IT Services

Microsoft Windows XP A Beginners Guide

Contents
Introduction ..............................................................................................................1 Introducing the Desktop ......................................................................................1 Windows and their Control .................................................................................1 The Taskbar ................................................................................................................3 Multi-Tasking and the Quick Launch Buttons ..............................4 Shortcut Menus .......................................................................................4 The Start Menu .........................................................................................5 Other Taskbar Facilities .........................................................................6 The Control Panel ....................................................................................7 Drives, Folders and Files ........................................................................................7 My Documents .........................................................................................7 My Computer ............................................................................................8 Creating a Folder .....................................................................................8 Moving a File into a Folder ...................................................................9 Copying a File between Drives ...........................................................9 Deleting a File or Folder ..................................................................... 10 The Recycle Bin ..................................................................................... 11 Dealing with Multiple Files/Folders ............................................... 11 Changing the View .............................................................................. 12 Searching for Files and Folders ........................................................ 12 Making Backups ..................................................................................................... 14 USB Pens .................................................................................................. 14 Floppy Disks ............................................................................................ 14 Compact Disks ...................................................................................... 15 Customising the Desktop .................................................................................. 15 Creating Shortcuts ............................................................................... 15 Deleting Shortcuts ............................................................................... 15 Creating a Theme ................................................................................. 16 Keyboard Extras ..................................................................................................... 16 Using the Keyboard Instead of the Mouse ................................. 16 Key Combinations ................................................................................ 17 Screen Dumps ....................................................................................... 18 Shutting Down a Non-Responding Task ..................................... 18 Using Windows Help ........................................................................................... 19 Leaving Windows and Logging Off ................................................................. 19

Introduction
Microsoft Windows XP is the default operating system installed on IT Services PCs. An operating system is a piece of software which allows you to give instructions to the computer. Windows XP has a friendly Graphical User Interface (GUI) which uses Windows, Icons, a Mouse and Pointer (often referred to as WIMP). This method of working has become familiar to most computer users nowadays, however, few know about all the facilities and short cuts provided by the system. These notes aim to teach you how to use Windows efficiently.

Introducing the Desktop

A picture of a Microsoft Windows XP screen from an IT Services PC is shown below:

This is known as the Desktop. The Desktop appears when a computer is ready for you to use (once the system has booted up and you have logged in). If you have your own computer, or access to computers not run by IT Services, you will notice one or two differences. The obvious one is the IT Services information on the right of the screen. Also, the University PCs are running in XP Style Mode with virtually no icons (little pictures) displayed. You will see later how to customize the screen by placing your own icons on the Desktop. These can provide short cuts to some of the software available and also to your files. The only icon of note is to the Recycle Bin.

Windows and their Control

Before exploring the Desktop further, it's important to learn how to control a window. Whenever you use a facility in the operating system or run some software, a new window appears, hiding some or all of the Desktop. You will see later that you can have several things running at the same time, each in its own separate window. To demonstrate this, use the icon provided to open the Recycle Bin: 1. Open the Recycle Bin by moving the mouse pointer onto the icon and double clicking with the left mouse button 2. Under Other Places on the left, click on My Computer 1

A window similar to the one below should appear - the use of My Computer will be covered later in these notes. If the window fails to appear, you may not have double clicked properly. Try again. Tip: Pressing <Enter> when an icon is selected also opens the window.

Whenever you open a Microsoft Windows XP window, several consistent features are present. These allow you to manage and use the window. The main features are: Title Bar (at the top) shows the window name. It is also used to move a window around the screen Control Buttons - the three icons in the top right corner from left to right are: o o o Minimize - temporarily hides the window Maximize - makes a window fill the screen. When a window is maximised, this button becomes Restore Down, which returns the window to its smaller size Close - closes the window

Menu Bar - a simple menu system which gives access to all available commands Toolbar - a friendly set of buttons representing the commonly-used commands - if you move the mouse pointer over a toolbar button, a help tip usually appears Address Bar - a convenient way of accessing the various parts of the system Scroll Bars - allow you to view information which is outside the current window area. Note that these only appear if they are needed. Both vertical and horizontal bars may be provided Task Panes - these sometimes appear and are designed to give you help

The strength of Windows lies in its consistency. No matter what you are doing, most of the above features will be present. Moreover, the same commands are usually found in the same menus, whatever software is being used. For example the Edit menu usually has the commands Cut, Copy and Paste; the File menu usually has Open, Save and Print. Active commands in a menu appear in black; if a command cannot be used at a particular time it is greyed out. In Microsoft Office 2007, the menus have been replaced by the Ribbon. Further, identical icons are used for the same commands on the toolbars or Ribbon - and these are generally found in the same relative positions. Many commands can also be issued through Key Combinations. You haven't learned about using these yet, but they too are largely consistent throughout Windows. The following exercise demonstrates how to use the Window controls: 1. If the My Computer window doesn't already fill the screen, click on [Maximize] (the central control button) 2

2. Click on this central control button again (now [Restore Down]) and the window is its original size 3. Move the mouse pointer into the blue Title Bar, hold down the left mouse button and drag the window slightly, to a new position on the screen, then release the mouse button 4. Click on the left [Minimize] control button - the window will disappear Though the My Computer window is no longer showing, it is only hiding. This is shown on what is known as the Taskbar, at the very foot of the screen. You will find out more about the Taskbar later. 5. Move the mouse pointer to the very bottom of the screen over the button which reads My Computer and click the left mouse button - the My Computer window will reappear Sometimes it is useful to resize a window manually, for example to display several windows on the screen at once. This can be done by moving the mouse pointer to the border of the window and dragging the edge in or out. 6. Move the mouse pointer to the right edge of the My Computer window - it should change shape and becomes a double-headed arrow 7. Hold down the left mouse button and drag the border to the left - reduce the window to roughly a third of its original width then release the mouse button (the task pane disappears) 8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 but this time point to the bottom edge and move it upwards The My Computer window should now be too small for all the icons to be displayed at once. A vertical scroll bar should have been added to the window to allow access to the hidden icons. Most users know how scroll bars work (or think they do). They can in fact be used in four ways: Positioning the mouse pointer over an arrow at one end of the scroll bar and clicking on the mouse button once shifts the display up/down one line (or one column horizontally) Holding down the mouse button on an arrow repeats this action and the display scrolls up/down (or sideways) Positioning the mouse pointer above/below the indicator rectangle in the scroll bar and clicking on the mouse button shifts the display up/down (or across) a windowful at a time Moving the mouse pointer to the indicator, holding down the mouse button and dragging the rectangle up/down (or sideways) scrolls the display, reflecting the indicator's position

