Welcome to the video professor series of computer learning tapes, the nation's
number one computer trainer. We'll take you step-by-step through learning to use
your computer software. On the screen now are some other tapes available in our
series. When using these tapes we suggest you watch them in their entirety
then go back with your computer and practice each step. In keeping with the
video professor's dedication to giving you the best lesson possible, we have
packed these tapes with information and sometimes move at a pace that is faster
than you will be able to follow along with as you are working with your
computer. Remember you can always pause or rewind the tape to learn each part. Now
let's get started.
Welcome to my lesson on getting started with Windows 98, the new and improved
version of the most popular operating system for today's personal computers. In
this lesson you'll learn what a computer system is comprised of and how it
processes information. You'll discover the types of hardware that make up a
computer system and what functions they serve. In addition, this lesson explains
the basic features of the Windows working environment. I'll teach you how
to identify and use the Windows 98 desktop tools. Then we'll look at file
management and finally see how to change settings for the way you use your
computer. Now before we start the lesson I'd like to introduce you to my student
helper Suzanne. Just follow along with her and you'll be using this program in
no time at all. So let's get started.
Suzanne, many people think of a computer as a piece of machinery. The computer
machine or hardware is only one part of the computing system. A computing system
actually is comprised of three elements. The hardware, which you can see and touch,
the software or programs which make the hardware do the work you want, and you,
the user, the most important part of the system. Suzanne, let's break down a
typical computer advertisement. Here's one from Mammoth Computers where the
system has a 300 megahertz Pentium 2 processor with MMX technology, 64 megs of
EDO RAM, and a 3.1 gig hard drive. The jargon can get intimidating, but don't
worry I'll explain how these pieces work together as a system and what they
should do for you. We'll begin our tour with the hardware that handles input and
output tasks and start with the keyboard since it's the main component for
entering data and instructions into your system. Our ad shows a 104 key Windows
enhanced keyboard. This keyboard covers the basic alphabet and number keys plus
a full set of 12 function keys, a separate numeric keypad, and specialized
movement keys. Most keyboards have all these keys. The Windows enhanced phrase
indicates some additional keys customized for Windows operating system
commands. Suzanne, the ad also shows a two-button mouse. This is also an input
device for giving commands and selecting options by pointing and clicking on
screen images. Instead of a mouse, some computers use a trackball or a touchpad
to move the pointer. Other input devices that are common on personal computer
systems are scanners and digital cameras. They allow you to capture visual images
for storing on your hard drive. Some audio input devices are microphones and
MIDI devices. All these components are used to put data into the computer or
give commands. Once data is in and processed, the system needs output
devices to give information back to the user. Some of the most common output
devices are monitors, speakers, and printers. The monitor is the screen that
displays your work. Our ad shows a 17 inch which has a 15.6 inch viewable area.
Monitor resolution varies widely. Resolution means the sharpness of the
image. It is described in pixels or in dot pitch and it's important to know the
difference in these two descriptions. Pixels are little dots of light that
make up the screen image. Pixel resolution is measured by number of dots
across and down. Larger numbers mean sharper images. Our ad shows a maximum
resolution of 768 by 1024 which will give good clear images. Dot pitch is a
measure of the space between the pixels, so a lower number means less space
between or a sharper image. Speakers are also pretty standard output devices
since even simple programs frequently have both video and audio. Printers are
also output devices and they vary as widely as monitors. The most common
types are dot matrix printers, laser printers, and inkjet printers. Dot matrix
printers use little dots to create letters and graphics. They vary with
resolution and make letters look a little ragged. Inkjet printers, sometimes
referred to as bubble jets, also use little dots to create images. They
however group the dots much closer together than dot matrix printers so
their images look much better. Laser printers create images using a process
similar to copiers. They fuse ink to the paper in a heat process. Laser printers
are generally faster and more expensive than inkjet printers but they do produce
better-looking text and graphics. There's more choices available in I.O. hardware
but you get the idea. As I mentioned earlier, the input-output devices are
usually the easiest to understand because you can see them, but the brains
of the computer are inside the box where you normally can't see them. Suzanne,
let's take a quick tour of this environment and then break down each of
its components. A computer is built around a piece of hardware called a
motherboard which is simply a board with some electronic pathways and slots to
hold other parts. Three important components reside directly on the
motherboard. The CPU chip, pipeline burst cache, and the memory chips. The slots on
the motherboard are places for controller cards to be plugged into. Other hardware
typically found inside the box includes a hard drive, a floppy disk drive, a CD
ROM drive, and an internal modem. As you can see by this simplified
illustration, it can get pretty crowded in there and of course it's important
that they are able to work together without any conflicts. Now let's start
with the part of the computer that actually computes. The central
processing unit. In our ad, the system's CPU is listed as a 300 megahertz
Pentium 2 with MMX technology. The CPU or processor is the main computer chip
that processes data. Basically, it takes the data and instructions that you input
and turns them into output. For example, when you press the letter A on the
keyboard, it turns into a binary code as it moves through the keyboard cable to
the motherboard where it is stored briefly in memory and pipeline burst cache
until the CPU reach it. Then it sends a different signal to the monitor where it
converts the binary code into the letter A on the screen.
