Accessories

	Windows 8.1 F.A.Q.

Windows 8.1 Accessories

Windows 8.1 comes with the usual sort of accessory programs to play around with and these are listed under Programs, Windows Accessories and we have various utilities and programs to create documents, manipulate pictures, play sounds, games and so on. These programs are listed below with more information for the new stuff.

Windows Ease of Use

Magnifier	Program allows those with sight difficulties, to magnify portions of the screen to make it more readable
Narrator	Program to speak out selected text and buttons and whats on screen to you
On-Screen Keyboard	Program to allow you to use the mouse to type in characters and numbers instead of the keyboard
Windows Speech Recognition	Program to record and recognise voice differences. Requires a microphone.

System Tools

Character Map	Displays character set from given Fonts and allow you insert them in your documents for the hard to find characters
Private Character Editor	Allows you to create, copy, modify or delete characters which can be inserted into documents via Character Map tool

Tablet PC

Shape Collector	This provides personalised handwriting recognition for tablets to reduce errors.
Tab Tip	Brings up a virtual keyboard to allow you to enter letters, digits and characters.
Windows Journal	Special program to write notes using the tablet features.

Other Tools

Calculator	Program to work out simple or complex calculations. It a scientific mode for more complex calculations.
Maths Input Panel	Allows you to enter special maths equations.
Mobilty Center	Feature for laptops only. Allows you to change brightness, volume, battery levels, wireless connections, screen mode, external monitors, sync settings and projectors
Command Prompt	Displays a simple text based command environment like DOS (this is Cmd.exe) for MS-DOS environment go to Start, Run and type Command.com.
Notepad	Simple text program to write notes or view log files, readme files and so on.
Paint	Program to create or manipulate pictures or photos you have taken to your tastes
Remote Desktop Connection	Program to allow you to connect to another PC to take over control to diagnose problems
Snipping Tool	Program to grab and copy snapshots of screen, window or selection into clipboard.
Sound Recorder	Allow to record sound from a microphone into your computer and save it as a sound file.
Steps Recorder	Program to record steps or actions and replay them.
Sticky Notes	Program to temporarily record notes.
Windows Fax and Scan	Program to manage Facimilies and scan documents ready to be faxes to other users via a fax. Requires a Fax Modem installed.
Windows Media Player	Program to play, record or burn to disk sound files or Audio CDs.
WordPad	A simple word processor program to quickly write some documents. Does not have any advanced stuff such as Spelling, Mail Merge and so on for advanced Word Processors such as Word, WordPerfect, Works which are available seperately.
XPS Viewer	Program to view documents in the XPS format.

More Tools

ClearType Text Tuner	Turns on or off Clear Type Text (cttune)
Command Prompt	Windows command prompt to enter DOS type commands (cmd)
Colour Management	Sets monitor colour profiles (colorcpl)
Credential Wizard	Backups and restore usernames and passwords (credwiz)
DirectX Properties	Display scope, debug layer, message, break and device settings (dxcpl)
DirectX Diagnostics	Display directx device devices and settings (dxdiag)
Disk Cleanup	Delete old temporary files, logs and other unwanted file (cleanmgr)
MSConfig	Program to change startup programs, the boot.ini file, win.ini files, services and so on.
Notepad	Simple text editing tool
RegEdit	Program to directly view or modify registry entries (Warning! Use this program with care)
Progman	Brings up the old Program Manager (as in Windows 3.1 days)
Windows Powershell	New advanced command line using .NET Framework API for powerful management
WinVer	Display Windows version information