Note also that you can use the wheel on the mouse to scroll up and down, while Page Up/Down and arrow keys are available on the keyboard. 9. Using the scroll bar in any of the above ways, display some of the hidden icons 10. Also try using the mouse wheel, if you have one 11. Restore the size of the window - move the mouse pointer to the bottom right corner (it becomes a diagonal double-headed arrow), hold down the mouse button and drag the borders to roughly their original position (on a corner both borders move) 12. Move the mouse over the toolbar buttons but do not click on any of the buttons - read any help tips which appear (usually, only those without text show tips) 13. Move the mouse pointer to the menu headings (File, Edit, View etc) then click on the mouse button to see the available commands but do not click on any of the commands in the menus 14. Finally, click on the [Close] control button at the top right to close the My Computer window

The Taskbar
In the above Windows exercise, you were briefly introduced to the Taskbar. This is positioned across the very bottom of the screen and is coloured a slightly lighter blue. As you saw earlier, whenever you run a program or Windows facility (like My Computer), an icon representing that task appears on the Taskbar. Several tasks can be run simultaneously. This is called multi-tasking. You use the Taskbar to switch between tasks. 3

On the far left of the Taskbar is the [Start] menu button, which will be discussed in detail shortly. On the far right, information such as the current time is displayed. The icons to the right of [Start] provide a quick launch for email etc.

Multi-Tasking and the Quick Launch Buttons

This next exercise demonstrates how the Taskbar is used when more than one task is running. 1. Move the mouse pointer down to the Taskbar, point to the [Windows Explorer] quick launch icon (usually last in the group on the left), read the help tip which appears then click once on the icon 2. Click on the link to My Computer in Folders on the left - this is the normal method to get to this information (rather than through the Recycle Bin) 3. Repeat step 1, this time on the [Internet Explorer] icon (the letter e - on the left) 4. [Maximize] the window (if necessary) then click on the link to IT Services provided in the list of Other links on the left to view the IT Services Home Page Note that you only have to click once on the Quick Launch icons. The next icon to the right launches Outlook Express and the third is to Windows Explorer Command (or, probably, Show Desktop on your own PC). You now have two tasks running - My Computer and Internet Explorer - and so have two task icons on the Taskbar. To move back to My Computer: 5. Click once on the [My Computer] task button on the Taskbar If you launch a second copy of a task, you may or may not get a new task button on the Taskbar; instead, the original button will show that more than one copy of the task is running. To see this: 6. Click on the [Internet Explorer] icon (the letter e) again and see whether you get a new task 7. Repeat step 6 until all the tasks are grouped together in the one Task Bar button 8. Click on the [Internet Explorer] task button and, from the list that appears, choose IT Services Home Page to move to that particular task 9. Next, click on the [My Computer] task button to move to that task 10. Click on the same button again and you will find that the window is minimised - you are back to Internet Explorer (as indicated by the darker blue Taskbar button) Tip: Clicking once on a Taskbar task button activates a task; clicking a second time deactivates it. It is good practice to deactivate tasks you are not using but which you would like running in the background, either by clicking on the Taskbar button or the [Minimize] button. Sometimes, if you have too many tasks running at the same time, your computer may not have sufficient memory to keep them all active and will ask you to close or deactivate one or more of them.

Shortcut Menus
In all the exercises so far, you have used the left mouse button whenever you have clicked on an icon, shortcut or menu. A mouse also has a right button. Right clicking displays a shortcut menu of commands, which you then issue by left clicking on the one you want. Beginners sometimes find this right/left clicking combination confusing, but soon get used to it. Different shortcut menus appear if you right click on different objects, as you will see. 1. Move the mouse pointer to the [My Computer] button on the Taskbar and press the right mouse button - this is known as a right click 2. From the shortcut menu which appears, choose Close and left click this time This has closed down My Computer without reopening the minimized task. 3. Next, right click on the empty area of the Taskbar (to the right of the task buttons) and from the different shortcut menu choose Tile Windows Vertically 4

This splits the screen, allowing you to see all the open windows at the same time. Normally, you would only have a couple of tasks running when you do this. Note that you can also Tile Windows Horizontally. 4. Repeat step 3 but this time choose Show the Desktop The display should now show the Desktop - all the tasks have been iconised on the Taskbar. 5. Next, right click on the [Internet Explorer] task button and Close Group - all the tasks are closed in a single command You can choose whether like tasks are grouped or not by changing the properties of the Taskbar: 6. Right click on the empty Taskbar and choose Properties 7. Explore the settings (note Group similar taskbar activities) then press <Esc> for [Cancel] Next, see what happens if you right click on the Desktop or one of its icons: 8. Right click on the blue Desktop background - note the different shortcut menu but do not click on any of the commands 9. Press <Esc> or left click away from the shortcut menu to close it 10. Repeat steps 8 and 9 but this time right click on the Recycle Bin Later in the course you'll be adding further icons to the Desktop. You'll will find that the shortcut menus you get by right clicking on these may vary slightly. Note that on most modern keyboards a <Shortcut Menu> key is provided to the right of the <Space Bar>, immediately left of <Ctrl>. To use this on an object you must first select the object.

