Intro to Windows Xp

Introduction to Windows XP : Introduction to Windows XP Technology Training Week Dan Cosenzo

Operating System Software : Operating System Software System software that controls your application software and manages how your hardware devices work together. Windows Linux Unix Mac OS

Personal Operating SystemsMicrosoft : Personal Operating SystemsMicrosoft Microsoft has been making OS software utilizing graphical user interfaces since around 1985. Windows 3.1 Windows 95 Windows 98 Windows ME Windows XP Windows 2000 and Windows XP Professional are personal operating systems when used as stand alone machines but can be considered network operating systems when connected to a network. They can even run on servers.

Toolbars : Toolbars Contain icons that execute tasks when clicked. In Microsoft Office, you have to click the double down arrows to show each toolbar on its own row. You can also right click on a toolbar to hide it or to show additional toolbars.

Menu Bars : Menu Bars Hierarchical lists of commands. If you click a menu bar in Office, you won’t see the full list of commands unless you wait a few seconds or click the double down arrows at the bottom of the menu bar. Options that aren’t currently available are grayed out.

Title Bars : Title Bars On the far right of the title bar there are three buttons found in most Windows applications: Minimize Eliminate the window, but leave the program open. The program icon will still appear on the task bar. Restore down or maximize If the window is as large as possible, meaning it is maximized, the restore down button will be visible. Clicking the restore down button will return the window to the size it was before it was maximized. The size it returns to might have been set in a previous Windows session. If the Window is not maximized, the maximize button will appear instead Close End application and remove from memory. You may be prompted to save files before closing.

Required Mouse Skills : Required Mouse Skills Pointing Clicking Right Clicking Double Clicking Dragging Right Dragging

Dragging : Dragging Dragging involves holding the left mouse button down while resting over an object and moving the mouse. Dragging is finished when the mouse button is released. This is another difficult skill to master. Many people will let go of the mouse while they are dragging. The only way to master dragging is through practice.

Right Dragging : Right Dragging Right dragging means you point to an item, hold down the right mouse button, drag and release. When you let go, a shortcut menu appears containing context specific options. If you drag with the left mouse button, releasing will execute the default drag option. To choose an option, you should right drag. The default option is highlighted in bold type.

Right Clicking : Right Clicking Right-clicking was new with Windows 95. The menu that you see when you right click will depend upon which program you are using and where the mouse pointer is currently located. Right clicking displays a context sensitive shortcut menu. Some of the options may be dimmed. This indicates that they are not currently available.

Scrolling : Scrolling Clicking the scroll arrows--Best for line by line scrolling Clicking the scroll bar--Best for scrolling one screen at a time Clicking between the bar and the arrows.--Best for long distance scrolling.

Windows Explorer Part One : Windows Explorer Part One Windows Explorer is an application program included with Windows 2000 that allows you to view the contents of the computer, the hierarchy of folders on the computer, and the files and folders in each folder.  You access Windows Explorer by right clicking over the desktop's My Computer icon and selecting 'Explore' Explorer allows you to copy, move and delete files and folders from your computer. As you can see, you are still using 'My Computer' but the screen is now split into two different panes. The folders pane is on the left and the Contents pane is on the right. The top level of the hierarch is the desktop. A plus sign indicates that there are sublevels. A minus sign means that sublevels are currently visible and can be collapsed by clicking the minus sign.

Windows Explorer Part Two : Windows Explorer Part Two Single clicking a drive/folder in the folders pane will display the folder list in the contents pane. Double clicking a drive/folder will display the drive/folder contents in the folders pane as well. Notice that the title bar changes to indicate the currently selected drive/folder currently selected. Hidden files, which are used by software applications, may not be visible.  You can copy files from your hard drive to a floppy disk or any other storage media rather easily. The source drive is the drive that contains the file/s to be copied. The source folder is the folder that contains the file/s to be copied. The destination drive is the drive that the file/s will be copied to. The destination folder is the folder where the file/s will be copied.