Professor, I understand that Pentium is like a brand name from Intel, but what's
300 megahertz and MMX technology? Megahertz is a way of measuring electronic
speed. A higher number is faster so the system can handle more tasks more
quickly. MMX technology is a class of chips designed especially for audio
visual processing tasks such as games. The CPU can only process data that is
first stored in memory. Computer memory is handled by RAM chips. Our ad
indicates 64 megabytes of EDO RAM. A byte is the measuring unit for
information and it's about the same as one character like an A or the number
one. A megabyte is 1 million bytes, about 1 million characters of data. Essentially
the advertised system's temporary memory should be able to store 64 million bytes
of information, which can come in handy since many software packages require 12
or more megabytes of RAM in order to run. Suzanne, we have another form of memory
available to us. It's called pipeline burst cache. It is located directly on
the motherboard next to the processor. It acts as a conduit between RAM and the
CPU. This boosts your computer's performance by allowing the processor
quick access to data on the memory chips. Suzanne, before we move on, there is one
essential fact that you should remember about RAM. It is temporary. If the power
is shut off to your system, whatever was in the memory chip is lost. Fortunately
there is a way to permanently save what's in memory to disk. We've seen how
information or data is processed by your computer, but how did it get there? All
the data your computer uses comes from the permanent storage devices. Floppy
disks, hard drives, and CD-ROMs are the most common permanent storage devices.
These disks are used to store your programs such as a game or word
processor. When you start these programs, your computer loads all the necessary
data into memory so you can work with that program. The floppy disk and hard
drive are also used to store the things you create, such as a letter. You can also
copy and store data from one disk to another. In order to see the information
on a floppy disk, it must be inserted into the floppy disk drive. The hard disk
has much more storage capacity than floppies. The advertised system lists a
3.1 gigabyte hard drive as part of its features. A gigabyte is 1,000 megabytes,
so this hard drive can hold essentially 3,100 megs of data. Most application
programs come on floppy disks or on CD-ROM. When programs are installed on
your computer, they are essentially copied from the floppy disks or CD-ROM
onto the hard drive. Most computers, including the one in our ad, come with a
CD-ROM drive. CD-ROMs hold a lot of information but have one drawback. ROM
stands for read-only memory, which means the drive can only read information
from the CD. You cannot store or write additional information to the CD. CD's
you can write to are available but are not standard in the market at this time.
There are other data storage devices that are used for storing large amounts
of data. Some popular backup hardware units are Zip, Jazz, or SciQuest
removable mass storage drives. They can even be used to keep backup copies of
everything on your hard disks. This is a good idea because hard disks can fail.
Now let's look at using the computer to communicate with the outside world. Most
new computers come with a modem or a fax modem. Ours is no exception. It has a 56k
voice fax modem. A modem is a translator and a necessary piece of hardware if you
wish to access the internet or email someone. It translates a computer signal
to an analog signal so it can be transferred along the phone lines. Modems
send and receive information at different speeds or baud rates. Our ad
indicates 56k, which means kilobytes per second potential speed. You'll also
notice that our ad lists the modem as a voice and fax modem. This modem allows
you to use your computer to make and receive phone calls. Suzanne, that's a
fairly quick overview of hardware options. Now let's turn our attention to
the stuff that makes everything run, the software. It's easy to understand what
application programs do because they are the software that you use directly to do
personal or business tasks like checkbook balancing, word processing, and
playing games. Operating system software like Windows 98 is not as easy to
understand because it handles all the background operations that make it
possible for your other software and hardware to work together. Now let's
start looking at the Windows 98 program and learn how it works.
For this lesson, I assume everyone has turned on their computer and has Windows
98 up and running. Viewers, we'll use Suzanne's screen to point out some of the
new features of Windows 98. Your screens will be different than hers and as we
tour Suzanne's computer, you can compare your system and decide which changes you
want to adopt and which you do not. But in either case, by the time we're finished,
you'll know what's available and how to make your own choices active. Let's
quickly go over what Windows 98 is. As an operating system, Windows 98 handles
all the functions that make it possible for you to use the computer. It is your
user interface which means it gives you a structured set of messages and
commands to communicate with the system. It manages the resources of the entire
system, all the hardware components, as well as all programs that are running,
and it serves as kind of a traffic cop to direct the movement of data between
the input, output, and storage devices and the CPU. The Windows 98 operating
system handles all of these basic system tasks and more. Now let's take a closer
look at your Windows 98 desktop and learn how to use the tools presented
there. The Windows 98 screen view is called a desktop because it holds the
tools similar to those you may have on your office desk. Like a regular desk, you
may find documents or file folders scattered about and it also gives quick
access to other tools such as pens, erasers, a calculator, a telephone, and so
forth. The Windows desktop is the plain colored background and on top of that
are the images of icons, mouse pointer, taskbar, and channels bar. You might not
see the channels bar on your screen yet. Don't worry, you'll soon see how to turn
it off and on. Icons are the smaller images generally lined up along the left
side of your desktop. These represent programs and folders of information
stored on your computer. The taskbar also appears on the desktop, usually across
the bottom of the screen. In addition to the start button, which is used to launch
programs, the taskbar has four smaller buttons called the quick launch bar that
help manage your internet connection. The last part of the desktop new to
Windows 98 is the channels bar. This takes you directly to some internet
websites if you are hooked up to the internet. Professor, I understand that my
computer screen is the desktop, but what do you mean by ways to view the desktop?