The Start Menu

The [Start] button on the far left of the Taskbar allows you to run programs, access configuration settings and search the built-in Help. Clicking on this opens the Start menu. Some menu items are shown with arrows on the right. These mean that there is a sub menu which appears if you move the mouse pointer over the menu item. This sub-menu may in turn have further subsidiary menus. 1. To open the Start menu, left click on the [Start] button Note: you can also open the menu by pressing the <Windows> key on the keyboard - the one between <Ctrl> and <Alt> both left and right of the <Space Bar>. You now have access to the full range of programs and facilities on the system. The menu is divided vertically as follows: Across the foot of the menu is Log Off and Shut Down. On IT Services PCs, always use Log Off as this then leaves the computer ready for the next user. Please do not use Shut Down In the left section are links to Internet Explorer, Outlook Express, Webmail and Change Password. Below these is Tour Windows XP (a guide to its new features) while, in the space below, links will appear to programs you have used recently (you'll see this later). At the bottom is a link to All Programs (the programs available on the system) In the section on the right there are links to My Documents and My Recent Documents (shortcuts to files you have recently opened on this computer), My Pictures, My Music, My Computer, the Control Panel, Help, Search etc Across the very top, your username or personal name appears

To demonstrate the use of the menu system and, at the same time, introduce you to some of the useful facilities provided within Windows, you are going to load up the Calculator. 2. Move the mouse pointer over All Programs and a sub-menu appears (or click on it to keep it open) 3. Move the pointer across to Accessories (or click on it) - another sub-menu appears 4. Finally, click on Calculator - note the new [Calculator] task button on the Taskbar 5. Click on the View menu and choose Standard or Scientific for a simple/complex calculator 5

6. Try using the calculator - either click on the buttons provided or use the keyboard 7. Close down the calculator by clicking on the [Close] control button

Other Taskbar Facilities

On the right-hand side of the Taskbar is a group of icons, some of which may be of interest. These include (starting at the far right): Time/Date display - only the time is currently visible Display - the display resolution (you may need to change this if your eyesight is weak) Anti Virus control - the Sophos shield Volume control - the loudspeaker icon Safely Remove Hardware you should always use this to disconnect a USB pen or similar device You have New Email - this icon may appear if new mail arrives for you Keyboard selector - currently showing EN in white on a blue background

This next exercise shows you how to make use of these: 1. Move the mouse pointer over the [Time] display and today's date will appear 2. Click on the [Display] icon - here you can change the screen resolution, if you want to make the text, toolbar buttons etc bigger or smaller 3. Click on the [Volume] control - a small window appears allowing you to adjust the volume of the speakers - click away from the control to close it Note: The speakers are disconnected on IT Services lab PCs. If you need sound you have to plug in your own headphones. With these in place, use the [Volume] control to adjust the sound level. 4. Click on the [Keyboard] selector icon - a pop-up menu appears showing you the different keyboards available. Again, left click away from the menu to close it If you are used to a different keyboard layout then this icon is very useful. It even allows you to type in Greek or Japanese characters. To use it, you should first load up the software you want to use (eg Microsoft Word or Outlook Express). This next exercise also shows you how to run a program: 5. Open the Start menu by clicking on the [Start] button on the Taskbar 6. Click on All Programs then select Microsoft Office and Microsoft Office Word 2007 7. Note the new [Document1 - Microsof...] task button on the Taskbar 8. Type some text using the ENglish keyboard 9. Now click on the [Keyboard] selector button and choose a different one - eg EL for Greek 10. Type some more text - this appears in a Greek font and spell check uses a Greek dictionary 11. Repeat step 9 but this time revert to the ENglish keyboard - type a little more text 12. Shut down Word by clicking on the topmost [Close] control button - you are asked if you want to save the file, press <Enter> for [Yes] Tip: Whenever you see what are called dialog boxes (requesting, for example, that you answer Yes or Save), the reply with the bold border can be chosen simply by pressing the <Enter> key. Use <Tab> to move the bold border from one box to the next. Use <Esc> to cancel and close a dialog box. You've yet to learn about files and where they are saved, but this is a useful opportunity to create one: 13. Note the Save in box at the top of the window is set to My Documents. This is where you should save your work - you will find out more about this later 14. For a File name type Greek (this will replace the current text in the box) then press <Enter> for [Save] - the Word window will disappear

Windows XP allows you to name a file using as many characters (excluding \ / : * ? " < > and | ) as you like. Having said this it's a good idea to use 8 or less characters and to stick to letters, numbers and hyphen/ underscore. Avoid using a full stop as this usually separates a filename from its extension - eg .docx for a Word file. Your system might be able to cope with any filename but if you have to send a file as an email attachment, the recipient's might not. Note that the extension identifies which program created the file.

The Control Panel

The keyboard and sound settings can also be changed using the Control Panel. In fact many other settings can also be changed here. The Control Panel is accessed via the Start menu: 1. Open the menu by clicking on the [Start] button on the Taskbar 2. Click on Control Panel on the right hand side On the IT Services lab PCs only a few controls are shown - if you had your own PC there would be many more. Even for those which are shown, you cannot make all the changes you can on your own PC - you cannot reset the Date/Time, for example. Two controls may be of interest, however, particularly if you have problems with your eyesight, or with double clicking or using the <Shift> and <Ctrl> keys. These are Accessibility Options and Mouse: 3. Double click on the Accessibility Options icon - a new window appears 4. The first option on the Keyboard tab is Use StickyKeys. This allows you to type CAPITALS and punctuation by pressing <Shift> then letting go before you press the relevant key 5. Click on the Display tab and note the Use High Contrast setting. This helps a lot if your eyesight is poor 6. Explore some of the other settings, if you like, then press <Esc> for [Cancel] to abandon the changes (or click on [OK] if you really want to apply them) 7. Back in the Control Panel window, double click on the Mouse icon 8. On the Buttons tab, Switch primary and secondary buttons lets you reverse the mouse buttons (if you are left-handed) 9. The Double-click speed option controls how quickly you must press the mouse button to issue a double click. You can check the setting by clicking on the yellow folder in the Test area. If you have problems with this, slow down the click speed 10. ClickLock lets you click to select text (instead of dragging through it) 11. Explore some of the other settings, if you like, then press <Esc> for [Cancel] to abandon the changes (or click on [OK] if you really want to apply them) 12. Close the Control Panel by clicking on the [Close] control button Any changes you make to the Control Panel settings on a lab PC will only last that logon session (on your own PC they would be permanent). You will need to set them again the next time you logon. Note also that some settings are independent of the system - for example, the screen contrast and brightness are usually set using buttons provided on the monitor.

Drives, Folders and Files

Earlier in these notes you saved a file called Greek in My Documents. This next section will show you exactly where your file is stored; how to create a new folder for it; how to move, copy and rename it; and how to delete it.

