Troubleshooting Guide
Previous Chapter
Chapter 6:
Accounts, Security and Privacy
Are you new to how Microsoft accounts work? Don’t worry, this guide will help you clear all of the confusion and explain how user administration works in Windows 8 and what’s changed when it comes to local accounts. We’ll also show you how to protect your PC from viruses and monitor your child’s computer activities with a specialized Child account.
The Windows Firewall is a utility program that’s 
designed to protect your from critical security threats that are trying to invade your computer through a network or the Internet. The Firewall is turned on by default, although a lot of people choose to turn it off because they don’t know how to properly set it up. In this guide, we’ll show you how to configure the Windows Firewall so that you can get the most of the protection that it provides without dealing with some of tedious problems that it can cause.
However, please note from the start that the Window Firewall isn’t an anti-virus program and it isn’t a suitable method of protection against computer viruses. As such, you should run it alongside Windows Defender or a third-party anti-virus program.
How to Turn Windows Firewall On or Off
Unless you have a particularly good reason then you probably shouldn’t turn off the Windows Firewall. You will just compromise your PC and leave it vulnerable to attacks from hackers or computer worms (malware programs). However, if you have a third-party firewall then it is perfectly reasonable (and recommended) to disable Windows Firewall.
To turn Windows Firewall on or off, do the following:
Open the Charms Bar and then select the Search tool. You can also search from the Control Panel.
Enter “firewall” in the search box. Click or tap on Windows Firewall to select this program from the list.
Depending on your choice click or tap on Turn on Windows Firewall (to enable it ) or Turn off Windows Firewall (to disable it).
However, you should note that you may not be able to turn the firewall off if you are currently connected to a network (due to security settings).
Configuring Windows Firewall Settings
By default, Windows Firewall will only block suspicious apps. Following the steps mentioned above you can enter the Windows Firewall settings and turn on the option Notify me when Windows Firewall blocks a new app. You can then choose whether or not this is a fair assessment and unblock the app if you so desire.
To do this, follow these steps:
From within the Windows Firewall settings page, click or tap on Allow an app or feature through Windows Firewall.
Click or tap on Change settings.
Select the checkbox next to the app(s) that you want to allow access. Once you’re done click or tap on OK.
In case the app isn’t listed then you might want to use the Windows Firewall to open a custom port for that application to use. Perform the following steps:
From within the Windows Firewall settings click or tap on Advanced settings.
In the Windows Firewall with Advanced Security dialog box, you should click or tap on Inbound Rules.
Next click or tap on New Rule and follow the on-screen instructions to configure the new port.
When you are connected to a public network with minimum security (at a park or a hotel), it is advised that you temporary block all incoming connections (this includes allowed apps as well). Instead of manually checking all of the boxes to disable all the apps, you can simply check the option Block all incoming connections, including those in the list of allowed apps.
This will not reset your previous app settings and everything will be back to normal once you uncheck this feature.
Computer viruses and malware can cause serious damage to your PC and invade your privacy (stealing important data in the process), but there is no reason to be afraid if you use your PC responsibly. In this guide, we’ll cover all the precautionary steps that you should take in order to avoid viruses and malware as well as what you should do if you suspect that your PC is infected.
Best Practices to Avoid Viruses and Malware
Viruses are often downloaded from the Internet due to irresponsibility on the part of the user. People will often download software from untrusted websites or fall prey to online scams and phishing websites. Preventing this and avoiding viruses and malware altogether is the best way to protect your PC.
While we will recommend some tools for you to use, it is as equally as important that you keep some best practices in mind while browsing the web:
Do not open emails that are sent from unfamiliar senders or attachments that aren’t trustworthy. Most of these messages should end up in your Spam folders, but every now and then, you’re bound to encounter a very suspicious message that got passed the security filter of your email provider. You should be especially careful about messages that request information about your financial history as these might be phishing scams.
Do not download software from unknown publishers. Whenever you download some new software, you should do a search online to check if the publisher is trustworthy.
Do not download suspicious plugins. When you browse the web, you might often see a notification on a website that’s informing you about an outdated version of Flash, Silverlight or Java. Sometimes these messages are legitimate, but they can also be clever scams that are designed to get you to download malware or viruses. If you see a notification that you should download or update a plugin then you should manually go to the vendor’s official website instead of clicking on the notification message.
Be careful about browser extensions. Browsers nowadays allow users to download and use various extensions. While this is great for the user as it provides a lot of amazing new features that you can use, it should also be noted that it has opened the “floodgates” for malware. You should only download extensions from the official storefronts or from highly trusted publishers.
Keep Windows updated. Always download official Windows updates and patches as they often include additional security features and patches. Check out our guide to Windows Updates for more information.