A very good question, Suzanne. With Windows 98, the desktop has a new option
called the active desktop. If you have just upgraded from an earlier version of
Windows, you probably do not have this option turned on unless you already had
loaded Internet Explorer 4.0. If you're working with a new computer that has
just had Windows 98 installed, it might or might not have the active desktop
option turned on. The default option, that is the option that appears if you
haven't made a choice yet, is called the classic desktop. We'll look at both the
classic and the active desktop and show you how to switch back and forth. Then
you can set up your computer to suit your own style of working. If you've been
using an earlier version of Windows, the active desktop uses different mouse
click commands than you've been accustomed to using. The advantage is
that your screen appearance and the mouse commands are fairly consistent,
whether you're working locally or on the net. Speaking of mouse click, Suzanne,
that's the last item that appears on your desktop, your mouse pointer. It's the
little arrow image that moves on screen as you move the mouse across the mouse
pad. We'll see that the mouse pointer may change shape in some situations to
indicate special actions available to you. Your mouse has buttons that are
clicked to select and activate commands on the screen. The left mouse button is
most frequently used for regular commands. The right mouse button opens
shortcut or context menus, and some mice have a middle button that can be used
for special features for specific application programs such as Microsoft
Word. Many commands can also be given from the keyboard, but as a graphical
user interface, Windows works most efficiently with the mouse. Let's take a
look. First, we'll check a couple settings to be sure everyone is looking at the
classic desktop view. Just follow along with Suzanne. Move your mouse slowly
around the desktop without clicking any buttons and watch the screen. When the
pointer rests on a button on the taskbar, a small label pops up naming the button.
You may notice that some of the small taskbar buttons have the same pictures
and same labels as desktop icons. This is because they perform the same tasks.
You'll quickly find that it's common in Windows to have several different ways
to accomplish the same task. The program can be customized so you can select
options that are most comfortable for the way you use the computer. We'll be
pointing out those different options so you can make well-informed choices and
learn some new tricks and shortcuts that you might not find on your own. Now
Suzanne, move your mouse pointer to a blank part of the desktop and click once
on the right mouse button. This is a shortcut or context menu. A right button
click opens this kind of menu almost anywhere in any Windows program, but the
commands on the menu will be different according to what area of context your
mouse is pointing to on the desktop. This menu shows commands that control the
desktop. Commands that are gray and barely visible are not available at this
time. This is another of the context sensitive features of Windows. Different
command options are available according to where you are in a program and what
you are doing. At the top of the list you see active desktop with a little right
pointing arrowhead. Move your mouse pointer to the active desktop line and
as it changes color an additional menu appears. The arrowhead on the menu line
always indicates that the item has a sub menu of additional choices. In this case
the choices are view as a web page, customize my desktop, and update now.
Suzanne's computer shows no check mark on view as a web page which indicates that
it is an inactive choice right now. This is a toggle command which means it turns
on and off with a mouse click. When it is turned off the desktop view is classic.
Viewers if you do have a check mark watch for a moment as we turn ours on and
then follow along to turn it off again. Suzanne move your mouse pointer to the
web page item so it is highlighted and click your left mouse button once. You
may notice the icons blink as the desktop screen repaints itself and if
you haven't seen the channels bar before it may appear now. Again don't worry if
it doesn't. We'll come back and take a closer look at all of the features of
the active desktop after we finish our tour of the basic tools in the classic
view. Remember we're making sure everyone has the same view and learning how to
change the settings. The shortcut menu disappeared so you'll need to reopen it
with a right mouse button click. Once again point to the active desktop command
and look at the web page item. There's a check mark next to it indicating that
it's turned on. To return to the classic settings move your mouse pointer to
customize my desktop. This menu item has three dots called an ellipsis which
indicate that a window full of additional choices called a dialog box
will open. Click once with the left mouse button. We'll visit this displays
properties window again in a few minutes but this time just click the button near
the bottom labeled folder options and click yes in the next dialog box. Click
in the circle called a radio button next to classic style and then click the OK
button. I want you to make one more adjustment to your desktop Suzanne. Right
click again to open the menu and this time highlight arrange icons to see the
sub menu. There will be a check mark next to auto arrange if it is active. When
active this option automatically lines up your desktop icons. We want to do some
arranging of our own so left click on auto arrange to remove the check mark if
there is one and just click anywhere on the blank desktop to close the shortcut
menu if there is no check mark. Move your mouse pointer to the desktop icon labeled
my computer. It should be in the upper left corner of your screen. Don't click
yet. While your mouse pointer is resting on the icon you will see a little box
pop up with information about what that icon does. The tips go away after a brief
display but you can always move your mouse pointer to a blank space to avoid
the distraction. We've seen how a mouse click will open a menu and give a
command on a menu. Let's look at another example of giving a command with a click
Suzanne. With your mouse pointer still on the my computer icon click the left
button once. The mouse click command selected the file that this icon
represents. Normally we use the left mouse button for most commands so in the
future when I ask you to click you should assume it is the left button. I'll
tell you specifically when a right mouse button click is needed. With your mouse
pointer on the my computer icon press down and hold your left mouse button
while you drag the icon to a blank space on your desktop. This is called a drag. As
long as you hold down the mouse button while the mouse is moving the icon or
other selected object will move around on the screen. When you have the icon
where you want it release the mouse button. When you release the button the
object is dropped in the new location. We have one final mouse command Suzanne
the double click. This command is used only in the classic desktop. With your
mouse pointer on the my computer icon rapidly click the left button twice. Be
careful not to move the mouse between clicks or the computer will think you're
doing a drag. Your double click opened a window that displays the contents of my
computer that is your computer. The icons here represent your disk drives and
connections to other peripheral devices. And now with the window open on the
desktop we have more new features to explore.
