Just now found Internet Options....yay!!!

Here is a helpful shortcut you may find useful.
You can place constantly used and deleted items on the taskbar like your browser, etc.
The taskbar appears and disappears depending on a number of things going on, but if you dive your cursor down far enough it will always come back into view.

Here is a link that might be useful: Taskbar

I have W8.1 am typing this on it now, and I also have Outlook on my IE/MSN home pg. And I have toolbar on top, taskbar on bottom as it should be. One of my tiles has decktop on it so when I click on it, then my PC looks just like W7 desktop. Also if you do not have the Start on the taskbar then download Classic Start ASAP, link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Classic Start

Classic Shell will also set it to what you are familiar with. I put it on my W 8 laptop. CS is a free download. It is for W 8 and 8.1. Try one and if you don't like it uninstall it and try the other.

I did not know there was a Classic Start, I will check that out. I did check it out and there wasn't much info on how it worked. Classic start gives you the tool bar at the top and the task bar at the bottom.

Here is a link that might be useful: Classic Shell

This post was edited by EmmaR on Thu, Oct 23, 14 at 14:34

I have used both and only diff is Classic Start does not ask for donations completely Free and recommended by most PC techs

I'm into my second month with a new Dell XPS8700 running 8.1. After booting into the Metro UI, a single click on a single tile takes me right to the desktop...no need for anything extra at all. Frankly, I don't know what all the fuss is about. Metro is pretty much a waste for me, but sometimes it is useful. It's just another part of the experience...nothing to worry and fret over.

"Free and recommended by most PC techs"

What's your source for this statement?

There's a choice of several different pieces of software that can provide the Start Menu appearance. The reviewing articles I've seen suggest they all work more or less.

I use Classic Shell, it's configurable and seems to have a light footprint. Other than a Donate button on the download page (which is typical of most true freeware), I've seen no further solicitation for money when using it.

I always give a donation when I find free software to be useful.

My source is one of the bigwigs at HP and a few of his techs..

I don't like donation's to be pushy as in Avast, but I am not bothered by the donation in Classic Shell. I had even forgotten it was there.

When you have the window with the tiles open you can simply start to type the name of a program. For example if you want the calculator, control panel or Word start to type and watch the top right of the screen and options appear. Once you see your choice click it and presto, there it is.

If you need to get to the tiles simply click the Microsoft emblem in the bottom left corner or tap the Windows key on the keyboard. It is between the CRTL and ALT keys on the left side.

Sort the tiles to your order of preference by placing the mouse over a tile, hold down the left button and drag.

If you want to see every tile in a smaller size bring up the window with the tiles and click the down arrow bottom left.

My first click was to open in desktop mode. Easy ever since.

A-nut, the justification for your opinion has changed from "most PC techs" to a few techs at HP.

I know HP well, I used to be an adviser to them at HQ in a non-engineering capacity. They have more hierarchy than the US Army. A true big wig doesn't supervise techs, any more than a General supervises Privates.

Opinions and sources can differ, there's rarely just one answer to problems or questions. Your contributions are sometimes useful, please don't make things up or overstate your sources.

My daughter told me to click the desktop mode, so that is what I do now. It's getting better. I added some digital pictures of my daughter's wedding using my digital camera and the cord connected to the port on my computer. They went into the program "My Pictures" which I used on XP.. Her husband's sister took some and put them on Facebook. I right click on those pictures and then click on "save as". Those pictures went into a program that is just called "Pictures". So, now I have wedding pictures in 2 different picture applications. How do I get them all into 'My Pictures"?? And how do I bring up "My Pictures"??