Need a Windows 8.1 guru

[OldRod]

I upgraded my office desktop to Windows 8.1 this week. No I am finding things that were such simple tasks under Windows 7... and are seemingly impossible under Windows 8.1

For instance: I want to have the "File Explorer" open to a certain path when I click it on the task bar. In earlier versions, you'd just edit the shortcut and set the target value. In 8.1, the target field is greyed out.

So I Googled and found how to create a shortcut directly on the desktop and have it run explorer directly and give it the path I want... everyone swears it works, but I can't make it work. Explorer still defaults to "This PC" when it opens, instead of the path I want it to open to.

Anyone know a way to do this that works in 8.1?

[Jackolantern]

Download Pokki. It gives you a very powerful Start Button replacement which is actually more powerful than the Windows 7 Start Button. You can add any folder you want to its "Favorites" menu for easy access. You can favorite programs, folders, websites, Windows 8 Store apps, and pretty much anything else you can think of.

As far as actually making a shortcut to a path, I have no idea, since I just put it in Pokki.

[OldRod]

I'll check that out. I was hoping for a way to do it without a 3rd party app.

Windows 8 may be a great OS and all that, but why in the heck do they feel the need to change crap constantly? "My Computer" is now "This PC"... as if I couldn't tell the difference before?

At least with 8.1, you can default to desktop mode on boot up, but with all the little crap "dinking around" changes they made, Microsoft has succeeded in making me even more angry with them than I already was... and I didn't think that was possible. It took me forever to find Control Panel for crying out loud.

I read Kindle books on my PC all the time. The Kindle program for Windows 8 is an 'app' now that was designed for touch screens. Using it on a non-touch screen machine apparently prevents you from changing font sizes and other display options (at least I haven't figured it out yet).

I don't live in the cloud 100% of the time, and I don't have a touchscreen computer... stop assuming I do!

[Jackolantern]

Pokki may be a 3rd party app, but it should seriously be a requirement for every Windows 8 owner. I would have freaked-out on this OS and formatted a long time ago. But because of Pokki I love Windows 8. It made that much of a difference.

1. Install Pokki, choosing the option to launch into Desktop (which it sounds like Windows offers that option now) and to hide the corner screen shortcut bars
2. Re-associate all video, music and image file formats to Desktop applications
3. Download Kindle for PC app (it is still out there; you don't have to use the Metro one)
4. Enjoy Windows 8

[OldRod]

3. Download Kindle for PC app (it is still out there; you don't have to use the Metro one)

I was going to try that... I figured it still was out there somewhere

[Jackolantern]

I will be honest, I only open a Metro app maybe once every other month or so. Usually as a last resort if I am having a problem opening a file or need to find a program to open a spacey file type (god help you if you download a Desktop program you have never heard of to open a weird file type, but at least Metro apps all run in a pretty safe sandbox with few options to be malicious).

[MikuzA]

I have Win8.1, couldn't use it without Pokki.
I lol'd so hard when MS gave the 'Windows'-button back on 8.1, but it throws the awful start-menu into fullscreen. So Pokki <3

(Note: I'm using Win8.1 on a desktop computer)

[OldRod]

OK, I'm downloading it now. Can you pin a folder directly to the task bar with it, so I could open directly to c:\wamp\www or some other folder if I wanted? That was my original problem, as I use that feature a lot.

[vitinho444]

I had pokki but i uninstalled, dont get me wrong, its awesome! But since my laptop has a touch screen, i like to use it as a tablet Metro UI is awesome for Touch-screen, but yes for desktop and stuff, Pokki all the way...

Where do i update 8.0 > 8.1?

OK, I'm downloading it now. Can you pin a folder directly to the task bar with it, so I could open directly to c:\wamp\www or some other folder if I wanted? That was my original problem, as I use that feature a lot.

I think you can, but i never tried, but Pokki is awesome!

[OldRod]

One of our work laptops had 8.0 on it. Windows update upgraded it to 8.1. You might check there.