3 The Fundamentals Opening a Program... 3 Similarities in All Programs... 3 It's On Now What?...4 Making things easier to see.. 4 Adjusting Text Size.....4 My Computer. 4 Control Panel... 5 Accessibility Options.5 Add/Remove Programs... 5 Date/Time Settings....5 Display Options..... 5 Internet Options.....6 Mouse Options... 6 Creating Folders... 7 Deleting (Sending) Files or Folders to Recycle Bin... 7 Creating an Icon (shortcut)... 8 Getting out of a Program... 9 If Your Computer Freezes....9 Microsoft Paint... 10 Start the Paint Program.. 10 Create Basic Drawings...11 Clearing Your Image...11 Drawing Shapes... 12 Filling in Color...12 Erasing a Portion of a Drawing.. 13 Creating a Text Box.13 Saving Your Work... 14 Lesson Overview There are many exercises in this lesson. As you go through the lesson, watch for the things that are similar to what you have already learned. It will make learning new tasks easier. You will learn how to make a variety of personal adjustments for viewing purposes, create folders and desktop shortcuts to your documents. There are some helpful hints to keep on hand, when you seem to be at a standstill on your computer. Then, you will use the Microsoft Paint program to create and save on a CD. Remember, practice makes perfect. Monroe County Library System 2
Opening a Program When you turn your computer on and it finishes its start up process (known as booting ) you will see your desktop. There should be several different pictures on your screen known as icons. These icons are one way to get to program. A program is a computerized place where you can do something; whether it s play a game, type a letter, or use the Internet. Some of the icons will take you to another portion of your computer which we will do in Week Two of this class. To open a program from an icon: Point your mouse pointer at the icon (either on the words or the actual picture). Figure 1. Double click on the left side of your mouse (this is two rapid clicks). If the program is opening you should see the hourglass symbol telling you to wait. Figure 2. Alternative Point at the icon and click once on your left mouse button to highlight the icon and then press your Enter key on your keyboard. Similarities in all Windows programs: Alternative Right click the Icon and click on Open. Figure 3. Similarities in All Programs There are some things that are the same in all Windows programs. We will look at these things whenever we open a new program. They are the following: Title Bar across the top of the screen. This tells you what document you are in and what program you are using. Minimize, Resize and Close buttons in the top right corner of your screen. These allow you to adjust the size of the program window or close the program. Exercise Exercise: Opening a Program Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Seeing the similarities in all programs Menu bar gray bar just below the title bar with the File, Edit, etc. options. Certain options are always available from the File drop down menu in any Windows program. They are: o Open Opens a saved file (from the hard drive, floppy disk, or CD). o Close Closes the document you are currently using. o Save Saves a copy of the work you re doing with the same name it had when you opened it. (If you had the document created already the save option will write the changes over the old version and the original will no longer exist.) o Save As Saves a copy of the work you re doing giving you the options of where to save it and what to name it. o Print Opens the Print dialog box where you can choose what pages to print and how many copies you want. (More on printing later). o Exit Closes the Program that you are currently using. Monroe County Library System 3
It s on...now what? Making things easier to see: Monitors tilt play with it, see what looks best to you. (You may have to swivel it back and forth to adjust it.) Have an adjustable chair so people of different heights can choose their comfort level. Reduce the glare on your monitor by avoiding direct lighting. (Blinds on the windows may help.) Adjust the brightness on the monitor to your liking. (Look for buttons on the bottom of the monitor one of them brings up a menu of adjustments you can make then use the + and sign buttons to increase or decrease the element. Exercise Exercise: Viewing posture tips. Adjusting text size. The My Computer icon. Adjusting the size of the text Microsoft Word Increase the viewing size with the VIEW tab and click on the Zoom button. Figures 1 & 2. Make editing preferences and click on ok. Microsoft Word Drag the slider button on the zoom bar in the bottom right corner of screen. Figure 3. Internet Explorer Click on the View drop-down menu and then choose Text Size. Figure 4. Fig.1 2 Figure 3 My Computer The My Computer icon on your desktop is where most of the controls for your computer s components are. Open this up and check out the different things in there. You ll never know what you can do until you try. Remember all computers have slight differences. Figure 4 Monroe County Library System 4