My Documents
To open My Documents: 1. Click on the [Windows Explorer] quick launch button then, if necessary, on My Documents 7

The My Documents window displays several icons, one of which is Greek.doc. To load the file into Word: 2. Move the mouse pointer to the Greek.doc icon and double click the mouse button 3. Click at the end of the text, to move the typing position, then type some more text 4. Click on the top [Close] control button - when prompted, press <Enter> for [Yes] to save the changes Note: you usually update the contents of a file like this, though you can always save your work in another new file by using the Save As command via the [Office Button]. If this is the first time you have saved a file to My Documents, none of the other icons will represent your own personal work. Whether you have other files or not, you should have folders (shown with yellow icons) which have been set up for you by the system (such as My Pictures and My Music). A folder is simply somewhere to store related files, as you will see later.

My Computer
My Computer is the facility which lets you access the component parts of your computer. My Documents is just part of My Computer and the current window can be used to access it: 1. Click on the link to My Computer (under Folders on the left) or use the list arrow attached to Address: on the Address Bar and choose My Computer Most icons in My Computer represent disk drives. For example, drive A: is the floppy drive and E: is usually the cd drive. Drives C: and D: represent the internal hard disk - on IT Services PCs you can use drive D: for temporarily storing files (hence it's name, User). You shouldn't use D: to permanently store your work, however, as you won't always be using that particular PC. This is where My Documents comes in. This is in fact drive N: on the system and is shown as your_username on ndrive (N:). There is no need to explain what is happening in detail here; suffice it to say that ndrive is a big computer in IT Services, which stores everyone's files and which is normally made available to you whichever ITS PC you are using. Moreover, it is backed up throughout the day to ensure you don't lose any of your work. IMPORTANT: Please use My Documents (NOT USB PENS OR FLOPPY DISKS) to store your work. Only use pens/floppies for moving your work between a lab and your own PC. To prove that the N: drive is the same as My Documents: 2. Move the mouse pointer to the (N:) drive icon and double click on the mouse button 3. Next, double click on the My Documents folder (this may appear as your_username's Documents) 4. Check that you can see your files/folders, including Greek.doc To view the contents of My Computer again: 5. Click twice on the [Up] toolbar button (or use the link in Folders on the left)

Creating a Folder
It's a good idea to use folders to store your work, in the same way that you would store lecture notes from different courses in paper folders or ring-binders. With computers you can even have sub-folders within folders - equivalent to using file dividers to split up your notes. When naming folders (or files), it's important to use a meaningful name. To create a folder in My Documents: 1. Use the list arrow attached to Address: and choose My Documents (or use the link provided in Folders on the left of the window) 2. Right click on the background in My Documents then choose New and Folder from the shortcut menu or open the File menu, select New then Folder 8

A new folder will be created with the unhelpful name New Folder. To rename it: 3. Type in the name you want for the folder (call this one Test - you don't have to delete the original name first) and press <Enter> Note that you can rename a file or folder at any time by right clicking on the file/folder icon and choosing Rename (the command is also available via the File menu). You now have a properly-named folder to store any files created in this course. You can store files in it explicitly when you first Save them or you can move existing files into it.

Moving a File into a Folder

To move a file into a folder: 1. Move the mouse pointer over the Greek.doc icon, hold down the mouse button and drag the file icon over the Test folder icon 2. Make sure the folder icon has turned grey/blue (with the name highlighted) then release the mouse button - the file will be moved into the folder To check that the file is now in the folder: 3. Double click on the Test icon to view its contents - the Greek.doc icon should appear Note: You can also cut (or copy) and paste a file into a folder using commands in the Edit menu.

Copying a File between Drives

Copying a file to a different drive is done in exactly the same way as moving it into a folder. The only difference is that when you drag a file from one drive to another, it copies rather than moves it. In order to copy between drives you must be able to see both drives simultaneously: 1. Check Folders are showing on the left (if not, click on the [Folders] button) 2. If necessary, click on the little + symbol against My Computer to open it 3. Now point to the Greek.doc icon, hold down the mouse button and drag the icon over the User (D:) icon in Folders 4. Make sure the drive icon is highlighted (white text on dark blue) then release the mouse button - the file will be copied to drive D: 5. Click on the User (D:) icon in Folders to check that the file has been copied across Note: You can copy a whole folder and its files from one drive to another in exactly the same way. You do exactly the same to copy a file or folder onto a pen or floppy disk, except you drag your file/folder onto the Removable Disk (F:) or 3 Floppy (A:) icon. As has been mentioned previously, only use a pen or floppies for moving files - NEVER WORK DIRECTLY OFF A FLOPPY. If you have a file/folder on a pen/floppy, first copy it to My Documents (the reverse of the instructions above) and then work on it from there. Note that you can move files/folders between drives by using the right mouse button as you drag. A pop-up menu will appear from which you can choose either Copy or Move. You can also copy or move files using the commands in the Edit menu. The right mouse button can also be used to Send a file/folder to another drive. Try this next: 6. Right click on the Greek.doc icon in the (D:) window 7. From the pop-up menu which appears select Send To - a sub-menu is displayed 8. Select My Documents (left click this time) - note you can also send the file to pen, floppy or cd Your file will now have been copied across to My Documents. You may be wondering why you weren't warned that a file with the same name already exists there. The reason is that your other file is in the Test folder. 9

Send To has made a second copy at the top level in the file structure. This is its one weakness - it cannot be used to move files into a specific folder on another drive. To test this out and see what happens: 9. Repeat steps 6 to 8 above This time you will be warned that a file with the same name already exists. Note the information about the file size and modification date/time. Here, these are the same (showing you the two files are identical). However, if they differ, you should compare them to check you are replacing the older version of the file with the new one. 10. Press <Esc> or click on [No] to cancel the file copy - you were just testing to see what happened

Deleting a File or Folder

Deleting a file or folder is very easy - you just select the file/folder and press the <Delete> key. However, it's all too easy to lose a file by accident, so it's vital to double check you are deleting the correct one. It's also important to understand the difference between deleting a file off a linked drive (such as My Documents or a floppy disk) and deleting one from the hard disk. 1. Click on the little + symbol against username on 'ndrive' (N:) in Folders then on your_usernames Documents (on N:) 2. Click once on the Greek.doc icon in My Documents to select it then press <Delete> 3. You will be asked to confirm you want to delete the file - press <Enter> or click on [Yes]

