Windows XP Basics

 

Lyn Belisle

 


As soon as you start your computer, Windows XP takes control. Your work takes place on the desktop. The taskbar is the center of operations for Windows XP. Initially it appears at the bottom of the screen.

 

If you right click on a clear area of the Taskbar, you can open its properties and make changes to the way it looks and functions. For example, if Lock the toolbar is checked, the toolbar cannot be moved.

 

The clock usually appears on the lower right side of the taskbar. If you hover the mouse over the clock time, the date will appear above it.

 

Any open programs appear on the taskbar regardless of whether the window is open.

 
 

 

 

 

You can customize the way notifications appear for active and inactive items by clicking the customize button in the properties window and choosing from a list

That will hide or show icons.

 

When you close the properties windows, you return to the desktop. On the right of the taskbar, there are other items to the left of the clock. These can include volume control, antivirus options, and shortcuts to applications.
 

 

 

Sections of the Windows screen:

 

Title Bar

Shows the name of the current window – has buttons to Minimize, Maximize/Restore, and Close.

Menu Bar

Contains a list of the available menus and each menu contains related commands.

 

  • Dimmed command – is not available at this time (example – nothing is selected)
  • Ellipsis (…) following a command means a dialog box will appear
  • An arrow (►) next to the command means it is on
  • A key combination means there is a shortcut (Ctrl+C)
  • A triangle ▼ next to a command means a cascading submenu will appear when this command is selected
  • You can open a menu with the keyboard by pressing ALT and clicking on the underlined letter
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Toolbar

 

 

Contains Icons of frequently used features such as copy, paste, save – to open or close additional toolbars, go to the view command on the Menu Bar, go down to the dropdown toolbar and select or deselect the toolbars you need for your task.

 

 
 

 

 

Status Bar

Will vary according to program, but shows status of current item/task

 

Scroll Bar

Allows navigation either horizontally or vertically through the document or page
 

 

 

 

Desktop Dialog Box

Right click on a blank spot on the desktop to display the Properties Dialog Box

 


 Question Mark button is a new context-sensitive Help feature. When you click the question mark, you can then click any item in the dialog box for a description and definition of that item or option.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The keyboard shortcuts can be used to perform various tasks depending on the application. By pressing the F1 key and typing in “keyboard shortcuts” a complete list will be displayed.

 

 

 

F1 means . . . .help.

 

 You can also initiate the Help feature from the Start Menu. There are several ways of finding information in Help:

 

Search – list of related topics

Index – list of all topics

ToolTips – popup boxes that describe tools and buttons within programs

Context-sensitive tools (what’s this?) when you right-click any item in the dialog box

 

For example, to find the location of the calculator, go to Start→Help and Support, click the Index button on the Navigation bar, and type in calculator. It gives you the location, but also gives you the option of opening it from the help page.

 

 

 

 

Windows XP Applications

 

Windows comes with several accessory programs such as a word processor, a paint program, calculator, calendar and more. WordPad is Windows limited word processor but the fundamental techniques it uses can be applied to most Windows word processors.

 

From left to right, the buttons are New, Open, Save, Print, Print Preview, Find (specified text), Cut, Copy, Paste, Undo. And Date and Time (inserts them).

 

The accessory programs are generally found in Start→All Programs→Accessories.

 

Also in Accessories are the System tools which should be used on a regular basis to clean up files and defragment the hard drive.

 

File Management

 

Files can be sorted by file name, size, type, or date modified – clicking the Name column header in the list of files in My Documents reverses the order of the list.

 

Selecting files

 

Adjacent files can be selected by clicking the first file and then holding down the shift key and click the last file.

 

Non adjacent files can be selected by holding down the control key (Ctrl) and click the desired files to be selected.

Creating folders

 

Folders can be created by either right-clicking on a clear area in the desired location, or by gong to the file menu and selecting new. Files and folders may be deleted by selecting them, and then pressing the delete key.