.
B. Touch the object on-screen with your finger.
C. Click the object.
D. Right-click the object.
6. The key displays help on whatever you’re working on. (True or
False?)
Homework
1. Turn on your computer and start Windows XP.
2. Find, point to, and click the Start button, then close the Start menu without selecting
anything.
3. Find and double-click My Computer.
4. Shut down Windows by selecting Shut down from the Start menu, verifying the Shut
down option is selected, and clicking the OK button.
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Quiz Answers
1. C. Microsoft Windows is an Operating System.
2. False. Windows uses both the left and right mouse buttons.
3. B. Move the pointer by moving the mouse until the pointer points to that spot.
4. A. A keystroke combination is when you press two or more keys at the same time,
for example + .
5. D. Right-click the object.
6. True. Pressing the key displays help on whatever you’re working on.
Chapter Six:
Working with a
Window
Chapter Objectives:
• Starting a program
• Understanding the parts of a window
• Minimizing, maximizing, and restoring a window
• Moving and closing a window
• Changing the size of a window
• Switching between several programs
• Tiling and cascading windows
No doubt about it: computers are sophisticated, complex machines. To make computers easier
to use, Microsoft designed Windows to operate how you work at the desk in your office.
When you work at your desk, you spread everything out, grab a piece of paper, work on it for
a while, and then shuffle another piece of paper on top of it. That’s how Windows works,
except instead of working with papers, you work with windows—boxes that contain programs
and information.
You can shuffle these windows around the screen just like you shuffle papers on your desk—
which is why the main Windows screen is called the desktop. Just like your desk, if you’re
working with a lot of things at the same time, the Windows desktop can become messy and
difficult to find things on.
This chapter explains how to manage the windows and programs on your screen. First, you’ll
learn how to open a window. Next, you’ll discover the parts that constitute a window (which
are A LOT different than the ones on your house). Then you’ll learn how to change the size of
a window—minimizing it to a tiny little icon that appears only on the Taskbar and maximizing
it so that it fills the entire screen. You’ll also learn how to “shuffle” windows around, sending
some to the background and bringing others up to the forefront. Let’s get started!
; Prerequisites
• How to start and shut
down Windows
• How to use the mouse
to click, double-click,
drag and drop, and
right-click
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Lesson 6-1: Starting a Program
To do just about anything with your computer, you need to run a program. A program is a
complex set of instructions that tells your computer how to do something. Your word
processor is a program, and so is the Solitaire game that comes with Windows. The easiest
way to start a program is by clicking the Windows Start button and then selecting the program
from the All Programs menu. This lesson explains one of the most basic operations you can
do with Windows: starting a program.
1. Click the Start button.
Remember that the Start button resides in the bottom-left corner of the computer
screen. The Start menu pops up.
Figure 6-1
Click on the Start button to
open the menu, and then
point to All Programs to
open the menu.
Figure 6-2
Click on Accessories to
open the menu, and then
click on WordPad to open
the program.
Figure 6-3
The WordPad program
Start button
Any programs that are currently
running appear as icons on the
taskbar
Figure 6-1 Figure 6-2
Figure 6-3
Chapter Six: Working with a Window 133
Quick Reference
To Start a Program:
1. Click the Start button.
2. If the program appears on
the Start menu click it,
otherwise point to the All
Programs option.
3. Click the menu and any
submenus where the
program you want to run
is located.
4. Click the name of the
program you want to run.
2. Point to All Programs.
A menu listing the different program categories pops out above the Start menu, as
shown in Figure 6-1.
3. Point to the word Accessories.
Another menu, the Accessories menu, shoots out to the side of the All Programs menu,
as shown in Figure 6-2. The program you want to load, WordPad, is in the Accessories
menu. Can you find it?
4. Click the word WordPad.
The WordPad program appears on the screen in its own window, as shown in Figure
6-3. WordPad is a simple word processing program that is included with Microsoft
Windows.
NOTE: The All Programs menu is merely a list of the programs that should be
available on your computer. When installed, programs should automatically
add themselves to the Start menu. Occasionally, old MS-DOS programs or
programs that are poorly written may not put themselves on the Start menu
when you install them, and you will have to find and add the program to the
All Programs menu yourself. You’ll learn how to manually add programs to
the Start menu in an upcoming lesson.
Great! You’ve just started your first program. Turn the page and we’ll examine the parts of the
WordPad window.
All Programs
Accessories
WordPad program
Most programs run in
their own separate
window on the screen.
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Lesson 6-2: Understanding the
Parts of a Window
Located in every window are several little buttons, menus, and controls that you use to control
the program and window. Because they appear in every Windows program, you’re going to
have to learn what these little buttons, menus, and controls are and learn how to use them.
Here’s the good news: once you can find your way around a window for one program, you’ll
be familiar with the windows for most programs since this window/menu/button concept
appears in just about every Windows program.
There are no exercises or homework for you in this lesson—it’s just here to help you become
familiar with the parts of a window. All you have to do is look at Figure 6-4 and then refer to
Table 6-1: Parts of a Window to identify what you’re looking at.
And don’t worry; you’ll get a chance to play with some of these buttons and menus later on.
Figure 6-4
The parts of a typical
window
Close button
Maximize
button
Title bar
Menu
bar
Toolbars
Minimize
button
Status bar
Main
Window or
Document
Area
Figure 6-4
Chapter Six: Working with a Window 135
Table 6-1: Parts of a Window
Part Description
Title bar Displays the name of the program or window
Minimize button Minimizes a window, hiding it from your screen but keeping it running in your
computer’s memory, ready for quick use. You can minimize a program you’re
not using so that it is still running, but is out of sight.
Maximize/Restore
button
Depending on the size of the window, this button toggles between maximize
and restore. Here’s what each one does:
Maximize: Enlarges the window so that it fills the entire screen. This lets
you see more of the window’s contents. The Maximize button only
appears when the window isn’t maximized (doesn’t fill the entire screen).
Restore: When a window is maximized (fills the entire screen), clicking
the Restore button returns the window to its previous size.
Close button Closes the window or program when you’re finished working with it, removing it
from the screen and the computer’s memory.
Menu bar Controls what the program does. The items listed on the menu bar change from
program to program, but the menu bar’s location doesn’t—it’s always perched
near the top of a window, right below the Title bar.
Toolbar Some (but not all) windows and programs have one or more toolbars, which
contain buttons you point and/or click to access frequently used commands.
Main Window or
Document Area
This is where all the action takes place—where you work on whatever you’re
working on. If you were using a word processor, this is where your letter would
appear. If you were browsing the Internet, this is where the Web pages would
appear.
Status bar Displays information such as instructions, messages about the state of the
computer, or your location in the window.
Got everything down? Don’t worry if you don’t; this lesson is just a quick-guided tour of a
typical window. The rest of the lessons in this chapter focus on how to use a window’s
controls, buttons, and menus.
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Lesson 6-3: Minimizing,
Maximizing, and Restoring a
Window
One of the benefits of Windows XP is that it enables you to open and work with several
programs at the same time. To make working with several programs at once easier, you can
change the size of the windows. You can maximize, or enlarge, a window so it takes up the
entire screen; minimize, or reduce, a window so that it only appears as a button in the
Windows taskbar; or size a window somewhere in between. This lesson explains how to
change the size of a window by maximizing, minimizing, and restoring.
First, let’s look at how to maximize a window. Some programs, such as word processors and
Web browsers, are easier to work with and fill the entire screen. To enlarge a window to fill
your computer screen, click the Maximize button.
1. Click the WordPad window’s Maximize button—the middle button in
WordPad’s titlebar.
The WordPad program maximizes, filling the entire screen. You can change a
maximized window back to its original size by clicking the Restore button. The
Restore button appears in place of the Maximize button whenever a window is already
in a maximized state.
Figure 6-5
The Minimize, Maximize,
and Restore buttons
appear in the upper right
corner of most programs.
Figure 6-6
A window in a restored
state only fills up part of
the screen.
Figure 6-7
A window in a maximized
state fills up the entire
screen.
Figure 6-8
A window in a minimized
state appears only as an
icon on the taskbar.
Maximize button
Restore button
Maximize button (or
Restore button if the
window is already
maximized)
Minimize
button
Figure 6-5
Figure 6-6
Figure 6-7 Figure 6-8
Chapter Six: Working with a Window 137
Quick Reference
To Maximize a Window:
• Click the window’s
Maximize button.
Or…
• Double-click the window’s
title bar.
To Restore a Maximized
Window:
• Click the window’s
Restore button.
Or…
• Double-click the window’s
title bar.
To Minimize a Window:
• Click the window’s
Minimize button.
To Restore a Minimized
Window:
• Click the window’s icon
on the taskbar.
2. Click the WordPad window’s Restore button to restore the WordPad
window back to its previous size.
The window returns to its previous size.
Just like you can keep several papers on top of your desk, Windows can run more than
one program at a time. For example, you can work on a letter with your word
processing program while your Web browser is open and downloading a file from the
Internet. There is a potential pitfall with running several programs simultaneously
though—there isn’t enough room for all of them to fit on your computer screen!
Luckily, you can tuck programs away, keeping them running and ready for use, yet
away from view, by minimizing them.
3. Click the WordPad window’s Minimize button to minimize the WordPad
program.
The WordPad program shrinks to an icon located in the Windows taskbar. WordPad is
still open and running—it’s just hidden from view, tucked away and ready for future
use. It’s important to note that minimized programs can still run in the background. If a
program is doing something, such as downloading a file from the Internet, it will keep
going, even when the program is minimized.
It’s easy to redisplay a minimized program or window when you’re ready to use it
again.
4. Find and click the WordPad icon in the Windows taskbar.
The WordPad program springs back to life and appears on the screen.
It’s important that you get all this maximize/minimize/restore stuff down, because it will help
you be more productive with your computer.
Other Ways to Maximize
and Restore a Window:
• Double-click the title bar
of the window to toggle
between maximized
and restored states.
Minimize button
WordPad icon
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Quick Reference
To Close a Window:
• Click the window’s Close
button.
Or…
• Right-click the program’s
icon on the task bar and
select Close from the
shortcut menu.
Or…
• Press + .
To Close All Open
Windows:
• Hold down the
key while you click the
Close button of any
window.
Lesson 6-4: Closing a Window
When you’re finished working with a window or program, you can close it to remove it from
the screen and computer’s memory. You can close any window or program by clicking its
Close button, which appears in the upper-right corner of the window.
1. Click the WordPad window’s Close button.
The WordPad program closes. Notice the WordPad icon no longer appears in the
Windows taskbar at the bottom of the screen. That’s all there is to closing a window or
program.
NOTE: If a program has more than one window open, you can close all of its open
windows by holding down the key when you click the Close button
for any window.
Since you’re going to be working with the WordPad program in the next few lessons,
you will need to open it again.
2. Click the Start button.
The Windows XP Start menu appears.
3. Select All Programs → Accessories → WordPad from the Start menu.
The WordPad program reappears.
If a program happens to be minimized, you need to restore it by clicking its icon on the
taskbar before you can see and click the window’s close button.
Figure 6-9
Click the Close button on
the window you want to
close.
Figure 6-10
The window disappears
from your screen.
Close button
Other Ways to Close a
Window:
• Select File → Exit from
the menu.
• Right-click the
program’s icon on the
task bar and select
Close from the shortcut
menu.
• Press + .
Figure 6-9 Figure 6-10
Close button The icon for the window
disappears from the taskbar.
Chapter Six: Working with a Window 139
Quick Reference
To Move a Window:
• Click and drag the
window by its title bar.
Release the mouse
button to drop the window
in the desired location on
the screen.
Lesson 6-5: Moving a Window
When you have several programs or windows open, you may find that one window covers the
other windows or other items on your screen. When this happens, you can simply move a
window to a new location on the screen—just like you would move a report or folder to a
different location on your desk. Here’s how to move a window:
1. Position the mouse pointer over the title bar of the WordPad program.
Remember that the title bar is the colored bar at the very top of a window or program.
It displays the name of the program or window.
2. Click the title bar and move the mouse while still holding down the
mouse button.
Yep, it’s that drag and drop stuff you learned earlier. An outline of the window follows
your mouse as you drag the window, as shown in Figure 6-11, showing you where you
are moving it.
3. Release the mouse button to drop the window to a new location.
Figure 6-11
Moving a window to a new
location on the screen
Figure 6-11
Move a window by
dragging it by its title
bar to a new location
on the screen.
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Lesson 6-6: Sizing a Window
If you’ve been following the lessons in this chapter, you should already know how to change
the size of a window or program by minimizing, maximizing, and restoring it. This lesson
explains how you can fine-tune the size of a window to meet your own specific needs.
1. Make sure the WordPad program appears as a window and doesn’t fill the
entire screen.
A window doesn’t have to be maximized (fill up the entire screen) or minimized
(appear only as a button on the Taskbar) if you want to manually size it.
2. Position the mouse pointer over the right border of the WordPad window
until it changes to a .
The two arrows point in the directions that you can drag the window's border, in this
case, left or right. Had you positioned the pointer over the top or bottom of the
window, the pointer would have changed to a , indicating that you could drag the top
or bottom of the window up or down.
NOTE: Windows is very picky where you place the pointer, and sometimes it can be
tricky finding the exact spot where the pointer changes. It’s there—just move
the pointer slowly over the border until you find it.
3. Click and hold down the left mouse button and drag the mouse to the
right 1 inch to move the window border.
Notice that the window stretches as you drag the mouse. When the window is the size
you want, you can release the mouse button.
4. Release the mouse button.
The window is displayed in its new size.
Figure 6-12
Dragging a window’s edge
or corner changes the size
of the window.
The mouse pointer
changes shapes over
the border of a
window.
1. Point at the border of
the window until the
pointer changes to
a
2. Click and hold the
mouse button and
drag the border of
the window
3. Release the mouse
button when the
window is the size
you want
Figure 6-12
Chapter Six: Working with a Window 141
Quick Reference
To Change a Window’s
Size:
1. Point at the window’s
borders or corners until
the pointer changes to a
double-arrow (like ).
2. Click and hold down the
mouse button and drag
the border or corner to a
new location, until the
window is the size you
want.
This lesson explained how to resize a window by adjusting the right border of a window, but
you can change a window’s size by dragging its left, top, and bottom borders. You can also
resize a window by dragging its corners just like you drag its borders.
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Lesson 6-7: Switching Between
Windows
You can have several programs or windows open and running simultaneously, but you can
only work in one window at a time. The window you’re working with is called the active
window and always appears on top of any other windows that you have open. If you think
about it, you do the same thing when you work at your desk. When you want to work on a
piece of paper, you place it on top of everything else on your desk.
This lesson explains how to switch between the programs you’re running. There are actually
several ways to switch between windows, and we’ll cover all of them in this lesson. First, you
need to make sure you have several programs running…
1. Make sure the WordPad program is still open.
If it isn’t open, click the Start button and select All Programs → Accessories →
WordPad. Notice an icon for the WordPad program appears on the taskbar. Next, you
need to open another program that comes with Windows XP—the calculator.
Figure 6-13
You can only work in one
window at a time. Notice
that WordPad appears in
front of all other windows
and has a blue title bar.
Figure 6-14
Click any part of the
Calculator window or its
button on the taskbar so
that it appears in front of
all the other windows.
Figure 6-15
Pressing +
lists all the programs that
are currently running.
Click any part of a window to switch to
that window.
The taskbar displays icons for each
open window. Click an icon to switch
to its window.
Figure 6-13
Figure 6-14
Figure 6-15
The active window’s icon is darker
blue to show it is pressed down on
the taskbar.
Chapter Six: Working with a Window 143
Quick Reference
To Switch between Open
Programs:
• Click the program’s icon
on the taskbar.
Or…
• Click on any part of the
window you want to
appear in front.
Or…
• Press and hold down the
key and press the
key to display the
task list. Press the
key until the program you
want is selected, then
release the key.
2. Start the calculator by clicking the Start button and selecting All
Programs → Accessories → Calculator.
The calculator program appears in front of the WordPad program. An icon for the
Calculator program also appears in the taskbar, next to the WordPad icon. Notice the
Calculator program appears in front, and its icon is depressed on the taskbar, which
indicates it is the active window. You can make WordPad the active window by
clicking its icon on the taskbar.
3. Click the WordPad button on the taskbar.
The WordPad program appears in front, and its icon on the taskbar is depressesed,
which indicates it is the active window. You can make another open window the active
window by clicking on any visible part of the window.
4. Click any portion of the Calculator window.
If you can’t see the Calculator window at all, it’s because the Calculator window is
completely covered by the WordPad window. In this case, you will have to click the
Calculator icon on the taskbar.
Yet another method of switching between windows is the most famous keystroke
combination in Windows: + .
5. Press and hold down the key, press and release the key, but
don’t release the key.
The task window appears, as shown in Figure 6-15. The task window lists all the
windows and programs that are currently running. Move on to the next step to see how
you can retrieve a program or window from the task list.
6. While still holding down the key, press and release the key
until the WordPad program is selected, then release the key.
When you release the key, the selected window or program is activated and
displayed in front of any other windows.
NOTE: + is especially useful when you use programs that fill the entire
computer screen, such as MS-DOS programs and some games. When you
can’t see the taskbar or any part of another window, + is the only
way you can switch between programs.
NOTE: When you’re working with multiple programs, be careful not to accidentally
run a second copy of the same program. This wastes memory and makes
things confusing. For example, if you’ve been using the Calculator program
and want to bring it back up, make sure you check the taskbar to see if it’s
already running (a Calculator icon appears on the taskbar). If it is, use any of
the methods you’ve learned in this lesson to switch to it. If a program is
already running and you load it again from the Start menu, a second copy of
the program opens and two icons for the program will appear on the taskbar.
Think you have a handle on switching between programs and windows? Good, because when
you work with Windows, you’ll find yourself switching between programs and windows
throughout the day.
WordPad button
on the taskbar
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Chapter Six Review
Lesson Summary
Starting a Program
• Start a program by clicking the Start button, clicking the All Programs menu, clicking the menu
and any submenus where the program you want to run is located, and clicking the name of the
program you want to run.
Understanding the Parts of a Window
• Be able to identify a window’s title bar, menu, minimize, maximize, and close buttons.
Minimizing, Maximizing, and Restoring a Window
• Maximize a window so that it fills the entire screen by clicking its Maximize button, or by doubleclicking its title bar.
• Restore a window to its previous size by clicking its Restore button, or by double-clicking its title
bar.
• Minimize a window so that it only appears as an icon on the taskbar by clicking the window’s
Minimize button.
• Restore a minimized window by clicking its icon on the taskbar.
Closing a Window
• Close a window by clicking its Close button, or by pressing + .
• Close all open windows by holding down the key while you click the Close button of any
window.
Moving a Window
• To Move a Window: Click and drag the window by its title bar. Release the mouse button to drop
the window in the desired location on the screen.
Sizing a Window
• To Change a Window’s Size: Point at the window’s borders or corners until the pointer changes
to a double-arrow (like ). Click and hold down the mouse button and drag the border or corner
to a new location until the window is the size you want.
Switching between Windows
• You can only work on one window at a time. The window you’re working on is the active window
and appears in front of all the inactive windows.
Chapter Six: Working with a Window 145
• To Switch between Open Programs: There are three ways to switch between open programs:
1. Click on the program’s icon on the taskbar.
2. Click on any visible part of the window that you want to appear in front.
3. Press and hold down the key and press the key to display the task list. Press the
key until the program you want is selected, then release the key.
Quiz
1. To start a program in Windows XP, do the following:
A. Make sure the Program Manager is open, double-click the Program Group where the
program you want to run is located, and double-click the Program.
B. Click the Start button, point to the All Programs menu, click the menu and any
submenus where the program you want to run is located, and click the name of the
program you want to run.
C. Click the Start button, point to the Run menu, click the menu and any submenus
where the program you want to run is located, and then click the name of the
program you want to run.
D. None of the above.
2. The little bar that lists a program’s name and is found at the top of a
window is called the:
A. Windows bar.
B. Program bar.
C. Title bar.
D. Very top of the window bar.
3. You start your favorite word processing program to type a letter, but the
program appears in a window that’s too small to use. How can you
maximize the window so it fills the entire screen? (Select all that apply.)
A. Select Window → Full Screen from the menu.
B. Double-click the window’s Title bar.
C. Click the program’s icon on the taskbar.
D. Click the Maximize button located in the right side of the window’s Title bar.
4. You can open or restore a minimized window by clicking its icon on the
taskbar. (True or False?)
5. You can move a window to a different position on your computer screen by
dragging it by its:
A. Title bar.
B. Status bar.
C. Move handle.
D. Tail.
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6. You have several programs open at the same time—how can you switch
between these programs? (Select all that apply.)
A. Restart the program—Click the Start button, point to the All Programs menu, click
the menu and any submenus where the program you want to switch to is located, and
click the name of the program you want to view.
B. Click the program’s icon on the taskbar.
C. Click on any visible part of the window you want to appear in front.
D. Press and hold down the key and press the key to display the task list.
Press the key until the program you want is selected, then release the
key.
Homework
1. Click the Start button, select All Programs, and click the Accessories menu.
2. Start the NotePad program (located under All Programs → Accessories).
3. Make the NotePad window a few inches bigger.
4. Maximize the NotePad window.
5. Restore the NotePad window to its previous size.
6. Move the NotePad window to a different location on the screen.
7. Open the Calculator program.
8. Tile both windows on the screen by right-clicking a blank area of the taskbar.
9. Close both windows.
Quiz Answers
1. B.
2. C. The little bar along the window’s top that lists the program name is the Title bar.
3. B and D. Double-clicking the window’s Title bar or clicking the window’s Maximize
button will maximize the window so it fills the entire screen.
4. True. Clicking the icon of a minimized program on the taskbar restores the window.
5. A. Move a window by dragging its Title bar.
6. B, C, and D. You can use any of these methods to switch between open programs.
Don’t use A, which starts another copy of the program instead of switching to the
already open program.
Chapter Seven:
Working with
Programs
Chapter Objectives:
• Use menus and toolbars
• Fill out a dialog box
• Enter and edit text
• Save and open a file
• Select, replace, and delete text
• Use the undo function
• Print a file
• Cut, copy, and paste text
• Format fonts and paragraphs
• Get help
• Save and Open Files in Different Locations
Up until now, we’ve only been focusing on how to use the Windows XP operating system. In
this chapter, you’ll be working with a program. This chapter explains how to control programs
using menus and toolbars. You’ll learn what a dialog box is (you’ll see a lot of them in
Windows), and how to fill one out.
Next, we’ll get more specific. Every program is different, but the procedure for doing things
in all programs is the same. This chapter explains these basic generic chores using the
WordPad program. You’ll learn how to enter, edit, and delete text; how to open, save, and
print a file; and how to get help when you need it. Once you’ve learned these basic skills in
WordPad, you can apply them to just about every other Windows program. This is one of the
longest chapters about Windows XP, so we have a lot of ground to cover. Let’s get started…
; Prerequisites
• How to start and shut
down Windows
• How to use the mouse
to click, double-click,
drag and drop, and
right-click
• How to use the
keyboard
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Lesson 7-1: How to Use Menus
To make a program do your bidding, you give it commands. You can give commands to your
Window program in several different ways: by using menus, toolbars, right-mouse button
shortcut menus, and keystroke shortcuts. This lesson explains the most common method of
issuing commands to Windows programs—through menus. You can find a program’s menu
near the top of a window, just beneath the title bar. In Figure 7-2, notice the words File, Edit,
View, Insert, Format, and Help that appear near the top of the WordPad program. Those words
are menus, and the next few steps will show you why they’re there.
1. Click the Start button.
The Start menu appears.
2. Select All Programs → Accessories → WordPad from the Start menu.
That means you should click “All Programs”, then click the word “Accessories” from
the All Programs menu, and then click the word “WordPad” from the Accessories
menu, as shown in Figure 7-1. The WordPad program appears.
3. Move the pointer to and click the word Insert on the menu bar, as shown
in Figure 7-2.
A menu drops down under the word Insert, as shown in Figure 7-2. The Insert menu
contains a list of commands to insert things, such as the “Date and Time”, which
inserts the current date and/or time, and “Object”, which inserts a file created in
another program.
Figure 7-1
Starting the WordPad
program.
Figure 7-2
The Insert menu
Figure 7-3
The Insert Date and Time
dialog box
Start button
Figure 7-2
Figure 7-3
Figure 7-1
Chapter Seven: Working with Program 149
Quick Reference
To Open a Menu:
• Click the menu name with
the mouse.
Or…
• Press and then the
underlined letter in menu.
4. Under the Insert menu, point to and click the Date and Time option.
The Date and Time dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 7-3, presenting you with
several different date and time formats you can insert. You’ll learn more about dialog
boxes in an upcoming lesson.
5. Click the OK button.
The Date and Time dialog box disappears and the current date is inserted into the
WordPad document. Take a close look at the WordPad menu—notice how every word
in the menu has an underlined letter somewhere in it? For example, the F in the File
menu is underlined. Pressing the key and then pressing the underlined letter in a
menu does the same thing as clicking the menu with the mouse.
6. Press the key then press the key.
The File menu appears. Once a menu is open, you can use the arrow keys on your
computer’s keyboard to navigate through the menus, or press any other underlined
letters in the menu.
7. Press the Right Arrow Key <→>.
The next menu to the right, the Edit menu, opens. If you opened a menu and change
your mind, it’s easy to close it without selecting any commands. Just click anywhere
outside the menu or else press the key.
8. Click anywhere outside the menu to close the menu without selecting any
commands.
NOTE: The procedure for using menus and the general order/layout of the menu is
usually similar in most Windows programs. So if you master the menus in one
Windows program, you will be somewhat familiar with the layout and
function of the menus in other Windows programs.
