When it comes to Windows 8 and 8.1, there are many different views. Majority of those views are expressed by folks with less favorable ratings of Microsoft's newest operating system. But one thing is true, whether you're against Window 8 / 8.1 or for it, the Windows Key + X combination are the two most useful keys to operate Windows 8  and 8.1.

I personally think Windows 8 with Metro should be on tablets and mobile devices only with touch based screen. For desktop computers, the traditional Windows Desktop with the start button should be made available for folks who want it.

Now, if you've just upgraded to Windows 8 and everything seems new and strange, don't panic. Make these two keys on your keyboard your favorites. The Windows Key + X. The Windows Key is the key to the left of your spacebar with Windows logo on it.

You see, most power users tools like the control panel, shutdown / restart / logout, run box and others are all buried in deep Metro. If you're new to Metro, then finding some of these tools may be difficult.

But thanks to the Windows Key + X combination, you should be able to access them easily. So, to quickly access the Shutdown / Restart buttons or Device Manager and the Control Panel, press the Windows Key + X.

There you go. Now, to uninstall programs, select Programs and Features. To adjust your computer power options, click 'Power Options.

Hope this helps, and keep coming back for more tutorials.

Enjoy!

This post Just Upgraded To Windows 8 / 8.1 ? Make These Keys Your Favorites appeared first on Liberian Geek

Another blog post that is geared towards new Ubuntu users or newbies. This post shows you how to easily change your computer name when using Ubuntu. Many users will never worry about changing their computer name or hostname in Ubuntu. In most cases, that's the least of their worries.

Many will use the name that was created or given to the machine during Ubuntu installation. But for those new users who would like to know how to do it, continue below to learn how. This post isn't for pros, it's for newbies and users who are just starting out with Ubuntu.

So, why would you want to change your computer name again? If you don't have a good reason other than to learn how to do it, then don't. If you want to do it for a good reason or learn how to do it, then do this.

Press Ctrl – Alt – T on your keyboard to open the terminal. When it opens, run the commands below to edit the hostname file using gedit.

sudo gedit /etc/hostname

Next, change whatever in there to be the new computer name. For example, if you want your computer name to be RDOMNU, delete what's currently in there and type RDOMNU and save the file.

Next, run the commands below to open the hosts file.

sudo gedit /etc/hosts

Then change the value of the second line highlighted below to match your computer name you entered earlier. Save the file when you're done.

That's it! Restart your computer and your machine will reflect the new name. This is how one changes the name of a Ubuntu machine.

Enjoy!

This post Daily Ubuntu Tips – How To Change Your Computer Name appeared first on Liberian Geek

Is your Windows 7 computer running out of storage space? If so, you may want to continue reading below to learn how to delete old Windows updates files to reclaim valuable storage space.

You see, Windows stores old update files in this location C:\Windows\winsxs on your Window machines. This is done in case you need to restore or roll back to the previous updates in the event something goes wrong or didn't work as expected.

Overtime, this folder takes up a lot of storage space, and if your machine is low on hard disk space, going back and removing older updates file may help a bit. Until recently, this location wasn't available for cleanup when using Windows Disk Cleanup tool.  But with these Windows updates, you can now include these locations when performing disk cleanup in Windows.

For this to work in Window 7, you must be running Windows 7 Service Pack 1 or SP1. You must also install this update for Windows 64 bit or the 32-bit version.

If you have automatic Windows update enabled, then it may already be installed.

So, to reclaim disk space in Windows 7, go to Start –> All Programs –> Accessories –> System Tools –> Disk Cleanup

When Disk Cleanup opens, check the boxes next to the folder or stuff you wish to get rid off. Windows Updates Cleanup folder should have a lot of stuff there to remove.

Another folder is the Service Pack Backup Files. That you can empty as well and save a ton of space.

Hope this helps, and always come back.

Enjoy!

This post Reclaim Disk Space By Deleting Old Update Files In Windows 7 appeared first on Liberian Geek