Computer Basics Microsoft Windows CB 200
Table of Contents Using Windows... 3 Desktop... 3 Taskbar... 4 The Start menu... 4 The Quick Launch bar... 5 The System Tray... 6 Customization... 6 How to Use the Microsoft Speech Recognition Engines... 8 Adding Shortcuts to your Desktop...11 Change the Text of the Icon...12 Change the Picture of your Icon...12 Arranging your Desktop...13 Removing Icons...13 Display Properties...14 Themes, Wallpaper, Screen Savers Appearances and Settings...14 Window Environment...16 Cascading...16 Tile...16 Control Panel...17 Control Panel...18 Maximizing, Restoring, and Minimizing a Window...19 The Restore Button...19 Diocese of St. Petersburg pg. 2 12/4/2008
Using Windows The arrangement of things you see in Windows can best be described as layers: Desktop There are no 'real' layers though; you can t peel off the wallpaper and see the Desktop! However there are virtual layers, arranged with the Desktop on the bottom. What you see behind the icons on the Desktop is called the wallpaper, whereas the whole thing is the Desktop, not just the picture/color that you see behind the icons. Application windows are layered on top. Diocese of St. Petersburg pg. 3 12/4/2008
Icons Wallpaper Taskbar The Windows shell places a taskbar button on the taskbar whenever an application creates an un-owned window: that is, a window that doesn't have a parent and that is created according to normal Windows user interface guidelines. Typically all Single Document Interface applications have a single taskbar button for each open window, although modal windows may also appear there. Windows XP introduced taskbar grouping, which can group the taskbar buttons of several windows from the same application into a single button. This button pops up a menu listing all the grouped windows when clicked. This keeps the taskbar from being overcrowded when many windows are open at once. Start Menu Quick Launch Task Bar The Start menu, which is accessed by a button on the taskbar, contains commands that can access programs, documents, and settings. Diocese of St. Petersburg pg. 4 12/4/2008
The Quick Launch bar is a list of shortcuts to your favorite programs. You can use the Quick Launch bar to open programs with a single click, without having to go through the Start menu. Microsoft Windows XP displays the Quick Launch bar by default, so it might already be part of your taskbar. Look for the Quick Launch bar directly to the right of your Start button. If you have disabled your Quick Launch bar, you can display it by right-clicking your taskbar, clicking Toolbars, and then clicking Quick Launch. Windows XP displays the Quick Launch bar, which by default shows shortcuts for opening Microsoft Internet Explorer and for displaying your desktop. Other programs might add a shortcut to the Quick Launch bar, too. To start a program, just click the shortcut. Diocese of St. Petersburg pg. 5 12/4/2008
System Tray The System Tray or notification area is the portion of the taskbar that displays icons for system and program features that have no presence on the desktop as well as the time and the volume icon. It contains mainly icons that show status information, though some programs, such as Winamp, use it for minimized windows. By default, this is located in the bottom-right of the primary monitor (or bottom-left on languages of Windows that use right-to-left reading order), or at the bottom of the taskbar if docked vertically. The clock appears here, and applications can put icons in the notification area to indicate the status of an operation or to notify the user about an event. For example, an application might put a printer icon in the status area to show that a print job is under way, or a display driver application may provide quick access to various screen resolutions. The notification area is commonly referred to as the system tray, Customization The Windows taskbar can be modified by users in several ways. The position of the taskbar can be changed to appear on any edge of the primary display. Up to and including Windows Server 2008, the taskbar is constrained to single display, although third-party utilities such as UltraMon allow it to span multiple displays. When the taskbar is displayed vertically, the Start menu button will only display the text "Start" or translated equivalent if the taskbar is wide enough to show the full text.[9] However, the edge of the taskbar (in any position) can be dragged to control its width (height for a horizontal taskbar); this is especially useful for a vertical taskbar to show window titles next to the window icons. Users can resize the height (or width when displayed vertically) of the taskbar up to half of the display area. To avoid inadvertent resizing or repositioning of the taskbar, Windows XP Home Edition locks the taskbar by default.[5][10] When unlocked, "grips" are displayed next to the movable elements which allow grabbing with the mouse to move and size. These grips slightly decrease amount of available space in the taskbar. Diocese of St. Petersburg pg. 6 12/4/2008
The taskbar as a whole can be hidden until it the mouse pointer is moved to the display edge, or has keyboard focus. To set taskbar properties right mouse click anywhere on the bar This displays the taskbar and start menu properties dialog box. Diocese of St. Petersburg pg. 7 12/4/2008