Table 7-2: Common Windows Program Menus Table gives you a preview of some of the
different menu items you will come across.
Table 7-2: Common Windows Program Menus
File Description
File Commands to open, save, close, print, and create new files
Edit Commands to copy, cut, paste, find, and replace text in a document
View Commands to change how the document is displayed on the screen
Insert Lists items that you can insert into a document, such as graphics, page
numbers, and the current date
Format Commands to format text, paragraphs, tab stops, etc. Strangely, the command
to format the page (i.e. margins, etc.) is located in the File menu under Page
Setup.
Window Commands to display and arrange multiple windows (if you have more than one
document open). WordPad doesn’t have this option since it can only have one
file open at a time.
Help Get help on the Windows program you are using
OK button
You can open menus by
clicking the menu name
with the mouse or by
pressing the key
and the underlined
letter in the menu
name.
You can close a menu
without selecting any
commands by clicking
anywhere outside the
menu or by pressing
the key.
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Lesson 7-2: How to Use Toolbars
Toolbars are another common way to boss your programs around. While menus contain every
conceivable command for a program, toolbars contain buttons only for the commands you use
most frequently. Instead of having to wade through several menus to do something, you can
click a single button. Two toolbars appear in the WordPad program—the Standard toolbar and
Formatting toolbar. The Standard toolbar appears on top and contains buttons for the most
frequently used commands in WordPad, such as saving and printing a document. The
Formatting toolbar is located right underneath the Standard toolbar and has buttons for
quickly formatting fonts and paragraphs.
Toolbar buttons have small icons to indicate what they do. For example, a small picture of a
printer appears on the Print button. If you still don’t know what a button is used for, move the
pointer over the button and wait a few seconds. Usually, a little window will appear with a
brief description of the button.
1. Click after the date you entered in the last lesson and press the
key to add a blank line.
2. Position the mouse pointer over the Date/Time button on WordPad’s
Standard toolbar, as shown in Figure 7-4.
A small window appears over the button, briefly identifying what the button is—in this
case “Date/Time” as shown in Figure 7-4.
3. Click the Date/Time button.
The Date and Time dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 7-5, presenting you with
several different date and time formats to insert.
Figure 7-4
Move the pointer over a
button and wait a few
seconds for the button’s
description.
Figure 7-5
The Date and Time dialog
box
Figure 7-6
The updated WordPad
document
Date/Time button
Figure 7-4
Figure 7-5
Figure 7-6
Chapter Seven: Working with Program 151
Quick Reference
To Use a Toolbar Button:
• Click the toolbar button.
To See What a Toolbar
Button Does:
• Position the pointer over
the toolbar button and
wait a second. A
ScreenTip will appear
above the button.
4. Click the OK button.
WordPad inserts the current date and time in the WordPad document.
5. Backspace over the date you just entered to delete it.
Only one date remains on your screen. You will learn more about deleting text in a later
lesson.
Compare your screen with the one in Figure 7-6.
OK button
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Lesson 7-3: Filling Out a Dialog
Box
Some commands are more complicated than others are. For example, saving a file is a simple
process—all you have to do is select File → Save from the menu or click the Save button on
the Standard toolbar. Other commands are more complex. Whenever you want to do
something relatively complicated in Windows, you need to fill out a dialog box. Filling out a
dialog box is not much different than filling out a paper form. Dialog boxes usually contain
several types of controls, including:
• Text boxes
• List boxes
• Check boxes
• Combo boxes (also called drop down lists)
• Buttons
This lesson will give you a quick tour of a more complicated dialog box and show you how to
use the various dialog box components you will come across.
1. Select Format from the menu.
The Format menu appears. Look at the items listed in the Format menu—Font,
Paragraph, and Tabs are followed by ellipses (…). Whenever you see a menu item
followed by ellipses, it means that there is a dialog box lurking just behind the menu.
Figure 7-7
The Font dialog box
Figure 7-8
A Scroll Bar
You can select a
control in a dialog box
by clicking the control
with the mouse or by
pressing the key
until the control is
selected.
Text Box
List Box
Text box
Check box
Figure 7-7
List box
Combo box
Sample Area
OK Button
Cancel
Button
Scroll Up Button
Click here to scroll up
Scroll Box
Indicates your current position in
the list (you can also click and
drag the scroll box to scroll up or
down)
Scroll Down Button
Click here to scroll
down
Figure 7-8
Chapter Seven: Working with Program 153
Quick Reference
To Select a Dialog Box
Control:
• Click the control with the
mouse.
Or…
• Press to move to
the next control in the
dialog box or +
to move to the
previous control until you
arrive at the desired
control.
To Use a Text Box:
• Simply type the
information directly into
the text box.
To Use a List Box:
• Click the option you want
from list box. Use the
scroll bar to move up and
down through its options.
To Use a Combo Box (or
Drop-Down List):
• Click the Down Arrow to
list the combo box’s
options. Click an option
from the list to select it.
To Save Changes and
Close a Dialog Box:
• Click the OK button or
press .
To Close a Dialog Box
without Saving Changes:
• Click the Cancel button or
press .
2. Select Font from the Format menu.
The Font dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 7-7. The Font dialog box is one of the
most complex dialog boxes in the WordPad program and contains several types of
components you can fill out. You have to go to, or select, a control before you can use
it. You can do this by clicking the control with the mouse or by pressing the key
to move to the next control, or + to move to the previous control, until
the blinking cursor appears in it or it becomes highlighted.
First, let’s look at text boxes. Look at the Font text box, as shown in Figure 7-7. Text
boxes are the most common component of a dialog box and are nothing more than the
fill-in-the-blank box you’ve undoubtedly already used in many types of paper forms.
Text boxes are incredibly easy to use—just select and type in the text you want.
3. Make sure the Font text box is selected and type Arial.
You’ve just filled out the text box—nothing to it. The next stop in our dialog box tour
is the List Box. You can find a list box directly beneath the Font text box. A list box
puts several options together into a small box. Sometimes list boxes contain so many
options that they can’t all be displayed at once, and you must click the list box’s scroll
bar to move up or down the list. See Figure 7-8 for an illustration of a scroll box.
4. Click and hold the Font list box’s Scroll Down button until Times New
Roman appears in the list.
5. Click the Times New Roman option in the list.
Our next destination is the Combo Box. The combo box is the cousin of the list box—
it, too displays a list of options. The only difference is that you must click the combo
box’s downward pointing arrow in order to display its options.
6. Click the Color combo box’s down arrow.
A list of color options appears below the Color combo box.
7. Select the Blue color from the combo box.
Sometimes you need to select more than one item in a dialog box. For example, what if
you want to add Strikeout formatting and Underline formatting to the selected font?
You use the check box control when you’re presented with multiple choices.
8. In the Effects section, click the Strikeout check box and click the
Underline check box.
The last destination on our dialog box tour is the Button. Buttons are used to execute or
cancel commands. Two buttons can be found in every dialog box. They are:
• OK: Applies and saves any changes you have made and then closes the dialog
box. Pressing the key usually does the same thing as clicking the OK
button.
• Cancel: Closes the dialog box without applying and saving any changes.
Pressing the key usually does the same thing as clicking the cancel
button.
9. Click the Cancel button to cancel the changes you made and close the
Font dialog box.
Combo Box
or Drop-Down List
Check Box
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Lesson 7-4: Entering Text in the
WordPad Program
This lesson explains how to create a document using the WordPad program. Actually, there
isn’t much to explain—all you have to do is type!
1. Open WordPad by clicking the Start button, then All Programs,
Accessories, and then WordPad.
The WordPad Program screen pops up. Let’s enter some text.
2. Click inside the WordPad screen, and type the following text: 9/29/01
Good. Now we’re going to write a letter.
3. Press the key twice.
WordPad inserts a new paragraph, or new line, each time you press the key.
4. Type the following text: To the La Fanci Nails Company:
As you type, notice that the insertion point (the small, blinking vertical bar) moves to
indicate where you are typing.
5. Press the key twice, and type the follow text: I bought a set
of your press-on nails last month, and I was extremely
displeased with them. While pressing my La Fanci Nails on,
I went to pet my poodle, Pizzy, and my hand and nails
stuck to her shaggy little pelt. That was in August, and
we’re still glued together.
Figure 7-9
A simple letter created in
the WordPad program
Start button
Figure 7-9
Chapter Seven: Working with Program 155
Quick Reference
To Open WordPad:
• Click on the Start button,
then All Programs,
Accessories, then
WordPad.
To Enter Text in WordPad:
1. Place the insertion point
in WordPad by clicking in
the WordPad screen.
2. Type your text.
The press-on nail glue should not have been so strong!
Pizzy’s barking is driving me mad. Please reconsider the
strength of your product.
Make sure you press the key twice to add a blank line between the two
paragraphs. Don’t press when you reach the end of a line—WordPad will
automatically move the text to the next line for you. This feature is called word-wrap.
When you’re finished typing, compare your letter with the one in Figure 7-9.
While you type, wordwrap continues text
from one line to the
next without making
you press Enter.
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Lesson 7-5: Editing Text
After typing a document, you will often discover that you need to make some changes to your
text—perhaps you want to rephrase or even delete a sentence. Editing a document by inserting
and deleting text is very simple. To insert text, you move the insertion point (the blinking bar)
to where you want to insert the text. You move the insertion point using the arrow keys on the
keyboard or by using the mouse to click where you want to move it, as shown in Figure 7-10.
Once the insertion point is where you want, just start typing.
There are a couple ways to delete text. One way to delete text is to place the insertion point to
the left of the text you want to delete and press the key. Another way to delete
text is to place the insertion point to the right of the text you want to delete and press the
key.
In this lesson, you’ll get practice inserting and deleting text and revising the letter you created
in WordPad.
1. Press the Up Arrow Key <↑> button.
The insertion point moves up one line.
2. Press and hold the Up Arrow Key <↑> to move the insertion point to the
very top line in the document.
Now you need to move the insertion point to the beginning of the current line.
3. Press and hold the Left Arrow Key <←> button to move the insertion
point to the very beginning of the line.
4. Type Subject: Glue Trauma and press twice.
The text and blank line is inserted at the insertion point, before the rest of the
document. You’ve just learned how to insert text in a document—pretty easy huh?
5. Move the insertion point immediately after the word extremely in the first
body paragraph.
Here, you need to delete some text; delete the word “extremely.”
Figure 7-10
Use the keyboard or the
mouse to move the
insertion point in a
document.
Placing the
insertion point
Figure 7-10
Move the insertion
point with the arrow
keys on your
computer’s
keyboard…
…or by using the
mouse to click
where you want to
place the insertion
point with the
pointer
Chapter Seven: Working with Program 157
Quick Reference
To Move the Insertion
Point:
• Use the arrow keys.
Or…
• Click where you want to
place the insertion point
with the pointer.
To Insert Text:
• Move the insertion point
where you want to insert
the text and then type the
text you want to insert.
To Delete Text:
• The key
deletes text before, or to
the left of the insertion
point.
• The key deletes
text after, or to the right of
the insertion point.
6. Press the key several times, until the word “extremely” is
deleted.
The Backspace key deletes one space to the left (backwards) of the insertion point.
7. Type very.
You’ve just deleted the word “extremely” and inserted the word “very” to take its
place.
You can also use the mouse to move the insertion point instead of the arrow keys.
Simply move the pointer where you want to place the insertion point with the mouse
and click.
8. Click immediately after the word August in the sentence “That was in
August, and we’re still stuck together” with the pointer.
The insertion point appears immediately after the word “August”—right where you
clicked the mouse button.
You can also use the Delete key to delete text. Like the Backspace key, the Delete key
also deletes text, but in a slightly different way. The Backspace key deletes text before,
or to the left of the insertion point, while the Delete key deletes text after, or to the right
of the insertion point.
9. Press the key.
The Delete key deletes text after, or to the right of, the insertion point.
10. Press and hold the key until you have deleted the rest of the
sentence “, and we’re still stuck together”.
Great! You’ve learned how to delete text using the Delete key.
Compare your revised document with the one shown in Figure 7-10.
The key
deletes one space to
the left, or behind,
the insertion point.
The key
deletes once space to
the right, or after,
the insertion point.
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Lesson 7-6: Saving and Opening a
File
Once you have created something in a program, you must save the file if you ever want to use
it again in the future. When you save a file, you’re transferring it from your computer’s
memory (which is erased when you close the program) to the computer’s local disk (which is
permanent and not erased when you close the program). In this lesson, you will learn how to
save a file and then open, or retrieve it from the local disk.
1. Click the Save button on the Standard toolbar.
The Save As dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 7-11. You must give your file a
name and specify where you want to save it. First, tell the computer you want to save
the file in your Practice folder.
2. Navigate to and open your practice folder or floppy disk.
Your computer stores information in files and folders, just like you store information in
a filing cabinet. To open a file, you must first find and open the folder where it’s saved.
The Save dialog box has its own toolbar that make it easy to browse through your
computer’s drives and folders. Two controls on this toolbar are particularly helpful:
Figure 7-11
The Save As dialog box
Figure 7-12
The Open dialog box
Save button
Other Ways to Save:
• Select File → Save
from the menu.
Look in list
Select the drive or folder where
you want to save the file.
File name text box
Type the name you want to
save your file as here.
Displays files located in the
selected drive or folder
Look in list
Select the drive or folder where
the file you want to open is
located.
Displays files located in the
selected drive or folder—select
the file you want to open here
The letter file
Figure 7-11
Figure 7-12
Chapter Seven: Working with Program 159
Quick Reference
To Save a File:
• Click the Save button
on the Standard toolbar.
Or…
• Select File → Save from
the menu.
To Open a File:
• Click the Open button
on the Standard toolbar.
Or…
• Select File → Open from
the menu.
• Look In List: Click to list the drives on your computer
and the current folder, then select the drive and/or folder whose contents you
want to display.
• Up One Level button: Click to move up one folder.
If necessary, follow your instructor’s directions to select the appropriate drive and
folder where your practice files are located.
Next, you need to give your file a name.
3. Click the File name text box.
The File name box is where you give your file a name.
NOTE: Filenames can be up to 255 characters long and contain letters, numbers, and
some symbols. You can’t use the symbols " \ / : * | < > in a file name.
4. Type Letter in the File name text box.
This will save the document you created in a file named “Letter” in the floppy disk.
5. Click Save to save your document to the floppy disk.
The floppy disk hums as your computer saves the Letter file to it.
NOTE: You can also save any files you’ve created to your computer’s local disk—
which is normally where most people save their files, instead of a floppy disk.
Now that you’ve saved the file to a disk, you can safely close WordPad or even turn off
the computer, knowing that your WordPad “Letter” file is stored and can be retrieved
whenever you want to work on it again.
6. Close the WordPad program by clicking its Close button.
The WordPad program closes. Now, make sure the Letter document you created and
saved in WordPad is still there.
7. Start the WordPad program again.
Once you have started WordPad, you will need to open the Letter document you saved.
8. Click the Open button on the Standard toolbar.
The Open dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 7-12. The Open dialog box is very
similar to the Save dialog box—except you specify the name and location of the file
you want to open.
9. If necessary, navigate to your practice folder or floppy disk.
The Open dialog box will display any WordPad files that have been saved in the
practice folder or floppy disk. Here’s how to select a file you want to open.
10. Click the Letter file.
Shading appears over the Letter file, indicating it is selected.
11. Click the Open button to open the selected file.
The Letter document appears in the WordPad window.
When you open a file, instead of selecting a file and clicking the Open button, you can save a
half-second or so by simply double-clicking the file you want to open.
Close button
Open button
Other Ways to Open a
File:
• Select File → Open
from the menu.
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Lesson 7-7: Selecting, Replacing,
and Deleting Text
This lesson explains how to select text. Whenever you want to edit more than one character at
a time, you must select it first. A lot of editing and formatting techniques—such as formatting,
cutting, copying, and pasting text—also require that you select the text you want to modify.
There are probably hundreds of reasons to select text in many Windows-based programs, so it
pays if you’re an expert at doing it.
1. Place the insertion point immediately in front of the word August in the
first body sentence of the paragraph.
You learned how to move the insertion around using the mouse earlier in this chapter.
Actually, you can place the insertion point before or after the text you want to select.
2. Click and hold down the mouse button and drag the mouse across the
word August (the words should be highlighted). Release the mouse
button when you’re finished.
The word August should be highlighted in blue, as shown in Figure 7-13. Selecting text
with the mouse can be a little tricky at first, especially if you’re still a novice at using
the mouse. When you select text, anything you type will replace the selected text.
Figure 7-13
You can select and
replace text.
Figure 7-14
The updated letter
To replace text, select
the text you want to
replace and type the
new text you want to
replace it with.
Figure 7-13
Figure 7-14
1. Position the insertion point before or
after the text that you want to select.
2. Click and hold down the left mouse
button, drag the mouse across the text
you want to select, and then release
the mouse button.
3. If you want to replace the selected text,
simply type in the new text – it will
overwrite the selected text.
Chapter Seven: Working with Program 161
Quick Reference
To Select a String of Text:
1. Move the insertion point
to the beginning or end of
the text you want to
select.
2. Click and hold the left
mouse button and drag
the insertion point across
the text, then release the
mouse button once the
text is selected.
Or…
Press and hold down the
key while using
the arrow keys to select
the text you want.
To Select a Single Word:
• Double-click the word you
want to select.
To Replace Text:
• Replace text by first
selecting it, then typing
the new text you want.
To Deselect Text:
• Click anywhere on the
computer screen.
To Delete Selected Text:
1. Select the text.
2. Press the key.
3. Type July.
The word “July” replaces the selected text, “August.” A quick way to select a single
word is to double-click the word you want to select.
4. Double-click the word Trauma in the Subject line.
5. Type Crisis.
The word Crisis replaces the word Trauma. You can also use the keyboard to select text
if you don’t like using the mouse. To select text using the keyboard, move the insertion
point before or after the text you want to select, press and hold down the key
while you use the arrow keys to select the text.
6. Move the insertion point to the very end of the Subject: Glue Crisis line.
Try selecting text with the keyboard in the next step.
7. Press and hold down the key and press and hold down the left
arrow key <←> until the Subject line is selected.
If you change your mind after selecting text, it’s easy to deselect it. Just click anywhere
else on the screen.
8. Click anywhere in the document to deselect the text.
The Subject line is no longer selected.
Another trick you should know is that you can delete any selected text by pressing the
key.
9. Select the date and press the key.
The date is deleted.
And that’s all there is to selecting text in Windows. Again, it’s very important that you know
how to select text. Knowing how to select text will make you much more proficient at using
many Window programs.
Table 7-3: Shortcuts for Selecting Text
To Select This Do This
A word Double-click the word.
A line Click next to the line in the left margin.
A sentence Press and hold and double-click the sentence.
The entire document Press and hold and double-click in the left margin.
Double-click a word to
select it.
Other Ways to Select
Text:
• Move to the beginning
or end of the text that
you want to select,
press and hold down
the key while
using the arrow keys to
select the text.
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Quick Reference
To Undo Your Previous
Action:
• Click the Undo
button on the toolbar.
Or…
• Select Edit → Undo from
the menu.
Or…
• Press + .
Lesson 7-8: Using Undo
You may not want to admit this, but you’re going to make mistakes when you use Windows.
You might accidentally delete a sentence in your word processing program you didn’t mean to
delete, or paste something in you didn’t mean to paste. Fortunately, Windows and most
Windows programs come with a wonderful feature called undo that does just that—it undoes
your last action, making it as though it never happened.
Many people that are new to Windows or computers in general are often terrified of using
computers because they are afraid they will make a mistake and seriously mess things up.
First of all, it’s more difficult to “mess up” your computer than you think it is. Secondly, you
will learn how to use Undo, so even if you do make a mistake, you can easily cancel it.
1. Select the Subject: Glue Crisis line and delete it by pressing the
key.
Whoops! You didn’t really want to delete that! Watch how you can undo your
“mistake.”
2. Click the Undo button on the Standard toolbar to cancel your last
change.
Poof! WordPad cancels your last action and the deleted text “Subject: Glue Crisis”
reappears.
In most programs, Undo will only cancel your last action or change; if you don’t catch your
mistake right after you make it, Undo may not be able to help.
Figure 7-15
You can cancel a text
deletion with the Undo
feature.
Undo button
Other Ways to Undo:
• Select Edit → Undo
from the menu.
• Press + .
Undo
Figure 7-15
Chapter Seven: Working with Program 163
Quick Reference
To Print a File:
• Click the Print button
on the Standard toolbar.
Or…
• Select File → Print from
the menu.
Or…
• Press +
.
Lesson 7-9: Printing a File
This lesson will show you how to send whatever you’re working on to the printer. Printing is
one of the easiest things to do in Windows.
1. Select File → Print from the menu.
The Print dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 7-16. The Print dialog box may differ
depending on the program you’re using, but it should usually contain the options listed
in Table 7-4: Print Dialog Box Options.
2. Click OK.
Windows sends the document to the printer.
Table 7-4: Print Dialog Box Options
Print option Description
Name Used to select what printer to send your file to when it prints (if you are
connected to more than one printer). The currently selected printer is
displayed.
Properties Displays a dialog box with options available to your specific printer such as
the paper size you want to use, if your document should be printed in color or
black and white, etc.
Page range Allows you to specify what pages you want printed. There are several
options:
All: Prints the entire document.
Selection: Prints only the text you have selected (before selecting the
print command).
Pages: Prints only the pages of the file you specify. Select a range of
pages with a hyphen (like 5-8) and separate single pages with a comma
(like 3,7).
Number of copies Specifies the number of copies you want to print.
Figure 7-16
The Print dialog box
Other Ways to Print:
• Click the Print
button if it appears on
the toolbar.
• Press +
.
Figure 7-16
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Lesson 7-10: Cutting, Copying,
and Pasting Text
By now, you should already know how to select text in a document. Once text is selected, you
can move it to another place in the document by cutting it and then pasting elsewhere. Cutting
and pasting text is one of the more common tasks you will use in your programs. Anything
you cut is placed in a temporary storage area called the Windows Clipboard. The Clipboard is
available to any Windows program, so you can cut and paste text between different programs.
1. Select the entire subject line.
Remember how to select text? Point to the beginning or end of the text you want to
select, hold down the left mouse button, drag the cursor across the text, and release the
mouse button.
Now you can cut the selected text to the Windows clipboard.
Figure 7-17
The steps involved in
cutting and pasting text
Cut button
Other Ways to Cut:
• Select Edit → Cut from
the menu.
• Press + .
Paste button
Other Ways to Paste:
• Select Edit → Paste
from the menu.
• Press + .
1. Select the text or object you
want to cut and click the Cut
button on the Standard
Toolbar. The text or object is
removed or “cut” from its
original location.
2. Move the insertion point to
where you want to place the
cut text or object.
3. Click the Paste button on
the Standard Toolbar to
paste the cut text or object.
Chapter Seven: Working with Program 165
Quick Reference
To Cut Something:
1. Select the text or object
you want to cut.
2. Click the Cut button
on the Standard toolbar.
Or…
Select Edit → Cut from
the menu.
Or…
Press + .
To Copy Something:
1. Select the text or object
you want to copy.
2. Click the Copy button
on the Standard toolbar.
Or…
Select Edit → Copy from
the menu.
Or…
Press + .
To Paste a Cut or Copied
Object:
1. Place the insertion point
where you want to paste
the text or object.
2. Click the Paste
button on the Standard
toolbar.
Or…
Select Edit → Paste
from the menu.
Or…
Press + .
2. Click the Cut button on the Standard toolbar.
The selected text, the current date, disappears from WordPad and is placed in the
Windows Clipboard, ready to be moved to a new location.
NOTE: The Windows Clipboard can only hold one piece of information at a time.
Every time you cut or copy something to the Clipboard, it replaces the
previous information.
3. Move the insertion point to the blank line immediately below To the La
Fanci Nails Company:.
This is where you want to paste the line you cut.
4. Click the Paste button on the Standard toolbar.
Poof! The cut text, the subject line, appears at the insertion point.
Copying information is very similar to cutting information. Both commands put your
selected information in the Clipboard where you can then paste it to a new location.
The only difference between the two commands is that Cut command deletes selected
information when it copies it to the clipboard, while the Copy command copies the
selected information to the clipboard without deleting it.
5. Select the entire document by holding down the key and clicking
the pointer in the left margin.
Now you can copy the selected text to the clipboard.
6. Click the Copy button on the Standard toolbar.
Nothing appears to happen, but the selected text has been copied to the clipboard.
One of the great things about Windows is that it allows you to share information
between programs. For example, the information that you just copied to the Windows
clipboard from WordPad can be pasted into another Windows program. To see how this
works, you will need to open another Windows program—the Notepad.
7. Click the Start button and select All Programs → Accessories →
Notepad.
The Notepad program appears. Notepad is a bare-bones simple program and doesn’t
have a toolbar like WordPad does, so you will have to access the Paste command
through the menu.
8. Select Edit → Paste from the Notepad menu.
The document you copied from the WordPad program is pasted into the Notepad
program. You won’t be using the Notepad program anymore in this chapter, so you can
close it.
9. Click the Notepad program’s Close button.
A dialog box appears, asking if you want to save the changes you made to the Notepad
file. You don’t need to save any changes, so you can safely click No.
10. Click No.
You should save the changes you’ve made to your WordPad document.
11. Click the Save button on WordPad’s Standard toolbar to save the
changes you’ve made to the document.
WordPad saves your recent changes to the local disk.
Copy button
Other Ways to Copy:
• Select Edit → Copy
from the menu.
• Press + .
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Lesson 7-11: Changing the Font
Type and Size
In this lesson, you’ll learn how to change the font or text size and style. Although you’ll be
working with the WordPad program, the basic procedure for changing the size and type of a
font is the same in all Windows programs.
1. Move the insertion point the very end of the document and press
twice to add a blank line.