Windows Explorer Part Three : Windows Explorer Part Three If you are copying to an external storage media such as a Zip drive or a floppy, it is best to first create a folder to store the file/s. To accomplish this click the destination drive in the Explorer folders pane. Right click in the contents area and choose new-->folder. The words 'New Folder' will be highlighted. Change the name of the folder to 'My Files' and hit the enter key. If you want to change the name, just click on the folder once and hit the F2 key.

Windows Explorer Tips : Windows Explorer Tips Holding down the control key will allow you to select multiple files Holding down the shift key will allow you to select contiguous files Hitting control-->A will select all of the files in the contents pane While you are dragging the files from the contents panel to the drive panel, dimmed versions of the files will follow the mouse pointer. A file's type is indicated by the icon representing it. You can easily delete a file by right clicking a file name and choosing delete from the shortcut menu.

File Management : File Management Filename – Unique name given to a file. Extension – Identifies program used to open a file. On Windows a file can be 255 characters. Spaces and numbers are allowed, and the name is NOT case sensitive. However, the following characters are not allowed: \ ? : “ < > | * /

Organizing Your Files : Organizing Your Files A device letter is a unique identifier for each different storage device on a PC. The floppy disk is drive “A”. The hard drive is usually drive “C.” A directory is a list of the files on a particular storage device. The main directory is the root directory. Folders are a special portion of the root directory. They are hierarchical

Save Vs. Save As : Save Vs. Save As The first time you save a file there is no difference between the two. Once you’ve saved a file: Choosing save automatically saves the current file to the hard drive. Choosing save as allows you to save the file using a different name and/or change the file’s location Two files can’t have the same name and file type if they’re located in the same folder. They can, however share the same name if they are in subfolders of one another.

Evaluating Storage Capacity : Evaluating Storage Capacity Byte – One character typed in plain text editor. Cookie files and plain text files Kilobyte – 1,024 byes. Web pages, Office documents Megabytes – 1,024 kilobytes MP3 files, videos, larger software applications, RAM Gigabytes – 1,024 megabytes Hard drives, RAM

File Compression : File Compression Allows you to a shrink a file to a smaller file. The smaller file is compressed. Compressed files must be decompressed before they can be read. File compression applications include Winzip and Pkzip.

Typical Windows Desktop Icons : Typical Windows Desktop Icons My Documents--A storage area for your documents. Documents that you create can be stored anywhere, but most programs default to saving in My Documents. Folder is located under C:\Documents and Settings\YOUR USER NAME\My Documents My Computer--Allows you to view the computer's contents. My Network Places--Allows you to work with other computers on the same network as you. Recycle Bin--Purgatory for deleted files. When you delete a file it goes to the recycle bin. Files can be restored from the recycle bin, but once the recycle bin is emptied, the files are gone for good. Internet Explorer--Web browser used extensively by Windows. You can download and install another browser such as Firefox

The Hard Drive : The Hard Drive This is where every program and file on your computer is stored. When you start a program or open a file, that program/file is copied into memory from the hard drive. Because all of your files/programs are located on your hard drive, you need to have more storage space than memory. A currently acceptable drive size is 40 GB or larger.

Random Access Memory (RAM) : Random Access Memory (RAM) Any data to be processed must be stored in memory rather than on the hard drive. This makes access much faster since the RAM can be accessed quicker than the hard drive. When you start a program, the program is loaded from the hard drive into memory. When a computer does not have enough memory, information must be swapped from RAM to the hard drive, thus slowing down performance extensively.  When application software is running in memory, an icon appears on the task bar. However, system software does not appear on the task bar. You can purchase additional RAM chips to gain more memory for your PC. A currently acceptable amount of RAM is 512 MB.

System Software uses RAM : System Software uses RAM System software consists of programs to control the operations of computer equipment. This includes the operating system, which tells the computer how to load, store and execute a program as well as how to transfer data. Whenever you turn on your computer, your operating system is loaded into memory. Programs you wish to run have to compete with your OS for memory space which is why it is so important to have sufficient memory installed on your machine

Fonts : Fonts Stored on your hard drive Some fonts come with Windows. Others are added when you install software.