Scanning Your PC with Windows Defender
While there are a lot of third-party tools that provide protection from viruses and malware, you can simply use the included Windows Defender application to scan your PC. Here’s how:
Open the Charms Bar and click or tap on Search.
In the search box enter “defender” and select Windows Defender from the list of results.
Once you open the app, you will see a section labeled Scan Options. Click or tap on it and then select one of the three options that you want:
a. Quick scan – this will check only the areas of your PC that are common targets of various malicious software. It will also scan through all of the apps that are currently running in the background.
b. Full scan – this checks all of the files on your PC. Depending on your PC it is normal for the scan to take an hour or longer to complete.
c. Custom scan – this allows you to manually choose the locations that should be scanned.
4. Once you’ve selected the option that you want just click or tap on Scan now to have Windows Defender begin scanning your PC.
In case Windows Defender finds viruses it will typically remove them automatically or consult you for advice. You can also keep Windows Defender’s real-time protection on at all times in order to get the maximum security out of this program.
However, you should never have two anti-virus or anti-malware applications running at the same time. This will significantly decrease your PC’s performance and, in the end, it isn’t really needed. If you choose to download another third-party anti-virus program then disable Windows Defender’s real-time protection.
The Next Steps
Another precaution you can employ is to configure Windows Firewall in order to protect yourself from various threats on the Internet. If you are concerned about your child’s safety, then consult our Family Safety guide for a full guide on how to block miscellaneous content as well as monitor your child’s PC activity.
Finally, remember that you should always be prepared for the worst. A virus could do irreparable damage to Windows and as such, it is important to think about recovery and backup ahead of time. Consult our full guide on repair and recovery in Windows 8.1 for further information on this matter.
Microsoft has drastically improved their Family Safety features in Windows 8.1 and provided dedicated monitoring of child activity. You can now create a dedicated user account for children that will not have all the features and privileges of regular Windows users. 
Thanks to this, you can set limits and restrictions on the amount of time that is spent on the PC as well as block particular websites, programs and video games.
In this guide we’ll show you how to set up Family Safety features in Windows 8.1 and how you can help you children use the PC responsibly.
Create a Child’s User Account
The first step to setting-up all of the child monitoring and family safety features is to set up a dedicated child user account. If you haven’t done this already follow these steps:
Open that Charms Bar and click or tap on Settings. Here you should select the option Change PC settings.
Click or tap on Accounts.
Now select Other accounts.
Here you should click or tap on Add an account and then select Add a child’s account.
5. Even though this is a child’s account you can still associate it with an email address and create a Microsoft account for them. Here are your options:
a. If they have an email address just enter it in the text box and then click or tap on Next and follow the instructions to finish the setup.
b. If they don’t have an email address, but you would like to create one for them, then you can click or tap on Sign up for a new email address.
c. Finally, you can also select Add a child’s account without email. This option means that the account will be local and you won’t be able to transfer it on other Windows devices.
Family Safety and child monitoring feature will be turned on immediately once you’ve created the child account.
If you need more help about general user accounts then you can view our guide on user account and password management in Windows 8.1.
Turn an Existing Account into a Child Account
In order to get the benefits of Family Safety features your child must have a child account or it won’t be possible to monitor their activity. If you’ve already set up a regular account for them you can turn that account into a child account and enable monitoring features.
Here’s how:
Open the Charms Bar and click or tap on Settings. Here you should select the option Change PC settings.
Click or tap on Accounts and then select Other accounts.
Here you’ll see a list of existing accounts. Find their user account and click or tap on Edit.
You will see an Account type list. Select Child and click or tap on OK.
This will change their account type and turn on all of the Family Safety features automatically.
Add a Parent to Family Safety
Naturally, you may want to include your spouse in Family Safety and give them the ability to monitor PC activity and respond to permission requests. This is easy to do, but your spouse must have a Microsoft account (it cannot be done for a local account).
Perform the following steps:
Visit Microsoft’s Family Safety website and sign in with your Microsoft account credentials.
Here you can click or tap on the option labeled as Add a parent.
Now enter your spouse’s email address (the one that’s associated with their Microsoft user account) and then click or tap on Send request.
Setting Limits and Restrictions on Games and Apps from the Windows Store
You can set and manage all of the limits and restrictions that are associated with your child’s account from anywhere in the world via the Family Safety website. Log in to their service and then click or tap on the name of the child whose settings you want to change.
To set time limits perform the following actions:
Click or tap on the Time limits option on Microsoft Family Safety website.
To set a time of day when you child will be blocked from the PC (for example, between 8 PM and 12 AM) you can click or tap on the Curfew tab. Make sure it is turned on and then select curfew time for each day.