You are going to add your name to the document here, but first you want to use a
different font to make it stand out.
2. Click the Font list arrow on the Formatting toolbar.
A list appears with all the fonts that are available on your computer, listed in
alphabetical order. Since there isn’t enough room to display all the font types at once,
you may have to scroll up or down the list until you find the font type you want.
3. Scroll up the Font list until you see the Bookman Old Style font, then
click the Bookman Old Style font.
Anything you type at this point will appear in the selected Bookman Old Style font.
Figure 7-18
Select a font from the font
list.
Figure 7-19
The Font dialog box
Font list
Other Ways to Change
Fonts:
• Select Format → Font
from the menu, select
the font options you
want from the font
dialog box, then click
OK.
Figure 7-18
Figure 7-19
Select the font type
The currently
selected font type
Special font
formatting
effects
Change the color
of the font
Select the font type
(Bold and/or Italic)
Preview of the
current font
settings
Change the size of
the font
Chapter Seven: Working with Program 167
Quick Reference
To Change Font Size:
• Select the point size from
the Font Size list on
the Formatting toolbar.
Or…
• Select Format → Font
from the menu and select
the font size in the Font
dialog box.
To Change Font Type:
• Select the font from the
Font
Style list on the
Formatting toolbar.
Or…
• Select Format → Font
from the menu and select
the font type in the Font
dialog box.
4. Type Jane Plain.
The name Jane Plain appears in the Bookman Old Style font. You can also select text
and change it to a new font.
5. Select the line To the La Fanci Nails Company:.
In the next step, we’ll change the selected text to Courier New font type.
6. Click the Font list arrow and select Courier New from the Font list.
The selected text changes to the Courier New font.
You can also change the size of a font and make it larger or smaller. Font size is
measured in points: the bigger the point number, the larger the size of the font. 10 point
and 12 point are the most commonly used font sizes. Changing the font size is similar
to changing font types.
7. Make sure the To the La Fanci Nails Company: line is still selected,
and click the Font Size list arrow.
A list of font sizes appears.
8. Select 14 from the Font Size list.
The font for the selected line is enlarged to 14 point.
So far, you’ve been using the Formatting toolbar to change the type and size of fonts.
Another method of adjusting the type and size of fonts is to use the Font dialog box,
which you can open using the menu. Since not all Windows programs have a
Formatting toolbar, you should know how to format fonts with this method.
9. Select Format → Font from the menu.
The Font dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 7-19. Notice there are options for
changing the font type and size, as well as other formatting options. After you’ve
surveyed the Font dialog box, you can close it without making any changes by clicking
the Cancel button.
10. Click Cancel to close the Font dialog box without making any changes.
Table 7-1: Examples of Font Types and Sizes
Common Font Types Common Font Sizes
Arial Arial 8 point
Comic Sans MS Arial 10 point
Courier New Arial 12 point
Times New Roman Arial 14 point
Font Size list
Other Ways to Change
the Font Size:
• Select Format → Font
from the menu, select
the font options you
want from the font
dialog box, and click
OK.
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Quick Reference
To Format Text with Bold,
Italics, or Underlining:
• Click the Bold, Italics,
or Underline button on
the Formatting toolbar.
Or…
• Select Format → Font
from the menu and select
the formatting from the
Font Style list.
Or…
• Press the key and:
for Bold
for Italics
for Underlining
Lesson 7-12: Using Bold, Italics,
and Underline
In the previous lesson, you learned how to format characters in a document by changing their
font type and font size. This lesson will show you how to emphasize text in a document by
making the text darker and heavier (bold), slanted (italics), or by adding underlining.
1. Select the text La Fanci Nails, located in the first body paragraph in your
document.
You can make the selected text stand out by formatting with Italics.
2. Click the Italics button on the Formatting toolbar.
The selected text, La Fanci Nails, appears in italics. Notice that the Italics button is
pushed down on the Formatting toolbar, indicating the text is formatted with Italics.
It’s just as easy to format characters with bold or underline formatting.
3. Select the line Subject: Glue Crisis.
Now format the selected text with bold formatting.
4. Click the Bold button on the Formatting toolbar.
The selected text appears in bold. To remove the bold style, repeat step 4.
5. Make sure the Subject: Glue Crisis is still selected, then click the Bold
button on the Formatting toolbar.
The bold style is removed from the selected text. You can apply italic and underline
formatting from text by using the same method, except you would click the Italics or
Underline button.
Figure 7-20
WordPad’s Formatting
toolbar
Figure 7-21
The document with bold
and italics formatting
Italics button
Other Ways to Italics:
• Select Format → Font
from the menu, select
Italic from the Font
Style box, and then
click OK.
• Press + .
Bold button
Font list
Font Size
Bold
Italics
Underline
Font Color
Align
Left
Align
Right
Center Bullets
Figure 7-20
Figure 7-21
Bold Italics
Font script list
Chapter Seven: Working with Program 169
Quick Reference
To Change a Paragraph’s
Alignment:
• Place the insertion point
in the paragraph and click
the Align Left, Center,
or Align Right button.
Or…
• Place the insertion point
in the paragraph, select
Format → Paragraph
from the menu and select
the alignment, from the
Alignment list.
Lesson 7-13: Changing Paragraph
Alignment
This lesson moves on to paragraph formatting and explains how to justify paragraphs or align
them to the left, right, or center of a page. These are common formatting tasks for all word
processing programs.
1. Place the insertion point anywhere in the last line, Jane Plain, and then
click the Align Right button on the Formatting toolbar.
The last line is aligned to the right with a ragged left edge.
2. Drag the mouse pointer to select the two body paragraphs, as shown in
Figure 7-22, then click the Center button on the Formatting toolbar.
The selected paragraphs are centered on the page.
3. Press the key to move to the end of the current line, then press
.
Notice the new paragraph will be centered like the one above it. That’s because when
you press , the new paragraph “inherits” the formatting from the paragraph
above it.
4. Select the two paragraphs again, and click the Align Left button on the
Formatting toolbar.
The selected paragraphs are again aligned to the left.
5. Click the Save button on the Standard toolbar to save your work.
Figure 7-22
Place the insertion point
in the paragraph you want
to align, or select the
paragraph(s).
Figure 7-23
Clicking the Center button
on the Formatting toolbar
centers the selected
paragraphs.
Figure 7-24
Left, right, centered, and
justified paragraphs
Align Right button
Center button
Align Left button
Left Align Right Align
Centered Justified
Figure 7-22 Figure 7-23
Figure 7-24
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Lesson 7-14: Getting Help by
Contents
When you don’t know how to do something in Windows or a Windows based program, don’t
despair—most programs come with a built-in help feature. Help is one of the greatest—and
sadly, the least used—feature of most Windows programs. There is often more information
about how to use a program under the Help feature than there is in the program manual! Many
people actually learn how to use entire programs by simply using the Help feature of the
program when they don’t know how to do something.
Help allows you to try new, exciting things in programs all by yourself. It simply cannot be
stressed how important and useful the Help feature is. There are several ways you can get help
in Windows—we’ll look at them in the next couple of lessons.
For this lesson, imagine that you’ve seen several of your co-workers use different sized fonts
in their WordPad documents. You decide it’s time you learned how to change the size of fonts
in WordPad, so you decide to use the help feature.
Most Windows applications have a Help menu listed at the far right of the menu bar. You can
also open Help pressing the key.
Figure 7-25
The Contents tab of the
Help window
Figure 7-26
You can expand a Help
Topic.
Figure 7-27
The displayed help topic
Figure 7-25 Figure 7-26
Figure 7-27
Chapter Seven: Working with Program 171
Quick Reference
To Get Help by Contents:
1. Press or select
Help from the menu, and
click the Contents tab if
necessary.
2. Scroll down the screen
and double-click the help
topic you’re looking for.
3. Double-click any Help
subtopic(s).
To Move a Previous Help
Screen or Topic:
• Click the Back button.
To Print a Help Topic:
• Click the Options button
and select Print Topic.
1. Make sure the WordPad program is opening/loading the active window
and press the key.
The Help window appears with the Contents tab in front, as shown in Figure 7-25. One
way to get help is by going to Contents. Using Help’s Contents is similar to using a
book’s table of contents. Help’s Contents is a good way to get general information on a
topic, especially if it’s a subject you’re not familiar with. The Help’s Contents are
organized in outline form. The book icons ( ) that appear to the left of a topic tells
you there are sub-topics and information under this topic. To view this information,
you have to open or expand the topic by double-clicking it.
2. Click the WordPad icon and then click the Format Text topic to expand
it.
The topic opens and a list of sub-topics appear under it, as shown in Figure 7-26.
3. Click the Change a font type, style, or size topic (it has a question
mark icon that appears to the left of it).
Information on text formatting appears in the right pane of the Help window, as shown
in Figure 7-27. You can easily print any Help topic.
4. Click the Options button at the top of the dialog box and select the
Print… item.
The Print Topics box appears. We just want to print one topic.
5. Select Print Selected Topic and click OK.
The Print dialog box appears, ready to carry out your print command. Since you
already know how to print in Windows, save the paper and cancel the print job.
6. Click the Cancel button to close the Print dialog box without sending the
Help topic to the printer.
The key displays
help on what you’re
doing.
Options button
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Lesson 7-15: Getting Help with
the Help Index and Search
Two more methods of getting help are with the Help Index and Search. You use the Help
Index just like you would use the index in the back of a book.
1. If the Help window isn’t already open, press to open it.
2. Click the Index tab to bring it to the front.
The Index tab appears in front of the Help Window. This time, let’s get some help on
how to save files in WordPad.
Figure 7-28
The Index tab of the Help
dialog box
Figure 7-29
The Topics Found dialog
box
Figure 7-30
Click the to display
help on what a dialog box
control does.
Figure 7-28
Figure 7-29
Figure 7-30
Chapter Seven: Working with Program 173
Quick Reference
To Use the Help Index:
1. Press or select
Help from the menu and
click the Index tab.
2. Type the keyword(s) that
describe the help topic
you are looking for.
3. Double-click the help
topic you’re looking for.
To Find a Help Topic:
1. Press or select
Help from the menu and
click the Search or Find
tab.
2. Type the keyword(s) topic
you are looking for.
3. Double-click the Help
topic you’re looking for.
To See what a Control in a
Dialog Box Does:
1. Click the Dialog box
“What’s This” button
(located right next to the
close button).
2. Click the control you want
more information on with
the pointer.
3. In the Type in the keyword to find box, type the word Saving.
The Index topics list box displays all index entries that begin with the words “Saving”,
as shown in Figure 7-28. A help topic called Saving Documents is listed—see what this
topic is about.
4. Double-click the Saving Text subtopic to open it.
The Topics Found dialog box appears. We need to choose a topic.
5. Double-click the Create Open or Save a WordPad Document topic.
Information on saving changes to a document appears in the right pane of the Help
window.
The Search function is another way that you can search for Help topics. Search is much
more specific and powerful than either Help’s Contents or the Help Index. Search
allows you to search for specific information.
6. Click the Search tab.
Next, you must specify what help you want to look for.
7. In the Type the word(s) you want to find box, type the word Save and
click the List Topics button.
Both the words and topics lists are updated to show all help topics that contain the
word “Save.” You can refine a help search by typing in more than one word.
8. In the Type the word(s) you want to find box, type a then the
words File after the word table so that the text box reads Save File.
Then click Display.
Both the words and topics lists are updated and display only those help topics that
contain both the words “Save” and “File” in them.
9. Double-click the WordPad Overview topic.
Windows displays the WordPad Overview help topic.
10. Click the Close button to close the Help dialog box.
During your journey with Windows you will probably come across dialog boxes with a
number of confusing controls and options. To help you find out what the various
controls and options in a dialog box do, many dialog boxes contain a “What’s This”
button, located right next to the close button.
11. Select Format → Paragraph from the menu.
The Paragraph dialog box appears. Notice the Help button located in the dialog box’s
title bar just to the left of the dialog box’s close button.
12. Click the “What’s This” button.
The mouse pointer changes to a , indicating you can point to anything on the dialog
box to find out what it does, as shown in Figure 7-30.
13. Click the Alignment combo box.
A window appears with a brief description of what the Alignment combo box does.
14. Click Cancel to close the Paragraph dialog box.
That’s it—you’re done learning the various ways to get help in Windows. If you know how to
use a program’s Help feature, you may never need to attend another computer class—
everything you need to know is there, buried somewhere in Help. Make yourself a promise
that the next time you have a question about how to do something in a program, you will try
using the program’s built-in Help feature before you reach for the manual or ask one of your
computer-savvy friends.
What’s This
button
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Lesson 7-16: Saving and Opening
Files in Different Locations
By saving your files in related folders right away, you make them easier to find and don’t
have to do as much file management later. This lesson will show you how to save your files in
different locations. You’ll also learn how to save files in different file formats.
1. Open the WordPad program by clicking the Start button and selecting
File → All Programs → Accessories → WordPad from the program
menu.
The WordPad program appears.
2. Click the Open button on the Standard toolbar.
The Open Dialog box for the WordPad program appears, as shown in Figure 7-32.
Before we open a file, first let’s take a closer look at the Open dialog box. Notice the
toolbar that appears near the top of the dialog box, as shown in Figure 7-31. If several
of the buttons on the toolbar look somewhat familiar, they should—because they’re the
same toolbar buttons that you’ll find in My Computer and Windows Explorer. When
you’re opening or saving a file you can navigate through the drives, folders, and files
on your computer just like you do in My Computer and Windows Explorer.
3. Navigate to and open your practice folder or floppy disk.
Your computer stores information in files and folders, just like you store information in
a filing cabinet. To open a file, you must first find and open the folder where it’s saved.
The Save dialog box has its own toolbar that make it easy to browse through your
computer’s drives and folders. Two controls on this toolbar are particularly helpful:
• Look In List: Click to list the drives on your computer
and the current folder, then select the drive and/or folder whose contents you
want to display.
Figure 7-31
The Open/Save toolbar
Figure 7-32
The Open dialog box for
the WordPad program
Open button
Other Ways to Open a
File:
• Select File → Open
from the menu.
Figure 7-32
Look In List
Select the drive or folder
where you want to open or
save the file
Move up one level,
to the previous
folder or drive
Create a new
folder
Display in
different views
Figure 7-31
Return to the
last folder
Chapter Seven: Working with Program 175
Quick Reference
To Save a File in a New
Location:
• Select File → Save As
from the menu, open the
drive and/or folder where
you want to save the file,
and click Save.
To Save a File in a
Different File Format:
• Select File → Save As
from the menu, select the
file format from the Save
as type list, and click
Save.
• Up One Level button: Click to move up one folder.
If necessary, follow your instructor’s directions to select the appropriate drive and
folder where your practice files are located.
The Open dialog box reads the contents of the practice folder or disk and displays any
Word for Windows (*.doc) files. Here’s how you can view all the file types in the root
directory on the drive—not just Word for Windows files.
4. Click the File of type list and select All Documents (*.*).
The Open dialog box is updated to display all the files in the root directory of the
floppy disk.
5. Double-click the Canada Meeting Memo file to open it.
WordPad opens the Canada Meeting Memo file. Normally, when you save an existing
file, it’s saved with its original file name in its original location or folder. There are
times, however, when you will need to save a copy of a file in a new location, with a
different file name, or in a different file format.
6. Select File → Save As from the menu.
The Save As dialog box appears.
Whenever you save or store files on a computer, try to save them in a related folder.
For example, you might create a “Personal Letters” folder to store all your personal
correspondence files and a “Business” folder for your business-related files. Selecting a
folder to save a file in is easy—simply double-click the Create New folder icon on the
toolbar.
NOTE: If you don’t specify a drive or folder when you’re saving a file, the program
will save the file in the current folder—the drive and folder that happens to be
open at that time. This can often make the file more difficult to find in the
future.
7. Double-click the Trade Show folder.
The Trade Show folder opens—this is where you want to save the file.
Earlier in this chapter, you learned that computer programs save and open files in their
own different types or formats, just like people from different countries speak different
languages. But, just as some people can speak more than one language, many computer
programs can open and save files using other file types or formats. WordPad normally
saves files in Word for Windows (*.doc) format, but it’s easy to save files in different
formats.
8. Click the Save as type list arrow.
A list of different types of file formats appears.
9. Select Text Documents (*.txt) from the Save as type list.
One more thing before we save the file—we want to save it with a different name. If
you clicked the Save button at this point, WordPad would save the file in the Trade
Show folder with the original file name, “Canada Meeting Memo.” To save the file
with a different name, simply type the new file name in the File Name box.
10. Click in the File Name box and type Canada Letter.
11. Click Save and click Yes to confirm the loss in formatting.
WordPad saves the Canada Letter as a text file under the Trade Show folder.
12. Close the WordPad program.
You can perform basic
file management, such
as renaming, deleting,
moving, and copying
files and folders from
inside any Open or
Save dialog box, just
as if you were in My
Computer.
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Chapter Seven Review
Lesson Summary
How to Use Menus
• Open a menu by clicking the menu name with the mouse or by pressing and then the
underlined letter in menu.
How to Use Toolbars
• Click the toolbar button you want to use.
• To See What a Toolbar Button Does: Position the pointer over the toolbar button and wait a
second. A ScreenTip will appear above the button.
Filling Out a Dialog Box
• Be able to identify and use text boxes, list boxes, check boxes, combo boxes, and buttons.
• Use a scroll bar to move up or down when a list or screen can’t display all its information at once.
• To Select a Dialog Box Control: Click the control with the mouse or press to move to the
next control in the dialog box or + to move to the previous control until you arrive at
the desired control.
Entering Text in the WordPad Program
• Place the insertion point in WordPad by clicking in the WordPad screen, and type your text.
Editing Text
• Move the insertion point by pressing the arrow keys on the keyboard or by clicking where you want
to place the insertion point.
• To Insert Text: Move the insertion point where you want to insert the text and then type the text
you want to insert.
• To Delete Text: The key deletes text before, or to the right of, the insertion point. The
key deletes text after, or to the left of, the insertion point.
Saving and Opening a File
• To Save a File: Click the Save button on the Standard toolbar or select File → Save from the
menu, select the drive and/or folder where you want to save the file, give the file a name, and click
Save.
• To Open a File: Click the Open button on the Standard toolbar or select File → Open from the
menu, select the drive and/or folder where the file you want to open is located, select the file and
click Open.
Chapter Seven: Working with Program 177
Selecting, Replacing, and Deleting Text
• Selecting Text with the Mouse: Move the insertion point to the beginning or end of the text you
want to select. Click and hold the left mouse button and drag the insertion point across the text,
releasing the mouse button once the text is selected.
• Selecting Text with the Keyboard: Move the insertion point to the beginning or end of the text
you want to select, and press and hold the key while you use the arrow keys to select the
text.
• Double-click the word to select it.
• Typing replaces any selected text; pressing the or key deletes any
selected text.
• Deselect text by clicking anywhere on the screen.
Using Undo
• To Undo Your Last Action: Click the Undo button on the Standard toolbar, or select Edit →
Undo from the menu, or press + .
Printing a File
• Print a file by clicking the Print button on the Standard toolbar, or by selecting File → Print from
the menu, or by pressing +
.
• Select File → Print from the menu to display the Print dialog box, which allows you to specify
printing options—such as printing specific pages or multiple copies.
Cutting, Copying, and Pasting Text
• To Cut Something: Select the text or object you want to cut. Cut the selection by clicking the Cut
button on the Standard toolbar, or by selecting Edit → Cut from the menu, or by pressing +
.
• To Copy Something: Select the text or object you want to copy. Copy the selection by clicking the
Copy button on the Standard toolbar, or by selecting Edit → Copy from the menu, or by pressing
+ .
• To Paste a Cut or Copied Object: Place the insertion point where you want to paste the text or
object. Click the Paste button on the Standard toolbar, or select Edit → Paste from the menu, or
press + .
Changing the Font Type and Size
• To Change Font Size: Select the pt. size from the Font Size list on the Formatting toolbar or
select Format → Font from the menu and select the font size in the dialog box.
• To Change Font Type: Select the font from the Font Style list on the Formatting toolbar or select
Format → Font from the menu and select the font type in the Font dialog box.
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Using Bold, Italics, and Underline
• Format text with bold, italics, or underling by clicking the corresponding button (Bold, Italics, or
Underline) on the Formatting toolbar or by selecting Format → Font from the menu and selecting
the formatting from the Font Style list. You can also press the key and:
for Bold
for Italics
for Underlining.
Changing Paragraph Alignment
• Change a paragraph’s alignment by placing the insertion point in the paragraph and then either
clicking the Align Left, Center, or Align Right button on the Formatting toolbar, or by selecting
Format → Paragraph from the menu and selecting the paragraph alignment from the Alignment
list.
Getting Help by Contents
• Pressing the key displays information on what you’re currently doing.
• To Get help by Contents: Press or select Help from the menu, and click the Contents tab if
necessary. Scroll down the screen and click the topic you’re looking for. Double-click any subtopics
if necessary.
• Click the Back button to move to the previous help screen or topic.
• To Print a Help Topic: Click the Options button and select Print Topic.
Getting Help with the Help Index and Search
• To Use the Help Index: Press or select Help from the menu and click the Index tab and
type the keyword(s) that describe the Help topic you are looking for. Double-click the Help topic
you’re looking for.
• To Search for a Help Topic: Press or select Help from the menu and click the Search tab
and type the keyword(s) that describe the help topic you are looking for. Double-click the Help topic
you’re looking for.
• Clicking the Dialog box’s Help button and then clicking a control with the pointer explains what the
control does.
Saving and Opening Files in Different Locations
• To Save a File in a New Location: Select File → Save As from the menu, open the drive and/or
folder where you want to save the file, and click Save.
• To Save a File in a Different File Format: Select File → Save As from the menu, select the file
format from the Save as type list, and click Save.
Chapter Seven: Working with Program 179
Quiz
1. You can open a program’s menu by: (Select all that apply.)
A. Clicking the menu name with the mouse.
B. Pressing and then the underlined letter in menu.
C. Pressing and then the underlined letter in menu.
D. Saying “Computer, open the (state the name of the menu here) menu”.
2. How can you move the insertion point in WordPad? (Select all that apply.)
A. By pressing the arrows keys on your computer’s keyboard.
B. By using the mouse and clicking where you want to place the insertion point with the
pointer.
C. By selecting the Window → Move Insertion Point command.
D. The insertion point is an immovable object and can’t be moved.
3. Which key deletes text before, or to the left, of the insertion point?
A.
B.
C.
D.
4. Typing overwrites, or replaces, any text that is selected (True or False?)
5. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A. You can undo the last action or mistake you made by clicking the Undo button on the
toolbar or by selecting Edit → Undo from the menu.
B. You can print the file you’re working on by clicking the Print button on the toolbar
or by selecting File → Print from the menu.
C. You should save your work or file whenever you think about it.
D. Files names can contain up to 8 characters.
6. The following will cut selected text or information and place it on the
clipboard (Select all that apply.)
A. Pressing + .
B. Pressing + .
C. Clicking the Cut button on the toolbar.
D. Selecting Edit → Cut from the menu.
7. Unlike cutting, when you copy something, you can’t see it on-screen (True
or False?)
8. Pressing displays Help on what you’re doing (True or False?)
Homework
1. Either insert your Practice Files CD, or navigate to where your practice files are
located. If you don’t know where they are, ask your instructor.
2. Start WordPad. Open the Homework 3 file from your practice files.
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3. Select File → Save As from the menu. Save the “Homework 3” as “Memo” on the
Practice CD in the D: drive, or in your practice files.
4. Move the insertion point to the end of the TO: line, press the and type
“All Staff.”
5. Select the top three address lines.
6. With the top address lines still selected, click the Center button on the Formatting
toolbar to center align them.
7. Select the top “North Shore Travel” line and change the font type to Times New
Roman, the font size to 14 pt., and apply bold formatting.
8. With the top “North Shore Travel” line still selected, press the key to erase
the line. Click the Undo button on the Standard toolbar to undo the deletion.
9. Select the text “Sandra Willes, Communication Director” and copy it by clicking the
Copy button on the Standard toolbar
10. Move to the very end of the document, press the key to add a blank line,
type “Sincerely,” and press four times to add several blank lines.
11. Click the Paste button on the Standard toolbar to paste the text you copied in Step 9.
12. Save your work and exit WordPad.
Quiz Answers
1. A and C. Clicking the menu name or pressing the key and the underlined letter
in the menu will both open a menu.
2. A and B. Either method will move the insertion point.
3. D. The key deletes text before, or to the left, of the insertion point.
deletes text after, or to the right, of the insertion point
4. True. Typing replaces any selected text.
5. D. MS-DOS files had an 8 character limit, but in Windows XP file names can
contain up to 255 characters.
6. B. All the other methods will cut selected text or information and place it on the
clipboard.
Chapter Seven: Working with Program 181
7. True. You can’t see anything happen when you copy something, although it has been
placed in the invisible Windows clipboard behind the scenes.
8. False. is the Windows help key.
Chapter Eight:
Working with Files
and Folders
Chapter Objectives:
• Understanding storage devices, folders, and files
• Using My Computer to navigate through folders and files
• Opening, creating, and renaming files and folders
• Copying, moving, and deleting files and folders
• Restoring a deleted file, and emptying the Recycle Bin
• Changing how information is displayed
• Selecting multiple files and folders
• Finding a file using the Search Companion
• Using Windows Explorer
When you work at a desk, unless you make an effort to stay organized, all your papers and
files begin to pile up and become messy. It takes a little more time, but the same phenomenon
occurs when working with Windows—the files you create using your computer start to
become disorganized, and are harder and harder to find.