The file will disappear from My Documents and you cannot retrieve it. However, IT Services make backups of all new or amended files throughout the day, so a previous copy should exist (unless it was only just created). This can be retrieved, but obviously would not include any recent changes. See the Quick Guide to Recovering Files from N Drive for details. The same will apply if you delete a file from your floppy or zip disk - except this time you will be relying on your own backups ... if you have any. If you do accidentally delete your only copy of a file from a floppy, do not use the disk any more but bring it straight to ITS-Help. We have special software for recovering deleted files but we make a charge for this and success is not guaranteed. Next, see what happens if you delete a file/folder from the internal hard disk (drive D:): 4. Click on User (D:) in Folders 5. Click once on the Greek.doc icon to select it then press the <Delete> key 6. The Confirm File Delete dialog box is importantly different this time - it asks whether you want to send the file to the Recycle Bin (you will explore this next)

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7. Press <Enter> or click on [Yes] to confirm this 8. Repeat step 5 but this time select the Temp folder 9. Note the slightly different wording in the Confirm Folder Delete dialog box then press <Enter> or click on [Yes] to confirm this

The Recycle Bin

The Recycle Bin is where any files/folders that you delete from the hard disk are stored. It's a bit like the wastepaper bin in your room - the file stays in the Recycle Bin until the bin is emptied either by yourself or the 'cleaner'. On IT Services PCs, the 'cleaner' operates when you log out. This ensures that the next user cannot recover anything you may have thrown away. You can also choose to empty the bin yourself before this, if you want. The Recycle Bin is also part of My Computer and can be accessed directly from the current window. As you have seen, there is also a Recycle Bin icon on the Desktop. Any file still in the Recycle Bin can be restored to its original location. This is done as follows: 1. Click on Recycle Bin in Folders (bottom of the list) 2. Move the mouse pointer to the file/folder you wish to restore (here, choose Greek.doc) 3. Click the right mouse button and select Restore from the shortcut menu - the icon disappears and is put back on the D: drive Emptying the Recycle Bin will permanently remove any file or folder stored in it. Once emptied, these cannot be recovered. To remove the contents of the bin: 1. Right click on the background of the Recycle Bin window and choose Empty Recycle Bin (you can also do this via the File menu or by right clicking on the Desktop icon) 2. You are asked to confirm the deletion - press <Enter> or click on [Yes] - the Temp folder disappears and is not restored to User D: 3. Click on User (D:) in Folders to verify that Greek.doc was restored but Temp not

Dealing with Multiple Files/Folders

Copying, moving or deleting several files or folders at once is essentially the same as doing the same with a single file/folder - the only difference is in selecting them. This next exercise shows you how to do this. 1. Make sure you are viewing the User D: drive then double click on the Training folder The files in this folder are those used in IT Services courses. If any are deleted or changed, a new copy is put onto the system when the next user logs in. As such, it doesn't matter if any disappear. To select more than one file or folder, use one of the following methods: Shift click - to select a range of files/folders: point to and click the mouse button on the first icon (or list item) then hold down the <Shift> key as you click the last Control click - to select individual files/folders: hold down <Ctrl> as you click on them Drag select - hold down the mouse button and draw a rectangle over the files/folders you want to select

Knowing these methods of selection is very useful as they can be applied to many Microsoft applications . For example, dragging through text in Word or cells in Excel selects an area. You can select and then save or delete several emails in Outlook Express using Control or Shift click. In this next exercise you can try out these methods of selection (take care not to drag a selection or you might copy the files): 2. Hold down the <Ctrl> key on the keyboard and click on some of the file/folder icons - each one you click on will be highlighted to show it is selected (click again to deselect it) 3. Release the <Ctrl> key and click away from any of the icons to abandon the selection 11

4. With the mouse pointer away from any icon, hold down the mouse button and drag through the icons - a rectangle appears and any icons it touches are selected 5. Release the mouse button and click away from any of the icons to cancel the selection 6. Click on one of the icons to select it then hold down the <Shift> key and click on another icon - a range of files is selected 7. Press the <Delete> key to get rid of the selected files/folders 8. Type n for [No] when asked to confirm the deletion - you are just practising 9. With the files still selected, right click on any of them and the usual shortcut menu appears allowing you, for example, to Send To a 3 Floppy or My Documents (N) 10. Click away from the shortcut menu to cancel the command and release the selection

Changing the View

In the windows you have seen so far, the drives and their files/folders have appeared as icons. Sometimes it's more helpful to view them as a list or in a particular (non-alphabetical) order. Further, you may want to find out additional information about certain files, such as their size or date of creation. This next exercise shows you how. 1. On the far right of the toolbar in the D:\Training window lies the [Views] button - click on the down arrow attached to this icon 2. From the drop-down menu which appears, select Thumbnails - with this fewer icons can be shown but some (eg pictures or PowerPoint presentations) show the content 3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 but this time select List from the drop-down menu The files are now shown as an alphabetical list. The folders are listed first, then the files. The list splits into columns if it is long and scroll bars appear if it extends outside the window. 4. Repeat steps 1 and 2 again but this time select Details from the drop-down menu You now have information which includes the size, type and modification date of each file. Note the faint uparrow immediately after the Name column heading - this indicates that the list is shown in alphabetical order. Sometimes you may want to order the list based on other information, for example to identify your largest files or ones you have been working on recently. To do this: 5. Click on the heading of the column you want to sort by - eg click on Size 6. To reverse the sort order (biggest files first) click on Size again 7. Experiment sorting the display by Type and Date Modified Tip: You can use the same method to sort your email in Webmail or Outlook Express. 8. End by sorting the list back to alphabetical order (click on Name) Not all the file details are shown in this layout. To see them all: 9. Right click on one of the files in the list 10. From the shortcut menu which appears, choose Properties 11. Explore the information given here then close the window - press <Esc> for [Cancel] Note: You can also find out the properties of folders and drives by right-clicking on their icons. The latter, for example, shows you how much free space remains on a drive (eg on a floppy disk).

