "Z",

that will be where your current lock picture is. Replace that with a picture of your choosing. The best way to do this is renaming the current file from what it is and just adding the word backup or something to let you know its the previous background file. Now what you have to do is copy and paste your new picture into that directory and rename it to what the lock file was originally named. So, you should have the backup file that you renamed, and the renamed file that you chose.

Alright, now you might get a blue screen when you hit "lock" (Not the bad kind, its an actual blue screen). To fix this, right click on the picture you just placed and renamed, add full control for system (you will have to add this in, just like before)

Aaaaand with that, you should be done

[QSTN#2] Changing UAC settings

This one, again is very simple and straight forward. Hit start > control panel > User accounts > hit change user account control > hit ok on UAC prompt > move the thingy to where you like.

[QSTN#3] Logging in as Admin

Get to metro, type CMD, command prompt should pop up, right click, at the bottom of the screen you should see run as admin and a few other options, hit that. Accept the UAC prompt. Type in "net user administrator /active:yes" (No quotes and you can disable this later by changing yes to no obviously)

[QSTN#4] Changing file/folder permissions

Right click what you want to change (And be logged in as admin) select properties > Security > advanced > 2nd line, hit change > enter user anme in the text field > hit check names > hit ok Hit the checkbox that says to apply to subfolders > apply > you should now be able to mess about with the file/folder.

 

[mouse24]

[QSTN#5] Partitioning a Drive

The idea behind this might seem like its counter-intuitive but its really not. I mean lets say you have a 500gb drive, you might be thinking, why would I ever want to partition it. Well for a couple reasons. Having seperate areas for your OS/backup/movies/etc sure as heck makes when you need to reformat a MUCH easier time. It removes the need to move files around out when all you have on that partition is your OS, right?

Well, I blabbered on enough, lets get started.
First off, go to control panel, then administrator tools, then computer management. A screen like this should pop up.

click on disk management to the side. To create a new partition just right click the volume you want to shrink, hit shrink volume

Then you should see a screen like this.

Basically just read what it says, enter the amount of space you would like your new "drive" to be and hit shrink, once thats done you should be back at the computer management page. you should also have some unallocated space, right click that and hit new simple volume.

A new window should popup, follow the on screen instructions on that. If you don't know what some of the things mean then just leave them at default. Once done you should have something at looks a bit like this. And you should be done.

 

[kyllien]

QSTN#1: Goto Change PC Settings from any charms menu or search for it on the start menu (find it under settings). Then under Personalize and with Lock Screen selected click the Browse button. From there you can pick the picture library you want to choose from. I like to take pictures with my phone so I choose Camera Roll. If you drop down Files you can select Photos, from there you can access which ever photo libraries you have configured such as SkyDrive, another Windows 8 computer, Facebook etc.

Tip: Avoid pictures that have a bright white background especially in the lower left corner as these will make reading the Clock and other Lock screen apps difficult.

Tip: You can configure the other Lock Screen settings from here too such as adding notification icons like messenger, mail, calendar, weather, Skype etc...

No special rights needed unless you are trying to access files or folders that you don't already have access too.

 

[chugot9218]

Nice guide, lots of useful info! I believe I found it on Tom's, but the GodMode menu is pretty neat, puts all relevant settings (including those described here) on one screen for you! Here is a guide to that: http://www.hanselman.com/blog/UnlockingWindows8GodModeAUsefulTrickButAlsoMysteriousNonsense.aspx

 

[mouse24]

QSTN#1: Goto Change PC Settings from any charms menu or search for it on the start menu (find it under settings). Then under Personalize and with Lock Screen selected click the Browse button. From there you can pick the picture library you want to choose from. I like to take pictures with my phone so I choose Camera Roll. If you drop down Files you can select Photos, from there you can access which ever photo libraries you have configured such as SkyDrive, another Windows 8 computer, Facebook etc.

Tip: Avoid pictures that have a bright white background especially in the lower left corner as these will make reading the Clock and other Lock screen apps difficult.

Tip: You can configure the other Lock Screen settings from here too such as adding notification icons like messenger, mail, calendar, weather, Skype etc...

No special rights needed unless you are trying to access files or folders that you don't already have access too.

I thought I saw someone mention that it was only in higher tier versions of windows 8 that allowed the charms menu to change the lock screen. I could be wrong though, I haven't explored around the different versions much.

Ah yeah thanks for the white background tip, I should probably put that in the guide somewhere... Ah well, they can see that from my picture anyhow.

Nice guide, lots of useful info! I believe I found it on Tom's, but the GodMode menu is pretty neat, puts all relevant settings (including those described here) on one screen for you! Here is a guide to that: http://www.hanselman.com/blog/Unlo [...] sense.aspx

Thanks for the compliment! Never heard of godmode before but I'll definitely check it out.

 

[Pigeonherd]

[QSTN#5] Partitioning a Drive

I came upon the link to this thread from another thread in which you had stated you wanted feedback from someone who was basically lost, so here ya go....

Awesomely easy to follow.
I just purchased a new machine pre-loaded with W8, and am generally lost without the Start icon in my taskbar. My work machine is W7, and my previous personal was a Mac, so this was just the perfect level of screenshots and red circles. I looked EVERYWHERE for how to get into Disk Management without the Start icon. The Windows forum just don't seem to want me to partition my own machine....
Thanks for the answer!