In this chapter, you’ll take your first step beyond the Windows basics and enter the world of
file management. You’ll learn how Windows stores information in files and folders, just like a
file cabinet does. You’ll find you will need to clean and organize your files and folders from
time to time, just like you would the contents of a file cabinet. This chapter explains how to
organize your computer by creating folders to store related information, how to move and
copy files between folders, how to delete and rename files and folders, and how to retrieve a
deleted file if you change your mind. You can perform file management using several
different programs—My Computer, Windows Explorer, Files and Settings Transfer Wizard,
and the Open and Save dialog boxes found in most programs.
; Prerequisites
• How to use the mouse
to click, double-click,
drag and drop, and
right-click
• How to use menus,
toolbars, and dialog
boxes
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Lesson 8-1: Understanding
Storage Devices, Folders, and
Files
In order to understand file management, you need to understand how your computer stores
information. Filing cabinets store information in files, which are organized and grouped in
folders and kept in big drawers. Computers also store information in files, which are also
organized and grouped in folders, and stored not in big drawers but on disks. A disk drive is
the part of the computer that reads and writes information onto disks, just like a tape recorder
records and plays music on a cassette. There are four main types of disks/drives computers
use to store their information, as shown in the following table:
Table 8-1: Common Computer Disks/Drives
Type Drive Letter Size Description
Floppy Disk
A or B 1.44 MB Floppy disks are the square plastic things that look
like coffee coasters. Floppy drives can’t hold a lot
of information, but they’re ideal for moving small
files, such as word processing documents,
between computers.
Figure 8-1
How information is stored
in a file cabinet
Figure 8-2
How information is stored
on a disk
Information on a disk is
organized and grouped into
folders or directories.
Taxes
Investments
Letters
Love Letters
Letter to Bill
Letter to Mary
A file cabinet’s information is
organized and grouped into
folders.
A folder may contain several
files and even several
subfolders.
A computer stores
information on disks.
A folder may contain several
files and subfolders.
Figure 8-1
Figure 8-2
Chapter Eight: Working with Files and Folders 185
Type Drive Letter Size Description
Hard Disk
C and above Over 4 GB Hard disks hide permanently inside your computer.
Your computer’s hard disk is its main filing
cabinet—where it stores almost all of its programs
and files.
CD-ROM
D or above 600 MB Compact discs, or CD-ROMs, look like the audio
discs you play in your stereo. CD-ROMs are cheap
and they can store a lot of information, which is
why they’re used to install software for games and
programs with a lot of multimedia. Unlike floppy or
hard disks, most CD-ROMs can only read
information—you can’t save anything on them.
Removable
Drive
D or above Over 100 MB Removable storage drives have features of both
hard disks and floppy disks. Removable drives are
like a floppy drive because they read and write
information on small, removable cassettes that are
about the size of a floppy disk. They are like hard
drives because each cassette can usually hold
more than 100 MB and is almost as fast as a hard
drive.
Most computers come with a floppy drive, a hard drive, and a CD-ROM drive. Your computer
labels these drives with letters, as shown in Table 8-1: Common Computer Disks/Drives.
Just as liquids are measured in quarts and gallons, computers save their information in units
called bytes. Unlike gallons, computers use the metric system, so 1,000 bytes make up a
kilobyte and 1,000,000 (one million) bytes make up a megabyte, as shown in Table 8-2: How
Memory is Measured.
Table 8-2: How Memory is Measured
Term Description Size
Byte A byte can store a single character,
such as the letter j or numeral 8.
A single character.
Kilobyte
(K or KB)
A kilobyte (K) is about 1,000 bytes
(1,024 to be exact). A kilobyte is
equivalent to a page of double-spaced
typing.
1,024 bytes
Megabyte
(MB or MEG)
A megabyte (MB) is about one million
bytes—about as much text as an
average-length novel.
1,048,576 bytes
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Lesson 8-2: Using My Computer to
See What’s in Your Computer
When you want to see what’s in a file cabinet, you simply pull open one of its drawers. You
can view the information stored on your computer’s drives in much the same way—by
opening the drive you want to access. This lesson will show you how to look at the drives,
folders, and files in your computer.
1. Click the Start button and select the My Computer icon.
The My Computer window appears, as shown in Figure 8-3. The main window lists all
the drives on the computer. Since your computer may have different drives, the
contents of your computer may differ from those shown in Figure 8-3. Want to see
what’s inside something? All you have to do is double-click the drive, folder, or file
you want to open.
Notice that My Computer appears in its own window, with its own little buttons, scroll
bars, and menus. The My Computer window works just like the other windows you’ve
been working with. You can move it, resize it, and minimize it.
Figure 8-3
My Computer displays the
drives, folders
(directories), and files that
are in your computer.
Figure 8-4
The Properties dialog box
for a Local Disk (C:) drive.
Figure 8-5
The My Computer toolbar.
Start button
My Computer
Figure 8-3
Figure 8-4
Moves back
or up to the
previous
folder or level
Moves forward
to the last
subfolder or
level
Moves back
or up to the
previous
folder or level
Search for files
and folders on
your computer
or on the
network
Displays a
history of files
you have
opened
recently
Changes how
the contents
of the folder
are displayed
Figure 8-5
Chapter Eight: Working with Files and Folders 187
Quick Reference
To View the Contents of
Your Computer:
• Click the Start button and
click the My Computer
icon.
To View the Contents of a
Disk Drive:
• Follow the above step to
open My Computer and
then double-click the drive
you want to open.
To View the Properties of
Something:
• Right-click the drive,
folder, or file and select
Properties from the
shortcut menu.
2. Double-click the (C:) Local Disk icon.
The contents of the (C:) drive appear in the window. What do all those symbols in the
window mean? Each item you see has an icon, or symbol, to help you identify what
type of item it is. We’ll take a look at what each of these symbols mean in an upcoming
lesson.
To move back to the previous folder or level, click the Up button on the toolbar.
3. Click the Up button on the toolbar to move back to the My Computer
level.
You’ve moved from the (C:) drive back to My Computer. Now that you know the
procedure for displaying the contents of a drive, move on to the next step to display the
properties of the Local Disk (C:) drive.
4. Right-click the (C:) Local Disk icon and select Properties from the
shortcut menu.
The floppy drive hums as Windows examines it. After a moment, the Properties
window appears, as shown in Figure 8-4. The Properties window displays the amount
of used and free space on the disk in megabytes (MB) and gigabytes (GB). Refer to the
previous lesson if you’re unfamiliar with these terms.
5. Close the Properties dialog box by clicking its Close button.
The Properties dialog box closes. Go ahead and close the My Computer window to
complete the lesson.
6. Close the My Computer window.
Getting the hang of opening and exploring your computer? Good, because we’ll be doing a lot
more snooping inside the contents of your computer throughout the rest of this chapter.
Local Disk (C:)
Up button
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Lesson 8-3: Opening a Folder
Your computer stores related files together in folders, just like you do with your file cabinet.
In the previous lesson, you learned how to use My Computer to view the contents of your
computer and open a disk drive and display its contents. In this lesson, we’ll go a little bit
further and show you how to open a folder.
Windows XP gives you your very own a special folder named “My Documents” as a
convenient location to store all your files. Here’s how to open the My Documents folder (and
any other folder).
1. Click the Start button and select My Documents.
The contents of the My Documents—several files and subfolders—appear in the
window. The My Documents folder contains several folders, or subfolders. If you think
about it, you probably do the same thing—keep several subfolders inside a larger
folder—in your own file cabinet.
Figure 8-6
Double-click a folder to
open it and view its
contents.
Figure 8-7
The files and folders
appear in the window.
My Documents
Figure 8-7
The Address bar displays the
name of the current drive and
folder
Figure 8-6
Chapter Eight: Working with Files and Folders 189
Quick Reference
To Open a Folder:
• Double-click the folder.
To Move Back or Up to the
Previous Level or Folder:
• Click the Up button
on the toolbar.
Or…
• Click the Back
button on the toolbar.
Or…
• Click the
Address Bar on the
toolbar and select the
appropriate drive or
folder.
2. Double-click the My Pictures folder.
The contents of the My Pictures folder appear in the Window. Notice the Address bar
displays the current folder you are in: My Pictures.
Instead of clicking the Up button several times to jump back through several levels of
folders, you can click the Address bar to quickly jump to the root directory of any of
drive on your computer.
NOTE: This is where the comparison we’ve been using between a file cabinet and a
computer begins to break down a bit. When you file things in your file
cabinet, you probably never have more than two, possibly three nested
folders (i.e. a folder inside another folder). Your computer’s folders, on the
other hand, can contain as many subfolders as you want, nested as deep as
you want, so you can have a folder inside a folder inside a folder—ad
infinitum.
3. Click the Address Bar arrow .
A list of your computer’s drives and the folder you are currently in appears. You can
click any folder or drive to go to that folder or drive.
4. Select the Local Disk (C:) drive from the list.
You return to the root directory of the (C:) drive. The Address bar is a fast way of
selecting a drive, especially if you are in a folder that is nested several levels deep.
You can think of the Address Bar as your compass because even when you’re exploring
unfamiliar folders nested deep in the far recesses of your computer, it always tells you where
you are. If you get really lost, you can always click the Address Bar and jump back to the
familiar (C:) drive.
All this moving around your computer, opening disk drives and folders is a little boring, but
it’s something you have to get used to if you want to have any degree of proficiency with
Windows. Going back to our trusty file cabinet metaphor, imagine what would happen if you
didn’t know how to open the drawers and folders in your file cabinet. How would you find
your tax returns if you were audited, or your insurance policy if you were in an accident?
Opening disk drives and folders, and being able to navigate through the contents of your
computer are among of the most important Windows skills you can learn.
My Pictures
Address Bar
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Lesson 8-4: Creating and
Renaming a Folder
Windows XP comes with the My Documents folder which you can use to save your files in,
but sooner or later you’ll want to expand your horizons and create your own folders inside the
My Documents folder or on the network to help you better organize your files. This lesson
will show you how to create a new folder to hold and organize your files. You’ll also learn
how to rename an existing folder.
1. Click the Start button and select the My Computer icon.
The My Computer window appears after you click the My Computer icon.
2. Click the Local Disk (C:) icon.
The contents of the (C:) drive appear.
New to Windows XP is the folder task pane which makes working with files and
folders even easier. If the My Computer window is small the contents of the folder task
pane may be hidden from view at first.
Figure 8-8
The expanded File and
Folder Tasks menu
Figure 8-9
A newly created folder
File and Folder
Tasks panel
Other Ways to Create a
Folder:
• Right-click on an empty
area of the (C:) drive
window and select
New → Folder from
the shortcut menu.
Figure 8-8
Figure 8-9
Every Windows XP folder provides
easy access to common file and folder
management tasks. You can select a
file or folder and then click one of the
tasks described in Table 8-3: File and
Folder Tasks.
Chapter Eight: Working with Files and Folders 191
Quick Reference
To Create a New Folder:
1. Open the disk or folder
where you want to place
the new folder.
2. Select Make a new
folder task from the File
and Folder Tasks panel.
Or…
Select File and Folder
Tasks → Make a new
folder from the menu.
Or…
Right-click any empty
area in the window and
select New → Folder
from the shortcut menu.
3. Type a name for the
folder and press .
To Rename a Folder:
• Click the folder to select
it, select Rename
this folder from the Files
and Folders Tasks panel,
type a name for the folder
and press .
Or…
• Right-click the folder,
select Rename from the
shortcut menu, type a
name for the folder and
press .
3. If necessary, click the File and Folder Tasks arrow in the folder task
panel.
The contents of the File and Folder Tasks panel appear.
4. Select Make a new folder task from the File and Folder Tasks panel.
A new folder appears with a temporary name “New Folder” as shown in Figure 8-9.
Now all you have to do is move on to the next step and give the new folder a name.
5. Type Practice Folder as the name for the new folder, and then press
.
Your new Practice Folder is located in the root directory, or first folder, of the
(C:) drive. You can create a folder inside any existing folder the same way—by
opening the folder and then repeating Steps 3-5. You can create as many folders as you
like to develop your own filing system to help organize your files and folders. Open the
Practice Folder to display its contents.
NOTE: A file name can contain up to 255 characters, including spaces. File names
cannot contain the following characters: \ / : * ? " < > |
6. Double-click the Practice Folder to open it.
The contents of the Practice Folder appear in the window. That’s right, there’s nothing
there. The Practice Folder is an empty folder, since you just created it.
7. Click the Up button to move back to the root directory.
You can easily change the name of a folder. Here’s how:
8. Click the Practice Folder icon.
Now let’s rename the folder. Here’s how:
9. Select Rename this folder from the Files and Folders Tasks panel,
type Temp Folder and press .
The “Practice Folder” is renamed “Temp Folder.”
Table 8-3: File and Folder Tasks
Task Description
Make a new folder Creates a new folder.
Rename this folder Gives the selected file or folder a new name.
Move this folder Moves the selected items to the destination you choose.
Copy this folder Copies the selected items to the destination you choose.
Publish this folder to the Web Transfers a copy of the selected items to a public Web page so
that you can share them with other people.
Share this folder Makes the selected folder available to computers on a network
so that other people can access it.
E-mail this folder’s files Sends an e-mail message with copies of the selected items
attached.
Delete this folder Deletes the selected items and sends them to the Recycle Bin.
Other Ways to Rename a
Folder:
• Right-click the folder
and select Rename
from the shortcut menu.
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Lesson 8-5: Copying, Moving, and
Deleting a Folder
You probably don’t reorganize the folders in your file cabinet very often—and you probably
won’t need to move or copy the folders on your computer very often either. When you find
you do need to move or copy a folder however, you can do so by using one of two simple
methods:
• Drag-and-dropping
• Using the File and Folder Tasks panel
You’ll learn how to use both methods in this lesson and how to delete a folder when you no
longer need it.
1. Create a new folder called My Stuff in your (C:) drive.
You learned how to create a folder in the previous lesson.
2. Drag the My Stuff folder to the Temp Folder, as shown in Figure 8-10.
Already forgot how to drag and drop? If so, here it is one more time: position the
mouse over the My Stuff folder, click and hold down the mouse button as you move
the pointer to the Temp Folder, then release the mouse button. The My Stuff folder is
moved inside the Temp Folder. Let’s make sure we really moved the My Stuff folder.
3. Double-click the Temp Folder to open it.
Yep, there’s the My Stuff folder. Here’s another method for moving folders you might
want to know—using Window XP’s blue side panel.
4. Click the My Stuff folder to select it.
Once you have selected the folder you want to move, go to the File and Folder Tasks
menu in the blue side panel.
Figure 8-10
To move a folder, drag it to
a new location on your
computer, in this case to
the Temp Folder.
Figure 8-11
The Move Items dialog
box lets you specify where
you want to move or copy
a file or folder.
To copy a folder, hold
down the key as
you drag the folder to
the new location.
Other Ways to Move a
File or Folder:
• “Cut” the file or folder by
selecting Edit → Cut
from the menu or
pressing + ,
moving to the desired
location and then
“paste” the file or folder
by selecting Edit →
Cut from the menu, or
pressing + .
Figure 8-10 Figure 8-11
Chapter Eight: Working with Files and Folders 193
Quick Reference
To Move a Folder:
• Drag the folder to the
desired location (you
might have to open
another My Computer
window).
Or…
1. Select the folder and click
Move this folder from
the File and Folder Tasks
menu in the side panel.
2. Select the folder or disk
where you want to move
the folder and click OK.
To Copy a Folder:
• Hold down the key
while you drag the folder
to the desired location
(you might have to open
another My Computer
window).
Or…
1. Select the folder and click
Copy this folder from
the File and Folder Tasks
menu in the side panel.
2. Select the folder or disk
where you want to move
the folder and click OK.
To Delete a Folder:
• Select the folder and
press the key.
Click Yes to confirm the
folder deletion.
Or…
• Select the folder and click
Delete this folder from
the File and Folder Tasks
menu in the side panel.
Click Yes to confirm the
folder deletion.
5. Select Move this folder from the File and Folder Tasks menu.
The Move Items dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 8-11. This is where you tell
Windows where you want to move the selected folder. The Move Items dialog box
displays the drives and folders on your computer in a hierarchical view. A plus symbol
( ) or a minus symbol ( ) beside a folder means a folder contains several subfolders.
Normally these subfolders are hidden. You can display the hidden folders within a
folder by clicking the plus sign ( ) beside the folder.
6. Click the Plus Symbol to the left of the My Computer icon.
My Computer expands and displays its contents. The Local Disk (C:) is where you
want to move the My Stuff folder.
7. Click the Local Disk (C:) icon and click OK.
The My Stuff folder is moved from the Temp Folder back to the root directory of the
(C:) drive.
8. Click the Up button on the toolbar to move back to the root directory.
If you can move a folder you can copy a folder—because all you need to do to copy a
folder is hold down the key while you drag the folder to where you want it
copied.
9. Hold down the key while you drag the My Stuff folder to the
Temp Folder.
Although you can’t see it, the My Stuff folder has been copied to the Temp Folder.
Let’s make sure.
10. Double-click the Temp Folder to open it.
The contents of the Temp Folder appear in the window. Sure enough, the My Stuff
folder has been copied.
11. Click the Up button to move back to the root directory.
Next we’ll delete a folder.
12. Click the Temp Folder to select it and then press the key.
A dialog box may appear, asking you to confirm the action.
13. Click Yes to delete the folder.
The Temp Folder and all its contents are deleted and disappear from the window.
Windows places any deleted files or folders in the Recycle Bin in case you change your
mind later on and decide you want to restore the file or folder. We’ll discuss the
Recycle Bin in an upcoming lesson.
NOTE: Deleting a folder can be dangerous. Before you delete a folder, make sure it
doesn’t contain any important files. If you don’t know what the contents of a
folder are, you shouldn’t delete it.
14. Delete the My Stuff folder by repeating the procedure in Steps 12 and 13
and then close the My Computer window.
We’ve worked on copying and moving folders to locations on the same drive, but you can
also copy a folder to a different drive by dragging it to the drive icon where you want it
copied. If you can’t see the drive or folder where you want to move or copy something, you
can open a second My Computer window and drag the folder from one window to the other.
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Lesson 8-6: Opening, Renaming,
and Deleting a File
In the past few lessons, you’ve learned all about folders—how to open, rename, move, copy,
and delete them. In the next couple of lessons, we’ll be working with the files that are stored
in those folders. Working with files is very, very similar to working with folders. So similar, in
fact, that the procedures for opening, renaming, moving, copying, and deleting a file are
exactly the same as opening, renaming, moving, copying, and deleting a folder!
1. Click the Start button and select My Computer.
The My Computer window appears.
2. Navigate to and open your Practice folder or floppy disk.
Every folder window has its own toolbar that make it easy to browse through your
computer’s drives and folders. Two controls on this toolbar are particularly helpful:
• Address List: Click to list the drives on your
computer and the current folder, then select the drive and/or folder whose
contents you want to display.
• Up One Level button: Click to move up one folder.
If necessary, follow your instructor’s directions to select the appropriate drive and
folder where your practice files are located.
3. Find and double-click the Open Me file.
The Open Me file opens in the NotePad program—the program it was created in, as
shown in Figure 8-12. You could review, make changes to, and then save the Open Me
file if you wanted at this point.
4. Click the Notepad program’s close button to close the program and the
Open Me file.
The Notepad program closes.
Figure 8-12
Double-clicking the Open
Me file opens it in the
Notepad program.
Figure 8-13
Select a file to show all
File and Folder Tasks, or
right-click a file to display
a list of things you can do
to it.
Start button
My Computer
Open Me
Figure 8-12
You can rename a file by selecting the
file and clicking Rename this file from
the File and Folder Tasks panel…
…or by right-clicking the file and
selecting Rename from the shortcut
menu. Figure 8-13
Chapter Eight: Working with Files and Folders 195
Quick Reference
To Open a File:
• Double-click the file.
To Rename a File:
• Click the file to select it,
select Rename this file
from the File and Folder
Tasks menu, type a name
for the folder and press
.
Or…
• Right-click the file, select
Rename from the
shortcut menu, type a
name for the folder and
press .
To Delete a File:
• Click the file to select it
and select Delete this file
from the File and Folder
Tasks menu. Click Yes to
confirm the folder
deletion.
• Select the file and press
the key. Click
Yes to confirm the folder
deletion.
You’ve already learned how to rename and delete a folder, so the next few steps should
be really easy for you because you rename and delete a file in exactly the same way.
5. Select the Open Me file.
Now we can rename the Open Me file using the File and Folder Tasks panel.
6. Select Rename this file from the File and Folder Tasks panel, type
Text File as the new name for the folder, then press .
The “Open Me” file is renamed “Text File”.
7. Click the Text File to select it, and then press the key.
A dialog box may appear, asking you to confirm the file deletion.
8. Click Yes to delete the selected file.
The Text File is deleted and disappears from the window. Deleting a file isn’t quite as
dangerous as deleting a folder is, but you should always consider if you might need the
file again. Don’t delete a file unless you’re absolutely sure you will never need it again.
And NEVER delete a file if you don’t know what it is.
9. Close the My Computer window.
Other Ways to Rename a
File:
• Right-click on the file
and select Rename
from the shortcut menu.
Other Ways to Delete a
File:
• Right-click on the file
and select Delete from
the shortcut menu.
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Lesson 8-7: Copying and Moving a
File
The procedure for moving and copying files is no different than moving or copying folders.
This lesson about moving and copying files should be a refresher for you.
1. Click the Start button and select My Computer.
The My Computer window appears.
2. Navigate to and open your Practice folder or floppy disk.
Again, you can use the following toolbar buttons to find your way around your
computer:
• Address List: Click to list the drives on your
computer and the current folder, then select the drive and/or folder whose
contents you want to display.
• Up One Level button: Click to move up one folder.
If necessary, follow your instructor’s directions to select the appropriate drive and
folder where your practice files are located.
When copying or moving files or folders, you may find it easier if you have two
windows open at the same time: one window with the source file(s) and another
window for the destination where you want to move or copy the file(s).
3. Drag the Current Budget file to the Accounting folder.
The Current Budget file is moved to, or inside, the Accounting folder. Open the
Accounting folder to make sure the file was moved.
4. Double-click the Accounting folder to open it.
Sure enough, the Current Budget file has been moved to the Accounting folder.
To copy a file using the drag and drop method, press the key as you drag the file
to a new folder.
Figure 8-14
To move a file, drag the
file to the desired location.
Figure 8-15
The Copy Items dialog
box.
Start button
My Computer
Other Ways to Move or
Copy a file:
• Click the file to select it,
click Edit, and select
Move to or Copy to from
the menu.
Or…
• Right-click the file and
select where you want
to copy the file from the
shortcut menu.
Figure 8-14
Figure 8-15
Chapter Eight: Working with Files and Folders 197
Quick Reference
To Move a File:
• Drag the file to the
desired location (you may
have to open another
window).
Or…
1. Click the file to select it,
and click Move this file
from the File and Folder
Tasks menu.
2. Select the folder where
you want to move the file
and click OK.
Or…
1. Select the file, click Edit
from the menu bar, and
select Move to.
2. Select the folder you want
to move the file to and
click OK.
To Copy a File:
1. Hold down the key
while you drag the file to
the desired location (you
might have to open
another My Computer
window).
Or…
1. Click the file to select it
and select Copy this file
from the File and Folder
Tasks menu.
2. Select the folder where
you want to copy the file
and click OK.
Or…
1. Select the file, click Edit
from the menu bar, and
select Copy to from the
menu.
2. Select the folder where
you want to copy the file
and click OK.
You can also copy files.
5. Click the Current Budget file to select it.
Now that the file is selected, you can move it to a different location.
6. Click Copy this file in the File and Folder Tasks panel.
The Copy Items dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 8-15. Now you can tell
Windows where you want to move the selected file.
The Copy Items dialog box displays the drives and folders on your computer in a
hierarchical view. A plus symbol ( ) or a minus symbol ( ) beside a folder means a
folder contains several subfolders. Normally these subfolders are hidden. You can
display the hidden folders within a folder by clicking the plus sign ( ) beside the
folder.
Now copy the file to the Desktop of your computer.
7. Select Desktop in the Copy Items dialog box and click Copy.
The Current Budget file is copied to your computer’s Desktop.
NOTE: Some people actually do save their most important files to the Desktop so that
they won’t lose them. Just make sure that you don’t save too many files
there—nobody likes a messy desktop!
We don’t want to clutter your computer’s desktop with practice files, so let’s delete the
Current Budget files from the Desktop.
8. Close the file windows.
The windows close, allowing you to view the Desktop and the copied Current Budget
file.
9. Select the Current Budget file and press .
A dialog box appears, asking if you really want to delete the file.
10. Click Yes.
The dialog box closes and the Windows deletes the file.
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Lesson 8-8: Restoring a Deleted
File and Emptying the Recycle Bin
Just like a wastebasket, the Recycle Bin stores all of the files and folders you have deleted. If
you change your mind and decide you need a deleted file, it’s easy to find and retrieve it. This
lesson will show you how to open the Recycle Bin and see what’s inside, restore a previously
deleted file, and empty the Recycle Bin to free up some space on your hard disk.
1. Double-click the Recycle Bin to open it.
The Recycle Bin opens and displays all the files you have recently deleted. If you
accidentally delete a file or folder, you can retrieve it from the Recycle Bin.
2. Find and select the Current Budget file.
You can restore a selected file by selecting Restore this item from the Recycle Bin
Tasks panel. Let’s try it!
3. Select Restore this item from the Recycle Bin Tasks panel.
Restoring a file pulls it out of the Recycle Bin and puts it back in its original location.
4. Close the Recycle Bin window.
Now, make sure the Current Budget file is in its original location.
5. Verify that the Current Budget file has been retrieved to the Desktop.
Okay, you can delete the Current Budget file from the Desktop again, and this time we
won’t restore it.
