Using Windows
and the Desktop
The modern Windows
Desktop offers many features that make using your computer easier. You
can easily start programs, copy and move files from one place to another
and drag and drop files and program where you want them; including into
applications or even on to an application's icon to start it with a specific
file open. Open and Save menus are streamlined to allow all applications
to have the same basic features plus program specific features. Though
Windows is backwardly compatible with many of the older programs the application
must be designed for Windows 95 or greater to allow it to have modern
Windows features.
Desktop
Button
The Start Button
starts programs, opens documents, and access most parts of the system.
It can be customized as needed.
- Program
displays a list of the programs that are installed through Windows and
available to use
- Documents
displays a list of the last 15 documents used allowing the user to open
them directly from this menu
- Settings
displays system components, such as printers, control panel and taskbar
- Find/Search
has search abilities to find files, folders and phrases in documents
on your computer
- Help displays
help topics broken up into contents, index and find components
- Run allows
you to start a program from a command line
- Shut down
shuts down the computer, restarts the computer or logs you off a network
- Favorites
and Active Desktop is an option available to Windows 98+ (or
Internet Explorer 4x) users
Taskbar
- displays the program
running and windows open
- to bring a
program or window to the front single click on the item on the taskbar
- right click
to display a menu for the item
- right click an
open area for a Taskbar menu
- the notification
area on the right displays indicators for certain tasks
(for instance a printer icon will appear when the printer is engaged)
- double click
the icon to display setting for the task
- click and drag
the taskbar to the top, bottom, left or right to customize it.
- drag it to make
it bigger or to move it off the screen
- use Start/Settings/Taskbar
& Start Menu (or right click and Properties) to customize the settings
Control
Panel
- used to change
system settings like screen savers, time, screen colours
- also used to add
and remove programs, fonts add and make changes to hardware and software
settings
My
Computer
- displays all the
components of the computer including disk drives and networks
- all parts of the
computer can be accessed through My Computer's hierarchical structure
- double click on
any icon to view the contents of a disk, folder or run a program
Window
Windows
are what the operating system was named for. All programs, folders, tasks
and most other operations open in a window. Windows has increased the
capabilities of the window to
- share common attributes
through out the entire system
- contain menus
for File, Edit, View and Help which update
depending on the task
- File
- open,
rename, delete or change properties of files and folders
- Send To
used to open files in a specified program
- create
"Shortcuts"
- Edit
- move,
copy and paste files and folders
- Undo the
last change
- View
- change
how menu items are displayed
- toggles
Toolbar and Status bar
- sorts
files with Arrange Icons
- Options
set system wide menu options
- Help
- displays
help topics
- Windows
95 displays resource and memory allocation
Toolbar
- displays icon menu
of main options (hold pointer over icon for description)
Status bar
- shows current status
of the window including hints
Shortcuts
- can be created
anywhere you need to access a program, file or folder
- select item and
choose Create Shortcut then move it to its target folder (destination)
- or open target
folder and choose File, New, Shortcut
- use the right
mouse button to drag the item to the target and choose Create Shortcut
Here from the menu that appears
- when you delete
a Shortcut the original remains intact
*Favorites
is a feature available with Windows 98+ and Internet Explorer version
4.x
- allow items (web
pages, folders, document, etc...) to be added to Window menus
Programs
& Features
Feature
of Window
- Long file names
- document names can now use names up to 255 characters including spaces
using any character except \ / : * ? " < > |
- Plug and Play
- Win 95 will detect many hardware devices like CDs, tape drives, upgrade
cards, etc... and automatically install them on your system
- 32 bit Preemptive
Multitasking - allows users to leave a task running while working
on another
- Right Mouse
button - used to display event specific or context sensitive menus
- Drag and Drop
feature allows you to drop files into programs to open them, drag
selected text to new location, drag graphics to a new window and many
more options
- Active Windows
- make your Desktop behave like a web site
- Active Update
- update Windows automatically through the Internet
Using
Help
- to get help about
a specific procedure click the help button in the top right corner of
the screen (or right click the item and choose What is This?)
- Contents
list general topics grouped by subject
- Index list
specific topics accessed by scroll bars or typing the topic
- Find creates
an index of words in Help and allows searches by word or phrase
- click Help
Topics to return to the Help menu
- Troubleshooters
will step you through a series of steps to solve computer problems
Windows
Explorer
- not to be confused
with Microsoft Explorer
- displays drives
and folders on the left side and files and sub-folders in the right
- click a folder
to display it's contents on right
- plus sign (+)
beside a drive or folder indicates that there are sub-folders
- click plus to
expand or show the folders and minus to hide them
Using
DOS programs
- many older DOS
program will run under Window
- the PIF editor
is replaced with a Properties dialogue box
- note that some
DOS programs cannot run in a window and require a full screen
Switching
between tasks (programs/applications/folders)
- depending in your
system's resources you can have many programs running at once an easily
switch from one to another using various methods
- hold down Alt
while tapping Tab to display a menu of tasks running
- click on the taskbar
icon of the task you want to bring it to the front
Hints
& Shortcuts
The right mouse button
is a great feature of the Windows operating system and can be a real time
saver. Right click on an empty space of the desktop to change Desktop
Properties, right click on My Computer to display or modify your computer's
properties, right click Network Neighborhood to display and modify your
network properties, right click on a Start menu item to modify it, right
click an icon to work with it, etc.
Backing
up files
- there are a few
system files that need to be backed up periodically
- all initialization
(.ini) files in the Windows directory
- all registry files
(.dat) files in the Windows directory
- all password (.pwl)
files in the Windows directory
- all files referred
to in; as well as the Config.sys and Autoexec.bat
files
- any other proprietary
configuration and logon scripts
- and of course
your personal and business data
Five
Methods of Opening Documents
- Open a program
and use the Open command in the File menu
- Use the Documents
command in the Start menu to open a recently used document
- Use the Find command
in the Start menu
- Double click on
an icon in a Desktop Folder
- Right click and
choose Open
Creating
Folders
- Use the New option
in the File menu (or right click) to create a folder in the active window
Moving
and Deleting Files
- Use Drag & Drop
to drag the file or folder from one window to another with the right
button
- a menu will
appear allowing you to Copy or Move the file or folder
- Use Drag & Drop
to drag the file or folder from one window to another with the left
button
- files on the
same disk are moved (hold Ctrl to copy)
- files on another
disk are copied (hold Ctrl to move)
- Use the Edit menu
to Cut the file and Paste it in the destination window
- Hold down Shift
while Deleting a file to by pass the Recycle Bin and permanently delete
files
Multiple
Selection
- to select files
sequentially click on the first file and move to the last file, press
hold and press click on the last file in the sequence
- to select files
non-sequentially click on the first file and hold Ctrl while clicking
the rest
- the two methods
can be used together
Organizing
your files
- any folder created
on the Desktop will be available as a root directory in any program
designed for Windows 95
- folder created
on the Desktop are stored in the C:\Window\Desktop
directory
- My Documents is
the default folder created by Windows
Troubleshooting
- Windows has a number
of tools built in to assist in solving computer problems
- Choosing Help allow
users to access Troubleshooting Wizards that provide step-by-step suggestions
- System Information
under System Tools provide valuable information and access to other
system tools
Index
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