Control Panel Accessibility Options:--Changes you can make to your computer under this heading include using the keyboard (or some other input device) instead of the mouse and using screen flashes instead of a sound alert. Exercise: Control Panel Options Exercise: Click on the various options to understand how they work. This helps to understand why things happen when you perform a task. Sticky Keys:--These can allow you to make keystrokes in succession rather than all together (ex. Ctrl + Alt = Del or Alt + F4). Filter Keys:--Tells the computer to ignore repeated keystrokes (if you hold down a key too long). Toggle Keys Sets the computer to make a tone when the CAPS LOCK, NUM LOCK, and SCROLL LOCK keys are pressed. Add/Remove Programs You can choose to remove programs from your computer here. {WARNING: Always know what a program is before you remove it. If you are not sure, leave it alone it may affect another program). Date/Time This allows you to set up your computer for virtually any time zone around the world. Display There are five areas that you can adjust to change the look of the monitor. (Pictured in green square). Desktop You can have patterns of dogs, diamonds or flowers, or you can set a picture as your wallpaper on your desktop. The program icons will display over this. Screensaver If you leave you computer on but unused for a length of time, the screen saver will appear over what you have on the screen with a pattern that moves. Screen savers used to be important to keep the screen from resting too long on one page (the image would burn in to the screen) but now they are more for fun. Appearance This feature allows you to make dramatic changes to the appearance of your screen as it adjusts the color and contrast, the size of the icons and the font and size of the words on the title bars. In all cases, clicking the Apply button will make these changes affect your entire screen. Theme This option allows you to choose the color and contrast of the desktop. Clicking the downward-pointing triangle will give you a list of options. Some people adjust only the color. High Contrast White and High Contrast Black will change the screen to a more pronounced Monroe County Library System 5
black and white. Clicking the option will provide a preview of that option in the box above. Choosing the Large or Extra Large options will also provide larger toolbars and title bars. One change that may be particularly useful is increasing the size of the scroll bars. This is the folder that you will find the controls that we talked about in this class. Don t be afraid to go into these files and make adjustments to see the differences. There is usually a Cancel button to click on to keep the changes from happening if you don t like what you see. Some options have a default setting if you try something and do not like it. You will only need to click on the default button to return to the default settings (normal computer settings). If there is no default button, you may want to write down what you have changed, so you can change it back to default settings Exercise: Control Panel Options Exercise: Click on the various options to understand how they work. This helps to understand why things happen when you perform a task. Icon from Control Panel o o Item This option allows you to choose a specific item on the desktop and change the appearance of that item. Items included are icons, spaces between icons, scroll bars, ToolTips, and the way that pop up window look. These can be adjusted to make them bigger and easier to see. In some cases, only the color can be changed. Font You can make some items larger by changing the font size, including the scroll bars. Settings Allows you to change the resolution and color quality of your monitor. Higher resolution will enable a more defined picture; graphics will be smaller, but have more detail. Lower resolution will have less definition, but the graphics will be larger to view. Higher resolution is needed for many programs where graphics are being used, such as picture editing and viewing or audio editing or listening. Icon from Control Panel Internet options: In this section you can define what you want your homepage to be (when you open the internet), how long you want your history to be kept (the web pages you visit), and how to make your connections to the Internet. Mouse This option allows you to determine the speed that your mouse pointer moves across the screen, how rapid the double-click should be and right and left-handed mouse controls. Monroe County Library System 6
Creating Folders You can create different folders for saving different types of documents that you create. (Ex. School, Work, Kids, etc.) To do this, follow these steps: 1. Open My Documents from your desktop. Exercise: New Folders Exercise: Practice creating and deleting folders 2. Click on the File Menu, then point to New. 3. Click Folder on the submenu. a. Then type name while the words New Folder are still highlighted. This will remove the words New Folder and put in the name you type all at the same time. b. Click outside the folder name box to set the name. c. (If you click on the name you will open and empty folder. 4. Place the folder on your desktop by dragging it to the desktop then right-clicking on the folder and selecting Create Shortcut Here. 3 a 3 b Deleting (Sending) Files or Folders to Recycle Bin You can also delete the files and folders that you create by: 1. Pointing at the item and right-clicking to see the menu. 2. Choose Delete. 3. The computer will show a prompt box: Do you want to move this item to the Recycling Bin? Click on Yes. a. If you have saved something in a file or folder the prompt will ask: Do you want to move folder and all of its contents to the Recycling Bin? b. If it is a Shortcut folder or file, it will only remove the icon from your desktop. A Shortcut folder will have the little black arrow on the bottom left corner of the icon. Step 1 Step 2 3 a 3 b Monroe County Library System 7
