SETTING UP COMPUTER SOFTWARE

BOOT UP In simple terms, to boot a computer is to turn it on. Once the computer's power is turned on, the "boot process" takes place. Shutting Down This process involves loading the startup instructions from the computer's ROM, followed by loading the operating system from the current boot disk. The boot disk is usually an internal hard drive, but can also be an external drive, a CD or DVD-ROM, or even a floppy disk. Once the operating system software is loaded, the boot process is complete and the computer is ready to be used. DESKTOP   The desktop is the main working space on your computer screen. It is where the icons for the files and folders on your hard drive is displayed. You can also open windows on your desktop and browse the directories on your computer.   Most operating systems allow you to choose your desktop background, which can either be a picture or a pattern. When you boot up your computer, the desktop is displayed once the startup process is complete. It includes the desktop background (or wallpaper) and icons of files and folders you may have saved to the desktop. Desttop   In Windows, the desktop includes a task bar, which is located at the bottom of the screen by default. The desktop is visible on both Windows and Macintosh computers as long as an application or window is not filling up the entire screen   You can drag items to and from the desktop, just like a folder. Since the desktop is always present, items on the desktop can be accessed quickly, rather than requiring you to navigate through several directories. Therefore, it may be helpful to store commonly used files, folders, and application shortcuts on your desktop.The icons and items found on the Windows Desktop   Some of the most common icons you're likely to find on the Desktop include the My Computer icon, Recycle Bin, your Internet browser icon (e.g. Internet Explorer), and My Documents. On the Windows Desktop, you'll also have access to the Windows Start Menu through the Start button on the Taskbar and the Windows Notification Area. Icon Icons are a visual representation of something on your computer. For example, a blue "e" on your screen most likely represents the Internet Explorer program. An icon that looks like a sheet of paper is probably a text document. By clicking and dragging icons, you can move the actual files they represent to various locations on your computer's hard drive. Computer Icons By double-clicking an application icon, you can open the program. Icons are one of the fundamental features of the graphical user interface (GUI). They make computing much more user-friendly than having to enter text commands to accomplish anything. Some Unix nerds would beg to differ, but I'm talking about normal people here.  Using the Start Menu and other Desktop items Task bar- The gray strip that runs along the bottom of your screen contains useful several items.   Task Bar At the far left end is the Start menu button which will be explained below. Active Window button - Each window that is open will be represented by a button on the toolbar. Only one of them will be an active window. That button will appear to be lighter that the other buttons and will look as if it is three dimensional extending below the level of the rest of the Task bar Active Window

Time - Place your mouse pointer directly over the time but do not click. Windows will display the date.

Time Icon

With your mouse pointer directly over the time gently click two quick times to open the Date/Time control panel Notification Area Sometimes referred to as the system tray, Systray, shell notification area, and the taskbar status area. The notification area is a portion of Microsoft Windows that was first introduced with Windows 95 and found with all later versions of Windows that display programs running in the background

Notification Area

The notification area is located on the right portion of the Taskbar next to the time. The image shows two examples of what the Windows notification area look like. The left image shows the layout of all versions prior to Windows 7; the introduction of Windows 7 gave a new look to the Systray, hiding all the icons until the user clicks the small "up arrow." Sound Control - The yellow speaker is the Sound icon. Notice that mine has a red circle over it with a diagonal slash. That is the universal symbol for No.

Sound Icon

Mute Sound

That means that the sound control panel has been set to Mute, to be silent. To adjust sound, place the tip of your mouse pointer on the middle of the yellow   speaker icon and gently click one time with the left mouse button. A pop-up control panel gives you the opportunity to change your computer volume quickly. Empty area- Between the Active window and the system tray (that is what they call that area to the far right), there is an empty gray area. If you put the tip of your mouse pointer in the empty gray area and gently click one time with the right mouse button, the following pop-up menu appears:

Empty Area in task Bar

Right Click on Empty Area

A very interesting choice is there, second from the bottom. You can Minimize All Windows with one click. When you are ready to bring them all back, repeat the process and this time the menu will allow you to Undo Minimize All.

The Start Menu The image below is what you would see if you put your mouse pointer over the Start button and gently click one time   with the left mouse button. This image is clickable.

Start Menu

Put the tip of your mouse pointer on an item and gently click one time with the left mouse button Caution: Not all of the items in the window are clickable

Programs All Program Show up The common way to get to any program or application stored on your computer is to slide your mouse pointer up to the programs menu, then select an application which you want to work in. All program click This is also where you will go to get to the built-in items that you learned about earlier. You are not required to click on this area of the menu, but you may. Whether you click or not, move your mouse pointer quickly to the right into the list of applications. Program Option

Find "I saved it! I know I did!" I know you have either said that, or heard someone else say that. Whenever you save a document, the Find window indicates the location that the document was saved to. New computer users don't always notice where their masterpiece was saved. That is what this menu choice is for. Think about that for a minute. Yes, that's right! Everyone has trouble, at one time or another, remembering exactly where a document was saved.   Find / search Box on window

Steps for using the Find menu choice:   Using the left mouse button, gently click one time on Start Slide your mouse pointer up to Find and gently click one time Slide your mouse pointer to the right so that it points to Files or Folders and gently click one time Remember some part of the file name and type that in the Named: box Check the Look in: box and make sure you are searching the entire computer, not just a directory or disk.

