This is an old revision of the document!
Table of Contents
Windows 10 Configuration
Activating system protection by Recovery
Visit Recovery options in Windows 10 and follow the steps below to make sure that the system protection by recovery is activated:
- English: follow the steps in Restore from a system restore point and make sure that Turn on system protection option is activated for the
C:\
drive - Français: suivez les instructions dans Restauration à partir d'un point de restauration système et vérifiez que Activer la protection du système est sélectionnée pour le disque
C:\
Displaying the Computer icon on the desktop
This will allow you to access your disks more conveniently/quickly. Follow the steps below and move the Computer icon (This PC
or Ce PC
) to the top left of the screen, and the Recycle Bin icon to the bottom left
Configuring folders and shortcuts
If you have followed the steps above to display the Computer icon on the desktop, you should now be able to easily access your disks!
The most important folders
You should have most of your files in the two following folders (create them if they don't exist yet):
- Local HOME FOLDER:
<some_disk:>\Users\<your_login>
- This is where you keep your work. Do not put this folder on the
C:\
system disk/partition (unless you have only one partition on the computer) - This folder is different from your Windows User folder! ⇒
C:\Users\<your_login>
- Documents on your desktop are located in
C:\Users\<your_login>\Desktop
- Remember to make a backup of this folder regularly!
- You can use a Backup program to save your work
- Local SCRATCH FOLDER:
<another_disk:>\Scratch\<your_login>
- The place where you store your temporary files, installation programs, etc…
- It's OK to put this folder on the
C:\
drive if you have enough space - Remember to clean this folder from time to time, especially if you need some disk space
Creating folder shortcuts on the desktop
Local folders
- Use the file explorer to go to your local Home folder inside the
Users
folder (<a_disk_different_from_C>:\Users\<your_login>
), click on the small folder icon at the left of the bar displaying the folder location, and drag the icon on the desktop. This will create a shortcut that you can rename Home Local
- Do the same thing to create a Scratch Local shortcut on the desktop, pointing to
<a_disk_different_from_C>:\Scratch\<your_login>
- Note: if you install Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) and Ubuntu later, you can also create a Home WSL shortcut to your local Linux home directory in
\\wsl$\Ubuntu\home\<your_login>
Folders on the LSCE servers
When your computer is connected to the LSCE network, open the file explorer, copy paste \\dfshost\dfs\home
in the location field and press <Return> to display the content of your Linux home directory. Grab the folder icon at the left of the location field, drop it on the desktop and rename it Home Linux.
Do the same thing with \\dfshost\dfs\scratch01\<your_login>
and create a Scratch Linux shortcut
\\dfshost\dfs
location and navigating to the disk you are interested in
Displaying hidden folders
Follow the steps in Show hidden files (Windows 10)
In the View tab, you should also uncheck the option Hide extensions for known file types
Checking power settings and activating hibernation
- a desktop that is always connected to a power source and the LSCE network
- a laptop where you want to spare the battery
- You can also spare a laptop's battery by disabling Wifi and Bluetooth when you don't need them
Go to the Power panel: Win
+I
⇒ System ⇒ Power and sleep
- Check/choose when the screen and PC should go to sleep
- If you have to maintain a network connection (
ssh
,VcXsrv
, etc…) you have to set up the options so that the computer will never go to sleep (at least not when it's connected to a power source, for laptops!)- Select Never in the Sleep pull-down menu
- Go to Additional power settings ⇒ Choose what the power button does ⇒ Change settings that are currently unavailable
- Select when the computer should sleep, hibernate or shutdown, depending on buttons/keys you use
- If you have a laptop, it's really useful to enable Hibernate when you press the Sleep button of the laptop (
Fn
key and the function key with a moon logo).
When your laptop is in Sleep mode, it will still use some of the battery, but no power is required for the Hibernate mode.
Tech note: if you want to save space and remove the hibernation file (C:\hiberfil.sys) on a desktop because you know that you will never use hibernate, you can just type powercfg -h off
in a cmd shell (powercfg -h on
to re-activate). You should always use hibernation on a laptop, for performance reasons
Using keyboard shortcuts
You can save some time by learning Windows keyboard shortcuts
Working with virtual desktops
Keyboard shortcuts
- Open Task view:
Win
+Tab
- Cycle through the virtual desktops:
Win
+CTRL
+ left or right arrow- Hint! On a laptop, you can swipe left or right with four fingers on the trackpad to go to the previous/next desktop
- Create a desktop:
Win
+CTRL
+D
- Close current desktop:
Win
+CTRL
+F4
Restoring applications' settings from another computer
Configuring eduroam
Follow the steps on the LSCE Eduroam WiFi page
Activating Microsoft Office update
It seems that you will not automatically receive Microsoft Office updates. You have to manually activate this
Adding useful applications
Visit the Installing extra applications for Windows 10 and get what you need
Configuring WSL to use Ubuntu on your computer
Follow the steps on the Windows Subsystem for Linux, and Ubuntu page
[ PMIP3 Wiki Home ] - [ Help! ] - [ Wiki syntax ]