Basic Computing Using Windows

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Basic ComputingUsing Windows

Edition 1.0 5th March 2006From Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection

Note: current version of this book can be found at http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Basic_Computing_Using_Windows

2

Table of contents

B

ASIC

C

OMPUTING

U

SING

W

INDOWS

........................................................................................................................1T

ABLE OF CONTENTS

.................................................................................................................................................2C

OMPUTERS AND

P

ERIPHERALS

.................................................................................................................................3O

PERATING

S

YSTEMS AND

C

ONTROLS

......................................................................................................................5T

HE

D

ESKTOP

..........................................................................................................................................................10F

ILE

S

YSTEMS

..........................................................................................................................................................13C

ONCEPTS AND

S

ETTINGS

........................................................................................................................................18N

ETWORKS AND THE

I

NTERNET

...............................................................................................................................22E

MAIL

, C

HAT

-

ROOMS

,

AND

IM...............................................................................................................................26A

PPENDICES

............................................................................................................................................................28S

WITCHING THE

C

ONTROL

P

ANEL TO

C

LASSIC

V

IEW

..............................................................................................28C

ONNECTING TO THE

I

NTERNET

..............................................................................................................................28C

ONTRIBUTORS

.......................................................................................................................................................30

Major Contributors............................................................................................................................................30 Minor Contributors............................................................................................................................................30

L

ICENSE

...................................................................................................................................................................31

GNU Free Documentation License....................................................................................................................310. PREAMBLE ...................................................................................................................................................311. APPLICABILITY AND DEFINITIONS..........................................................................................................312. VERBATIM COPYING...................................................................................................................................323. COPYING IN QUANTITY..............................................................................................................................324. MODIFICATIONS.........................................................................................................................................325. COMBINING DOCUMENTS.........................................................................................................................336. COLLECTIONS OF DOCUMENTS ..............................................................................................................337. AGGREGATION WITH INDEPENDENT WORKS .......................................................................................348. TRANSLATION..............................................................................................................................................349. TERMINATION..............................................................................................................................................3410. FUTURE REVISIONS OF THIS LICENSE..................................................................................................34 External links.....................................................................................................................................................34

3

Computers and Peripherals

What is a computer? A

computer

is a machine that

input

s (takes in) facts and information(known as

data

), and then

process

es (does something to or with) it. Afterwards it

output

s,or displays, the results for you to see. Data is all kinds of information, including, pictures,letters, numbers, and sounds. There are two main parts of computers,

hardware

and

software

. Hardware is all of the parts of the computer you can see and touch. Software isthe instructions that a computer uses to do what you ask it to. Pieces of software are oftencalled

programs

.

Figure 1.1 - A CRT MonitorMany people mistakenly think that where the computer normally displays things is thecomputer. This is not true. That is the

monitor

(see Figure 1.1). The computer is usually a box(see Figure 1.2). Also, you may call the whole assembly of all the hardware (the computer andthe monitor, for example) the computer.There are different styles of monitors. One of these is the one already shown. It is called a

CRT

monitor. It takes more power than the other popular kind, called

LCD

s (see Figure 1.3).However, CRT monitors work faster, which makes them better for fast games because themovement will blur less. LCDs are thinner than CRTs, but they are more expensive.Figure 1.4 - A PrinterMonitors are only one way the computer can output information for you to see. Anotherpopular output device is called a

printer

(see Figure 1.4). Printers are used to put data onpaper. This is called

hard copy

, what monitors show is called

soft copy

. Computers can alsooutput sounds; this is also soft copy.

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