Speech and Writing Tools How to Use the Microsoft Speech Recognition Engines The Microsoft speech recognition engine enables you to insert text into a document using specific programs. You can dictate text in any Office XP program, in Internet Explorer, and in Microsoft Outlook Express (versions 5.0 or later). Other software programs may eventually support the Microsoft speech recognition engine. You cannot dictate text in Microsoft Notepad at this time. NOTE: Speech recognition engines are language-specific. The first three Microsoft speech engines that are available are Simplified Chinese, U.S. English, and Japanese. Engines for other languages will become available. In addition to being language-specific, some speech engines may be region-specific. For example, the Microsoft English ASR Version 5 engine is intended for speakers of U.S. English. British, Australian, other non-u.s. English speakers may have difficulty using this engine because of variations in accent. How to Train the Speech Recognition Engine When you train the speech recognition engine, the speech recognizer uses the Voice Training Wizard to adapt to the sound of your voice, word pronunciation, accent, speaking manner, and even new or idiomatic words. If you train for as little as ten minutes, you can improve speech recognition capabilities. The system also adapts to your speech on an ongoing basis and recognition increases over time. To train the speech recognition engine, follow these steps: 1. Click Start, click Control Panel, and then double-click Speech. 2. Click the Speech Recognition tab, and then click the speech recognition engine that you want to use in the Language box. 3. Click the profile that you want to use in the Recognition Profile group. Training is specific to an engine and profile so that training one engine or profile set has no effect on any other engine or profile set. 4. Click Train Profile, and then follow the directions in the Voice Training Wizard. Not all engines support training. If your engine does not, Train Profile is unavailable. NOTE: It is recommended that you spend at least 15 minutes training the computer. The more training you do, the higher your recognition accuracy will be. How to Use the Speech Recognition Engine Diocese of St. Petersburg pg. 8 12/4/2008
NOTE: The steps in this procedure may vary depending on the program in which you are using speech recognition. 1. Position the microphone so that it is about an inch or a thumb's width to the side of your mouth. Make sure that it is not directly in front of your mouth, and you are not breathing directly into it. NOTE: If you inadvertently move the microphone as you speak, remember to bring it back to the correct position. 2. Start the program in which you want to use speech recognition, and then click the document to place the insertion point into your document. If you open a Help topic while you are working or if a message is displayed on the screen, click the document again to continue using speech recognition. 3. On the Language bar, click Microphone (if the microphone is not already turned on). NOTE: The Language bar displays labels beside each button on the bar by default. To hide or show the text labels, right-click the Language bar, and then click Text Labels. 4. Switch between Dictation and Voice Command modes as you work. NOTE: You can save time if you complete dictation first, review your file, and then format text or make corrections. When you do so, you have to switch between Dictation mode and Voice Command mode less often. To change modes: Using Dictation mode: To turn the words you speak into text, click Dictation on the Language bar. As you speak, a blue bar is displayed; this means that the computer is processing your voice. As your words are recognized, text is displayed on the screen. You can continue to speak while the computer processes your voice; you do not have to wait until the blue bar disappears to speak again. NOTE: While the blue bar is displayed, avoid using your mouse or keyboard to type or take other actions. If you do so, speech recognition is interrupted, and your words are not processed. Using Voice Command mode: To select menu, toolbar, dialog box (U.S. English only), and task pane (U.S. English only) items, on the Language bar, click Voice Command. For example, to change font format, you can say "font" or "font face" to open the Font box on the Formatting toolbar, and then say a font name. Or if you want to format selected text, say "bold" or "underline." 5. Click Microphone on the Language bar to turn the microphone off when you are finished speaking to the computer. Diocese of St. Petersburg pg. 9 12/4/2008
The following list describes some of the shortcuts that you can use: You can also switch between Dictation and Voice Command modes by saying "dictation" or "voice command." In Microsoft Word, you can delete the last thing you said in Dictation mode by saying "scratch that." You can turn the microphone on and off by clicking Speech on the Tools menu (in Microsoft Excel, point to Speech on the Tools menu, and then click Speech Recognition). You can also turn the microphone off by saying "microphone". Speech Recognition Tips Speech recognition is not designed for completely hands-free operation; you achieve the best results if you use a combination of your voice and the mouse or keyboard. In addition, use a consistent quality of speech to achieve the best results. When you speak to others, people usually understand from the context and environment even if you whisper, shout, or talk quickly or slowly. However, speech recognition understands words better when you speak in a predictable