To set how much time your child can spend on the computer every day, click or tap on the Allowance tab. Here you can choose a number of allowance hours for every day of the week.
There are several ways to set restrictions on games and apps from the Windows Store. You can use automatic filters or block individual titles.
To block all games that exceed a certain maturity rating you can do the following:
Click or tap on Game restrictions on Microsoft Family Safety website and then click or tap on Rating.
Make sure that restrictions are turned On and then use the rating slider to choose a rating level. There are several types of filters available so feel free to customize them as you wish.
The child’s account will now be unable to open or download any games from the Windows Store if they do not comply with these safety settings.
If you want to block individual games, do the following:
Click or tap on Game restrictions on Microsoft Family Safety website and then click or tap on Game list.
Make sure that restrictions are turned On and then select the options for specific games (as appropriate).
You can also use this interface to unblock previously blocked games.
If you want to block other applications, do the following:
Click or tap on App restrictions on Microsoft Family Safety website and make sure that restrictions are turned On.
Choose the restrictions settings for individual apps that are found on the list.
You can also use this interface to unblock applications in the future.
Blocking Websites and File Downloads
Similarly to the previous example, there are two main ways to limit your child’s access to the web. You can either use broad filters to create a restriction level or you can block specific websites.
To block websites by category you can do the following:
Click or tap on Web filtering on Microsoft Family Safety website.
Click or tap on Restriction level.
Make sure that Web filtering is turned On.
Now choose the categories of websites that your child can visit by using the interface on this page.
To block individual websites you can do the following:
Click or tap on Web filtering on Microsoft Family Safety website.
Make sure that Web filtering is turned On.
Now you can enter a specific web address and then click or tap on Block.
Later you can also click or tap on Allow to unblock these web addresses.
To block file downloads you can do the following:
While in Web filtering, click or tap on Restriction level.
Make sure that Web filtering is turned On.
Under the option File downloads, you’ll see a checkbox labeled as Block file downloads from the web.
Select this checkbox to prevent your child for downloading apps, games or other files from the Internet. You can later uncheck this option to remove this restriction.
Monitoring Your Child with Activity Reports
The Family Safety site isn’t just used to set restrictions for your child’s user account. One of the other major features that this hub provides is access to Activity Reports.
Here’s what you can expect from these reports:
Summary details. This section will provide you with summaries of your child’s web activity that you can glance through. You’ll be able to see the most popular websites and search terms in these reports.
Web activity. Here you can see a complete, in-depth look at your child’s activity on the Internet. This page will also show the sites that your child couldn’t view because they were blocked by your safety settings. If you used the broad rating filter for websites it is possible that Microsoft has blocked some sites that you are comfortable with and as such, you can dispute their rating and unblock them.
PC activity. Here you can see a breakdown as well as in-depth view of your child’s overall PC use. You can filter by date and look at all the apps and games that you child used and how much time they spent doing it.
Account management in Windows 8.1 is a bit different from previous versions due to the introduction of Microsoft accounts – a new account type that saves user data to the cloud and allows you to use the Windows Store. While you can still set up and use local accounts, the new Microsoft account offers a lot
of benefits and features for no additional costs. In this guide, we’ll show you how to set up these accounts, how to administrate users on your PC and how to manage passwords.
The Benefits of Using a Microsoft Account
It is very easy and simple to create a Microsoft account and you’ll only need an email address and Internet access to do this. If you’ve ever filled an online form to register for a website or service, then the process should look very familiar.
But why should you go through the trouble of creating one? The biggest advantage is described perfectly by Microsoft’s own slogan “one email address to sign in everywhere”. If you have a Desktop PC, a laptop and perhaps a few computers at work that you use on a regular basis, then it must be tedious to remember your account credentials for each machine.
With a Microsoft account, you can gain access to all of these devices via a single email and password.
The second major advantage is Microsoft’s free cloud storage. You will be able to back-up all your important data and files and sync them between your devices. Thanks to cloud storage, you can always have access to your favorite photos, games, settings, music and contacts no matter which device you use.
Finally, the third major advantage is that a Microsoft account also provides you with access to other products and services. You can use the same account for Xbox, Hotmail, Outlook, OneDrive, Messenger, Skype and Windows Phone. In fact, if you’ve used any of these services before then you already have a Microsoft account enabled. The email address and password that you use to log in to these services is what represents your Microsoft account.
Creating a Microsoft Account and Signing-In
If you don’t have a Microsoft account yet then we’ll show you how create one. You can use any email address (Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo etc.) and a password of your choice. There are several methods to set-up your account. For example, you can register a Microsoft account online via their website and then connect to it later on your PC. You also had a chance to create a new Microsoft account when you installed Windows for the first time.