Central Processing Unit (CPU) : Central Processing Unit (CPU) The “brains” of your computer. If you have a 1.6 GB CPU, then your processor can handle 1.6 billion commands a second.

Fragmentation : Fragmentation Occurs when your computer places parts of files over many disk areas or clusters. This may cause your computer to run slower because the hard drive must read from different locations. Defragmentation software reallocates clusters to decrease fragmentation. Utility suites come with software but so do most operating systems.

File Allocation Tables : File Allocation Tables The same file can be stored on the hard drive in multiple locations. This is because the file may have been edited and the surrounding areas have been used. A sector is a single area on a storage device that can hold a certain number of bytes in a file. Sectors are grouped into clusters. Clusters can hold from 512 bytes to 256 KB. If a file is 1KB and each cluster is 4KB, one cluster will be used for the file. None of the remaining space in the cluster will be written to unless that file is edited. Computers use a File Allocation Table (FAT) to track the location of files on a hard drive.

Where are Your Deleted Files : Where are Your Deleted Files When you delete a file its space becomes available. However, the file itself is NOT deleted. Utility software exists to get the files back as long as they haven’t been overwritten. If you delete a file from your hard drive, you can usually retrieve it from your recycle bin.

Operating System Tasks : Operating System Tasks Common Windows OS tasks can be found in the control panel. Run programs based upon: Icon clicked Location of the program on the hard drive Programs are loaded into memory from the hard drive The CPU is instructed to execute the program.

Personal Operating SystemsMac OS and LINUX : Personal Operating SystemsMac OS and LINUX Mac OS is the operating system for today’s Apple Computers. Its GUI is similar to Windows, but different enough to make you feel as if you’re learning how to use a computer AGAIN. Linux is an open source operating system. It’s used mostly with high end workstations and network servers.

Device Drivers : Device Drivers Software and information your operating system uses to communicate with a new device connected to your PC. Usually ship with hardware, but can be downloaded. Plug and Play allows your OS to locate drivers preinstalled on the computer. If the driver can’t be located, it must be installed from a disk or downloaded.

Three Technology Types : Three Technology Types Magnetic (Storage of data on a magnetic medium) Floppy Disk Hard Drive Optical/Laser CDs Flash Memory (Stored on a chip) Digital Cameras USB Drives Ipods Cell Phones

Magnetic Storage Devices : Magnetic Storage Devices Can be internal or external. An internal magnetic hard disk (hard drive) is your primary storage device for your files, programs, and application system. Made up of one or more thin metal platters. External hard drives are great back up storage devices. They are also portable.

Optical Storage Media : Optical Storage Media CDs can store around 900 MB or enough for 20 minutes of video DVDs can store between 90 minutes and 8 hours of video depending on picture quality. Traditional recordable DVDs can store about 4.7 GB of data. HD-DVD players will hit the market in spring 2006. Discs will hold between 15 and 25 GB.

Read Only Optical Storage Media : Read Only Optical Storage Media ROM means Read only Memory. Discs labeled as ROM can only be read. CD-ROMs can hold about 700 MB, or the equivalent of 486 floppies.

CDs : CDs CD players’ read speed is measured with an X, or the number of times greater than 150 Kilobytes per second the speed of the first CD reader. So a 48X reader can read at 150 KB * 48 per second. CD-R discs can be written to once. Files deleted from a CD-R before the disc is finalized are NOT deleted. They are simply no longer accessible.

DVDs : DVDs High capacity optical or laser disc. Most commercial DVDs are dual layer. Each layer can be written to. As a result, dual layer dvds can hold up to 8.5 GB of data, twice as much as a regular DVD. DVD-R can be written to just once. There are many dual layer burners on the market. They require blank dual layer DVD R discs. There are two competing technologies: DVD+R and DVD-R

Fully Read and Write Optical Storage Media : Fully Read and Write Optical Storage Media CD-RW and DVD-RW/DVD+RW discs can be written to more than once. Burning is putting information onto a CD or DVD.