manner. Speak in a consistent, level tone. If you speak too loudly or too softly, the computer may not recognize what you said. Use a consistent rate without speeding up and slowing down. Speak without pausing between words; a phrase is easier for the computer to interpret than just one word. For example, the computer has a hard time understanding phrases such as "This (pause) is (pause) another (pause) example (pause) sentence." Start by working in a quiet environment so that the computer hears you instead of the sounds around you, and use a good quality microphone. Keep the microphone in the same position; try not to move it around after it is adjusted. Train your computer to recognize your voice by reading aloud the prepared training text in the Voice Training Wizard. Additional training increases speech recognition accuracy. As you dictate, do not be concerned if you do not immediately see your words on the screen. Continue speaking and pause at the end of your thought. The computer displays the recognized text after it finishes processing your voice. Pronounce words clearly, but do not separate each syllable in a word. For example, if you sound out each syllable in "e-nun-ci-ate," the computer may not recognize what you said. Diocese of St. Petersburg pg. 10 12/4/2008
Adding Shortcuts to your Desktop You can add shortcuts to your Desktop in a number of ways. The most common way is to right-click on the desktop, which brings up the popup-menu. On the popup-menu there should be a sub-menu labeled New, hover over this. When the sub-menu pops out find the item labeled Shortcut and click it. A dialogue-box will come up asking you where the program or data collection is found. Later we will get into how to form something to type in the box, however it is easier to just click the button beside labeled Browse.... The Browse button is a standard button that you will see often, clicking it always brings up a dialogue-box in which you can select programs and data collections Diocese of St. Petersburg pg. 11 12/4/2008
Change the Text of the Icon If you do not like the text under a shortcut, you can change it. There are three primary ways to do this. The first one is to click on the shortcut, selecting it, and then push the F2 key on your keyboard. The text will become a text-box that you can type in to change what it says. The second way is to right-click on the shortcut, bringing up its popup-menu, and select Rename from the popup-menu. The same thing will happen. Another way to cause it to happen is to select the icon and then click on it. Do not double-click! That will open whatever it links to, select it and then click. Change the Picture of your Icon If you want to change the icon (picture) one your shortcut, bring up its popup-menu and select Properties. Across the top of the window, just below the bar with the X button on it (the title bar), there are a bunch of tabs, click the one labeled Shortcut. Then, click the button labeled Change Icon, in the dialogue-box that comes up select the new icon that you want, or click Browse to find more files with icons. Diocese of St. Petersburg pg. 12 12/4/2008
Arranging your Desktop You can also move or sort icons on the Desktop. To sort them right-click on the Desktop and hover over the sub-menu called Arrange Icons By. Then click on the way you want them sorted. If you want them automatically sorted make sure the Auto Arrange option is checked (you can check or uncheck it by clicking on it). If you have Auto Arrange off, you can put the icons wherever you want them. Click on one and don t let the button go back up. Move the cursor over to where you want the icon to be and it will move right along with it. When you have it where you want it, let go of the mouse button. This is called dragging-anddropping. Removing Icons If you want to take an icon off the desktop there are three major ways to do it. You can select the icon you want to remove and push the Delete key on your keyboard. A dialogue-box will come up, click Yes. You can also drag-and-drop the icon onto the recycle bin, which is an icon on the Desktop labeled exactly that. Or you can right-click on the icon and click Delete. The same dialogue-box will come up for you to click Yes on. If you did it by accident you can click No and it won t remove the icon. Diocese of St. Petersburg pg. 13 12/4/2008
Display Properties Themes, Wallpaper, Screen Savers Appearances and Settings There are other settings you can change on the Desktop. To access them right-click on the Desktop and select Properties from the popup-menu. To change the wallpaper select the tab labeled Desktop. To change what picture is displayed for wallpaper select it from the list or if it is not in the list click Browse. There is a combo box from which you can select whether to stretch, tile (repeat by picture with itself together likes tiles), or centre the picture. If you just want a colour for your wallpaper, then select (None) from the list. Sometimes there is a combotype box to select the colour right there and sometimes you have to change it under the Appearance tab. You can also change the Screen- Saver. The Screen-Saver is a program that shows up after your computer has not been used for so long so that the monitor will not get wrecked (which can happen if the same picture is displayed on it for hours at a time). Right mouse click on the desktop and select properties To change the Screen-Saver click the tab labeled Screen-Saver. There will be a combo box that lists all the Screen-Savers on your computer. After you have selected the one you want you can change how long the computer waits before bringing it up in the text box with a spin button that is below the combo box. Diocese of St. Petersburg pg. 14 12/4/2008