Searching for Files and Folders

Being able to sort your files by modification date can prove useful if you've forgotten what name you gave to a file but knew roughly when you were last working on it. Another facility provided by Windows allows you to search for files, either by name or contents or date. Try this next: 12

1. Click on the [Search] toolbar button - the Search Companion appears on the left hand side 2. Click on All files and folders 3. In the box labelled All or part of the file name: type Greek 4. Click on the list arrow attached to the Look in: box and select My Documents (at the very top) 5. Press <Enter> or click on [Search] The file you saved earlier should appear in the Search window. To open the file: 6. First, fit the columns to the data double click on the column heading borders (this also works for lists of emails, tables in Word or columns in Excel/Access) 7. Next, double click on the Greek.doc icon in the Test folder - the file will open in Word 8. Add some more text, if you like, then close the window using the top [Close] control button - press <Enter> for [Yes] to save your changes Wildcard characters can be used when searching for files. These allow you to search for part of the file name or type. For example: 9. Click on the [Back] button then type *e* (to replace Greek) 10. Press <Enter> or click on [Search] You now get a list of all the files/folders with e somewhere in the filename. Searching for e* would give you all files beginning with e, while *.doc would list all your Word files. A question mark can also be used as the wildcard character. This stands for a single letter, so a search for ??e* would result in a list of files where the third letter in the filename is an e. Next use Search to find files containing particular text (this is extremely useful as it's all too easy to forget what you called a file): 11. Click on the [Back] button 12. Delete *e* from the top box then, against A word or phrase in the file: type Road 13. Click on the list arrow attached to the Look in: box and select User (D:) 14. Press <Enter> or click on [Search] A list of files containing the word Road appears in the Search window. 15. Double click on the halls2007.txt icon (in folder D:\Training) to open the file - this opens into Notepad, a very basic text editor available from Accessories (where Calculator was found) 16. Confirm the word Road is in the file then close the window using the [Close] control button Further options allow you to search by Date, Type or Size. To see these: 17. Click on the [Back] button 18. Choose When was it modified? by clicking on the words or arrow to the right The date options allow you to search for files modified Within the last week or Past month or you can Specify dates. Note that throughout Windows you do not have to position the mouse pointer over a check/option box but can click on the words instead (eg Past month). There is no need to perform a search here - just be aware of the facility. 19. Close the Search Results window by clicking on the [Close] control button You can also get to Search... by right clicking on a drive or folder icon (eg My Documents on the Desktop) or from the Start menu. The latter also includes options to search the Internet or for people (eg in your Addressbook).

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Making Backups
Though My Documents is backed up for you by IT Services, you may want to make your own backups on a USB pen, floppy/zip disk or cd. This will be particularly important if you want to work on your files away from the University (on your own PC at home) or if you want to keep files or email when you leave the University. If you have important work on your own PC you must keep a backup preferably on the University system.

USB Pens
Many users carry their work around on USB pens. These are very convenient because of their size and are easy to use. To copy a file between My Documents (on either your own PC or a University one), simply follow the instructions given previously (except the USB pen will probably be identified as Removable Disk (F:)). Some users work directly off USB pens. This is not recommended as they can develop faults or be corrupted. Always copy your work from the pen to My Documents and work on it from there its best to only use the pen for backups and moving files between systems. A major cause of pen corruption is that users pull the device out of the port without first disconnecting it from the PC. To disconnect a pen: 1. Click on the [Safely Remove Hardware] icon in the group of icons on the right of the Taskbar 2. When the message that the hardware can be safely removed appears, pull the pen out of the USB port

Floppy Disks
Before you can use a new floppy (or zip) disk it must be formatted. Most disks come pre-formatted but if yours isn't then you have to do it. You should only need need to format disks once, when they are new. Formatting a used disk will remove any data stored on it. To format a disk: 1. Put your new floppy/zip disk into the floppy/zip disk drive 2. Go to My Computer then double click on 3 Floppy (A:) (or Removable Disk, for a zip drive) If the disk is formatted then it will open as usual; if it isn't then a message to that effect appears. 3. Press <Enter> for [Yes] to confirm the format - a new Format window appears 4. Check the Capacity: is set correctly (most floppy disks these days are 1.44Mb) 5. The other options should already be set correctly - press <Enter> or click on [Start] 6. You are warned that any information already on the disk will be lost - press <Enter> or click on [OK] 7. When the format is complete press <Enter> for [OK] to acknowledge the message which appears then press <Enter> again to [Close] the Format window 8. Finally close My Computer by clicking on the [Close] control button The disk is now ready to use. Copy your files between My Documents and the floppy but remember to always work on files from My Documents and use the floppy just for backups. Note: If you want to reformat a used disk, follow steps 1 and 2 above then right click on the 3 Floppy (A:) (or Removable Disk) icon and from the shortcut menu choose Format... - or use Format... from the File menu. Once you have copied any files you require to your floppy disk, it is a good idea to write protect it. Once this has been done, you will not be able to delete any files off the disk, until it has been write enabled once more. Neither can you copy further files to the disk, nor edit and save existing ones. To write-protect a floppy disk: 1. Hold the floppy disk and examine the edge of the disk furthest away from the metal slider 2. Looking at the back of the disk, locate the plastic slider in the top left corner 3. Push the slider to open the hole - the floppy is now write-protected. 14

To re-enable the disk: 4. Repeat steps 1 to 3 above but at step 3 close the hole - the slider clicks into place

Compact Disks
Copying files to a compact disk isnt quite as straightforward as it is to a floppy or zip disk as it is a two-stage process. First you copy the files into a temporary area then you write them to cd. This can only be done on a PC which has a CD Rewriter drive. For further instructions, look at the Quick Guide to Writing Files to CD.

Customising the Desktop

You can customise the Desktop to a limited extent on the lab PCs (on your own PC you can do much more). You can, for example, create shortcuts to programs (and files) you use frequently and you can modify the Desktop to display a different background colour or theme.

