Kurt Shintaku's Blog

I’ve had this brought up by several people now (Brian, Dan) so I thought I’d write it up since many will likely find it useful.

SO YOU BOUGHT THE 32GB SURFACE
You booted it up and if you’re a tech you noticed that after all is said and done, the device has 20GB remaining on it after Office 2013 & all the other updatable apps are in storage & the system is updated.

What if you run out of storage?  Fortunately you have Skydrive but that doesn’t do you any good for installable apps or extending the VIDEO library, which lets face it, should point to the microSD flash card you installed.  (You DID buy a micro SD flash card, didn’t you?)

BRIDGING INTERNAL STORAGE & MICRO SD CARD WITH “SYMBOLIC LINKS”
It is possible to set up something called a ‘symbolic link’ between your internal Surface storage and the microSD card. 

This creates a directory that APPEARS to be on your internal storage but really routes to the microSD flash card allowing you to seamlessly use your microSD flash card as if it was an extension of your internal storage.

1. Create a folder on your C drive – for example: “SD_CARD”
2. Add that folder to your video library and set as the default save location
3. Close out library management window
4. Delete the folder (SD_CARD)
5. Open command prompt w/admin rights
6. Run the following command:

        mklink /D c:\SD_CARD d:\
   
   (Replace “SD_CARD” with the name of your directory and “d:\” with your card drive and folder)

7. Download a movie/tv show and it will download and playback off your card!

[Thanks to my coworker Brian Larson for documenting the process of establishing a symbolic link on Windows RT]

———————-

UPDATE 10/29/12 10:31PM:
DIRECTORY JUNCTIONS ARE PREFERRED
My friend Dan, one of the guys that had originally brought this to my attention, notified me that Directory Junctions appear to work better as some programs seem to prefer it.  This is particularly true for services that work in the background & write to the SD flash card while you’re doing other things, like movie downloads and such.  For an explanation of the differences between Symbolic Links & Directory Junctions read Mark Russinovich’s article on the topic here:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/2007.02.vistakernel.aspx

To use Directory Junctions, substitute the following command line below:

        mklink /J c:\SD_CARD d:\

———————-

UPDATE 11/4/12 9:40AM: 
SPACE IS CALCULATED BASED ON INTERNAL STORAGE ONLY
It would appear that there is a flaw to this technique – not a huge one if you’re a 64GB Surface owner like myself but it’s worth noting. 

If you try to download a movie that is larger than the free space available on internal storage alone, the movie will fail to download because the free space estimate that is done is based on internal storage alone, and does not microSD card capacity.

Takeaway:  Make sure you have a large amount of free space in your internal storage to ensure you can write any size file/download you’d like to the microSD flash.

Have you noticed that y’can’t share photos to Facebook on Win 8/Surface (only text)? 

Fortunately that problem has been rectified with a free app in the Windows Store called “Share Photo” which specifically allows you to ‘share’ photos you have on your device or on Skydrive to Facebook.

Get "Share Photo" app (FREE) & start posting pictures to your Facebook page!

• DOWNLOAD:  “Share Photo” for Facebook on Windows 8/RT
  http://apps.microsoft.com/webpdp/app/ae3b5341-a854-4d9b-87d0-5fb0cc852694

Do you have Windows 8 Pro?  Interested in getting the Media Center Pack?  It’s essentially the same technology from the Windows 7 Media Center made available on Windows 8.  Normally a pay-for product, we are making it available for free for Windows 8 Pro users UNTIL JANUARY 31, 2013.

HOW DO I GET IT?
Here’s the instructions that are on the web site which I have the URL for below:

Add Windows Media Center to Windows 8 Pro

If your PC is running Windows 8 Pro and you’d like to get Windows 8 Media Center Pack so you can watch and record live TV with Windows Media Center, you can take advantage of the following special offer:

For a limited time, get Windows 8 Media Center Pack for free **

To receive a free product key and get Windows 8 Media Center Pack, provide a valid email address in the space provided. Once you receive your free product key through the email address you provided, follow the instructions for adding Windows 8 Media Center Pack that appear later on this page.

THE FINE PRINT

* Offer valid from October 26, 2012, until January 31, 2013, and is limited to five licenses per customer per promotion. To install Windows 8 Pro Pack, you must be running Windows 8. Internet access fees may apply. Prices shown are estimated retail prices; actual price may vary by retailer. If you purchase a new PC with Windows 8 preinstalled and you later upgrade that PC with Windows 8 Pro Pack, Windows 8 Media Center Pack, a volume license edition, or a retail edition, you will no longer be able to install apps that are provided exclusively from your PC manufacturer through the Windows Store. Get the full details on our special offers.