Figure 8-16
Restoring files and
emptying the Recycle Bin
Figure 8-17
The Recycle Bin shortcut
menu
Recycle Bin contains deleted
files
Recycle Bin does not contain
deleted files
You can also restore
a file by right-clicking
it and selecting
Restore from the
shortcut menu
Empty the
Recycle Bin
Restore all files
in the Recycle
Bin
Figure 8-17
Figure 8-16
Chapter Eight: Working with Files and Folders 199
Quick Reference
To Restore a Deleted File:
1. Double-click the Recycle
Bin to open it.
2. Find and right-click the
deleted file and select
Restore this item
from the Recycle Bin
Tasks menu.
Or…
2. Find and right-click the
deleted file and select
Restore from the shortcut
menu.
To Empty the Recycle Bin:
• Right-click the Recycle
Bin and select Empty
Recycle Bin from the
shortcut menu.
6. Delete the Current Budget file from the Desktop.
There is theoretically a limit to how many deleted files and folders the Recycle bin can
hold. The maximum size of the Recycle bin is normally set 10 percent of the hard
drive. So for example, if you have a 10GB hard drive, the maximum amount of files
the recycle bin could hold would be 1GB. When the Recycle Bin reaches its limit,
Windows automatically starts deleting files from the Recycle bin, starting with the
oldest file.
You can adjust the properties for the Recycle Bin, so you could adjust its maximum
size from 10 percent of the hard drive to 5 percent, by right-clicking the Recycle Bin
and selecting Properties from the shortcut menu.
Usually it’s best to let Windows automatically handle the Recycle Bin, but you can
also manually empty the Recycle Bin if you need more free space on your computer.
7. Double-click the Recycle Bin to open it.
The contents of the Recycle Bin appear.
8. Click Empty the Recycle Bin from the Recycle Bin Tasks panel.
A dialog box may appear and ask you to confirm your deletion.
9. Click Yes if asked to confirm the deletion(s).
All the files and folders are permanently deleted from your computer. Notice the
Recycle Bin icon no longer displays any trash, indicating that it is empty.
NOTE: Be careful when emptying the Recycle Bin. Since Windows automatically
erases the oldest files from the Recycle Bin, you shouldn’t have to manually
empty the Recycle Bin much at all. A lot of users empty the Recycle Bin just
about every time they delete something—and then later kick themselves
because they realize they needed the file they just permanently erased.
One final word about the Recycle Bin—any files you delete from a floppy disk are not placed
in the Recycle Bin. So be extra careful when you’re deleting files from a floppy disk, because
the Recycle Bin won’t be able to restore them.
Other Ways to Empty
the Recycle Bin:
• Right-click the Recycle
Bin and select Empty
Recycle Bin from the
menu, as shown in
Figure 8-17.
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Lesson 8-9: A Closer Look at Files
and Folders
In this lesson, we’ll take a break from all that pointing, clicking, dropping, and dragging and
take a closer look at files. When you’re viewing the contents of your computer, you’ve
probably already noticed that everything has its own picture or icon to represent what it is.
Except for a few exceptions, folder icons always look like little manila folders ( ). Files, on
the other hand, come in a variety of types and icons.
There are two parts to every file: the file name, which you’ve already seen and are familiar
with; and the file extension, a three letter extension that tells Windows what type of file it is
(see Figure 8-19). Since Windows assigns pictures or icons to the types of files it recognizes,
it normally hides these file extensions from view. Whenever you open a file by doubleclicking it, Windows automatically opens the file in the program it knows created the file. For
example, Microsoft Word always adds the file extension DOC to its files, so when you
double-click a DOC file, Windows knows it has to open the file in Microsoft Word.
Another file and folder related term you might hear is path. A path is the drive and folder(s)
where a file or folder is located—think of it as a street address. A path contains the drive
letter, followed by a colon, followed by any folders (which must be separated by
backslashes \), and last comes the name of the file. For example C:\Program
Files\Accessories\WordPad.EXE (see Figure 8-21 for an illustration).
Figure 8-18
Files display different
types of icons to help you
identify what type of file
they are.
Figure 8-19
Every file has a threeletter extension, which is
normally hidden from view,
so Windows knows what
type of file it is.
Figure 8-20
Files with their three-letter
file extensions displayed.
Figure 8-21
A file’s path name is
determined first by the
drive, then by the
folder(s), then by the file
name.
A root folder, or
directory, is the first
folder from which all
the other folders
branch. When you
double-click the C:
Hard Drive icon, the
window shows the
contents of the root
folder of the C drive.
Program Files
Stuff
Windows
Root Folder
(Hard Disk)
Figure 8-18
Figure 8-20
Figure 8-19
Letter to Sue.TXT
File Name
Can be up to 255
characters (although
older MS-DOS programs
will only see the first 8
characters, such as
Letter~1.txt).
File Extension
Usually hidden from
view, these three
characters tell Windows
what type of file it is and
what type of icon to
assign to it.
In the C: drive…
In the Windows folder…
In the Accessories folder…
The WordPad.EXE file
The WordPad.EXE file is located in:
So its path name would be:
C:\Program Files\Accessories\WordPad.EXE
Figure 8-21
Chapter Eight: Working with Files and Folders 201
Table 8-4: Common Files Types
File Description
MS-DOS Program
MS-DOS programs are written for an earlier, more primitive operating system
than Windows. MS-DOS programs don’t have the fancy graphics, icons, and
features of more-advanced Windows programs. All Windows or DOS programs
have .EXE, or sometimes .COM, extensions. EXE stands for executable,
meaning the file is a program that will run or execute when you open it.
Unknown File Type
Windows doesn’t know what type of file this is, so you can’t readily open it by
double-clicking it. That doesn’t mean the file isn’t important – it’s probably a very
important file for Windows or a program. Leave these files alone unless you
absolutely know what they are for.
Word Document
This is a document created in the word processing program, Microsoft Word.
Word documents normally have a .DOC extension.
Excel Workbook
This is a spreadsheet created with the program Microsoft Excel. Excel
spreadsheets normally have a .XLS extension.
Paint File (BMP)
This is a graphic file or picture, which was created in Paint or another graphics
program. These files are also sometimes referred to as bitmaps. The extension
for this particular type of graphic file is BMP or bitmap. There are also other
types of graphic files that use different extensions and icons.
JPEG File
Another very popular graphic file, most of the photographs you see on the
Internet are JPEGs.
Text File
Text or ASCII files are simple files that only contain text – no formatting,
graphics, or any fancy stuff. Text files usually have a .TXT extension.
Shortcut File
Shortcut files point to files and folders elsewhere on your computer so that you
can quickly open that file, folder, or program without having to go to its actual
location. All of the Programs in the Start Menu and some of the items on your
desktop are actually shortcuts that point to the program files, located elsewhere
on your computer. Shortcuts only point to files or folders, so moving, renaming,
or deleting a shortcut does not affect the original program or file in any way. You
can tell the difference between a shortcut and original file because the shortcut
has an arrow ( ) in the lower left corner.
Setup Program File
Setup files are special executable (EXE) program files, except instead of
running a program when opened, they install software programs onto your
computer.
Since Windows assigns pictures to help you distinguish between the different types of files,
normally the three letter file extensions are hidden from view, but you can tell Windows to
display the extension—we’ll cover that when learn how to customize Windows.
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Lesson 8-10: Changing How
Information is Displayed
When you work with files and folders on your computer, you may find that you need to
change how you view information on the screen. This lesson will show you how to change the
appearance of items using one of four view modes: Thumbnails, Icons, Tiles, List, or Details.
Experiment to find the view that works best for you. You’ll also learn how to change the order
in which files and folders are sorted. You can sort the contents files and folders by name, date
(when they were created), size, and type (what type of file they are).
1. Click the Start button and select My Computer.
The My Computer window appears.
2. Navigate to and open your Practice folder or floppy disk.
Windows normally displays items as icons by default.
3. Verify that you are viewing your computer’s contents as icons by
selecting View → Icons from the menu.
You can display more items in a window at a time by using List view. Try switching to
List view now.
4. Select View → List from the menu.
The items are displayed as small icons in a list. Details view displays information
about each item, including the name, size, type of item, and when it was created or last
modified.
5. Select View → Details from the menu.
You can sort items in a variety of ways: alphabetically by name, by size, or even by the
date they were last modified or saved. If you’re in Details view, all you have to do to
sort the items is click the heading for the column you want to use.
6. Click the Name heading to sort the items by name.
The list is sorted alphabetically by name. Clicking the heading again sorts the items in
reverse order (Z-A).
Figure 8-22
A bullet (•) appears next
to the current view. Here
the window is displayed in
Icons view.
Figure 8-23
The window displayed in
Details view
Start button
My Computer
Other Ways to Change
Views:
• Select a view from the
View button list arrow
on the toolbar.
Figure 8-22 Figure 8-23 While in Details view, click the
column heading you want to use to
sort the items. Click the column
heading again to sort the items in
reverse order
Chapter Eight: Working with Files and Folders 203
Quick Reference
To Change How Items are
Displayed:
• Select View from the
menu bar and select from
one of the five view
modes (Thumbnails,
Tiles, Icons, List, or
Details).
Or…
• Select a view from the
View button list arrow
on the toolbar.
To Change How Items are
Sorted:
1. Follow the above step to
display the window in
Details View.
2. Click the column
heading you want to use
to sort the window. Click
the column heading again
to sort in reverse order.
To Automatically Arrange
Icons:
• Select View → Arrange
Icons by → Auto
Arrange from the menu.
7. Select View → Icons from the menu.
You can have Windows arrange and organize items so they appear in neat columns and
rows, instead of a cluttered mess.
8. Select View → Arrange Icons by → Auto Arrange from the menu.
A check mark (9) appears by Auto Arrange when this feature is on. (You can skip step
8 if Auto Arrange already has a check mark). Now, whenever you change the size of a
window, or add, move, or delete a file, Windows will automatically rearrange the
items.
9. Select View → Arrange Icons by → Name from the menu.
The list is sorted alphabetically by name.
Table 8-5: Different Methods of Viewing Items
View Description
Icons
Files and folders are displayed as icons. This is a good view
for when you’re learning how to use Windows or have
trouble clicking a file with the mouse.
Tiles
Files and folders are displayed as icons, but with more
information. The type and size of a file is displayed to the
right of the icon.
List
Files and folders are displayed as small icons in a list. This
is a great default view, because it allows you to see as
many files as possible.
Details
Displays information about every file and folder, such as its
name, size, type, and when it was last modified is
displayed. You can change the order the list is sorted by
clicking the column headings.
Thumbnails
Thumbnails view is useful if you are working with pictures
and graphics because it previews every graphic file instead
of only displaying an unhelpful file name.
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Lesson 8-11: Selecting Multiple
Files and Folders
By now, you know that you must select a file or folder before you can do something to it, such
as move or delete it. In this lesson, you will learn how to select more than one file and/or
folder at a time, so you can move, copy, or delete a group of files at the same time.
1. Navigate to and open your Practice folder or floppy disk.
Again, you can use the following toolbar buttons to find your way around your
computer:
• Address List: Click to list the drives on your
computer and the current folder, then select the drive and/or folder whose
contents you want to display.
• Up One Level button: Click to move up one folder.
If necessary, follow your instructor’s directions to select the appropriate drive and
folder where your practice files are located.
First, let’s review how to select a single file.
2. Click the Paris file to select it.
The Paris file is highlighted, indicating that it is selected. Now you could delete, move,
or copy the Paris file. To deselect a file, just click in any empty area on the window.
Figure 8-24
To select several files that
are next to each other,
hold down the mouse
button and drag a
rectangle around the files
you want to select.
Figure 8-25
When you want to select a
group of consecutive files,
select the first file you
want to select, hold down
the key and click
the last file.
Figure 8-26
Use the key when
you want to select several
random files.
Press and hold
down the
key
while you click
each file you
want to select.
Click the first
file you want to
select, press
and hold down
the key
and click the
last file you
want to select.
1. Move the pointer to
an empty area in the
window.
2. Hold down the mouse button
and drag a rectangle around
the files you want to select.
Figure 8-24
Figure 8-25 Figure 8-26
Chapter Eight: Working with Files and Folders 205
Quick Reference
To Select Multiple Files:
• If the files are next to
each other you can click
and drag a rectangle
around the files you want
to select.
Or…
• If the files are next to
each other you can click
the first file you want to
select, press and hold
down the key and
click the last file you want
to select.
• If the files aren’t next to
each other you can select
random files by holding
the key and
clicking the files you want
to select.
3. Click any empty area of the window to deselect the Paris file.
The Paris file is no longer selected.
You can select more than one file or folder at a time, so you can delete, move, or copy
a whole bunch of files at once. Like so many Windows functions, there are several
methods to select multiple files. If the files you want to select are next to each other,
you can move mouse pointer to empty area on the screen, hold down the mouse button
and drag a rectangle around the files you want to select, as shown in Figure 8-24.
4. Move the pointer to any empty area in the folder window, click and hold
down the mouse button, and drag a rectangle around several files, as
shown in Figure 8-24.
The only problem with this method is that it only works when you want to select files
that are next to each other.
5. Click any empty area of the screen to deselect the files.
Another method of selecting adjacent files and folders is to click the first file you want
to select, hold down the key as you click the last file of the group of files you
want to select.
6. Click the Carbrake file to select it, press and hold the key as you
click the Paris file.
You’ve selected the Carbrake file, the Paris file, and all the files that are in between the
two.
7. Click any empty area of the screen to deselect the files.
To select random, or non-adjacent files and folders, hold down the key, and then
click each item you want to select.
8. Click the Carbrake file to select it, press and hold down the key,
click Paris file, and the Trade Show folder, then release the key.
Remember, you can move, copy, or delete any selected files all at once. Holding down
the key also lets you click and deselect any selected files.
9. With the files still selected, click and drag one of the selected files (the
Carbrake, or Paris files, or the Trade Show folder) from the folder
window to the desktop.
The selected files are copied to the desktop.
10. With the newly copied files still selected on the desktop, press the
key.
The selected files are all deleted from the desktop.
To select all the files and folders in the window, select Edit → Select All from the
menu.
11. Select Edit → Select All from the menu.
All the files in the window are selected.
12. Close the window to end this lesson.
Other Ways to move or
copy a file:
• Click the file to select it,
click Edit, and select
Move to or Copy to from
the menu.
Or…
• Right-click the file and
select where you want
to copy the file from the
shortcut menu.
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Lesson 8-12: Finding a File Using
the Search Companion
It’s just as easy to misplace and lose a file in your computer as it is to misplace your car
keys—maybe easier! Luckily, Microsoft has simplified the search process by introducing the
Search Companion to Windows XP. A cousin of the Office Assistant, the Search Companion
helps you organize your search by asking certain questions, such as what you want to search
for (i.e. picture or file), which drive to search in, and the file name.
The Search Companion can search for files even when you can’t remember the exact file
name or location.
You can search for a file by:
• The file name or any part of the file name
• The date the file was created or modified
• The type of file, such as a Microsoft Word document or graphic file
• The text within the file
• The size of the file
You can set one or several of these criterions to search for a file.
1. Click the Start menu and select Search.
The Search window appears with the Search Companion in the blue side panel, as
shown in Figure 8-27.
The Search Companion will ask you different questions to help you with your search.
For now, let’s search for a music file.
2. Click Pictures, music, or video.
The “Search for all files of a certain type, or search by type and name” dialog box
appears.
Figure 8-27
The Search Companion
guides your search by
asking questions about
your search.
Figure 8-28
Beginning a music file
search
Figure 8-29
The search results window
The Search
Command
3. Finish the search, or refine
the search for better results
Figure 8-27 Figure 8-28
Figure 8-29 2. Enter information
about the file you’re
searching for
1. Choose the category
that describes what
you’re searching for
Chapter Eight: Working with Files and Folders 207
Quick Reference
Use the Search
Companion to Find a File:
1. Select Search from the
Start menu.
2. Click the type of file you
want to search for.
3. Enter part of the file name
or text within the file. You
can also search for files
using the drop-down lists
at the bottom of the dialog
box.
4. Click Search to start
searching for the file(s).
3. Check the Music box, type David Byrne in the text field as shown in
Figure 8-28, and click Search.
The Search Companion begins searching for the file, and displays the names and
locations of all the files it finds that have the words David Byrne in their names. You
can open any of these files by double-clicking them.
4. Double-click the music file.
The music file begins playing in the Windows Media program.
5. Close the Windows Media program.
If you don’t quite remember the file name, you can always search by when you last
modified the file, or by the size of the file. We won’t do a search using these criterion
right now, but we can at least go ahead and get to know where they are a little better.
6. To start a new search, click the Search button on the toolbar.
The first Search Companion dialog box reappears.
7. Click the All Files and Folders option.
A dialog box appears, giving options to search by file name, text within the file,
location of the file, when it was last modified, size of the file, and other advanced
search options to choose from.
8. Type Practice folder in the search options dialog box, and click
Search.
The Search Companion searches for folder, and displays all finds in the results
window.
9. Close the Search Results window.
Table 8-6: Search Options
Search For Description
Pictures, music, or
video
Search for pictures and digital photos (.jpg, .gif, and .bmp) files,
music (.mp3) files, and digital video (.avi and mpeg) files.
Documents (word
processing,
spreadsheet, etc.)
Search for files created with a program, such as Microsoft Access (.mdb),
Microsoft Excel (.xls), Microsoft PowerPoint (.ppt), Microsoft Word (.doc), or
Notepad (.txt)
All files and folders Search for all types of files and folders.
Computer or people Search for computers on your network or the name of a person in your
address book.
Information in Help
and Support Center
Search for information in Microsoft Windows XP’s built-in Help system.
Search the Internet Search the Internet for information on a key word or phrase.
Change Preferences Change your search preferences, such as if you want to display an animated
character or if you want to use advanced search options.
Search button
Search Options
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Lesson 8-13: Using the Folders
Pane (Windows Explorer)
If you have been following the lessons in this chapter and haven’t been skipping ahead, by
now you should know just about everything there is to know about file management. You
learned that you can use the My Computer program to view the contents of your drives, and
how to create, open, rename, copy, move, and delete files and folders.
This lesson introduces the folders pane (Windows Explorer), which you can use to view and
work with the contents of your computer. The folders pane lets you see the organization of all
the folders on your computer, as shown in Figure 8-30. The folder pane is especially useful
for when you want to copy and move files—you can drag the files from the left pane to the
appropriate folder in the right pane. To view the folders pane, simply click the Folders button
from anywhere in My Computer.
If you’re a Windows 95, 98, or NT user, the folder pane replaces Windows Explorer; click the
Folders button anytime you want to view or work with the folders on your computer.
1. Click My Computer from the Start menu.
The familiar My Computer window appears. In Windows XP you can view the My
Computer folders pane at any time—all you have to do is click the Folders button on
the toolbar.
2. Click the Folders button on the toolbar
The Windows Explorer folder pane appears. The drives and folders in the right pane of
the window are the contents of your computer. You can see what’s in a drive or folder
by clicking it in the left Folders pane.
Figure 8-30
The Windows Explorer
window
A plus symbol ( ) next
to a folder indicates
that all the subfolders
it contains are hidden.
Click the plus symbol
to display the hidden
subfolders.
A minus symbol ( )
next to a folder
indicates that all the
subfolders it contains
are displayed. Click
the minus symbol to
collapse or hide the
subfolders.
The left pane displays
the folders and drives
on your computer
The right pane displays the contents of
the folder or drive you selected. This pane
works just like My Computer
To display the contents of
a folder or drive, click the
name of the folder or
drive
Figure 8-30
Click the Folders button
to display/hide the
Folders pane
Chapter Eight: Working with Files and Folders 209
Quick Reference
To Display the Folders
Pane (Windows Explorer):
• Open My Computer and
click the Folders button
on the toolbar.
To View the Contents of a
Drive or Folder:
• Click the drive or folder in
the left folder pane—the
contents of that drive or
folder will appear in the
right pane.
To Display or Hide a Drive
or Folder’s Subfolders:
• Click plus symbol ( ) to
display any hidden
subfolders, click the
minus symbol ( ) to hide
any subfolders.
To Adjust the Size of
Windows Explorer’s
Panes:
• Drag the bar separating
the two panes to the right
or left.
3. Click My Documents in the left pane of the Explorer window.
Explorer displays the contents of My Documents in the right pane of the window, as
shown in Figure 8-30. Move on to the next step and we’ll look at the contents of the
hard drive.
4. Click the Local Disk (C:) in the left pane of the Explorer window.
Explorer displays the contents of the hard drive in the right pane of the window. The
left pane of Windows Explorer displays the drives and folders in a hierarchical view. A
plus symbol or a minus symbol beside a folder means a folder contains several
subfolders. Normally these subfolders are hidden. You can display the hidden folders
within a folder by clicking the plus sign beside the folder.
5. Click the plus symbol beside the Windows folder.
The Windows folder expands and displays all the folders within it. The plus symbol
changes to a minus symbol, indicating the folder is expanded and is displaying all the
folders within it. Notice some of the Windows subfolders also have pluses by them,
indicating that they contain several subfolders.
6. Click the Windows folder in the left pane of the Explorer window to
select it.
The contents of the Windows folder appear in the right pane of the Explorer window.
Notice the subfolders in the Windows folder are displayed in both the left and right
panes.
You can collapse or hide folders to reduce the amount of information that is on the
screen. To collapse a folder, click the minus sign beside the folder.
7. Click the minus symbol beside the Windows folder.
The Windows folder collapses all its subfolders are hidden from view. The minus
symbol changes to a plus symbol, indicating that all the subfolders in the Windows
folder are hidden from view.
You can adjust the size of either pane of the window.
8. Position the mouse over the bar separating the two sides of the window
until the pointer changes to a , then drag the bar to the right or left
about a half-inch.
Just like in My Computer, you can change how information is displayed by using the
View menu.
9. Select View → Icons from the menu.
The contents in the right pane of Explorer are displayed in Icon View.
10. Select View → List from the menu.
The contents in the right pane of Explorer are displayed in List View.
It’s important to remember that the right pane is still My Computer, so the procedures for
creating, opening, renaming, moving, copying, and deleting files and folders are exactly the
same.
If there isn’t a symbol
next to a folder, the
folder does not
contain any subfolders,
although it may still
contain files.
The mouse pointer
changes shapes over a
border.
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Lesson 8-14: File Management
Using the Folders Pane
In this lesson, you’ll learn how to perform basic file management in the folders pane.
Specifically, you’ll move a file and create a new folder. Again, although the folders pane
looks a little different than the rest of the My Computer screen, all the file management
procedures you’ve learned work exactly the same. If you’ve followed the other lessons, this
should be one of the easiest lessons in the chapter.
1. Make sure My Computer is open with the Folders pane displayed.
Remember that all you have to do to view the Folders pane is click the Folders button
on the toolbar.
2. Click the Local Disk (C:) drive icon in the left Folders pane.
The contents of the (C:) drive appear in the right pane of My Computer, and it expands
in the left pane to show its subfolders.
3. Click the plus symbol beside the Practice folder to display its contents.
The folder expands and displays all the files inside it, and the plus symbol ( ) changes
to a minus symbol. Since you can see all the files in the right pane, it’s much easier to
move and copy files and folders.
4. Hold down the key while you click and drag the Open Me file to
the Accounting folder, as shown in Figure 8-31.
It doesn’t matter if you drag and drop the Open Me file to the Accounting folder in the
left pane or the right pane—they’re both the same folder. The Open Me file is copied to
the Accounting folder. Move on to the next step and let’s see if you can create a new
folder while the Folders pane is displayed.
5. Create a new folder named 2002 in the root directory of the (C:) drive.
Need a refresher on how to create a folder? First you need to click the (C:) drive in the
left folder pane to select it and display its contents in the right pane. Next, click Make a
new folder from the File and Folder Tasks menu in the blue side bar, type 2002, and
press .
Figure 8-31
You can move and copy
files using drag and drop
in Windows Explorer.
Figure 8-31
Chapter Eight: Working with Files and Folders 211
Quick Reference
To Open a File or Folder:
• Double-click the file or
folder.
To Move a File or Folder:
• Drag the file or folder to
the desired location in
either pane of the window.
To Copy a File or Folder:
• Hold down the key
while you drag the file or
folder to the desired
location in either pane of
the window.
To Create a New Folder:
1. Click the disk or folder
where you want to put the
new folder.
2. Click Make a new folder
in the File and Folder
Tasks menu.
3. Type a name for the
folder and press .
To Delete a File or Folder:
• Select the file or folder
and press the
key. Click Yes to confirm
the deletion.
To Rename a File or
Folder:
• Right-click the file or
folder, select Rename
from the shortcut menu,
type the new name and
press .
6. Move the 2002 folder in the root directory of the (C:) drive to the
Accounting folder by dragging the 2002 folder from the right pane to
the Accounting folder in the left pane.
Verify that the 2002 folder was moved inside the Accounting folder.
7. Click the plus symbol beside the Accounting folder to display the files
in the Accounting folder.
The Accounting folder expands and displays all the folders inside it. Try deleting a
folder using Windows Explorer—you already know the technique.
8. Click the 2001 folder to select it, press the key, and then
confirm the deletion.
It doesn’t matter if you use the left or right pane to select a folder—they’re the same
folder, and you can rename, copy, move, and delete folders in either pane of the
window.
9. Close the My Computer window to end this lesson.
Congratulations! You’ve just about completed what is probably the most difficult chapter in
the book. Move on to the review sections and see how much you’ve learned.
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Chapter Eight Review
Lesson Summary
Understanding Storage Devices, Folders, and Files
• Computers store information using files and folders, on disks drives, just like you store information
in a file cabinet.
• Know the following memory terminology:
Term Size
Byte A single character such as the letter j or number 8.
Kilobyte (K or KB) 1,024 bytes – a typed page.
