How to Get Windows on your Chromebook

Chromebooks are great! However, they do not officially support other operating systems such as Windows. Love it or hate it, one cannot even install Windows on Chromebook. Many people use various Windows desktop programs such as Word and Photoshop on a daily basis. Thankfully, there are ways to get Windows applications on Chromebooks. In this blog, we will discuss the workarounds for running Windows software on your Chromebook.

Getting started

Before you begin, you need to keep a few things in your mind. Goofing around with the OS, firmware or BIOS can cause adverse effects on your Chromebook. For this reason, you must back up all the data before proceeding to install Windows.

If anything wrong occurs and you cannot use Chromebook, then you can make a USB drive using a different system to attempt system recovery. But doing so will wipe out all the data, so you need to create a secure backup beforehand.

Accessing Office apps

If you want to access Windows apps, primarily Office programs, then you can do so with the help of the Microsoft website.

1. Open your browsing program and go to any such website.

2. Now, you will be able to see the applications that are included in Office Online. Office apps such as Excel, Word, OneDrive, etc. can be used for free.

3. Choose the program you wish to use. A variant of the application will open in the browser tab.

Chrome Remote Desktop

With the help of this extension, you can get access to a different desktop from your Chromebook. While Chromebook is impressive, it cannot run Windows applications. But with the help of Chrome Remote Desktop, users can remotely access any Windows system. Here’s how you can access a remote Windows desktop from Chromebook.

1. Launch the Start menu and click on the Chrome Remote Desktop option. You will have to install the application first if you haven’t already done that.

2. Choose the Allow Access option to verify that you are giving this extension access to various settings and features.

3. After that, you will be able to see the systems connected to the app below My Computers.

4. Click on the Get started button.

5. Choose the Windows system you wish to remotely access.

6. Key in the PIN allotted to the PC to get remote access.

7. Hit the Connect button.

CrossOver

With CrossOver, you can run Windows application on Chromebooks. Here’s how you can get this software:

1. Go to the Google Play Store.

2. Look up CrossOver and tap on the Install button.

3. When prompted, grant access to media and files on the Chromebook.

4. Create a copy of the app’s installation file and save it in the Downloads folder.

5. When the installation is over, launch CrossOver.

6. Now, just type whatever Windows app you want in the search bar. For example, type QuickBooks.

7. You may have to confirm the software you want to get on your Chromebook.

8. Now the installation process will begin.

9. Accept the terms and agreement.

10. When the installation is over, just open the newly installed app directly.

Karen Minton is a Microsoft Office expert and has been working in the technical industry since 2002. As a technical expert, Karen  has written technical blogs, manuals, white papers, and reviews for many websites such as office.com/setup. 

How to Enable Folder Protection with OneDrive on Windows 10

When your files and folders are saved to OneDrive, they can be accessed from
anywhere. Your data are always safe in OneDrive if anything happens to your
device. OneDrive is free online storage that you get in-hand with your Microsoft
account.

With Microsoft OneDrive, you can save your files online, and you will be able to
view, browse, share, and upload them from any computer, phone, or tablet. Now,
you can set up protection for the files and folders you think important in
Windows (your Desktop, Documents, and Pictures folders) when using any
OneDrive account; either your personal, work or school OneDrive account.
In this article, I will show you how you can enable folder protection on your
Windows PC.

What’s New!

If any ransomware threat is found on your device, Windows Defender is going to
inform you about the danger. This will help you eliminate the ransomware from
the device. Also, you are going to have more options to recover your OneDrive
files back to the state they were in before any attack took place.

Bonus

For Office 365 Home subscribers, Office 365 Personal subscribers, and OneDrive
for Business users, that also includes OneDrive Files Restore, you can use it for
restoring your OneDrive to the same place where it was before but in time within
the last 30 days. Windows Defender detected date and time is going to be pre-
selected in Files Restore. This makes the process simple and convenient to use.

What’s more?

You will now learn how to enable folder protection with OneDrive for getting
developed ransomware protection of your essential files in your Documents,
Pictures, and Desktop folders on Windows 10.

Follow the simple steps given below:

1. Click on the OneDrive icon on the taskbar notification section.

2. Then click on the More option, and head to the Settings.

3. Click on the Auto Save tab in your Microsoft OneDrive settings, after that,
    tap on the Update Folders button.

Note: if you don't find any Update Folders button in OneDrive Settings, you are
        clearly not eligible for folder protection, and the rest of these guidelines are

        more likely to be futile for you.

4. Now, in the Setup protection of important folders dialog box, you will need
    to choose the folders you want to protect.

5. And then tap on the Start Protection button.

Note: If you want, you can close the dialog box while your files are syncing to
         OneDrive. Or else, if you want to watch your data sync, you can tap on the
        View Upload Progress option.

6. As soon as the files finish syncing to OneDrive, we can say they're
   protected. In addition, now they can be accessed from anywhere in
   Documents, Desktop, or Pictures using any other device.

7. Hence, when you protect your Desktop folder, the items on your desktop
   travel with you to your other device where you're running your OneDrive
  account.

That’s it. When completed, simply tap on the OK button in the OneDrive
settings. Your files and folders are now protected and handier with OneDrive.

Thank you for reading this article; I hope this information is going to be helpful to
you.

Karen Minton is a Microsoft Office expert and has been working in the technical industry since 2002. As a technical expert, Karen  has written technical blogs, manuals, white papers, and reviews for many websites such as office.com/setup.