However, for the purposes of this guide we’ll show you a method which allows you to create a new account directly in Windows 8.1.
Follow these steps:
Open the Charms Bar. Click or tap on Settings and then select the option Change PC settings.
Click or tap on Accounts and then click or tap on Other accounts.
Click or tap on Add an account.
Enter your desired email address and click or tap on Create a new Account.
Follow the instructions on the next screen. You will be required to fill out the form that includes information such as your desired password, real name, country and ZIP code.
Creating a Local Account in Windows 8.1
Local accounts lack many advantages and privileges of Microsoft accounts. However, they are still very useful for guest accounts and corporate use. To add a local account to your PC, do the following:
Open the Charms Bar. Click or tap on Settings and then select the option Change PC settings.
Click or tap on Accounts and then click or tap on Other accounts.
Click or tap on Add an account.
Select the option Sign in without a Microsoft account.
Now click or tap on Local account.
Enter the desired username and password of this account. If you are on a network domain, you might be able to leave the password field blank and skip this step. This is possible if the network’s security settings are assigning a random password to every new user.
Click or tap on Finish to complete the setup.
You can also create special local accounts for children. These allow you to control (and limit) their access and privileges as well as to monitor some of their activity. You can read our full guide on monitoring children’s activity in Windows 8.1.
Recovering and Changing Your Password
The steps you need to take in order to recover or change your password depend on your account’s type. In the case you’ve forgotten your password for a local account, here are the steps you can take to recover your account:
If your PC is connected to a domain network, then you can ask the system administrator to reset the password for you.
When creating a password for the first time, you should make sure to leave a meaningful hint.
If you’ve created a password reset disk beforehand, then you can use it to reset your password.
Outside of these methods, there are no other ways to recover a local account’s password. If your local account was the only administrator on the PC then you’ll have to do a clean reinstall Windows 8.1.
However, if you have a Microsoft account then you can change and recover your password online. Use Microsoft’s password reset page to recover a lost password or to change your password immediately if you think someone else is using your account. You’ll be required to answer the security questions that you’ve set up previously and confirm that you are the owner of the account.
If you are using a live.com, outlook.com or hotmail.com email for your Microsoft account then changing the password for your account will also change the associated email password as the two accounts are connected.
If you just wish to change your password while you’re already logged-in as a user on your PC, you can perform the following steps:
Open the Charms Bar. Click or tap on Settings and then select the option Change PC settings.
Click or tap on Accounts and then select Sign-in options.
Click or tap on Change your password and follow the instructions.
The Windows Store provides access to thousands of application for your PC. All you need is a Microsoft account and Internet access and you can start downloading applications right away. In this guide, we’ll focus solely on how you can manage permissions that are given to Windows Store apps. However, we also have a full guide to the Windows Store if you want to learn more about it.
Viewing the Application’s Permissions
Every application is obligated to clearly state the permissions that it requires and why that is the case. Otherwise, an application will not be able to pass the review process and get on the storefront. Every app description in the Windows Store includes a full list of these permissions and here’s how you can check them out:
Open the Windows Store by clicking or taping on the Store tile from the Start Screen.
Locate the application that you are interested in and click or tap to open its store page.
Scroll (or swipe) to the left of the page and locate the Details section. Here you will find the full list of permissions that the application requires.
When you download and install the application, you are agreeing to give these permissions to the app.
To see a list of permissions for installed apps, you can do the following:
Start the application. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen or point the mouse cursor to the lower corner of the screen to get a Charms bar to appear.
Click or tap on Settings and then click or tap on Permissions.
You will now see a list of the application’s permissions.
Buying and Installing Apps for Your Kids
You can check our Family Safety guide for Windows 8.1 if you want to learn how to create and monitor a special account for your children. You can use it to limit their time on the computer, restrict games and applications as well as monitor their activity. It’s important that you know how to do these things if you’re planning on buying apps from the Windows Store on their account.
Assuming you already have a child account setup, you can do the following:
Sign in to the child account via their Microsoft account (you cannot use a local child account).
Open the Windows Store app. Click or tap on Account and then head over to My account.
Click or tap on Sign out to sign your child out of the Windows Store.
Now click or tap on Sign in and sign in to the Windows Store with your own Microsoft account.
Click or tap on Home and then find the application you want to buy. Once you’ve reviewed the app and decided on buying it, click or tap on the Buy button.
After you’ve completed your purchase, you can install the app and then sign out of your Microsoft account to prevent your child from using it.
If you want to install ’previously bought application on your child’s account, you can follow the instructions above up to step 4 and then do the following:
Click or tap on Account and then click or tap on My apps.
Find the app you want to install and click or tap on the Install button.
Once you’re done sign out of your Microsoft account.