Creating Shortcuts
A shortcut is an icon that has the location of a specific file or program stored in it and which acts as a pointer to it. A shortcut icon is shown with a little arrow attached. If you double click on the shortcut it is the same as double clicking on the file or program itself. Shortcuts can be placed on the Desktop to allow quicker access to frequently-used files or programs. If you look at the Desktop you will see that the shortcuts which were present in previous versions of Windows now no longer exist. In this next exercise you are going to create your own shortcuts (which will then appear on the Desktop every time you logon in future). 1. Open the Start menu, choose All Programs then Microsoft Office 2. Move the mouse pointer to Microsoft Office Word 2007, hold down the mouse button and drag the icon onto the Desktop 3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 for any of the other Microsoft Office programs you are likely to be using 4. Do the same for My Computer and My Documents 5. You can, if you want, rename the shortcut icons - right click on them and choose Rename Next, create a shortcut to your Greek.doc file. 6. Open My Documents from the new Desktop shortcut by double clicking on it 7. Double click on the Test folder to open it 8. Move the mouse pointer to the Greek.doc icon, hold down the right mouse button and drag it to the Desktop (it's important you use the right mouse button here) 9. Release the mouse button and a pop-up menu appears - choose Create Shortcuts Here (were you to choose Copy Here you would have two different versions of the file) 10. Close down the ndrive window by clicking on the [Close] control button 11. Finally, double click on the Shortcut to Greek.doc to load your file into Word 12. There is no need to make any further changes now - click on the [Close] control button Tip: You can also right click on a file (or Office application) and Send To then Desktop (create shortcut). It is very useful having shortcuts to files you are currently working on showing on the Desktop. Once you have finished with a particular file, delete the shortcut (otherwise the Desktop becomes very crowded and you waste time searching for the shortcut you need).

Deleting Shortcuts
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Shortcuts can be deleted like any other file or program icon. When you delete a shortcut, it only deletes the icon; the original file or program will still exist. 1. Click on the Shortcut to Greek.doc icon to select it 2. Press the <Delete> key to remove it from the Desktop 3. Press <Enter> or click on [Yes] to confirm the deletion 4. Double click on the My Documents icon, to prove that the file is still there and that only the shortcut was deleted, then [Close] the My Documents window

Creating a Theme
If you want to customise the Desktop colour scheme and fonts then you can set up a Theme. This is particularly important if you have accessibility problems (eg poor eyesight). To do this: 1. Open the Start menu and choose Control Panel then double click on Display 2. Move to the Appearance tab and choose a Color scheme and Font size setting 3. Move to the Themes tab and click on [Save As] to create your own theme 4. Either replace My Favourite Theme or type in a new File name: - click on [Save] (and replace the old one, if asked) 5. [Apply] the new scheme to check it's what you want then click on [OK] 6. Finally, [Close] the Control Panel window The Desktop should change to match the new theme. Note that the next time you log on, you won't get these settings (you would on your own PC) but you can load up the theme very easily. To show you how, reload the original settings: 7. Right click on the Desktop and choose Properties 8. On the Themes tab, choose the required Theme: - here choose ITS Theme 9. Press <Enter> or click on [OK] Tip: For even quicker access, move the .theme file from My Documents onto the Desktop - you can then double click on the icon to apply your theme.

Keyboard Extras
There are several Windows features which can be accessed through the keyboard. Indeed, you can issue every Windows command directly from the keyboard if you want. This can sometimes speed up your work considerably - especially if the mouse isn't working properly.

Using the Keyboard Instead of the Mouse

This next exercise shows you how to run a program and issue commands using only the keyboard. 1. Starting at the Desktop press the <Windows> key between <Ctrl> and <Alt> on the main keyboard this opens the Start menu 2. Press <down arrow> to activate the menu followed by <right arrow> and <Enter> to open My Documents 3. Press the <Alt> key to activate the menus (note that a single letter in each is underlined) 4. Type v for View followed by l for List 5. Use the arrow keys to move to the folder you want to open or file you want to work on - here, select Test (or type t to move directly here) - press <Enter> to open the folder 6. Press an arrow key or type g then press <Enter> to open Greek.doc 16

7. Use arrow keys to move the typing position, type some more text then press <Alt> then <f> to open the [Office Button] Note that the commands have a letter next to them: 8. Type p for Print then <Esc> to cancel the print command and close the window Tip: The <Esc> key can be used to close dialog boxes (including Find or Insert Symbol). 9. Press <Alt> and <f> again then type x for Exit - Word will close down 10. Press <Alt> and <v> for View then <o> for Go To followed by <u> for Up One Level 11. Move to the Test folder as in step 5 then press <Delete> and type y or press <Enter> to delete it 12. Close My Documents by pressing <Alt> then <f> for File and <c> for Close

Key Combinations
Nearly all commands can be issued from the keyboard (mostly with Ctrl+a_letter). In some Microsoft Office packages, hundreds of key combinations exist but most people only use a few of them - generally the ones which are common throughout Microsoft Office. The main ones are: <Ctrl a> - Select All <Ctrl b> - Bold <Ctrl c> - Copy <Ctrl f> - Find <Ctrl h> - Replace <Ctrl i> - Italic <Ctrl n> - New <Ctrl o> - Open <Ctrl p> - Print <Ctrl s> - Save <Ctrl u> - Underline <Ctrl v> - Paste <Ctrl x> - Cut <Ctrl z> - Undo <Ctrl Home> - Move to top <Ctrl End> - Move to end This next exercise demonstrates their use in Microsoft Word: 1. Double click on the Microsoft Office Word 2003 shortcut icon on the Desktop 2. Type some text then press <Ctrl b> (hold down <Ctrl> and type b) for Bold 3. Type a little more text then press <Ctrl b> again to turn Bold off - type a few more letters 4. Now press <Ctrl a> to Select All your text and then press <Ctrl c> to Copy it Whenever you issue a Copy (or Cut) command, the selected text is copied (or cut) to the Clipboard. This is a place in the computer's memory for temporarily storing information, which can then be Pasted somewhere else (as many times as you like). Anything held there disappears when the computer is shut down. The Windows Clipboard can only store one piece of information at a time - when a second Copy is made, the existing contents of the Clipboard are lost. Microsoft Office has a specially-extended clipboard which can hold up to 24 items of information - to display this click on theClipboard group arrow on the left of the Ribbon. 5. Press <Ctrl i> to make your text Italic then press <Ctrl End> (<End> is above the arrow keys) to release the selection and move the typing position to the end 6. Press <Ctrl v> twice to Paste two copies of your original (non-italic) text then press <Ctrl z> to Undo this last action (you only need the one copy) 7. Press <Ctrl p> for Print - having seen the key combination work, press <Esc> to [Cancel] the command 8. Press <Ctrl s> for Save - again, press <Esc> to [Cancel] the command <Ctrl s> is perhaps the most important control key combination and you should get used to using it. Whenever you are writing a document (or using other Office programs), you should press <Ctrl s> every ten minutes or so to save what you have done so far. That way, you never lose your work. One command which doesn't feature in the list of control key combinations is Exit. For this command you have to use a function key - one of those along the top of the keyboard. The function keys tend to act differently in the various Microsoft Office programs and so are not so useful. A few are consistent, however, including: <F1> - Help <F7> - Spell Checker 1. Press the key marked <F1> for Help 2. Press <Esc> to close down Help 17 <Alt F4> - Exit