Professor what exactly is a window? A window visually defines a workspace on
the desktop. Each program that is opened appears in its own window. You can have
many windows open and overlapping each other at the same time. Once opened you
can move size and minimize them in any way you want. When you opened my computer
a new button appeared on the taskbar. As long as a program is open that is as
long as the program is loaded in memory it will have a button on the taskbar.
We'll investigate the taskbar in greater detail later but you can see now that an
icon a window and a taskbar button all represent the same program. Each one
indicates a different state in the program's activity. Let's go over the
components of a window. The brightly colored top line of the window is called
the title bar and it tells you the name of the window my computer. On the right
hand corner of the title bar are three buttons. Move your pointer to the first
one with the single line on it Suzanne. This is the minimize button. Click on it
and the window disappears from your screen but the button still shows on the
taskbar showing us that the program is still loaded into memory. You can use the
minimize button to unclutter your desktop but still keep a program running
and instantly available. Just click on the taskbar my computer button Suzanne to
reopen the window for use. The middle button on the title bar is another case
of a context-sensitive feature. When the window is less than full this button
will maximize to full size or if the window fills up the entire screen this
button will reduce it to a less than full screen size or restore. Move your
mouse pointer to the middle button Suzanne and the tooltip as well as the
symbol on the button will tell you which way it will go. Yours is maximize. Click
once to see the change and click the middle button again to see how the
window returns to the original size. Leave this window when it's less than
full-size state so you can see the desktop behind it. The third button the
X is the close button. Click the X Suzanne. This one closes the window and
takes the button off the taskbar that is exits the program and takes it out of
memory. Now we'll reopen the window. Do you remember how to do that Suzanne? Sure
professor I'll move my mouse pointer to the my computer icon and double click.
Good for you Suzanne. There's your window again. There is one more control button
on the title bar. See the picture of a computer? Put your pointer on it and
click. This is another way to size and close your window. Click on the title bar
to close this menu. Now let's open a second window but before we do we'll
switch to the active desktop and see the difference in mouse action. Since this is
the newest and easiest way to use the desktop we'll use the active desktop for
the remainder of this lesson. Here's a different way to switch when you have a
window open. Below the title bar in the window is the menu bar. The words that
appear on this line are groups of commands or menus that will drop down
when you click the word. Click the view command. You can see that the menu in a
window looks and works very much like the shortcut menu you saw on the desktop.
At the bottom of the list is folder options. Click that command. Does this
dialog box look familiar? It's the same one we use to select classic style. This
time we want web style so click that radio button and click OK. After the
settings change your window repaints itself on the screen and you might
notice the channels bar on the desktop again behind the window. Inside the
window icon and folder labels now have an underline. The active desktop changes
to look and act like the web browser program Explorer 4.0. All the web browser
features are not here but they have incorporated a few functions so you can
navigate through your personal computer the same way you navigate through web
pages. For those of you who have been on the internet this will look familiar. For
those of you who haven't you'll learn how this works and can apply this
information when you do. Let's get back to the components of the window. You can
use the title bar of the window as a place to grab onto the window and move
it. Move your pointer up to the title bar Suzanne and click and hold the left
button. Drag the window to the right so you can see the first row of icons on
your desktop. The desktop icons are now underlined too. This underlining is an
indicator on the active desktop that the label item will open a new window or a
new web page with a single mouse click. Something else is different from the
classic view. First click anywhere on the blank desktop to make it active. Move
your mouse pointer to the recycle bin icon on the desktop. It looks like a
little trash can. When your mouse pointer moves across an icon in active
desktop view it changes to a hand. On the active desktop the pointer position is a
dynamic part of the screen environment. Pointer select is a feature of the active
desktop that matches what a single click does in the classic view. This pointer
activated selection is one of the ways Windows 98 makes your desktop act like a
web page. With your mouse pointer on the recycle bin icon click once to open the
window. If the window fills up the screen click the restore button to reduce its
size so you can see both windows and the desktop. It's okay if they overlap. You
can also see the two buttons on your taskbar indicating that two programs
are loaded into memory. This is an example of multitasking. Multitasking
means you can have more than one program opened and running at the same time. This
Windows feature allows you to easily switch from one program to another and
to move or copy information between these programs. Since it's the last one
you opened the recycle bin button on the taskbar is selected and is the active
window. You can tell the active window because it appears to be on top of the
other window and its title bar is brightly colored. Only one window on the
desktop can be active at a time but it's easy to switch from one to another to do
work in different programs. Since we can see a part of the my computer window
just click once any place in the window to activate it. It now appears on top of
the other window. Professor what if the window was covered up so I can't click
it how do I move it back on top? If you can't see it on the screen just click
the taskbar button. Do that now to move the recycle bin back out front. You can
also resize a window so it's easier to see both. This is useful if you're
frequently moving back and forth between windows. Move your mouse pointer to the
left edge of the recycle bin window called the border. Watch the mouse
pointer. When it changes to a black two-sided arrow you can click and drag
the border to change the size of the window. Enlarge the window until you see
blue sky behind the large title on the left. The split window view doesn't show
up properly when the window is small. You can resize from any border sides top or
bottom and from the corners you can size diagonally as well. Sizing windows is a
good mouse exercise to improve hand-eye-screen coordination and it comes
in handy if you have several windows open on the desktop.
