Windows 8.1: The Missing Manual

Update and Recovery

Windows, like any software, is an eternal work in progress, as these options make clear:

Windows Update

Windows is software and can therefore be updated, debugged, and improved. (Software is handy that way.) Windows Update is Microsoft’s system for sending you patches and fixes over the Internet.

Unless you make changes (“Choose how updates get installed”), Windows 8 will periodically query the mother ship to see if there are any new patches for you to install. You can also force a check right now, using the “Check now” button. See Windows Update for more on Windows Update.

File History

You’ve just found the TileWorld settings for Windows 8’s automatic backup feature. It’s described in Chapter 22.

Recovery

Windows 8 offers several ways to reset itself in times of troubleshooting. Details are in Chapter 21, but here are the basics:

• Refresh your PC without affecting your files. The option to refresh your PC is new in Windows 8. In essence, it resets your computer. Your files and settings are untouched, but basic computer settings are reset to their factory states, and apps that didn’t come from the Windows App Store are deleted.

• Remove everything and reinstall Windows. This more dramatic troubleshooting technique erases everything except what Windows installed on Day One. All your files and settings are deleted. You might use this option on the day you’re selling your computer to someone else, for example. This option, too, is described in Chapter 21.

• Advanced startup. This ...