Megabyte (MB or MEG) 1,048,578 bytes – a novel.
Gigabyte (GB or GIG) Several encyclopedia sets.
Using My Computer to See What’s in Your Computer
• Double-click the My Computer icon on the Windows Desktop displays the contents of your
computer.
• Double-click a disk drive in the My Computer window to display the disk drive’s contents.
• To View the Properties of Something: Right-click the object and select Properties from the
shortcut menu. For example, right-clicking a hard drive and selecting Properties from the shortcut
menu would display how much space is left on the hard disk.
Opening a Folder
• Double-click a folder to open it and display its contents.
• To Move Back or Up to the Previous Level or Folder: Click the Up button on the toolbar, click
the Back button on the toolbar, or click the Address Bar on the toolbar and select the appropriate
drive or folder.
Creating and Renaming a Folder
• To Create a New Folder: Open the disk or folder where you want to put the new folder. Select
Make a new folder task from the File and Folder Tasks panel, or, right-click any empty area in
the window and select New → Folder from the shortcut menu, or select File → New → Folder
from the menu. Type a name for the folder and press .
• To Rename a Folder: Click the folder to select it, select Rename this folder from the Files
and Folders Tasks panel, type a name for the folder and press .You can also rename a
folder by clicking the folder to select it, selecting File → Rename from the menu, typing a name for
the folder and pressing .
Chapter Eight: Working with Files and Folders 213
Copying, Moving, and Deleting a Folder
• Move a Folder (Drag and Drop Method): Move a folder by dragging it to the desired location,
such as another folder or on the desktop (you might have to open another My Computer window if
you want to copy it to another folder).
• Move a Folder: Click the folder to select it and click Move this folder from the File and Folder
Tasks menu, select the folder or disk where you want to move the folder and click OK.
• Copy a Folder (Drag and Drop Method): Hold down the key while you drag the folder to
the desired location (you might have to open another My Computer window if you want to copy it to
another folder).
• Copy a Folder: Click the folder to select it, click Copy this folder from the File and Folder
Tasks menu, select the folder or disk where you want to move the folder and click OK.
• To Delete a Folder: Select the folder and press the key. Click Yes to confirm the folder
deletion.
Opening, Renaming, and Deleting a File
• Double-click a file to open the file in the program that created it.
• To Rename a File: Click the file to select it, select Rename this file from the Files and Folders
Tasks panel, enter the file’s new name and press . Or, right-click the file, select Rename
from the shortcut menu, type a name for the folder and press . You can also rename a file
by clicking the file to select it, selecting File → Rename from the menu, typing a name for the
folder and pressing .
Copying and Moving a File
• You can copy and move files the same as you copy and move folders.
• Move a File: Click the file to select it and click Move this file from the File and Folder Tasks
menu, select the folder or disk where you want to move the file and click OK.
• Copy a File (Drag and Drop Method): Hold down the key while you drag the file to the
desired location (you might have to open another My Computer window if you want to copy it to
another folder).
• Copy a File: Click the file to select it, click Copy this file from the File and Folder Tasks menu,
select the folder or disk where you want to move the file and click OK.
• To Copy a File or Folder to a Floppy Disk: Right-click the file or folder and select Send To →
3½ Floppy (A:) from the shortcut menu.
Restoring a Deleted File and Emptying the Recycle Bin
• To Restore a Deleted File: Double-click the Recycle Bin to open it. Click the file to select it and
click Restore this file from the Recycle Bin Tasks menu. Or, right-click the deleted file and
select Restore from the shortcut menu.
• To Empty the Recycle Bin: Right-click the Recycle Bin and select Empty Recycle Bin from the
shortcut menu.
A Closer Look at Files and Folders
• There are two parts to a file: the file name, which can be up to 255 characters and the file
extension, which is three characters long and tells Windows what type of file it is.
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Changing how Information is Displayed
• To Change How Items are Displayed: Select View from the menu and select one of the five view
modes or select a view from the View button list arrow on the toolbar.
• The five view modes are Thumbnails, Tiles, Icons, List, and Details.
Selecting Multiple Files and Folders
• By selecting multiple files and folders you can move, copy, or delete a group of files and folders all
at once.
• If the files are next to each other you can click and drag a rectangle around the files you want to
select.
• If the files are next to each other you can click the first file you want to select, press and hold down
the key, and click the last file you want to select.
• If the files aren’t next to each other you can select random files by holding the key and
clicking the files you want to select.
Finding a File Using the Search Companion
• To Find a File: Click the Start button and select Search from the Start menu. Use the Search
Companion to enter information (file name, size, type, text within the file, date it was last modified,
etc.) about the file you’re searching for.
Using the Folders Pane (Windows Explorer)
• The folders pane lets you view and manage the contents of your computer. This was a separate
program called Explorer in previous versions of Windows.
• To Display the Folders Pane: Open My Computer and click the Folders button on the toolbar.
• A plus symbol ( ) next to a folder indicates that all the subfolders it contains are hidden. Click the
plus symbol to display the hidden subfolders.
• A minus symbol ( ) next to a folder indicates that all the subfolders it contains are displayed. Click
the minus symbol to collapse or hide the subfolders.
• No symbol next to a folder indicates that the folder does not contain any subfolders, although it
may still contain files.
• To View the Contents of a Drive or Folder: Click the drive or folder in the left folder pane—the
contents of that drive or folder will appear in the right pane.
• To Adjust the Size of Windows Explorer’s Panes: Drag the bar separating the two panes to the
right or left.
File Management Using the Folders Pane
• To Open a File or Folder: Double-click the file or folder.
• To Move a File or Folder: Drag the file or folder to the desired location in either pane of the
window.
• To Copy a File or Folder: Hold down the key while you drag the file or folder to the desired
location in either pane of the window.
Chapter Eight: Working with Files and Folders 215
• To Create a New Folder: Click the disk or folder where you want to put the new folder, right-click
any empty area in the window and select New → Folder from the shortcut menu. Type a name for
the folder and press .
• To Delete a File or Folder: Right-click the file or folder, select Delete from the shortcut menu, type
the new name and press Yes.
Quiz
1. Computers store information on which types of disks? (Select all that
apply.)
A. Floppy disks.
B. Hard disks.
C. Compact discs (CD-ROMs).
D. Removable disks.
2. Drives are named with one letter. Most computers have a floppy disk called
(A:) and a hard disk called (C:). (True or False?)
3. The purpose of your computer’s folders is to: (Select all that apply).
A. Lose your important files.
B. Store related files and programs in the same place.
C. Make it difficult to delete things unless you really know what you’re doing.
D. Organize related files and information on your computer.
4. .TXT, .DOC, and .BMP — these are all examples of:
A. Three meaningless letters with a period in front of them.
B. File extensions.
C. Types of advanced degrees in computers.
D. How confusing computers are.
5. Which program(s) can you use to view and manage the contents of your
computer? (Select all that apply.)
A. Netscape Navigator.
B. My Computer.
C. System Sleuth.
D. Windows Explorer.
6. You open a file or folder by double-clicking it. (True or False?)
7. Do this to display the contents of a certain drive or folder:
A. Right-click the drive or folder.
B. Click the drive or folder while holding down the key.
C. Double-click the drive or folder.
D. Triple-click the drive or folder.
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8. To view an object’s properties, right-click the object and select Properties
from the shortcut menu. (True or False?)
9. When you’re browsing the contents of your computer, do this to move back
or up to the previous level or folder. (Select all that apply.)
A. Click the Up button on the toolbar.
B. Click the Back button on the toolbar.
C. Press + .
D. Click the Address Bar on the toolbar and select the appropriate drive or folder.
10. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A. You can move a file or folder to a new location by dragging and dropping it.
B. You can rename a file or folder by right-clicking it, selecting Rename from the
shortcut menu, typing the new name and pressing .
C. A plus symbol ( ) next to a folder in Windows Explorer indicates the folder is
locked and cannot be modified or deleted.
D. Holding down the key while you’re dragging and dropping something copies
it instead of moving it.
11. Delete a file or folder by clicking it, pressing the key, and
confirming the deletion. (True or False?)
12. Do this to select multiple files and folders: (Select all that apply.)
A. Click and drag a rectangle around any adjacent files you want to select.
B. Select File → Select Multiple Files from the menu, and then click the files you want
to select.
C. Click the first file you want to select, press and hold down the key and click
the last file you want to select.
D. Hold down the key and click the files you want to select.
13. Which of the following statements is NOT true? (Select all that apply.)
A. You can find a file on your computer by clicking the Start button, selecting Search,
enter what you want to search for using the Search Companion and click Search.
B. Open Windows Explorer by clicking the Start button and selecting All Programs →
Windows Explorer.
C. To save a file in a location other than the program’s default folder you have to save
the file, then use My Computer or Windows Explorer to move the file to the desired
location.
D. You can display the contents of a drive or folder using Thumbnails, Tiles, Icons, List,
or Details View.
14. The three-letter extension of a file is normally displayed in Windows XP.
(True or False?)
Homework
1. Open My Computer.
2. View the contents of your Local Disk (C:).
3. Create a new folder in the root directory of your Local Disk (C:).
Chapter Eight: Working with Files and Folders 217
4. Name the new folder “Project Files.”
5. Insert a floppy disk in the (A:) drive and copy the Project Files folder there.
6. Delete the Project Files folder from the (C:) drive.
7. Open the Recycle Bin and find the deleted Project Files folder. Do you know how to
retrieve it?
8. Open Windows Explorer and view the contents of the (A:) drive.
9. Use the Windows Explorer View menu to display the contents of the (A:) drive in
List view.
10. While you're still in List view, sort the files in alphabetical order.
11. Use the Start menu's Search feature to find all the files named "readme.txt" on your
(C:) drive. Open one of these files by double-clicking it.
Quiz Answers
1. A, B, C, and D. Computers can store their information on any of these disk types.
2. True.
3. B and D.
4. B. File extensions, which are used to identify the file type.
5. B and D. My Computer and Windows Explorer both display the contents of your
computer and allow you to manage your computer’s files and folders.
6. True. Double-clicking a file or folder opens it.
7. C. Double-click a folder to open it and display its contents.
8. True. Right-clicking an object and selecting Properties from the shortcut menu
displays the properties of the object.
9. A, B, and D. Any of these will bring you back to the previous level or folder.
10. C. A plus symbol ( ) next to a folder in Windows Explorer means the folder
contains subfolders.
11. True.
12. A, C, and D. You can use any of these methods to select multiple files and folders.
13. C. You can easily save a file in a different location by opening the drive and/or folder
where you want to save the file and clicking Save.
14. False. File extensions are normally hidden in Windows XP.
Chapter Nine:
Exploring the
Internet
Chapter Objectives:
• Understand and connect to the Internet
• Find a specific Web page
• Browse and search the Web
• Add Web pages to Favorites
• Change your Home page
• Display a history of visited Web pages
• Download pictures and software
• Use e-mail
Unless you’ve been living on a deserted island for the past five years, you already know that
the Internet is the biggest thing to happen to computers since… well, computers! You can’t
ignore it—the Internet is not going away and it’s already changing the world we live in.
Fortunately, for the most part, the Internet is incredibly easy to use. Even the most
computer-phobic users seem to feel right at home on the Internet.
This chapter explains the ins and outs of the Internet. If you’ve ever spent a sleepless night
wondering exactly what the Internet is and how it got started, you’ll finally learn it all. Then
you’ll learn how to get your computer connected to the Internet and how to surf the Web
using the Windows XP Internet Explorer. You’ll also learn some useful tips like how to search
for information, how to save your favorite Web pages so that you can easily come back to
them later, and how to change the Web page that first appears when you connect to the
Internet. Finally, you’ll learn how to download software, and send and receive e-mail.
; Prerequisites
• How to use the mouse
to click, double-click,
drop-and-drag, and
right-click
• How to start programs
in the Start Menu
• How to use menus,
toolbars, and dialog
boxes
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Lesson 9-1: Introduction to the
Internet
The Internet is the largest computer network in the world. It consists of millions of computers
all over the planet, all connected to each another.
The Internet was born in the 1960’s when the United States military worried that a nuclear
bomb could destroy its computer systems (there weren’t many of them back then). So it
placed several computers far apart from each other and connected them with some super-fast
telephone lines so that the computers could talk to each other. If a nuclear bomb blew up one
computer, another computer could instantly take over; thus, the computer network wouldn’t
go down. Years passed and other organizations, such as colleges and universities, started
connecting their computers to this growing network to share information.
Although the Internet has been around a long time, it wasn’t until the 1990’s that someone
thought of a wonderful idea called the World Wide Web. The World Wide Web is what you
probably think of when you think of the Internet, although it’s really just a part of the Internet.
The Web consists of millions of documents that are stored on hundreds of thousands of
computers that are always connected to the Internet. These documents are called Web pages,
and you can find Web pages on every subject imaginable—from your local newspaper to
online catalogs to airline schedules, and much, much more.
Web pages are stored on Web servers. A Web server is a computer, not unlike your own
computer, only bigger and faster. There are hundreds of thousands of Web servers located all
over the world. Web servers are always connected to the Internet so that people can view their
Web pages 24 hours a day.
So what can you do once you’re connected to the Internet? Plenty. Table 9-1: What Can I do
on the Internet? shows just a few of the many things there are to do on the Internet.
Figure 9-1
The Internet is the largest
network in the world,
consisting of millions of
computers, all over the
world, all connected
together.
Figure 9-2
Web pages are stored on
Web servers—computers
that are permanently
connected to the Internet.
WWW
Amazon
WWW
Figure 9-1
Figure 9-2
Headlines
Chapter Nine: Exploring the Internet 221
Table 9-1: What Can I do on the Internet?
Task Description
Send and Receive
E-mail
Exchanging electronic mail (or e-mail) is the most used and most popular
feature on the Internet. Just like regular paper mail, you can send and
receive e-mail with people around the world, as long as they have access
to a computer and the Internet. Unlike regular paper mail, e-mail is usually
delivered to its destination almost instantly.
Browse the World Wide
Web
The World Wide Web is what most people think of when then think of the
Internet—although it’s really only a part of the Internet. The World Wide
Web is an enormous collection of interconnected documents stored on
Web servers all over the world. The World Wide Web has information on
every subject imaginable.
Join online discussions
with newsgroups
Newsgroups are discussion groups on the Internet that you can join to read
and post messages to and from people with similar interests. There are
thousands of newsgroups on topics such as computers, education,
romance, hobbies, politics, religion, and more.
Chat with other online
users
Chatting lets you communicate with people on the Internet instantly—no
matter how far away they are! Most chats are text-based, meaning you
have to type when you converse with people on the Internet. A growing
number of chats have voice and even video capabilities—all without having
to pay long distance changes.
Download software You can download pictures, demo programs, patches and drivers for your
computer, and many other types of files and save them to your computer.
Listen to music and
watch videos
You can listen to sound on the Web, such as radio stations, or music by
your favorite artists.
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Lesson 9-2: Connecting to the
Internet
There are three things you’ll need to connect to the Internet:
• An Internet Service Provider (ISP): An Internet Service Provider is a lot like a
phone company, except instead of letting you make telephone calls to other people, an
Internet Service Provider lets your computer connect to the Internet. Just like your
telephone company, Internet Service Providers charge for their services— currently the
average rate seems to be about $20 a month for unlimited usage. You’ve probably already
heard of the most famous Internet Service Provider—America Online, or AOL.
• A Web Browser: A Web browser is a program that lets your computer view and
navigate the World Wide Web. One of the biggest improvements in Windows XP is that it
comes with a built-in Web browser—Internet Explorer. Another Web browsing program
that is very popular is Netscape Navigator.
Figure 9-3
Microsoft’s Internet
Connection Wizard will set
you up with an Internet
Service Provider.
Figure 9-4
The Dial-up Connection
dialog box
Figure 9-5
The Internet Start Web
page
Internet Explorer
Other Ways to Open
Internet Explorer:
• Click the icon on
the Windows Quick
Launch toolbar.
Figure 9-3
Figure 9-4
Figure 9-5
Chapter Nine: Exploring the Internet 223
Quick Reference
To Connect to the
Internet:
1. Double-click the
Internet Explorer
icon on the desktop.
Or…
Click the Internet
Explorer icon on the
Quick Launch toolbar.
2. If necessary, enter your
user name and password
and click Connect.
• A Phone Line and Modem or Other Connection: A modem is your computer’s
very own telephone that lets it talk to other computers over the telephone line. Your
existing phone line will work just fine with your modem, although it will be tied up
whenever you’re connected to the Internet. If you or someone in your home is a heavy
Internet user, you might consider getting a second phone line for your computer. If you
have the Internet at work, you might have a network connection to the Internet, which is
much, much faster than a modem and is connected to the Internet 24 hours a day.
1. Double-click the Start menu and then click Internet Explorer to start
Internet Explorer.
If you have America Online, you would double-click the America Online icon, instead.
If you’re already set up with an Internet provider, the Dial-up Connection dialog box
appears, as shown in Figure 9-4.
If this is the first time you’ve ever tried connecting to the Internet, you may be greeted
by the Internet Connection Wizard, as shown in Figure 9-3. Microsoft included the
Internet Connection Wizard to help you get connected to the Internet and find an
Internet Service Provider. If you want, you can follow the step-by-step instructions and
let the Internet Connection Wizard help find you a Internet Service Provider—or you
can find your own. Ask a computer-savvy friend or an employee at a local computer
store for the name and number of a local Internet Service Provider. Once you are set up
with an Internet Service Provider, come back finish the rest of this lesson.
2. Enter your User name and Password, if necessary, and click Connect.
If you have previously entered your user name and password and checked the Save
password option, the user name and password characters will already appear in their
respective text boxes. (Your password will appear masked by asterisks.)
If you listen to your computer, you should hear a dial tone, then your modem dial the
phone, and finally a screeching sound as your ISP answers the phone.
NOTE: If you’re connected to the Internet through a network at work, an ISDN or
DSL line, or a cable modem, you won’t hear anything at all, since these are all
digital connections. Actually, it would probably pay off if you checked if the
Internet is available in your area by cable or DSL connections. If it is, it’s
probably worth the extra ten or twenty dollars a month to get a connection to
the Internet that is at least ten times faster than a standard phone connection.
Plus, you don’t have to worry about people getting busy signals when you’re
using the Internet.
After a connection to the Internet has been established, Internet Explorer appears on
screen and displays your home page.
A home page is the page your Web browser displays when it connects to the Internet. The
default start page for Microsoft Internet Explorer is Microsoft’s start page (what else did you
think it would be?), but you can easily change your default start page—more about that in
another lesson.
This icon appears on
the taskbar whenever
your computer is
connected to the
Internet via modem.
Point to the icon and
wait a few seconds to
see what your
connection speed to
the Internet is.
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Lesson 9-3: Displaying a Specific
Web Page
Web addresses are everywhere—on television advertisements, in magazine and newspaper
articles, and even on business cards. These www.something.com’s you’ve seen and heard so
much about are URLs (if you really want to know, URL stands for Uniform Resource
Locator). Just like there is a house, office, or building behind a postal address, there is a Web
page behind every Web address. Unlike postal addresses, through the magic of technology,
you can arrive instantly at a Web page by typing its Web address, or URL, into your Web
browser. Well, hopefully instantly… if you’ve already been on the Internet for any amount of
time, you probably know that sometimes the Internet gets busy and net congestion can cause a
Web page to come up slowly—if at all! This lesson will show you how to visit the Web sites
behind all the Web addresses you’ve seen.
Figure 9-6
The Microsoft Web site.
Figure 9-7
When a Web page is
currently unavailable, this
screen is displayed in
Internet Explorer.
Other Ways to Enter an
Internet Address:
• Press → .
Address bar
Type the address of the Web
page you want to view here
and press .
Figure 9-6
Figure 9-7
Chapter Nine: Exploring the Internet 225
Quick Reference
To Display a Specific Web
Page:
• Type the Web address in
the
Address bar and press
.
Or…
• Press Ctrl → , type
the Web address, and
press OK.
1. Connect to the Internet.
It doesn’t matter where you are on the Internet—you can always enter a Web address.
2. Click the words in the Address bar.
The text in the Address bar becomes highlighted.
3. Type the address of the Web page you want to view; in our example we’ll
use www.microsoft.com and press .
Web addresses are preceded by http://. For example, the address we want is
http://www.startribune.com. Technically, you don’t need to add the http:// before typing
the Web address—save yourself some time and leave it out.
NOTE: If you forget the www in front of a Web address or a .com an Internet
Explorer called IntelliSense® attempts to correct the Web address by adding
the www or .com for you. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.
After a moment, you’re connected to the Minneapolis Star Tribune Web site, as shown
in Figure 9-7 (though hopefully your headlines won’t be as out-of-date!). Let’s try
going to another Web site.
4. Type www.yahoo.com in the Address bar and press .
Possibly the most famous Web site on the Internet, the Yahoo home page, appears.
Sometimes when you’re browsing the Web, you’ll see a screen like one in Figure 9-6. This
means the Web site is unavailable. Several things can cause a Web page not to load:
• The computer where the Web page is stored is down.
• Too many users are trying to view the same Web page at the same time.
• You’ve lost your connection to the Internet.
• The Web page no longer exists, or maybe it never existed in the first place (did you type
in the correct Web address?).
For all these cases, try going to the Web site again later. Whatever was causing the problem
might be fixed a few minutes or hours later.
You can leave off the
http:// when you type
a Web page address.
For example, type
www.nbc.com instead
of
http://www.nbc.com.
Address Bar
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Lesson 9-4: Browse the Web
Luckily, the World Wide Web is remarkably easy to navigate. It’s so easy, in fact, that most
users seem to have an uncanny ability to browse through Web pages without any previous
training—even if they have difficulty with other computer programs. This chapter explains
how to find your way through the millions of Web pages that are on the Internet. Even if you
already think you have browsing down, you should read this chapter—you might learn a trick
or two you didn’t know.
1. Make sure your Web browser is open so that you’re connected to the
Internet.
Hopefully you know how to do this by now!
2. Go to the Yahoo home page by clicking the Address bar, typing
www.yahoo.com, and pressing .
The Yahoo home page fills the screen. Many of the underlined words and pictures you
see on the Yahoo page are actually hyperlinks. When you position the pointer over a
hyperlink, it changes to a . Clicking a hyperlink will automatically:
• Take you to a different page within the same Web site.
• Take you to a different page in a different Web site.
• Take you to a different part of the same Web site.
Figure 9-8
The Internet Explorer
toolbar
Figure 9-9
The Yahoo home page
Back button
Tip: Instead of
repeatedly clicking the
Back and Forward
buttons, you can click
their down arrows to
display a list of
previous Web pages.
Brings you back to
the previously
viewed Web page
Brings you
forward to the
next viewed Web
page
Stops loading a
Web page
Reloads or
refreshes the
current Web
page
Brings you to
your home
page
Search the
Web for
specified
information
Shows your favorite
Web pages that
you bookmarked
Find Web
pages
you've
recently
visited
Prints the current
Web page
Opens your
e-mail program
Figure 9-8
Figure 9-9
Click the to display a list of Web
sites that you have typed in.
Brings
you to
your
media
folders
Chapter Nine: Exploring the Internet 227
Quick Reference
To Use a Hyperlink:
• Click the hyperlink with
the pointer.
To Go Back to the
Previous Page:
• Click the Back button on
the toolbar.
To Stop the Transfer of
Information:
• Click the Stop button on
the toolbar.
To Refresh a Web Page:
• Click the Refresh button
on the toolbar.
To Return to a Web
Address you Typed in the
Address Bar:
• Click Address bar’s
arrow and select the
Web address.
• Allow you to download a file.
• Send an e-mail to a specified e-mail address.
• Play a video or sound.
3. Position the pointer over the What’s New icon near the top of the Yahoo
page.
The pointer changes into a anytime it is over a link. Remember, links can be either
text or pictures.
4. Click the What’s New icon or text.
The What’s New Web page connected to the link appears. Notice the address bar
displays the address of the new Web page, http://www.yahoo.com/new/. You can easily
move back to the previous Web page.
5. Click the Back button on the toolbar.
You’re back at the Yahoo home page. The Forward button moves forward through the
Web pages you have viewed.
6. Click the Forward button on the toolbar.
You return to the What’s New Web page.
Just like a metro highway system at rush hour, the Internet often becomes congested
when too many users try to view the same Web site at the same time. When this
happens, it may take a long time for the Web page to appear on screen, or you may
even get a screen like the one shown in Figure 9-7. Here are a few strategies to try if
you are having problems displaying Web pages.
If a Web page is taking too long to display on your computer screen, you can stop
loading the page and try again later. Here’s how to stop transmitting a page:
7. Click the Address bar, type www.microsoft.com, and press .
After a second or two—before the Microsoft home page completely
loads—click the Stop button on the toolbar.
You can also try refreshing a sluggish or difficult Web page. There are basically two
reasons to refresh a Web page:
• To attempt to view a Web page that is not loading.
• To update a Web page that contains information that is constantly changing,
such as headline news stories or financial information.
8. Click the Refresh button on the toolbar.
Another way you can return to previously visited Web sites is to use the Address bar,
which remembers every Web address that you’ve manually typed into it.
9. Click the Address bar list arrow.
A list of the Web addresses you’ve previously entered appears below the address bar.
10. Select the http://www.yahoo.com site from the list.
You return to the Yahoo Web site.
Forward button
Stop button
Refresh button
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Lesson 9-5: Search the Web
`
The Internet’s greatest strength is also its greatest weakness: with so much information—
literally millions of Web pages—it can be extremely difficult to find what you’re looking for.
Fortunately, there are many search engines that catalog the millions of Web pages on the
Internet so that you can find Web pages on topics that interest you. There are many search
engines available on the Internet—you’ve probably heard of some of the more popular ones,
like Yahoo, Excite, and HotBot. In this lesson, you’ll learn how you can search the Web to
find information on the topics you specify.