3. Press <F7> for Spell Check then <Esc> to [Cancel] it 4. End by pressing <Alt F4> to Exit from Word 5. There is no need to save the file - type n or click on [No]

Screen Dumps
It's sometimes useful to be able to copy the whole or part of a screen and insert it as a picture in a document. This is known as a screen dump. 1. To screen dump the Desktop, hold down the <Ctrl> key and press the <Print Screen> key (to the right of function key <F12>) - a screen dump will have been copied to the Clipboard 2. Double click on the Microsoft Word shortcut icon on the Desktop 3. Paste the screen dump into your new document by clicking on the [Paste] button (or press <Ctrl v> or right click and choose Paste from the menu) 4. Press <Enter> for a new line <Ctrl Print Scr> dumps the whole screen onto the clipboard. If you only want the current window then you use <Alt Print Scr> instead: 5. Click on Word's [Close] control button, as if you wanted to shut down the program 6. When asked if you want to save your file hold down the <Alt> key and press <Print Screen> - to dump the current dialog box to the Clipboard 7. Press <Esc> or click on the [Cancel] button to return to Word 8. Repeat step 3 to paste just the dialog box into your document 9. Finally, click on Word's [Close] button again - there is no need to save the file, click on [No] Note that you can edit and crop pictures, if you don't want the whole screen/window dump.

Shutting Down a Non-Responding Task

Occasionally one or more tasks stop working - for example if the connection to the internet goes down or if a program corrupts itself. In such cases it's important to know how to break into the task to forcibly shut it down. The next exercise shows you how: 1. Start up a couple of tasks - eg double click on the My Documents icon on the Desktop then on the [Internet Explorer] quick launch button on the Taskbar 2. Hold down both the <Ctrl> and <Alt> keys and press <Delete> This sequence of keys puts you into Windows Security. 3. Click on the [Task Manager] button (or type t on the keyboard) You now have the opportunity to switch to another task (if you think there is only a temporary problem with the one not working) or close down the problematic task. A task which has stopped working has a Status of Not Responding. Neither of your tasks should be in this state (their Status is Running), but pretend Internet Explorer is and needs to be ended. 4. Make sure Internet Explorer is the selected task then click on the [End Task] button Note that if you close down a task which was working on a file, you will lose at least some (possibly all) of the amendments made since the file was last saved. If you think the task may recover use [Switch To] to move to a task which is still working. 5. Close the Windows Task Manager by clicking on the [Close] button 6. Repeat step 5 to close My Documents BEWARE: Using <Ctrl Alt Delete> twice in succession causes the computer to reboot. 18

Using Windows Help

In common with the Microsoft Office applications, Windows itself has a large amount of built-in help available. To load up Help: 1. Click on the [Start] button on the Taskbar and select Help and Support The Help and Support Centre window which appears is modelled on a web browser. You have a [Home] button, which always takes you back to this starting window, and [Back] and [Forward] buttons to retrace your steps through the system. You can even add particularly useful help pages to your Favourites. Useful links to various help topics are provided on the main part of the screen. Help can be used in a number ways. Some of these are discussed below: Search - simply type one or more keywords into the Search box and press <Enter> (or click on the arrow). The system searches through the help pages for these keywords and a list of matching entries is displayed below the search box - click on an entry to view that topic. [Index] - this toolbar button gives you an alphabetical list of help topics. As you start typing a keyword into the Type in the keyword to find: box, the display automatically moves down the list of topics. To view an entry simply double click on it. Some entries have more than one help page associated with them and you have to double click again to see the information you require. Contents - when viewing a help page, a [Locate in Contents] button appears. This can be useful if you want to view similar pages on that subject (but do not know the precise keyword to locate them). Favourites - when viewing a help page, an [Add to Favorites] button appears. Click on this to store the link so you can access the information again via the [Favorites] toolbar button. Sadly this information is lost when you logoff an IT Services PC, but it would be kept on your own PC. 2. Explore the different ways of using the help system, outlined above 3. Try storing any useful pages of information you find in your Favourites 4. Try using the [Back] and [Forward] toolbar buttons to retrace your steps through Help 5. Note the [Print...] button (do NOT click on it) - this is one way to print out the help page You can also use the standard <Ctrl p> key combination to print a topic. Note that if you only want part of a Help page, drag through the section required and choose the Selection option under Print Range. 6. Shut down the on-line Windows Help using <Alt F4> or the [Close] control button

Leaving Windows and Logging Off

When you have finished using a computer, it's important to properly close down any tasks which may still be running and then logout so that the system is ready for the next user. To log off properly: 1. Check that there are no tasks still running on the Taskbar - if there are, right click on the icons and Close them You will be warned to save your work if you have been editing a file and haven't saved all of your changes. 2. Press the <Windows> key and type l (lowercase L) - or open the Start menu and select Log off 3. Press <Enter> (or click on [Log Off]) to confirm you have finished The computer will now reset itself, ready for the next user. Your N: drive will be disconnected, releasing access to your files and email. If you fail to log off properly then the next user will be able to look at (and could change/delete) your personal files.

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 Trademark owned by Microsoft Corporation. Screen shot(s) reprinted by permission from Microsoft Corporation. Copyright 2008: The University of Reading Last Revised: December 2008

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