To begin you’ll need to launch the Task Scheduler tool. To do so, just press the [Windows] key, type Schedule, select Settings, and click Schedule tasks, as illustrated in
Figure A. When you do, the Task Scheduler will appear.
Figure A
Accessing Task Scheduler from the Start Screen is easy.
Configuring the task
Once you have the Task Scheduler up and running, you’ll begin by clicking the Create Task command in the Actions panel, as shown in
Figure B.
Figure B
Once Task Scheduler is up and running, you can create a new task by clicking the Create Task command.
When the Create Task dialog box appears, you’ll see that the General tab is selected and will first assign the task a name in the Name text box. As you can see, I choose Show Desktop @ Start. Then, towards the bottom of the page, select Windows 8 from the Configure for drop down menu, as shown in
Figure C. You can leave the Security options set to Run only when user is logged on.
Figure C
Make sure that you select Windows 8 in the Configure for drop down menu.
To continue, select the Triggers tab to access that page, as shown in
Figure D. Now, click the New button towards the bottom of the page.
Figure D
When you see the Triggers page, just select the New button.
When you see the New Trigger dialog box, select the
At log on item from the Begin the task drop down menu, as shown in
Figure E. As soon as you do, the New Trigger page will refresh and display the settings for the
At log on option, as shown in
Figure F.
Figure E
From the Begin the task drop down menu, select the At log on item.
Figure F
You can just leave the default settings on the At log on page.
By default, the Any user option in the Settings panel and the Enabled check box in the Advanced Settings are selected. Just leave them as they are and click OK to continue. When you return to the Create Task dialog box, select the
Actions tab, as shown in
Figure G. Then, click the New button towards the bottom of the page.
Figure G
When you see the Actions page, just select the New button.
When you see the New Action dialog box, you’ll find that the Action setting is by default set to Start a Program. So, in the Settings panel, you can just type
c:\Windows\explorer.exe in the Program/script text box, as shown in
Figure H. You can also use the Browse button to locate and select the explorer.exe program. At this point, just click OK to return to the Create Task dialog box.
Figure H
You can type the path and name in the Program/script text box or use the Browse button to select it.
Now,
IF you are running Windows 8 on a laptop, select the Conditions tab and in the Power panel, clear the Start the task on if the computer is on AC power check box, as shown in
Figure I.
Figure I
You only need to change this setting if you are running Windows 8 on a laptop.
There is nothing that you need to change on the Settings tab so, at this point, you are done and can just click the OK button to complete the scheduled task operation. When you return to the Task Scheduler window, you’ll see the new task that you just created on the Task Scheduler Library, as shown in
Figure J. You can now close Task Scheduler.
Figure J
When you finish, you’ll see your new scheduled task
Booting to the desktop
As soon as you have created your scheduled task, you can test it out. You can either Restart your system from the Power Charm, as shown in
Figure K, or you can just log off and then log back on.
While the Log off command used to be located with the other power options in previous version of operating system, in Windows 8 it now resides on the Start Screen and has been renamed to Sign out. When at the Start Screen, right click on your user picture in the upper right. When you do, you’ll see a menu and will select the Sign out command, as shown in
Figure L.
Figure K
The Restart command can be accessed from the Power Charm.
Figure L
Right clicking on your user picture on the Start Screen reveals the Sign out button.
When Windows 8 restarts, you’ll immediately see the Desktop with a File Explorer window targeted on Libraries, as shown in
Figure M. You will not see the Start Screen at all.
(Keep in mind that when you see the File Explorer window targeted on Libraries, the Documents Music, Pictures, and Video icons may shuffle around a bit. The reason for this is because when the File Explorer window appears on the screen, the operating system is still doing a bit of housework in the background.)
Figure M
When Windows 8 restarts, you’ll immediately see the Desktop with a File Explorer window targeted on Libraries.
Depending on how you launch your applications, you can now launch them right from the desktop. For example, if you chose to pin your application icons to the Taskbar, then they are readily available.
What’s your take?
Would you prefer to have Windows 8 boot straight to the desktop? Will you use this technique to make Windows 8 boot straight to the desktop? As always, if you have comments or information to share about this topic, please take a moment to drop by the
SPV Softwares and let us hear from you.
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