1. Make sure your Web browser is open so you are connected to the
Internet.
2. Click the Search button on the toolbar.
A Search pane appears on the left side of Internet Explorer, as shown in Figure 9-10.
This is where you specify what you want to search for.
Figure 9-10
You can search the Web
with Internet Explorer’s
integrated search function.
Figure 9-11
You can search the Web
with Yahoo.
Search button
Enter a word or phrase you want to search for
here and click Search.
Enter a word or phrase
you want to search for
here and click search.
Figure 9-10
Figure 9-11
Your search results
appear here.
Chapter Nine: Exploring the Internet 229
Quick Reference
To Search the Web for
Information Using Internet
Explorer:
1. Click the Search
button on the toolbar.
2. Type the word or phrase
you want to search for in
the Search the Web for
box and click Search.
3. Click the link for the Web
page you want to look at.
4. Click the Search
button on the toolbar to
close the search panel.
To Search the Web for
Information Using a
Search Engine:
• Type the Web address for
the search engine in the
Address bar and press
. Type the word
or phrase you want to
search for in the Web
page’s search box and
press .
3. Click the Search box and type in the word or phrase you want to search
for.
For better search results, use complete sentences or several keywords that describe
what you’re looking for. For example, typing “Where can I find a good oyster
restaurant in Chicago?” would yield better results than simply “oysters”.
4. Click Search.
The Security Alert dialog box may appear (it appears any time you send information
over the Internet, unless you check the “In the future do not show the warning” check
box). If it does, you can safely click OK.
Microsoft Internet Explorer returns a list of Web pages, ranked by relevance, that
contain the word or phrase you specified. You may have to scroll down to view the
entire list.
5. Click the Web page you want to view.
Are you finding mostly irrelevant information in your search results? Then you may
have to refine your search. For example, a search on the word “Windows” may result
in links to “Anderson® Windows,” “Stained Glass Windows,” and “Microsoft
Windows”, while a search on the phrase “Microsoft Windows” will result in links to
“Microsoft Windows.” Some search engines will let you search within your results. For
example, you could do a search for “Microsoft Windows” and then further refine your
search by searching the results for the word “Networking.”
6. Click the Search button to close the search panel.
You don’t have to click Microsoft Internet Explorer’s search button to look for
information on the Web—you can also go directly to a search engine’s Web site and
specify what you want to look for there. Table 9-2: Popular Search Engines on the
Web is by no means a definitive inventory of the dozens of search engines that are
currently available on the Web, but it lists the best and most popular Web search
engines and their Web addresses.
Table 9-2: Popular Search Engines on the Web
Site Web Address Description
AltaVista www.altavista.com Operated by Digital, AltaVista claims to catalog and index more
Web pages than any other search engine.
Excite www.excite.com Excite has a powerful, highly rated search engine, and it also has
one of the best customizable home pages on the Internet.
Google www.google.com Google is consistently ranked as the best and most relevant search
engine. However, it doesn’t contain many other features other than
search.
Hotbot www.hotbot.com Though not as popular as some of the others, HotBot consistently
ranks as one of the best, most relevant search engines.
Lycos www.lycos.com Lycos is another powerful search engine, especially if you’re
looking for information in formats other than Web pages, such as
MP3 sound files.
Yahoo www.yahoo.com The mother of all Web pages, Yahoo is actually more of a directory
service than a search engine, but it makes it very easy to find
topics, especially if you’re new to the Internet.
Search Box
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Lesson 9-6: Adding a Web Page to
Favorites and Changing your Home
Page
You have finally found a Web page about hippopotamus food, and you want to return back to
it later. What should you do? Well, you don’t have to write down the Web address on a Post-It
note and stick on your monitor—you can add the Web page to Internet Explorer’s Favorites
feature so you can always quickly return back to any Web page in the list! In this lesson,
you’ll learn how to add your favorite Web sites to Internet Explorer. You’ll also learn how to
change your home page (also called a start page)—the Web page that appears each time you
start Internet Explorer.
1. Make sure your Web browser is open so that you’re connected to the
Internet.
2. Go to a Web page that you visit frequently and want to add to your
Favorites list.
It doesn’t matter how you get to the Web site—type the page’s Web address in the
Address bar (if you know it) or navigate there by clicking a hyperlink from another
Web site. When the desired Web page appears on your screen, you can add it to your
Favorites so you can always easily return to it later.
Figure 9-12
The Add Favorites dialog
box
Figure 9-13
Click the Favorites button
to display a list of your
favorite Web pages.
Figure 9-14
The General tab of the
Internet Options dialog
box. You can change your
home page here.
Figure 9-15
The Organize Favorites
dialog box
Other Ways to Add a
Web Page to Favorites:
• Right-click anywhere on
the Web page and
select Add to
Favorites from the
shortcut menu.
Click the Web page you want
to visit. If the Web is in a
folder, click the folder ( ).
Figure 9-12
Figure 9-13
Figure 9-14
The name of the Web
page appears here.
Figure 9-15
Chapter Nine: Exploring the Internet 231
Quick Reference
To Add a Web Page to
Your List of Favorites:
• Go to the Web page,
select Favorites → Add
to Favorites from the
menu and click OK.
Or…
• Go to the Web page,
right-click anywhere on
the Web page and select
Add to Favorites from
the shortcut menu.
To Go To a Favorite Web
Page:
• Click the Favorites button
on the toolbar and select
the Web page from the
left side of Internet
Explorer. Click the
Favorites button when
you’re finished.
Or…
• Select Favorites from the
menu and select the Web
page.
To Change Your Start
Page:
• Go to the Web page,
select Tools → Internet
Options from the menu
and click the Use Current
button.
To Organize Favorites:
• Select Favorites →
Organize Favorites from
the menu.
3. Select Favorites → Add to Favorites from the menu.
The Add Favorites dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 9-12. The name of the Web
page appears in the name box—if you want, you can replace the Web page’s default
name with one that is more meaningful to you. Clicking the Create In button lets you
add shortcuts to a folder.
4. Click OK to add the Web page.
A shortcut to the Web page is added to your list of favorites.
Here’s how to display your favorite Web sites:
5. Click the Favorites button on the toolbar.
A list of your favorite Web pages appears in a panel on the left side of Internet
Explorer, as shown in Figure 9-13.
6. Click the favorite Web page you want to view.
If your favorite Web page is in a folder, just click the folder ( ) and then the favorite
Web site. The Web page you clicked appears in the right panel of Internet Explorer.
Is there a Web page that you really like and use almost every time you’re on the
Internet? You might consider making that Web page your Home page—the Web page
that appears each time you start Internet Explorer. Some of the search engines we
discussed in the previous lesson make excellent home pages. Here’s how to make a
Web page your home page:
7. Go to a Web page that you want to set as your home page and select
Tools → Internet Options from the menu. Click the General tab, if
necessary.
The Internet Options dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 9-14. The address of your
current home page appears in the box in the Home page section.
8. Click Use Current button to set the Web page that is displayed on your
screen as your new home page.
9. Click OK.
The Internet Options dialog box closes. The next time you start Internet Explorer, the
Web page you selected will appear as your start page.
If you’ve added a lot of Web pages to your list of favorites, it can be difficult to find a
specific Web page out of all those entries. You can organize your favorites list by
creating subfolders to keep related Web pages together—for example, you might create
a folder called “Travel” to keep all your travel related Web pages together, and another
folder called “Financial” to hold your financial and investment related Web pages.
Here’s how to organize your list of favorites:
10. Select Favorites → Organize Favorites from the menu.
The Organize Favorites dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 9-15. We don’t need to
go in detail here—you can organize your favorites using the same Windows file
management techniques you already know (if you don’t, review the file management
chapter). The Organize Favorite dialog box even provides you with several handy
buttons to move, rename, and delete files and shortcuts.
11. Close the Organize Favorites dialog box.
Favorites button
Other Ways to View
Your Favorite Web
Pages:
• Select Favorites from
the menu and select the
Web page.
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Lesson 9-7: Displaying a History
of Visited Web Pages
Can’t find your way back to that that really neat “101 Lutefisk Recipes” Web site you were
looking at yesterday? Don’t worry—Internet Explorer keeps track of the Web pages you’ve
visited during the past 20 days. You can use Internet Explorer’s history feature to easily return
to any of these sites, and that’s the topic of this lesson.
1. Make sure your Web browser is open so you’re connected to the Internet.
2. Click the History button on the toolbar to display a list of the Web pages
you have recently visited.
A history of all the Web pages you’ve visited recently appears in the left side of
Internet Explorer. The history is grouped chronologically—all you have to do it click
the day or week you viewed the Web page that you want to view again.
3. Click the day or week you viewed the Web page that you want to view
again.
If you can’t remember the day or week off hand, don’t worry. Finding the Web page
you want to view in the history may take a bit of trial and error, because who really
remembers the exact day when they visited a specific Web page?
When you click a day or week, the Web sites you viewed during that day or week
appear. A (Web site) symbol appears by each Web site.
4. Click the Web site you want to revisit.
The Web site’s individual Web pages appear, each with a (Web page) symbol beside
them.
5. Click the Web page you want to view.
The Web page appears.
Figure 9-16
Internet Explorer displays
a history of previously
visited Web sites.
History button
Figure 9-16
Select the Web
site ( ) then the
specific Web
page ( ).
Select the day or
week when you last
viewed the Web
page
Chapter Nine: Exploring the Internet 233
Quick Reference
To Display a History of
Visited Web Pages:
1. Click the History
button on the toolbar.
2. Click the day or week you
viewed the Web page.
3. Click the Web site you
want to revisit.
4. Click the specific Web
page you want to view.
5. Click the History button
on the toolbar when
you’ve finished working
with your history of
recently view Web pages.
6. Click the History button on the toolbar when you’ve finished working
with your history of recently view Web pages.
The History panel disappears.
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Lesson 9-8: Saving Pictures and
Files to Disk (Downloading)
Another common way people use the Internet is to download files from a Web server on the
Internet and save them onto their local hard drive. Some of the most common types of files
people download from the Internet include:
• Images: You can save any picture that you see on a Web page, print it, use it as your
Windows wallpaper, or anything else you can think of.
• Programs: Many software companies have demo versions of their programs available
on the Internet that you can download and evaluate. In addition, thousands of shareware
programs are available for you to download for free!
• Patches, Fixes, and Drivers: One of the great things about the Internet is how you
can find and download bug fixes for your programs, and drivers for your hardware
devices, such as a driver for a discontinued foreign printer.
• Music: A new file format called MP3 is revolutionizing the music industry. MP3 files
are sound files that you can listen to on your computer. They have digital CD quality
sound, but use compression so that they are 11 times smaller than the CD equivalent and
small enough to be easily downloadable from the Internet.
• Viruses: Just kidding—the last thing the world you want to download from the Internet
is a computer virus! Since you won’t always know where a program or file you want to
download comes from, you should make sure your computer has a virus protection
program installed before you download anything from the Internet.
Figure 9-17
There are many files and
programs on the Internet
that you can download
onto your computer’s hard
drive.
Figure 9-18
Specify where on your
hard drive you want the
downloaded file to be
saved.
Figure 9-19
Windows displays the
progress of a download.
Figure 9-17
Figure 9-18
Figure 9-19
Chapter Nine: Exploring the Internet 235
Quick Reference
To Save an Image on a
Web Page to Disk:
1. Right-click the image you
want to save and select
Save Picture As from the
shortcut menu.
2. Navigate to the drive and
folder where you want to
save the image, give the
image a different name if
you want, and click OK.
To Download a File:
1. Right-click the file you
want to download, select
Save Target As from the
shortcut menu.
2. Navigate to the drive and
folder when you want to
save the file, give the file
a different name if you
want, and click OK.
Other than the slight risk of contracting a virus (if you don’t have virus protection software
installed), the only other downside of downloading files off the Internet is how long it can
take—especially if you’re downloading a huge file over a 33.6 modem connection to the
Internet!
In this lesson, you’ll learn how to download files and images from the Internet and save them
to your hard disk. When you come across a picture or image on the Internet that you really
like, here’s how you can permanently save it to your computer’s hard drive:
1. Right-click the image you want to save and select Save Picture As from
the shortcut menu.
Windows asks where you want to save the image by presenting you with the Save As
dialog box, as shown in Figure 9-18.
2. Navigate to the drive and folder where you want to save the image, give
the image a different name (if you want), and click OK.
Windows saves the image to the specified drive and folder.
The procedure for downloading and saving programs and other files from the Internet
is almost the same as downloading and saving an image. Here’s how to do it:
3. Find the file you want to download, right-click it and select Save Target
As from the shortcut menu.
You can usually also simply click a file you want to download, but doing this will
sometimes open the file in Internet Explorer instead of saving it to your computer. As
with images, you have to specify where you want to save the file.
4. Navigate to the drive and folder where you want to save the file, give the
file a different name if you want, and click OK.
Windows will download the file and save it to the drive and folder you specified. It
may take several minutes or several hours to download the file, depending on the file’s
size and how fast your connection to the Internet is. Windows displays a dialog box
that shows the progress of the download, as shown in Figure 9-19.
NOTE: Make sure you remember where you save your downloaded files! Many
people download software without thinking about where they’re saving it,
only to be unable to find the file once it’s finished downloading. It makes
sense to create and use a folder called “Downloads” or something similar
when you can save your downloaded files.
One more note about downloading files and programs off the Internet: a large percent of the
programs you can download off the Internet are stored in ZIP files. ZIP files package
programs and files together and make them must easier to download.
ZIP files do two things:
• Compress Information: Instead of downloading a 2 MB file, you can download a
1 MB file in half the time.
• Store multiple files together in a single ZIP file: Instead of downloading 20 or so
files that a program requires to run, you only have to download a single ZIP file.
Once you have downloaded a ZIP file, Microsoft Windows XP should unzip it for you. If it
doesn’t, there is another program that will unzip files called WinZIP. You can find and
download the WinZIP program at www.winzip.com.
Internet Explorer
shortcut menu
A ZIP file
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Lesson 9-9: Introduction to
E-mail
Do you really need a definition of e-mail? You already know that you can use e-mail to send
messages to the staff at the office or to people all over the world. You probably also know that
e-mail is fast (almost instantaneous) and economical (many e-mail accounts are completely
free!).
Just like you need to know a person’s street address if you want to send them a letter, you
need to know a person’s e-mail address if you want to send that person an e-mail message.
Figure 9-23 is an example of what a typical e-mail address looks like.
Windows XP comes with an e-mail program called Outlook Express. Outlook Express is a
stripped-down version of Microsoft’s full-featured e-mail program Outlook, which comes
with Microsoft Office. Outlook Express allows you compose, send, and receive e-mail
Figure 9-20
Microsoft Outlook Express
is the e-mail program that
is included with Windows
XP.
Figure 9-21
Outlook Express’s toolbar
Figure 9-22
Many people prefer to use
Web-based e-mail, such
as Hotmail, since you can
use it anywhere on any
computer that has a
connection to the Internet.
Figure 9-23
An Internet e-mail address
consists of two parts: a
user name and a domain
name, separated by the @
symbol.
Figure 9-21
Figure 9-23
JaneDoe@zipcorp.com
User Name
This is the name of the person’s
e-mail account. It is similar to the
person’s name on an envelope.
Domain Name
This is the location of the person’s
account on the Internet. It is similar to
the address on an envelope.
Figure 9-22
E-mail folders:
see Table 9-3:
E-mail Folders
for their
descriptions
Toolbar
Click the task
you want to
perform here
Compose a new
E-mail message
Figure 9-20
Sends any messages you’ve
composed, and downloads
any new messages
Opens the
address book
Finds people,
messages, or
text
Chapter Nine: Exploring the Internet 237
Quick Reference
To Start Outlook Express:
• Click the Outlook
Express button on the
taskbar’s Quick Launch
toolbar.
messages over the Internet. The remainder of the lessons in this lesson will show you how to
accomplish these tasks.
Move on to the one and only step in this lesson and we’ll take a quick look at Outlook
Express before we move on and learn how to compose, send, and receive e-mail.
1. Open Outlook Express by clicking the Outlook Express button on the
taskbar’s Quick Launch toolbar.
The main screen of Outlook Express appears, as shown in Figure 9-26. Notice the
folders in the left pane of Outlook Express? These folders categorize your messages
and work just like the In and Out boxes you’ve seen at the office. Table 9-3: E-mail
Folders describes each of these folders.
Although we’ll be working in Microsoft Outlook Express throughout the remaining lessons in
this chapter, Outlook Express is by no means the only program you can use to send and
receive e-mail. There are many, many different e-mail programs available, such as
GroupWise, Lotus Notes, and even America Online that can also send and receive e-mail. In
fact, if you’re connected to the Internet and have a Web browser, you don’t even need an email program at all to send and receive e-mail—you can do it right from the Web! Web based
e-mail is usually free, and it allows you to compose, send, and receive e-mail using a Web
page instead of an e-mail program. Many people actually prefer using Web-based e-mail
instead of an e-mail program because it’s free and can be accessed anywhere there is a
computer with an Internet connection. Hotmail, shown in Figure 9-22, owned by Microsoft
(who else?) is the largest Web based e-mail program in the world.
Table 9-3: E-mail Folders
Folder Description
Inbox Stores the messages you’ve received
Outbox
Temporarily stores any messages that you’ve composed that have not been
sent
Sent Items Stores copies of messages you have sent
Deleted Items Stores messages that you’ve deleted
Drafts Stores draft messages that you haven’t completed yet
Outlook Express button
Other Ways to Start
Outlook Express:
• Select Go → Mail from
Internet Explorer’s
menu.
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Lesson 9-10: Composing and
Sending E-mail
Here’s a quick explanation on how to compose and send an e-mail message:
1. If it’s not already opened, start Outlook Express by clicking the Outlook
Express button on the taskbar’s Quick Launch toolbar.
The Outlook Express program appears.
2. Click the Create Mail button on the Outlook Express toolbar.
The New Message window appears, as shown in Figure 9-24, ready for you to write
your e-mail message. The first thing you have to do is specify the recipient’s e-mail
address in the To: field. You can either type this address in the To: box, or you can click
the Select Recipients from a list button that appears immediately to the left of the To:
box.
If the recipient of your e-mail isn’t in the Address Book or if you want to type out their
address in the To: field,move on to the next step. If you want to select your recipient’s
name from the Address Book (providing that they are in the address book), skip to Step
4.
3. Type the recipient’s e-mail address in the To: field.
If you need to send a message to more than one person, simply enter all the recipient’s
e-mail addresses, making sure you separate them with a comma (,) like this:
JohnWilson@acme.com, BettyT@yahoo.com. Skip to Step 7 when you’re finished.
4. If the recipient is in your Address Book, click the Select recipients from
a list button to the left of the To: field.
The Select Recipients dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 9-27.
Figure 9-24
The New Message
window
Figure 9-25
The New Message toolbar
Outlook Express button
Create Mail
button
Other Ways to Compose
a Message:
• Select Compose →
New Message from the
menu.
• Press + .
Select Recipients
from List button
To: Enter the recipient(s) of the message
Cc: Send a copy of the message to these recipients
Subject: Enter the subject of the message
Body: Type your e-mail message here, as you
would using a word processor
Formatting Toolbar: Use to apply font and paragraph
formatting to your message, and to insert lines, pictures,
and hyperlinks to Web pages
Send the
message to
the Outbox
Undo
Cut
Copy
Paste
Check names
for errors
Attach a
file
Digitally sign
message
Encrypt
message
Figure 9-24
Figure 9-25 Spell
check
Set as a
priority
Work
offline
Chapter Nine: Exploring the Internet 239
Quick Reference
To Compose a Message:
1. Open Outlook Express.
2. Click the Create Mail
button on the Outlook
Express toolbar.
3. Type the recipient’s
address in the To: field.
Or…
Click the Select
recipients from a list
button to the left of the To:
field, click the name of the
recipient in the Name list,
then click the To: button.
Click OK when you’re
finished.
4. Click the Subject field
and enter the message’s
subject.
5. Click the pointer in the
lower pane and type the
message.
6. (Optional) Check the
spelling of your message
by selecting Tools →
Spelling from the menu.
7. (Optional) Attach a file by
clicking the Attach button
on the toolbar and then
selecting the file in the
Insert Attachment dialog
box.
8. Click the Send Message
button on the toolbar to
send the message.
5. Click the name of the recipient in the Name list and click the To: button.
If you need to send a message to more than one person, you can repeat Step 5 to add
the other recipients. When you’re finished, move on to the next step.
6. Click OK.
The Select Recipients dialog box closes and the recipient(s) appear in the To: field.
7. (Optional) To send a copy of a message to someone, click in the Cc: field
and/or the Bcc: field and Repeat Steps 3-6 to enter their e-mail
addresses, only click the Cc: or Bcc: button instead of the To: button.
Table 9-4: Ways to Address an E-mail Message gives a description of carbon copies
(Cc) and Blind Carbon Copies (Bcc). Next, you have to enter the subject of the
message so your recipient(s) will know what your message is about. The subject will
appear in the heading of the message in the recipient’s inbox.
8. Click the Subject field and enter a subject for the e-mail.
Now you can type an actual e-mail message.
9. Click the pointer in the body of the message, in the lower pane, then type
the message as you would in a word processor.
Keep in mind that all the generic Windows programs commands you’ve learned—such
as cutting, copying, pasting, and formatting text—will work in Outlook Express.
10. (Optional) To check the spelling of your message, select Tools →
Spelling from the menu.
Outlook Express checks the spelling in your message, flags each word it can’t find in
its dictionary, and suggests an alternate word. To replace an unknown word with a
suggestion, select the suggestion in the Change To list and click the Change button. To
ignore a word the spell checker doesn’t recognize, such as the name of a city, click
Ignore All.
11. (Optional) To send a file or picture along with your message click the
Attach button on the toolbar and then select the file in the Insert
Attachment dialog box.
12. When you’re finished with the message, click the Send Message button
on the toolbar.
The message is sent to the Outbox folder, and will be sent the next time you click the
Send and Receive button. Go to Step 13 if you want to send the message immediately.
13. Click the Send and Receive button on the Outlook toolbar.
Outlook sends all the messages that are stored in the Outbox folder and retrieves any
new e-mail messages it finds on the e-mail server.
Table 9-4: Ways to Address an E-mail Message
Address Description
To Sends the message to the recipient you specify (required)
Carbon Copy (Cc) Sends a copy of the message to a recipient who is not directly involved,
but would be interested in the message
Blind Carbon Copy (Bcc) Sends a copy of the message to a recipient without anyone else
knowing that they received the message
Attach button
Send and Receive
button
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Lesson 9-11: Adding a Name to
the Address Book
Unless you only write to two or three people, it’s almost impossible to memorize the e-mail
addresses of everyone you correspond with, especially when they have e-mail addresses that
look something like brad.james.traindept@gold.tc.umn.edu. Fortunately, if you use the
Windows Address Book, you don’t have to. Simply enter the peoples’ name and e-mail
addresses to whom you regularly send messages, and you’ll never have to remember another
obscure e-mail address again. This lesson will show you how to add an e-mail address to the
Address Book.
1. If it isn’t already open, start Outlook Express by clicking the Outlook
Express button on the taskbar’s Quick Launch toolbar.
The Outlook Express main program screen appears.
Figure 9-26
The Address Book window
Figure 9-27
The Select Names window
Figure 9-28
The Contact Properties
dialog box
Address Book
button
Other Ways to Open the
Address Book:
• Press + .
Add to
To: list
Add to
Cc: list
Add to
Bcc: list
Figure 9-26 Figure 9-27 Select the recipient(s)
Figure 9-28
Chapter Nine: Exploring the Internet 241
Quick Reference
To Add a Name to the
Address Book:
1. Start Outlook Express.
2. Click the Address Book
button on the Outlook
Express toolbar.
3. Click the New Entry
button on the Windows
Address Book toolbar.
4. Choose Internet Mail
Address and Personal
Address Book.
5. Type the recipient’s first
and last name and enter
the recipient’s e-mail
address.
6. To add additional
information about the
recipient, click on other
tabs in the New Internet
Mail Properties dialog
box.
7. Click OK, then close the
Address Book.
2. Click the Address Book button on the Outlook Express toolbar.
The Address Book window appears, as shown in Figure 9-26. Two types of items
appear in the Windows Address Book:
• Contacts: Contacts are the individual recipients in your Address Book.
• Groups: A group allows you to send messages to a group of recipients.
3. Click the New button on the Windows Address Book toolbar.
The New Entry dialog box appears with the Personal tab in front, as shown in Figure
9-28. Choose what type of entry you’d like to create, and where you want to put it.
4. Choose Internet Mail Address in the Select the Entry Type box, and
select Personal Address Book from the Put This Entry box. Select OK.
The New cc:Mail Address Properties dialog box appears.
5. Type the recipient’s first and last name in the appropriate fields.
6. Enter the recipient’s name in the Display Name box, then enter the email address
You can also click on the other tabs in the New Internet Mail Address Properties dialog
box to add additional information—such as phone numbers and addresses—about the
recipient.
7. Click OK to close the Properties dialog box.
You return to the Windows Address Book window, where the new contact appears.
8. Click the Address Window’s Close button to close it.
New Contact
button
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Lesson 9-12: Receiving E-mail
This lesson explains how to receive and read your e-mail messages with Outlook Express.
You’ll find it’s a lot easier to retrieve and read e-mail messages than it is to sort through and
read postal mail—no envelopes to rip open, no scribbled handwriting to decipher, no junk
mail to go through… well that’s not quite true. Unfortunately, the online world is plagued
with junk mail, called Spam, just like the postal world. Oh well.
1. If it isn’t already open, start Outlook Express by clicking the Outlook
Express button on the taskbar’s Quick Launch toolbar.