Find menu

Help   Help - No, you are not the only one that needs Help from time to time. The people that wrote Windows knew that and have provided a very large index of topics.   The first few times you use Windows Help you will probably want to use the Contents tab as you see in the window below. If you have an idea as to what you are looking for, use the Index tab

Help Menu

Shut Down

 

Shut Down - If your computer is not frozen you should shut your computer down using the Shut Down menu. Do not automatically press the Enter key when you see the Shut Down Windows dialog box pop-up.

Shut Down Button

Shutting down

Windows remembers the last thing that you did with this dialog box. If the last thing you did was Restart and you press the Enter key you will Restart not Shut down.

 

Develop a habit of carefully reading the dialog boxes that pop up.

Start Button

 

Start Button - This is the button you use to access all of the choices described above.

 

Inactive Window - Make an Inactive window Active by clicking on the button in the Task bar 

Inactive Window

Desktop Items

 

The visible image that covers your entire screen is known as your Desktop.

On your desktop are several small images called icons. You may also have icons that appear to be file folders. Each time you save something to the Desktop, an icon is added there. Some of the icons are known as Shortcuts.

 

Those are small instructions which tell your computer where a larger program is located. To find out about each of the elements 

displayed below, click on the item.

Desk top icons

My Documents My Documents - Unless you instruct Window otherwise, the standard (default) place where your documents are saved is in My Documents. As you create more documents (known as files) on your computer you may wish to save them in other places. As you are getting accustomed to using your computer My Documents is a good place to save things.  Document Folder

My Computer My Computer - This icon displays the  main components of your computer. You can open any of the items in this window to further examine the components of your computer.   For Example: put the tip of your mouse pointer on the Local disc (D:) icon and gently click two quick times on the icon to see what is in your CD Drive.

Internet Explorer - Double clicking on this icon will launch the Internet browser named Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer

Recycle Bin    Recycle Bin - Speaking of throwing things away, this is the place there they go when you delete them from anywhere accept a floppy disk and Flash disc. Items deleted from a floppy disk and Flash disc are immediately discarded from your computer. Anything else you delete goes to the Recycle Bin.     Items in the Recycle Bin may be removed from the bin, or the Recycle Bin may be emptied. To empty the bin, place the tip of your mouse pointer on the bin icon and gently click one time with the right mouse button. When the popup menu appears, slide down to Empty Recycle Bin and gently click one time with the left mouse button.   When Recycle Bin has been emptied, those items are gone from your computer (unless someone like the FBI is looking at your hard drive - Yeah, it left traces of itself which can be discovered by someone who really knows how to look. Moral: don't plan something illegal on your computer

Recycle Bin

CREATING\REMOVING(DELETING) A SHORTCUT TO A PROGRAM OR FILE You can add or remove desktop‌ icons for programs, files, pictures, locations, and more. Most of the icons you add to your desktop will be shortcuts, but you can also save files or folders to the desktop. If you delete files or folders that are stored on your desktop, they are moved to the Recycle Bin, where you can permanently delete them. If you delete a shortcut, the shortcut is removed from your desktop, but the file, program, or location that the shortcut links to is not deleted. You can identify shortcuts by the arrow on their icon.

Example of a shortcut on the desktop

Example of a file stored on the desktop

To create a shortcut: On the desktop to a program or file, there are two possible methods to choose from.  Method 1     1)   Right-click an open area on the desktop, point to New, and then click Shortcut.     2)   Click Browse.     3)   Locate the program or file to which you want to create a shortcut, click the program or file, click Open, and then click Next.     4)   Type a name for the shortcut. If a Finish button appears at the bottom of the dialog box, click it. If a Next button appears at the bottom of the dialog box, click it, click the icon you want to use for the shortcut, and then click Finish.

Method 2     1)   Click Start, point to Programs, and then right-click the program you want to create the shortcut to.     2)   Click Create Shortcut.     3)   The shortcut is now at the end of the Programs list. For example, if you created a shortcut to Microsoft Word, to find that program, click Start, and then point to Programs. You will find the shortcut, named "Microsoft Word (2)" (without the quotation marks), at the bottom of the Program list.     4)   Drag the shortcut to the Desktop.

To Delete a Desktop Shortcut:   Method 1     1)   This first method to delete a desktop shortcut is quite simple:     2)   Move your mouse over the desktop shortcut you wish to delete and press the left mouse button.     3)   The icon will become selected and highlighted.     4)   With the icon still selected and the left mouse button still down, drag the desktop shortcut over to and on top of the Recycle Bin icon on the desktop.     5)   Release the left mouse button.     6)   If it is a program shortcut you are deleting, Windows will show a message (as explained above) and ask for confirmation.     7)   No message appears if the desktop shortcut is for a file or folder.

Method 2

    1)   Left click the desktop shortcut to select it.

    2)   Right click the desktop shortcut.

    3)   A menu appears.

    4)   Left click the Delete item on the menu that appeared.

    5)   Windows will ask you to confirm deleting the shortcut.

    6)   Just like our first method, you will get a message from Windows about deleting the shortcut if it is for a program. See the beginning of this article if you missed what the message says.

    7)   For a file or folder shortcut, you will see a message from Windows asking for confirmation.

Method 3 1)   Left click the desktop shortcut you wish to delete. 2)   On your keyboard, press the Delete button. 3)   The delete button is in the bottom left corner of the bank of buttons above your arrow keys, if you are using a desktop computer. 4)   You will get a message from Windows asking for confirmation. 5)   The messages for this method are the same as the ones for method 2 above.   Musa Kazimoto IT