We've seen how the title bar and borders will help you manage your windows on the
desktop. Now let's take a closer look at the items that help you perform tasks
inside the window. These are the menu bar, tool bars, scroll bars, status bar, and
workspace. Click on the my computer window to activate it. The area showing
the icons and folders is called the workspace. If this was a word processing
program this is where your typing would appear. Looking at this window we see
it's very full of file folder icons. It's so full in fact that the window isn't
big enough to show them all. There's a scroll bar at the right side of this
window indicating that there's more vertical information to see. Scroll bars
may appear on the side and bottom of a window. When you see them you'll know the
size of the window is not big enough to display all of the available text or
graphics in that window. Moving these bars brings more of the information into
view. Move your pointer to the box inside the scroll bar Suzanne and drag it down.
You can see the view in the window moving to show additional folders and
files further down on the page. When you drag up the view follows moving back to
the top of the viewing area. You can also click on the arrows at the top or bottom
of the scroll bar to move the view up or down in small jumps. Remember that a
scroll bar always appears when there's more to see than the window can display
so it's an indicator to look further than what you see immediately. The next
element of a window is the menu bar. It is almost always located immediately
below the title bar although in some windows it can be moved. We've looked at
some menus already and have an idea of how they work. The file, edit, and help
menus are standard Windows menus in almost all applications that run in
Windows. The view menu which we used a moment ago to change to the active
desktop web page view has several new commands in Windows 98 and is standard
in most of the windows that appear in this operating system. Other menu items
contain commands related specifically to the program running in a given window. We
can use keyboard commands or a mouse to open menus. Notice that each menu name
has one of its letters underlined. You can press the alt key with the
underscored letter to open that menu from the keyboard. For example, Suzanne
hold the alt key and press the letter V. When the menu opens you can see that
each of the commands has one letter underlined also. Simply press that key
without the alt key to select that command. A click on any of these menu
items may immediately affect that command or it may give you additional
choices. We've seen this in the menu commands used already in this lesson so
let's just pull it together with a quick review. Plane commands are effective
immediately. An arrowhead indicates a cascading sub menu of options. A three
dot ellipsis indicates a dialog box that requires additional choices or
information. A check mark, big dot or dot in a circle indicates that menu option
is already selected. The menus contain all the commands you can ever use in a
program, Suzanne. Below the menu bar in most windows you'll usually find one or
more toolbars. Toolbars are a longtime feature of Windows but in Windows 98 and
on the active desktop there are some new twists and some of these new features
appear only in operating system windows. You may see them in ordinary applications
when they upgrade to 98 versions. Let's be sure everyone has their toolbars
visible. Toolbars is the first option on the view menu and is already
highlighted. It has an arrowhead indicating a cascading sub menu. Press
your right arrow key this time to see the additional choices. The check mark
shows that standard buttons, address bar and text labels are all active. We want
links selected also so click on that selection. Viewers, if these options are
not checked on your screen, select them now. The menu will close after each
selection so you'll need to reopen it if you need to add additional checks. While
we're here be sure you also have a check mark next to status bar. Click outside
the menus to close them. Now you can see two rows of buttons below the menu bar.
The first row is the standard toolbar which has buttons for some of the most
common menu commands. These give you one-click access to commands that you
could also find in various menus but they're much faster from the toolbar.
Like a menu, if a button stays pale or grayed out when you point to it, it's not
an active command and some buttons have arrows to indicate additional options.
Below the standard toolbar is the address bar. The address bar displays
the name of the current open window, my computer. This is an example of making
the local desktop look like a web browser that shows the address of the
page you are viewing. Click the drop-down arrow to the right of the words my
computer. The list you see is called a folder hierarchy, a map of the file
storage locations on your computer. It's a slightly different way of representing
the same information you see in the my computer window. See, there's my computer
near the top of the list and indented below that are the disk drives on your
computer. Viewers, your list may include different items than Suzanne's depending
on how your system has been set up but everyone should have a hard drive which
is usually identified by the letter C. Click on the C drive, Suzanne. Look at
your window now. Hold it professor, what happened to the my computer window? Its
window has been replaced with the C drive window. This is a very good example
of how your desktop acts like a web browser. When you selected a new address
a different location on your own computer in this case the window changed
to that view. Let's see another example of how this works. Click on the recycle
bin to activate it. Open the address drop down display and choose my computer. Now
we have the my computer window opened instead of the recycle bin. When you
switched to a new address the back button on the standard toolbar also
became active. Click the back button Suzanne and your window returns to the
view of the recycle bin. Click the forward button to move ahead to the my
computer view. You can open several windows from the address bar.
Technically they are not all opened at once but by using your back and forth
buttons you can switch from one to another. Let's move on to the links
toolbar. Click on the C drive window again. The links toolbar appears to the
right of the address bar. Viewers you may need to stretch out your window to see
it or you can make the address bar smaller. Move your mouse pointer to the
vertical line between the address drop down arrow and the word links. The
pointer will change to a two-sided arrow when you have the right spot. You should
recognize this pointer symbol as the sizing indicator which you can click and
drag to give a little more space to the links bar if it's needed. If some of the
link buttons still don't show there's an arrow head at the right side of the
toolbar that works much like a scroll bar to display the rest of the buttons
on the toolbar. When you have scrolled to the right a similar button appears on
the left side of the toolbar for scrolling back to the left. Links are a
series of buttons that connect directly to specific pages on the World Wide Web.