** Windows 8 Media Center Pack is available at no charge for a limited time only through this promotional page on Windows.com. If you obtain Windows 8 Media Center Pack through any other location fees might apply. Offer valid from October 26, 2012, until January 31, 2013, and is limited to one product key per email address. You qualify for this promotion if your PC is running Windows 8 Pro. Additional hardware may be required to watch and record live TV. You must provide a valid email address to receive your Windows 8 Media Center Pack product key. Your product key must be activated no later than January 31, 2013. Microsoft will only contact you at the email address you provide to send you your product key and to remind you when the activation period for your product key is ending. Catalysis Corporation is a third-party company we use to collect subscription information and process the delivery of these emails. If you purchase a new PC with Windows 8 preinstalled and you later upgrade that PC with Windows 8 Pro Pack, Windows 8 Media Center Pack, a volume license edition, or a retail edition, you will no longer be able to install apps that are provided exclusively from your PC manufacturer through the Windows Store. Get the full details on our special offers.

• OFFER: Get Windows 8 Media Center Pack… FREE
  http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/feature-packs

The folks at ShinySurface.com have instructions & a nice video explaining how to screen capture on your Surface.  It’s quite easy – it’s just “DOWN VOLUME + WINDOWS” at the same time and the screenshot will be saved in \pictures\screenshots.  (And be visible in the Photos app)

Read more at:

• LINK:  How to take screenshots with your Microsoft Surface
  http://www.shinysurface.com/2012/10/26/how-to-take-screenshots-with-microsoft-surface/

If you are using Windows 8 or Windows RT, you no longer need to use the outdated Zune software to manage and sync your Windows Phone. There is a "Windows Phone" app on the Windows Store for both Windows 8 and Windows RT. It’s a Metro-Style app that replaces the need for the Zune PC software to tether your Windows Phone to the PC.

[NOTE:  This is not for Windows Phone 7/7.5 based devices.  The software is targeted at Windows Phone 8 devices.]

Description
Your computer and your Windows Phone 8 work together seamlessly with the Windows Phone app so you always have your photos, videos, and music, and more where you want them.

What’s included

• Get your music, photos, and videos from your computer to your phone (andvice versa).
• Quickly share things from your phone with Windows 8 apps (like Photos, or Search). You don’t even have to open the Windows Phone app to move things around.
• Automatically save photos and videos you take with your phone to your PC.
• See at a glance how much space you’re using for each type of content, so it’s easy to make sure you never run out of room on your phone.
• Get to WindowsPhone.com to download apps, learn more about your phone, or find it if it’s lost.

RELEASE: Windows Phone app for Windows 8/RT
http://apps.microsoft.com/webpdp/en-US/app/windows-phone/0e0fbaf6-fd99-4046-b494-9ce469ae3009

For those who need to provide others with a quick step by step tutorial around how to use the Windows 8 interface via:

• Touch
• Mouse
• Keyboard

Whichever way your user prefers to use their computer, this 48-page Windows 8 Quick Reference Card covers it. 

Sample pages:

• DOWNLOAD: Windows 8 Quick Reference Card
  http://sdrv.ms/TS3RJl

Want a cheat sheet with all the keyboard shortcuts for the release version of Windows 8?  Here you go:

• DOWNLOAD: Windows 8 keyboard shortcut Quick Reference sheet
  http://sdrv.ms/PBg5u7

At some juncture, if you’re like me, you’ve been adding Windows 7 PCs, Windows Phone 7 devices, Windows 8 PCs, & newly purchased Surfaces to your Kindle account.

This can only go on so long.  At some juncture, Kindle will not let you load your eBooks up on to a newly added Kindle player since you’ve exceeded the maximum number of players that Amazon allows.

WHAT TO DO?
You need to remove older, unused Kindle readers/players/devices from your account.  The way you do this is

1. Go to the following site:
   https://www.amazon.com/gp/digital/fiona/manage?ie=UTF8&ref_=ya_14&#manageDevices
2. Click ‘Deregister’ next to each device you no longer use.
   You can verify the ‘Device Name’ of each device by going to each device you own and looking into the Options of each player.

For those with new Windows RT-based devices enjoying the Office 2013 Preview Release, (like new Surface owners… yeah!) you’re in luck!  It’s time to start up Windows Update because the final release of Office Home & Student 2013 is available for autodownload and installation to your device at no charge!

The download is 583MB in size so it’s gonna take a bit to download but once completed, you can look forward to immediately seeing this gratifying change:

…

To install the Office RTM:

1. Open the Charms bar by edge swiping from the right of the screen
2. Select Settings & “Change PC Settings” at the bottom.
3. Select Windows Update.
4. Click “No important updates are scheduled to be installed.”
5. Click “Get more info”.
6. Click “Important update is available”
7. Check the box next to “Update for Microsoft Office Home & Student 2013 Preview”
8. Click Install in the bottom right hand corner.