Creating an Icon (shortcut) Figure 1 Figure 2 An Icon is the picture on your desktop that represents a program. These allow you to quickly and easily access a program. You may want to create these for any program or document you like to use often. (Right now you may be getting to programs you like from the Start button). When installing a new program the icon is usually created for you. To create and icon: 1. Point your mouse pointer to any blank area on your desktop. Click once on the right mouse button. This will open a menu box of options. Figure 1 2. Point on the word New in the pop-up menu. 3. Click on the Shortcut option in the extended menu. Figure 2 4. You will see the Create Shortcut window. See figure. Figure 3 5. Click on the Browse Button. This will open your computer s hard drive (C:) where you can locate your programs and documents. 6. Double click on the Program Files or My Documents folder in the window to open it. Figure 4 7. Locate the program or document you want to create the icon for and double click it or click once and then click on OK at bottom of window. 8. You should then be back in the Create Shortcut window with the string to your program listed in the Command Line. Figure 5 9. Click on the Next button at the bottom of that window. 10. Type in the name for your icon. (Example: If you are creating an icon for Word your computer may call it Windword.exe your icon can just be named Word. Figure 6. 11. Click on Finish button. You should now see your icon on the screen. Just double click the new icon to open your program or document. Figure 7. Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 7 Monroe County Library System 8
Getting out of a Program To get out of a program that has no obvious Exit, press the ALT and F4 keys simultaneously. This will also work on the Internet if you find a site that automatically loads popup windows. The Alt key is located at either side of the space bar along the bottom row of keyboard. ( Alt stands for Alternate). The F4 key is one of the Function keys along the top row of the keyboard. These keys have various functions depending on the program you are using. (F1 is always Help). Located either side of Space Bar If your computer Freezes You have tried clicking on the File drop down menu to Exit or the X in the upper right corner of the screen and nothing happens. (You may not even be able to get the File menu to open and the mouse pointer may not even move anymore). Try pressing ALT and F4 simultaneously to see if that will get you out of the program. If that does not work Press the CRTL and ALT keys together (use two fingers on the same hand and hold them down) then press the DELETE key. This is an automatic shut down message to the Windows program.** You may have the option to restart your computer in this box. If you want to continue working on your computer click Restart from the option list. (Usually a drop down menu of options). **You may get a message alerting you that pressing those keys will shut your computer down and you have to press them again to do that. At least you are getting somewhere. Located top row of keys Located upper right corner of keyboard Click on shut down to get options menu. On the Options menu, you can click Shut Down or choose Restart and click on OK. Monroe County Library System 9
Microsoft Paint This exercise will help develop mouse skills. We will be clicking, double-clicking, clicking and dragging, and practicing mouse control while creating our own special artwork. Exercise Exercise File: Microsoft Paint Program Exercise: Open the Paint Program by following the steps listed below. All Windows computers have the Paint program available. Look for it on your computer by clicking on the Start button, moving up to Programs and then on to the Accessories options. The word Paint should show in the menu that pops up. Move over the word Paint and click one time on it to start the program. Hint: When opening a program from an Icon on your screen (picture) you have to double-click. From the Start button > Programs menu you only have to click one time. Start the Paint Program 1. Move the mouse pointer to the Start button in the lower left corner of the screen. 2. Click on Start. 3. Move the mouse pointer up to highlight the word Programs. 4. Move the mouse pointer to the right over the word Accessories. Keep your mouse pointer on the Accessories line as you move to the right to maintain the popup menu where you will find the Paint program option. 5. Move the mouse pointer to the right and down to the word Paint. 6. Click on the word Paint to start the Paint program. (A picture of the main Paint window with descriptions of the button functions can be found at the back of your booklet.) If necessary click the resize button in the top right corner of the Paint window to make the window fill the screen. Resize buttons Monroe County Library System 10
Creating Basic Drawings 1. Using the pencil tool (which is already selected for you) click and drag (press the left mouse button down and hold it down while moving the mouse) in the white area of your screen to draw some lines. Exercise Exercise File: Microsoft Paint Program Exercise: Practice using the pencil, spray can, shapes, color fill, eraser, color tray, edit menu, image menu, file menu, and saving document. 2. In the toolbox at the left of the Paint window click on the spray paint can. 3. Click on a color box at the bottom of the screen. Tip: Click on Tool each time you want to activate a new one. Tip: Click and drag over white area to spray paint some lines or shapes. (The slower you go the more the paint fills in.) Tip: Spray paint has three options for the width of the paint spray. Tip: When you click on a color on the Paint Tray, you will see it in the square on the left side of tray. Cut shapes - Star / Square Eraser / Paint fill solid Pick Color / Magnifier Pencil Spray Paint / Text Box Draw Lines Draw Shapes Clearing Your Image 1. Move your mouse pointer to the word Image on the menu bar at the top of the screen. 2. Click on Image. 3. Move down over the words Clear image at the bottom of the menu. Click on Clear image. You should now have a fresh piece of paper. Monroe County Library System 11