When you point to a button the web address shows in the pop-up tip. When you
connect to a web page its address shows in your address toolbar. These buttons
can only make the connection however if the computer is connected to the
internet. That's the topic for a later lesson so we won't get into these
buttons today. You can also control the vertical space allocated to your
toolbars. Move your mouse pointer to the bottom of the toolbar. When the
two-sided sizing arrow appears drag the line down until your bars form three
lines or you can push up until everything is jammed onto one row. Let's
leave ours as it was so move your sizing arrows up to put the links bar beside
the address bar. Gee professor there's a lot more to these windows than meets
the eye. There sure is Suzanne and speaking of more there's one more area
to point out and that is the status bar. It is at the bottom of the window and
does exactly what its name says. It displays information about the status of
whatever is happening in the window. The types of information change according
to what's happening. For example Suzanne move your mouse pointer to the program
files folder. When the pointer selects the object and it changes color the
status bar tells you about the number of objects selected. Depending on what is
selected and the size of your window it will also display the size of the
selected item and the amount of free disk space. In the left side of the
window workspace are more details about the object. The name program files and
the fact that it is a file folder and the date it was last modified. File size
and other information on the selected item will also display here. Suzanne I
believe we've covered most of the elements that make up a window. It's a
lot isn't it? I think you'll find that these tools and skills become automatic
very quickly once you've seen them in action. Now we'll move down to the bottom
of your desktop and learn how the taskbar helps you manage the jobs running on
your computer.
As usual let's start by making sure everyone has a similar view. First if you
do not see the taskbar at the bottom of your screen move your mouse pointer down
slowly and it should pop up when the pointer nears the bottom of the screen.
Now move the pointer to a blank place in the taskbar and click your right mouse
button to open the shortcut menu. Click on properties at the bottom of the list.
This opens the taskbar properties dialog box. Properties is the term for all the
settings and choices defined for an object. What that object is, what it looks
like and what it is allowed to do. The object might be a menu button, a graphic
or block of text or in this case the taskbar. This dialog box has tabs for
different pages to view. Click on the start menu programs tab. We get another
page full of choices. We won't do anything here so click back on the taskbar
options tab again. This page displays a sample screen and lists four checkbox
options. Viewers if your taskbar was hidden there will be a check mark in the
box for auto hide. Click in the box to remove that option for the remainder of
this lesson. You can turn it back on later if you prefer. Click the boxes to add or
remove check marks as needed to match Suzanne's screen where the active
options are always on top and show clock. Click OK to close the properties dialog
box and keep the properties that you selected. The taskbar has four areas used
for the tasks it handles. You've already seen the task list where buttons appear
when a window is open. The start button opens the start menu where you have
access to all the programs and files on your computer whether or not they have
icons on the desktop. The toolbar is right next to the start button. Unlike a
toolbar in a window this is for desktop functions like launching programs. The
notify or status area is the far right space where you see the time displayed
and other icons that may change from time to time according to events on your
computer. Like the other desktop objects we've seen we can move the taskbar from
the bottom of the desktop to the side or top. Suzanne click the left button this
time in a blank space just above the taskbar and drag it to the right side
of your screen. When you release the mouse button it will line up vertically
with the start button at the top and you can make it wider as well. Move your
mouse pointer to the edge until it changes to the two-sided sizing arrow
and drag it to the left about an inch. Well that takes up way too much of the
desktop so let's return it to the bottom and to standard size. Just click in a
blank space and drag back to the bottom of the screen. Much better. These are all
controls for the appearance of the taskbar. Now let's see what it can do.
Move your mouse pointer to the far right over the clock. The pop-up tip also shows
the date. Next to the clock will be icons representing programs running in
background such as a virus checker. You can check what they are by moving the
mouse pointer on it and reading the pop-up tip. Right-click in the blank space
Suzanne. There are four commands that manage the arrangement of your open
windows on the desktop. Cascade, two ways to tile and minimize all. Click Cascade
This lines up your open windows right under each other. Right-click in the task
bar again and this time select toolbars to see the sub menu. This item refers to
the set of buttons that appear to the right of the start button. The check mark
indicates that the toolbar currently showing is quick launch. You can also see
that the address and links toolbars which we saw in our tour of window
elements can be added to the taskbar so they are available even if a window is
not open. Toolbars that can appear on the taskbar are something new in Windows 98.
Click anywhere outside this menu to close it and let's move along to the
workhorse of the taskbar, the start button. Before we do let's clean up our
desktop a bit. Click on the blank space on the taskbar again and select minimize
all windows. The windows disappear from the desktop but are still active showing
on the taskbar. Now right-click on the desktop. Since we won't be using the
channels bar in this lesson let's close it also. Highlight active desktop and
choose customize my desktop. From this display properties dialog box uncheck
the Internet Explorer channel bar. Click apply and it's gone from view. You can
always repeat these steps to turn it back on. Click OK and right-click on the
desktop one more time. Highlight arrange icons and in the next menu select auto
arrange. The icons automatically line up again. It looks a lot better now.
The start button on the taskbar is somewhat comparable to the menus in a
window. Although you have shortcuts icons and toolbars elsewhere this is the
ultimate source for every program and file located on your computer. Click your
start button Suzanne. It opens the start menu where you can start programs, open
files, change the system configuration, get help and shut down the computer.