You can also change the colour scheme of all the controls in almost all programs. Click the Appearance tab. There is one or more combo boxes on this page that allow you to select different combinations of default colour schemes. On this same page, or sometimes you have to click Advanced to get there, are other settings. You can select an element from one combo box, and then change it s colour and how its text looks. You can try experimenting with this if you want, just be sure to save your current settings so you can change back (which some versions of windows don t allow, so don t worry then). You do this by clicking the Save As button and typing the name you want to call the colour scheme. There is one final tab common to most versions of Windows. It is the Settings tab. It is not recommended to change settings in this tab unless you know what you are doing. Some games will give errors when you try to start them like 256 colors required or This program needs 640 480 to run. This is where you set those. There is a combo box here, selecting a different option from this box changes the number of colors your computer can display. More colors mean more quality. There is also a slider labeled Screen resolution. It increases or decreases the size of everything displayed on your monitor. The larger the numbers, the smaller things are, and the smaller things are the more you can fit. When this is set to make things smaller, some programs (or you can manually) change their stuff so that it looks the same size, allowing them to have more quality in display. Diocese of St. Petersburg pg. 15 12/4/2008
Window Environment To change the windows environment right mouse click on the task bar and choose a property. Cascading Cascading is an arrangement of windows such that they overlap one another. Typically, the title bar remains visible so that you can always see which windows are open. Cascading windows are also called overlaid windows. Tile An alternative arrangement of windows, in which every window is completely visible, is called tiled windows. Windows can be tiled horizontally or vertically. Maneuvering between open windows can be done by clicking on the tile in the task bar or by using the Alt+Tab key combination. Diocese of St. Petersburg pg. 16 12/4/2008
Control Panel The Control Panel is a part of the Microsoft Windows graphical user interface which allows users to view and manipulate basic system settings and controls via applets, such as adding hardware, adding and removing software, controlling user accounts, and changing accessibility options. Additional applets can be provided by third party software. The Control Panel has been an inherent part of the Microsoft Windows operating system since its first release (Windows 1.0), with many of the current applets being added in later versions. Beginning with Windows 95, the Control Panel is implemented as a special folder, i.e. the folder does not physically exist, but only contains shortcuts to various applets such as Add or Remove Programs and Internet Options. Physically, these applets are stored as.cpl files. For example, the Add or Remove Programs applet is stored under the name appwiz.cpl in the SYSTEM32 folder. In recent versions of Windows, the Control Panel has two views, Classic View and Category View, and it is possible to switch between these through an option that appears on the left side of the window. Diocese of St. Petersburg pg. 17 12/4/2008
Control Panel Many of the individual Control Panel applets can be accessed in other ways. For instance, Display Properties can be accessed by right-clicking on an empty area of the desktop and choosing Properties Diocese of St. Petersburg pg. 18 12/4/2008
Maximizing, Restoring, and Minimizing a Window If you are working with a program, such as a word processing or spreadsheet program, you will usually want to see as much of the document you are working with as possible. By maximizing your program window, you can fill the entire desktop with the program window, making its contents easy to see and work with. Once you have finished working with a maximized window, you may want to restore it to its previous size so that you can work with other windows on the desktop. This is done by restoring the window. You restore a window by clicking the Restore button, shown in Figure M2-13. The Restore button appears only if the window is maximized. The Restore Button When you have multiple windows open and you enlarge one, you may cover up other windows. Sometimes it becomes hard to keep track of all the open windows. You can reduce windows to buttons on the taskbar to help organize the desktop. This is called minimizing a window. When you minimize a program window to a button, you do not quit the program; instead, you merely reduce the space the window takes up on your desktop. The program continues to run until you close it. To reopen the minimized window, click its button on the taskbar. Method: To maximize a window: 1. Click the Maximize button. To restore a maximized window to its previous size: 1. Click the Restore button. To minimize a window: 1. Click the Minimize button. To restore a minimized window: 1. Click the desired button on the taskbar. Diocese of St. Petersburg pg. 19 12/4/2008