Drawing Shapes 1. Click on the rectangle tool in the tool box at the left side of the screen. 2. Move your mouse pointer over the white area of the screen. To draw a rectangle click and drag the mouse pointer diagonally down and to the right. 3. Try drawing several rectangles by down and to the right or up and to the left. Change colors if you d like by clicking on a color box at the bottom of the screen. To draw the rectangle and oval shapes hold the left mouse button down and drag on an angle up or down to get desired size and shape. 4. Try drawing a perfect square. Tip: Change to the oval shape and draw several ovals the same way. You do not need to move your mouse pointer in a circular shape. The program draws the oval for you when you click and drag diagonally. Filling In Color 1. On the tool box click on the fill color button (looks like a paint jar spilling over). 2. Select a color different from one of your ovals or squares from the color box at the bottom of the screen. Edit Menu Eraser / Paint Fill 3. Move your mouse pointer inside a shape and click. That shape will be filled with color. Tip: If you are outside your shapes it will fill in the whole background with that color. Tip: If a line is not completely connected the fill color will go outside the shape, possibly filling the whole page. Tip: Click undo on the Edit menu to remove the unwanted fill color. Paint Tray choose color by clicking on one Fill in different shapes with different colors. Monroe County Library System 12
Erasing a Portion of a Drawing 1. Click on the Erase tool in the tool box. 2. Move the mouse pointer over a portion of your picture. It should look like a small square. Eraser 3. Click and drag the eraser over the drawing to erase portions of it. Now that s mouse control! 4. If you want to undo the last thing you did without having to be this accurate or erasing your entire drawing, move your mouse pointer to the word Edit on the menu bar. 5. Click on Edit. 6. Move down over Undo. Tip: Click on the Undo button. This undoes the last thing you did. Creating a Text Box If you want to be able to type something in a shape or drawing you must create a text box for the words to go in. The text box can be any place you want it to be. 1. Move your mouse pointer to the text box tool (capital A) in the tool box at the left side of the screen. 2. Click on the text box tool so that it looks pressed in. 3. Move your mouse pointer over the portion of your page that you wish to type in. Click and drag to draw a rectangle with a dotted border. (Draw diagonally the same as you did to create a rectangle shape.) 4. A text toolbar should appear on your screen. The name in the first box on the toolbar represents the style of text you will be typing with. The number in the next box represents the size of text. Textbox 5. Change the size of the text by clicking the downpointing arrow to the right of the number and selecting 18. (This will allow us to type something larger.) 6. Type some words in your text box. 7. To change the color of a word, click anywhere within the text box so that you see a cursor (flashing vertical line).click on a color box at the bottom of the screen. Monroe County Library System 13
Saving Your Work You may or may not wish to save your work. 1. Click on the close box in the upper right corner of the screen to close out of the Paint program. 2. You will be asked if you wish to save your work. Click on No if you don t want to save your work. 3. Click on Yes to save it. 4. A Save As box will open on your screen. 5. Click on the down-pointing triangle to the right of the Save in box. Click the list arrow (downpointing arrow) to pull down a menu where you ll find the Desktop : Then click on the Desktop then you will see your folder click on your folder and click on the open button. 6. Click on the folder you created with your last name, which is located on the Desktop. You will need to click on the down-pointing triangle select Desktop, then your folder. This will open your folder and allow you to save your work to it. 7. At the bottom of the Save As box is a File name option that is calling your work untitled. Point your mouse pointer within the letters of the word untitled and double-click. The word should turn blue. 8. Type a name for your work. (You don t need to backspace or delete, just type something as long as the word is blue it will erase and the word you type will show up.) 9. Click on the Save button at the lower right of the Save As box. 10. The document will save and then you will be closed out of the Paint program. To see if your work is really still there; double-click on the My Computer icon on your desktop. 11. Double-click on the folder with your last name. Do you see an icon for your document? To open it, double-click on the icon. To see how large the document is, click on the icon one time and look at details in the task pane this will show the status. Monroe County Library System 14