Viewers your start menu will differ from Suzanne's reflecting the programs that
have been loaded onto your computer but the general organization and groupings
are consistent on all Windows computers. If you have a lot of items on your start
menu you may need to scroll up or down to see them all. Arrowheads at the top or
bottom of the menu will indicate when this is needed. The start menu has three
divisions. At the top are icons that open specific programs installed on your
computer. Some of these might also have icons on your desktop but in either case
they are customized to your individual system. The middle and bottom sections of
the menu are standard Windows features so we can all look at those. We'll review
just a few of these that are very basic tools. The bottom section has two
commands log off and shut down. Both have the ellipsis that indicate a dialog box.
Click on shut down Suzanne. This one gives you three alternative choices and three
buttons. Shut down is a very important command Suzanne. You should use this
command whenever you want to turn off the power. An orderly shutdown will
safeguard the files and programs on your computer. You should never turn off the
computer with Windows or any other program still running. The shutdown
process closes your files, clears instructions from memory and returns any
stray data elements to your disk storage. We don't really want to turn off the
computer yet so click the cancel button to abandon this command. Anytime you
want to leave a dialog box without activating the commands in it you can
use cancel. It will close the box without taking any action even if you've made
some selections. Open the start menu again Suzanne. Just above the shutdown
command is log off. The difference here is that the log off leaves the operating
system software in RAM memory but clears the desktop and any custom settings for
one user and prepares the system for a different user to sign on. For example
different members of a family might each have their own sign on and password set
up with their own choices for desktop setup. When one leaves and the next
comes to use the computer a log off makes those changes effective for the
new user without a full shutdown. Moving up on the list is the run command. This
command is used primarily to start programs that don't reside on your
computer, a game on a CD for example. It's also used to start the install
process for new software programs you want to add to your computer. The help
command is pretty self-explanatory and very useful to seek out the answers to
specific questions about Windows 98. The find command is a powerful tool Suzanne.
Move your pointer onto it and see the sub menu choices. Find not only helps you
look for the useful files or folders it also opens access to search tools on the
internet as you can see by the menu choices. We'll use this command to look
for a file in our level 2 lesson. Some of the settings commands were included in
right-click menus earlier in this lesson Suzanne and we'll come back to look at
some more as the final topic in this lesson so let's move on for now. That
brings us to three major items on the start menu programs, favorites and
documents. All three are simply ways of opening files and working with them on
your computer. So what's the difference professor if they all open files? A
program file is a collection of commands Suzanne. Most popular programs are fairly
large and complex sets of commands that are built around specialized tasks such
as playing a game or doing word processing. The programs listed depend on
what has been loaded onto the computer so viewers your list will differ from
Suzanne's. A document file is created by a program for example a letter is a
document created in a word processing program or a picture in a drawing
program. The documents in this sub menu are the most recent ones created on this
computer. You can use this list to reopen a document you worked on recently and
continue working on it. When you select a document from this sub menu it
automatically launches the program that we use to create it. The favorites is a
list you build for yourself to give you quick access to your own preferred
programs documents and websites. Let's see how this works Suzanne. Move your
mouse pointer to the programs menu then to accessories on the sub menu. This
opens another sub menu now move to notepad. Make sure to move your mouse
straight right then down or you'll lose your sub menu when you highlight
something else in the first menu. You can see how the sub menus organize your
programs into groups. Once notepad is highlighted click once to launch the
program. The title bar in this new window tells you that it is untitled in notepad.
You can recognize the menu bar in this window even though the specific
commands are somewhat different from the ones we looked at previously. Since this
is an application program there is no address bar, links bar or back and forth
buttons. Also since this is a very basic word processor there is no toolbar. Not a
lot of options in this program but if you need to keep quick notes this is the
place and it will be sufficient for our purposes right now. The flashing black
line in the blank workspace is the insertion point or the place text will
appear when you start typing. We're going to create a file Suzanne and save it.
We could as a matter of fact save a perfectly empty file. The computer
doesn't care but let's put some words on to it for our own convenience so we can
see that something is really there. So type the words test one Suzanne. Press
the enter key to make a new line and type this is a document file. That's all
we need. Now we have something in the document to save so move your mouse
pointer to the file menu and click. On the pull down menu point to save as.
Don't click yet. We know that a dialog box will appear since there's a three
dot ellipsis following. Looks like the right command so click it Suzanne. The
save as dialog box asks you for the necessary information to save your file
in the proper location. The top line has a drop-down text box that says my
documents and several toolbar buttons. The middle space called the files and
folders area shows files that are already stored in that space. We haven't
saved any yet so this space is empty. Click the drop-down arrow next to my
documents Suzanne. This list looks like the one you saw on the address bar in
the recycle bin window a while ago. It is in fact the same list but we're coming
into it from a different point here. I think this would be a good time to
explain the structure of the Windows 98 filing system. How it organizes files and
folders so you can easily find what you want as well as save your documents in
the proper location. There is a hierarchy to the system. As you can see in the
visual file structure the desktop is at the top. That is because everything you
can find on your system resides first on the desktop. Under desktop is my
documents. This is a default folder made for you to store your files as you'll
see in our demonstration. You should create your own folders within the
program you are using to save your files. The next in command is my computer.
Everything on your computer both hardware and software can be found in my
computer. The next level is the drives where you store your programs and files.
For example your floppy drive called the A drive and the C drive which is your
hard drive. There can be more drives but I'll keep this illustration simple and
only deal with the C drive now. On the C drive we have many more directions we
can go on the next level down. This level holds your program folders such as
Microsoft Office. The next level down in office is all the programs it contains a
word processor spreadsheet database and so on. Down from this level are folders
you can create to hold your types of documents. Let's say business and
personal and finally in these folders is where you store your documents. It is
important that you understand file structure so let me give you one more
quick example of how it works. This is an analogy to the office filing cabinet.
We'll call the floor the desktop. The filing cabinet that sits on the floor
represents my computer. The drawers represent the drives. As you open the C
drive door you see folders for programs and other things stored on your computer.
Within these programs are folders for specific projects you created and within
the project folders are the documents pertaining to that project. Now let's see
how this works. Click the C drive icon Suzanne. We now have a list of all the
programs and files on the C drive. Let's move down another level. Click the
program files icon. We now get a list of the programs and other files created in
this program files folder. We could keep moving down levels to a word processing
program and create our own folder for personal documents but I think you're
getting the idea and I will cover creating folders in my level 2 lesson.
Let's see a little more how this save as window works. See the folder with a up
pointing arrow on it? Click on it. It will take you up one level at this point back
to the C drive. Click on it again and we are taken to my computer. Once more and
we are taken to the desktop. One folder we see here is my documents. You can use
this or any location you choose to save a file but we'll use this one for our
file. Click on it to make it the chosen folder. The next icon will take you right
back to the top level of your desktop again. Next we see an icon we can click
on to create our own folders and next to that are two choices for how we view the
file information in the window. Click the far right one and we see additional
information about the files and folders. What type of file it is and when last
modified. We only have folders in our display so we don't see file size. Select
the list view and reselect the my documents folder and let's save our file.
To save a file you must select a location which we just did and you must
give it a name. The file name text box below the files list space shows the
name untitled right now. Not very informative so we'll change it to our
own name. Click your left mouse button at the beginning of the word and drag
across the word to select it and release the button. Good. Now type VP test one.
Your new typing will replace the selected word. Remember to give your
file name something easy to remember so you'll know what it is later. You can use
up to 255 characters including spaces to name a file but avoid special characters
like the asterisk, number sign, slash, period, etc. Below the file name is
another text box labeled save as type indicating that your file will be saved
as a text type file. This is okay. No changes are needed here. With all the
necessary questions answered you can save your file Suzanne. Click the save
button. Look at the title bar Suzanne. Instead of untitled now it says VP test
one. The name you gave it and when you close a program it will usually ask you
if you want to save the files you've been working on. I'll show you. The
insertion point is still where you left it. Press enter to go to the third line
and type another line. Now click the file menu and click the exit command at the
bottom of the list. There's your safety net. Do you want to save the changes?
Click yes. You don't need to go through the save as dialog box again because the
file now has a name and a location. Well it's gone from the screen. Is it saved?
Let's open the file again and check it out. This time we'll open from the
documents menu. Click start and point to documents. The sub menu has the my
documents folder at the top so we can easily find any files you've saved into
that folder. But look at the lower part of the menu Suzanne. Since you were just
working with it your VP test one is right there. Click on VP test one. Your
computer will launch notepad and your document automatically. Click on the X
to close notepad again Suzanne. We've looked at all the major features of
Windows 98 as a user interface and seen how the operating system manages
files. The operating system also manages your computer resources including all
the hardware connected to the CPU. Let's take a quick look at one example of that
process. The control panel is where you find these controls. First let's practice
good memory management and close any unneeded windows. Click on the C drive
button. Once opened click on the close button. We can find the control panel
from the start menu or from the my computer desktop icon. Since we still
have my computer opened on the taskbar let's click on it to display its window.
Point to the control panel Suzanne. The icon has a picture of small tools. Click
once to open the control panel. Once again you can get a description in the
left side of your window by pointing to an item in the right side. So exploring
on your own will be easy. Let's check out just one example. Highlight the display
icon Suzanne. We see that this changes the display settings. Go ahead and click
on it. Now we have a dialog box for display properties. Click the tab for
appearance Suzanne. This set of controls defines the colors you see on your
screen and what they mean. You can see some of the screen features labeled in
the sample window. Below the sample is a text box marked scheme with a drop-down
menu arrow. Your current scheme is Windows standard. Click the arrow to see
the list of color schemes available. These choices are default schemes that
change the color of your desktop and other parts of the window. Click on storm.
You will need to use the scroll bar to see all the choices. Our preview window
shows how this will look. Try another. How about Marine? Well that's interesting.
Let's stay with the Windows standard for now. It is located at the bottom of the
list. Viewers choose anything that might interest you. Just below the scheme text
box is another marked item. Click that drop-down arrow to see the list of
objects that can be assigned colors. The desktop is currently selected and the
greenish color shows in the selection box to the right of the list. Leave
desktop active and click the drop-down menu for colors. How about a bright
yellow desktop Suzanne? I don't think so professor. I have to spend a lot of time
at my computer and that color might get old pretty quickly. Well change it back
to blue. Viewers you can play around and find the colors you want. If you want to
use those colors click the apply button. If not just click cancel and no changes
will take effect. Well that's all the time we have for this lesson. I suppose
we should learn how to properly turn off the computer before we finish. First
close all open windows so nothing shows on the taskbar. Now select the start
menu and select shutdown. With shutdown already selected just click OK and the
computer will shut down and turn itself off. You will need to manually turn off
other hardware such as your monitor and printer. Thank you for being such a good
student Suzanne and remember there is much more you can learn from me the
video professor.