The Outlook Express main program screen appears.
2. Click the Inbox folder in the left pane of the Outlook Express window.
The contents of the Inbox folder appear in the upper-right pane of the Outlook Express
window, as shown in Figure 9-29. Let’s check and see if you have any new e-mail.
3. Click the Send and Receive button on the Outlook Express toolbar.
Normally, Outlook Express automatically checks your mail server for new messages
every 30 minutes. If it finds any new messages on your mail server, it downloads them
and saves them to your computer. You can force Outlook to check for new messages by
clicking the Send and Receive button. If you connect to the Internet with a modem
connection, Outlook Express will automatically dial out and connect to the Internet to
establish a connection with your mail server.
Figure 9-29
Outlook Express’s Inbox
folder
Figure 9-30
Outlook Express’s Inbox
toolbar
Inbox folder
Send and Receive
button
Other Ways to Send and
Receive Messages:
• Press + .
Compose a new
E-mail message
Reply to the author
of a message
Reply to all the recipients
of a message
Forward a message
to someone else
Delete the
message
Open the
address book
Figure 9-30
This area displays the
messages in the highlighted
folder. Click or double-click the
message you want to read.
Messages that have not been
opened appear in bold and
have a closed envelope ( ). A
paper clip ( ) indicates an
attached message.
The contents of the selected
message appear in this area.
Figure 9-29
Send or receive a
message
Find a contact
Print a message or message
Chapter Nine: Exploring the Internet 243
Quick Reference
To Receive and Read
E-mail Messages:
1. Start Outlook Express
and click the Inbox folder.
2. Click the Send
and Receive button on
the Outlook Express
toolbar.
3. Click or double-click the
message you want to
read.
To Open an Attached File:
• Follow the above steps to
read the message, then
click the paper clip icon,
and then click the file you
want to open from the list
that appears from the
paper clip.
To Print a Message:
• Follow the above steps to
read the message, then
select File → Print from
the menu, or press
+
. Click OK to
print the message.
Your new messages are saved in the Inbox folder. Any new, unread messages appear in
bold and have a closed envelope icon ( ) next to them. Here’s how to open and read a
message.
4. Click the message you want to read.
The contents of the message appear in the lower-right pane of Outlook Express, and the
From and Subject information appear at the top of this pane. You can also open a
message its own window—this is especially helpful when you want to read a long
message. Simply double-click the message you want to read. The message appears in
its own window. You can close the message’s window when you’re finished reading it
by clicking the window’s close button.
If a message has one or more files attached to it, a paper clip will also appear in this
area. If a message contains an attachment, go to Step 5 to open it. If not, skip ahead to
Step 6.
5. (Optional) To open any files attached to a message, click the paper clip
icon and then click the file you want to open from the list that appears
from the paper clip.
Sometimes you’ll want to print a copy of a message. Here’s how to do it:
6. (Optional) To print a message, select File → Print from the menu, or
press +
. Click OK to print the message.
Paper Clip
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Quick Reference
To Reply to a Message:
1. Find and open the
message you want to
reply to.
2. Click the reply option you
want to use: Reply to
Author or Reply to All.
3. Type your reply and click
the Send button on the
toolbar when you’re
finished.
Lesson 9-13: Replying to a
Message
You can reply to a message, just like you would answer a letter. This lesson explains how to
do it.
1. Find and open the message you want to reply to.
You learned how to open and read messages in the previous lesson. Next, you need to
decide who you want to respond to. You have two choices:
• Reply to Author: Sends the reply only to the author of the message.
• Reply to All: Sends the reply to everyone who received the message.
2. Click the reply option you want to use: Reply to Author or Reply to All.
A window appears where you can type your reply.
3. Type your reply and click the Send button on the toolbar when you’re
finished.
You can use special characters to express emotion in your e-mail messages, in chat rooms, or
elsewhere on the Internet. Table 9-5: Expressing Emotion in Your Messages has some of the
more common ones. Some of them resemble a face if you turn them sideways.
Table 9-5: Expressing Emotion in Your Messages
Abbreviation Description Abbreviation Description
: ) or : - ) Smile FAQ Frequently asked questions
: ( or : - ( Frown IMHO In my humble opinion
; ) or ; - ) Wink LOL Laughing out loud
: )~ or : - )~ Sticking tongue out ROTFL Rolling on the floor laughing
: O or : - O Surprise FWD Forwarded message
Figure 9-31
You can reply to a
message.
Reply to All button
Reply to Author button
Outlook Express fills in the
address and subject fields
for you.
Type your reply here.
A copy, or quote, of the
original message is
included to help the reader
know which message you
are replying to.
Figure 9-31
Chapter Nine: Exploring the Internet 245
Quick Reference
To Forward a Message:
1. Find and select the
message you want to
forward and click the
Forward Message button
on the toolbar.
2. Enter the recipient’s email address in the To:
field.
3. (Optional) Enter your own
comments in the
message body area.
4. Click the Send button on
the toolbar.
To Delete a Message:
• Select the message you
want to delete and press
the key.
Lesson 9-14: Forwarding and
Deleting a Message
After you’ve read a message, you can add your own comments and forward it to someone
else. Besides the typical business correspondence, many people especially like to forward emails that contain jokes or words of wisdom.
1. Find and open the message you want to forward.
2. Click the Forward Message button on the toolbar.
A window appears with the message you are forwarding. You need to specify to whom
you want to send, or forward, the message.
3. Type the recipient’s e-mail address in the To: field or use the Address
Book to enter the recipient’s address.
You can also add your own comments about the message you are forwarding.
4. (Optional) To add your own comments to the message, click the message
body area and type your comments.
You’re ready to send the forwarded message.
5. Click the Send button on the toolbar to forward the message.
Remember that clicking Send normally only sends it to the Outbox folder. You’ll have
to click the Send and Receive button to actually send the message.
When you no longer need a message, you can delete it to prevent your Inbox folder
from becoming cluttered with dozens of messages. Deleting a message is very, very
easy. Here’s how to do it:
6. Select the message you want to delete and press the key.
The message is removed from the current folder and is placed in the Deleted Items
folder.
Figure 9-32
You can forward a
message.
Forward Message button
Type the e-mail address of the
recipient you want to receive the
forwarded message.
Type any comments you want to
add to the message here.
The original message appears
here.
Figure 9-32
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Chapter Nine Review
Lesson Summary
Introduction to the Internet
• The Internet is the largest computer network in the world, with millions of computers all over the
world connected to each other.
• Web pages are stored on Web servers, which are always connected to the Internet so that people
can view their Web pages 24 hours a day.
• Some of things you can do using Internet include sending and receiving e-mail, browsing the World
Wide Web, posting and reading newsgroup messages, chatting with other Internet users, and
downloading software.
Connecting to the Internet
• To connect to the Internet you need an Internet Service Provider (ISP), a Web browser program,
and a phone line and modem or other connection to the Internet.
• To Connect to the Internet: Double-click the Internet Explorer icon on the desktop or click
the Internet Explorer icon on the Quick Launch toolbar. If necessary, enter your user name
and password and click Connect.
Displaying a Specific Web Page
• To Display a Specific Web Page: Type the Web address in the Address bar and
press .
• Sometimes a Web page may not be available for viewing. This can be caused by a Web server
being down where the Web page is stored, by Internet congestion, or by the Web page no longer
existing. Try returning to the Web page later.
Browse the Web
• A hyperlink is a link to another Web page or file. The pointer changes to a whenever it is
positioned over a hyperlink.
• To Use a Hyperlink: Click the hyperlink with the pointer.
• To Go Back to the Previous Page: Click the Back button on the toolbar.
• To Stop the Transfer of Information: Click the Stop button on the toolbar.
• To Refresh a Web Page: Click the Refresh button on the toolbar.
• To Return to a Web Address you Typed in the Address Bar: Click Address bar’s arrow and
select the Web address.
Chapter Nine: Exploring the Internet 247
Search the Web
• To Search the Web for Information Using Internet Explorer: Click the Search button on
the toolbar, type the word or phrase you want to search for in the Search the Web for box and
click Search, then click the link for the Web page you want to look at. Click the Search button on
the toolbar to close the search panel.
• To Search the Web for Information Using a Search Engine: Type the Web address for the
search engine in the Address bar and press . Type the word or phrase you
want to search for in the Web page’s Search box and press .
Adding a Web Page to Favorites and Changing your Start Page
• To Add a Web Page to Your List of Favorites: Go to the Web page, select Favorites → Add to
Favorites from the menu and click OK or right-click anywhere on the Web page and select Add to
Favorites from the shortcut menu.
• To Go To a Favorite Web Page: Click the Favorites button on the toolbar and select the
Web page from the left side of Internet Explorer, then click the Favorites button when you’re
finished. You can also go to a favorite Web page by selecting Favorites from the menu and
selecting the Web page.
• To Change Your Start or Home Page: Go to the Web page, select View → Internet Options
from the menu and click the Use Current button.
• To Organize Your Favorites: Select Favorites → Organize Favorites from the menu.
Displaying a History of Visited Web Pages
• To Display a History of Visited Web Pages: Click the History button on the toolbar and
click the day or week you viewed the Web page. Click the Web site you want to revisit and then the
specific Web page. Click the History button on the toolbar when you’ve finished.
Download Software
• To Save an Image on a Web Page to Disk: Right-click the image you want to save and select
Save Picture As from the shortcut menu, navigate to the drive and folder when you want to save
the image, give the image a different name if you want, and click OK.
• To Download a File: Right-click the file you want to download, select Save Target As from the
shortcut menu, navigate to the drive and folder when you want to save the file, give the file a
different name if you want, and click OK.
• Many programs and files on the Internet are stored in compressed ZIP files and need to be
unpacked using a program called WinZip.
Introduction to E-mail
• To Start Outlook Express: Click the Outlook Express button on the taskbar’s Quick Launch
toolbar or select Go → Mail from Internet Explorer’s menu.
Composing and Sending E-mail
• To Compose a Message: Start Outlook Express, click the Create Mail button on the
Outlook Express toolbar, type the recipient’s address in the To: field or click the Select recipients
from a list button to the left of the To: field, click the name of the recipient in the Name list, then
click the To: button and OK when you’re finished. Click the pointer in the lower pane and type the
message. Click the Send Message button on the toolbar to send the message.
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• To Check a Message for Spelling Errors: Before you send the message, select Tools →
Spelling from the menu.
• To Attach a File to a Message: Before you send the message click the Attach button on the
toolbar and then select the file in the Insert Attachment dialog box.
• You can address a message using To which sends the message to the recipient you specify
(required), Carbon Copy (Cc) which sends a copy of the message to a recipient who is not directly
involved, but would be interested in the message, and Blind Carbon Copy (Bcc) which sends a
copy of the message to a recipient without anyone else knowing that they received the message.
Adding a Name to the Address Book
• To Add a Name to the Address Book: Start Outlook Express, click the Address Book button on
the Outlook Express toolbar, and click the New Contact button on the Windows Address Book
toolbar. Choose Internet Mail Address and Personal Address Book. Type the recipient’s first
and last name in the appropriate fields and enter the recipient’s e-mail address in the Add New box
in the E-Mail Addresses section. To add additional information about the contact, click on other tabs
in the New Internet Mail Properties dialog box. Click OK, and then close the Address Book.
Receiving E-mail
• Outlook Express checks your mail server for new messages every 30 minutes, but you can also
check for new messages on-demand by clicking the Send and Receive button on the
Outlook Express toolbar.
• To Receive and Read E-mail Messages: Start Outlook Express and click the Inbox folder, click
the Send and Receive button on the Outlook Express toolbar, and click or double-click the
message you want to read.
• To Open an Attached File: Follow the above steps to read the message, then click the paper clip
icon and then click the file you want to open from the list that appears from the paper clip.
• To Print a Message: Follow the above steps to read the message, then select File → Print from
the menu, or press +
. Click OK to print the message.
Replying to a Message
• To Reply to a Message: Find and open the message you want to reply to, click the reply option
you want to use: Reply to Author or Reply to All. Type your reply and click the Send button on
the toolbar when you’re finished.
Forwarding a Message
• To Forward a Message: Find and select the message you want to forward and click the
Forward Message button on the toolbar, enter the recipient’s e-mail address in the To: field, enter
your own comments in the message body area, and click the Send button on the toolbar.
• To Delete a Message: Select the message you want to delete and press the key.
Chapter Nine: Exploring the Internet 249
Quiz
1. A Web server is:
A. The world’s largest supercomputer that contains and runs the Internet.
B. A computer that stores Web pages and that is always connected to the Internet.
C. A computer that acts as a gateway between your office network and the Internet.
D. A waiter at a restaurant for spiders.
2. A Home page is the first Web page you see when you connect to the
Internet. (True or False?)
3. Which button on Internet Explorer’s toolbar brings you back to the page
you last viewed?
A. Home
B. Stop
C. Refresh
D. Back
4. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A. Internet Explorer keeps a history of visited Web pages for 20 days.
B. A search engine lets you search for Web pages for topics that interest you.
C. Eudora is an e-mail program that comes with Windows XP.
D. You can download and save images from a Web page onto your computer.
5. When you’ve finished writing a letter in Outlook Express, clicking the Send
button on the toolbar will instantly send the message to its destination
(True or False?)
6. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A. When you reply to a message, Outlook Express includes the content of the original
message to make it easy for the recipient to know which message you’re replying to.
B. E-mail messages can contain files, such as pictures and word processing documents
called attachments.
C. You can send anonymous e-mail using the Blind Carbon Copy (Bcc) field.
D. You can save a list of Web pages you visit frequently in Internet Explorer’s Favorites
list.
Homework
1. Get a subscription to the Internet.
2. Open Internet Explorer.
3. Go to the Yahoo Web site (www.yahoo.com).
4. Search the Internet for information on Russia.
5. Spend at least 30 minutes browsing the Web on whatever topics you want.
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Quiz Answers
1. A. A Web server is a computer that holds Web pages and is connected to the Internet
24 hours a day so that people can view those Web pages.
2. True.
3. C. The Back button returns you to the Web page you just left.
4. C. Eudora is a popular e-mail program, but it doesn’t come with Windows XP.
Outlook Express is the answer you want.
5. False. This was a trick question—when you click the Send button, you save the
message to the Inbox folder. In order to send any messages that are in the Inbox, you
need to click the Send and Receive button on the toolbar.
6. C. Adding a recipient to the Blind Carbon Copy field allows them to receive a
message without seeing who else received the message.
Index 251
Index
1
16-bit color ............................................55
2
24-bit color ............................................55
286 processor.........................................39
3
32-bit color ............................................55
386 processor.........................................39
3D graphics card....................................54
4
486 processor.........................................39
8
8088 processor.......................................39
A
Access, Microsoft ..................................88
accounting software...............................91
AccuPoint pointing device.....................51
adding
names to address book.....................228
Address Bar, Internet Explorer ............213
address book
adding names ...................................228
selecting names from.......................226
AGP.......................................................23
Alt + Tab key combination ..................130
alt key ....................................................46
Alt key .................................................113
AltaVisa ...............................................217
application program...............................83
arrow keys .....................................47, 113
ASP........................................................95
assembly language.................................94
Athlon processor....................................38
attaching file, e-mail............................227
average access time, hard drive .............65
B
back up
hard drive...........................................67
tape drive ...........................................74
backspace key........................................47
Backspace key ............................. 113, 145
BASIC ...................................................95
battery life, laptop..................................30
bit...........................................................41
blind carbon copies (Bcc)....................227
bold......................................................154
broadband modem .................................62
browsing
contents of your computer .......174, 176
help..................................................158
Web pages........................................214
buffer, printer.........................................56
bus speed ...............................................22
bus width ...............................................22
buttons, toolbar....................................138
buying a computer .................................28
buying a notebook .................................30
byte................................................41, 173
C
C drive.................................................173
C, C++ ...................................................95
cable Internet connection..................... 211
cable modem..........................................62
cache, memory.......................................24
camera, digital .......................................48
carbon copies (Cc)...............................227
cartridges, printer...................................56
case, computer.......................................16
CD-R .....................................................69
CD-ROM.......................................69, 173
CD-ROM drive................................17, 68
CD-RW..................................................69
252 Index
2003 CustomGuide, Inc.
Celeron processor ................................. 38
center alignment.................................. 157
Central Processing Unit .............. See CPU
check boxes......................................... 140
clicking ............................................... 106
clipboard ............................................. 153
closing a window ................................ 126
COBOL................................................. 95
color
graphics card..................................... 54
InkJet printer..................................... 58
laser printer ....................................... 59
color depth ............................................ 54
color laser printer.................................. 59
COM port.............................................. 21
combo boxes ....................................... 140
CompactFlash ....................................... 48
composing e-mail................................ 226
compression .......................................... 67
computer
back of .............................................. 20
buying ............................................... 28
inside of ............................................ 18
laptop ................................................ 15
Macintosh ......................................... 15
mainframe ......................................... 15
networked ......................................... 15
overview ........................................... 14
pc15
PDA .................................................. 15
performance ...................................... 26
ports .................................................. 20
server................................................. 15
speed ................................................. 26
upgrading .......................................... 32
computer case ....................................... 16
computer, viewing contents of ............ 174
Copy command................................... 152
copying
files ................................................. 184
folders ............................................. 180
text and information........................ 152
cpu ........................................................ 26
CPU .................................................18, 38
upgrading .......................................... 33
CRT....................................................... 52
ctrl key .................................................. 46
Ctrl key ................................................113
Cut command...................................... 152
cutting
files ................................................. 184
folders ............................................. 180
text and information........................ 152
D
database .................................................88
date
finding file by ..................................194
sort files by ......................................190
sorting files by .................................190
delete key...............................................47
Delete key....................................113, 145
deleting
e-mail...............................................233
files ..................................................182
folders ..............................................180
Recyle Bin .......................................186
text ...................................................144
delsecting files .....................................192
Details view .........................................190
dialog boxes.........................................140
combo boxes ....................................140
list boxes..........................................140
text boxes.........................................140
digital camera.........................................48
digital modem ........................................62
dot matrix printer ...................................59
dot pitch, monitor...................................52
double-clicking ....................................106
downloading files.................................222
dragging and dropping.........................108
resizing a window............................128
window to new position...................127
drivers
downloading from Internet ..............222
drives
types of ............................................172
DSL Internet connection......................211
DSL modem...........................................62
Duron processor.....................................38
DVD drive .......................................17, 70
DVD+R..................................................71
DVD+RW ..............................................71
DVD-R ..................................................70
DVD-RAM ............................................71
DVD-ROM ............................................70
DVD-RW...............................................71
E
editing text ...........................................144
e-mail
address book, adding names ............228
address, overview ............................224
attaching files to...............................227
composing........................................226
deleting ............................................233
forwarding .......................................233
hotmail.............................................224
Index 253
introduction to .................................224
printing ............................................231
receiving and reading.......................230
replying............................................232
sending.............................................226
using Outlook Express.....................224
emotion, displaying in e-mail ..............232
emptying Recycle Bin .........................186
End key..........................................47, 113
Energy Star compliance.........................53
enter key ................................................47
Enter key..............................................113
ergonomic keyboard ..............................46
esc key ...................................................47
Esc key ................................................113
Ethernet port ..........................................21
Excel, Microsoft ....................................87
Excite...................................................217
Exiting Windows XP ...........................114
expansion card .......................................18
expansion slot ..................................18, 22
Explorer
dragging and dropping in.................198
F
F1 key.................................... 46, 113, 158
Favorites Web pages ............................218
file extensions......................................188
file management ..................................172
files
copying ............................................184
deleting ............................................182
displaying details .............................190
extensions ........................................188
finding .............................................194
moving.............................................184
naming .............................................146
opening ....................................146, 182
printing ............................................151
renaming..........................................182
rules for naming...............................146
saving...............................................146
saving in different formats and
locations.......................................162
selecting multiple.............................192
sorting..............................................190
types of ............................................188
finding
files ..................................................194
help ..................................................160
information on the Web ...................216
Firewire port ..........................................21
flash cards..............................................74
flat panel monitor ..................................52
floppy disk
displaying properties of ...................174
formatting ..........................................75
viewing contents of..........................174
floppy disk...........................................172
floppy disks
description of.....................................72
floppy drive .....................................16, 72
folder path ...........................................188
folders
copying ............................................180
creating ............................................178
deleting ............................................180
moving.............................................180
opening ............................................176
renaming..........................................178
root folder........................................177
selecting multiple.............................192
fonts
changing type and size.....................154
using bold, italics, and underlining..156
formatting text
font size ...........................................154
font type...........................................154
paragraph alignment ........................157
using bold, italics, and underlining..156
formatting, floppy disk ..........................75
FORTRAN ............................................95
forwarding e-mail ................................233
fragmentation.........................................67
G
game port...............................................21
gb...........................................................41
GHz .......................................................38
gigabyte .................................................41
gigahertz ................................................38
graphical user interface..........................82
graphics card..........................................26
grapics card ...........................................54
GUI........................................................82
H
hard disk ..............................................173
upgrading...........................................33
viewing contents of..........................174
hard drive...............................................17
back up ..............................................67
compression.......................................67
external ..............................................64
fragmentation...............................27, 67
free space...........................................27
254 Index
2003 CustomGuide, Inc.
internal .............................................. 64
maintenance ...................................... 66
repair................................................. 67
speed ................................................. 27
hardware ............................................... 12
help
Contents tab .................................... 158
Index tab ......................................... 160
Search tab........................................ 160
Help
F1 key ..............................................113
highlighting text.................................. 148
history of viewed Web pages .............. 220
home key............................................... 47
Home key.............................................113
home page............................................211
home page, changing .......................... 219
Hotbot ................................................. 217
hotmail ................................................ 224
HTML................................................... 95
hyperlink............................................. 214
I
IDE........................................................ 64
images, saving from Web pages.......... 222
information technology (IT) ................. 12
ink, printer............................................. 56
InkJet printer......................................... 58
input ...................................................... 14
input device
AccuPoint pointing device................ 51
joystick.............................................. 51
keyboard ........................................... 46
light pen ............................................ 51
microphone ....................................... 51
mouse................................................ 44
scanner .............................................. 51
touch pad........................................... 51
trackball ............................................ 51
input devices
keyboard ........................................... 17
mouse................................................ 17
scanner .............................................. 17
input/output device ............................... 63
insertion point ..................................... 144
Internet
connecting to................................... 210
introduction to................................. 208
Internet Connection Wizard .................211
Internet Service Provider .................... 210
Iomega .................................................. 73
ISA........................................................ 23
ISDN Internet connection ....................211
ISDN modem ........................................ 62
ISP .............. See Internet Service Provider
IT12
J
Java........................................................95
JavaScript...............................................95
Jaz drive.................................................73
joystick ..................................................51
joystick port ...........................................21
JSP .........................................................95
K
kb ...........................................................41
keyboard ..................................17, 46, 112
keyboard combinations........................112
keyboard port.........................................21
kilobyte ..........................................41, 173
kilobyte (K or KB)...............................173
L
laptop .....................................................15
laptop, buying ........................................30
Large Icons view..................................190
laser printer............................................59
LCD monitor..........................................52
left align...............................................156
left mouse button .................................106
light pen .................................................51
line in jack .............................................21
Linux......................................................84
list boxes..............................................140
List view ..............................................190
Look in list...........................................146
LPT port.................................................21
LS-120 SuperDrive................................74
Lycos....................................................217
M
Mac OS X ..............................................84
machine language ..................................94
Macintosh ..............................................15
mainframe..............................................15
maximizing a window..........................122
mb ..........................................................41
megabyte................................................41
megabyte (MB)....................................173
megahertz...............................................38
megapixel...............................................48
memory............................................18, 26
cards...................................................48
compared to ROM .............................42
graphics card......................................54
measuring...........................................40
printer.................................................56
Index 255
upgrading...........................................33
memory cache........................................24
Memory Stick ........................................48
menu ....................................................136
MHz.......................................................38
microphone......................................51, 60
microphone jack ....................................21
mimimizing a window.........................122
modem ...................................................62
modem port............................................21
monitor ............................................17, 52
monitor port...........................................21
motherboard...........................................18
mouse.......................................17, 44, 106
clicking ............................................106
double-clicking ................................106
dragging and dropping.....................108
left mouse button .............................106
pointing............................................106
right mouse button...........................110
right-clicking ...................................110
mouse port .............................................21
moving
files ..................................................184
folders..............................................180
window ............................................127
MP3 file.................................................60
MS-DOS................................................84
multifunction printer..............................59
multitasking ...........................................27
My Computer.......................................174
My Computer.......................................104
My Documents ....................................104
My Network Places .............................104
N
naming files .........................................146
network port...........................................21
notebook ................................................15
notebook, buying ...................................30
O
opening
files ..................................................182
files in programs ..............................146
folders..............................................176
My Computer...................................174
operating system..............................83, 84
optical mouse.........................................44
Outlook Express
address book, adding names ............228
address book, selecting names.........226
attaching files to messages...............227
composing messages .......................226
deleting ............................................233
folders..............................................225
forwarding .......................................233
printing ............................................231
receiving messages ..........................230
replying............................................232
sending messages ............................226
starting.............................................224
output.....................................................14
output device
graphics card......................................54
monitor ..............................................52
printer ..........................................56, 58
sound card .........................................60
output devices
monitor ..............................................17
printer ................................................17
speakers .............................................17
P
page down key.......................................47
Page Down key.................................... 113
page up key............................................47
Page Up key......................................... 113
Palm OS.................................................84
PalmPilot ...............................................15
palmtop..................................................15
paragraph alignment ............................157
parallel port............................................21
Paste command....................................152
pasting
files..................................................184
folders..............................................180
text and information ........................152
patches, downloading ..........................222
path......................................................188
pc15
PCI.........................................................23
PCMCIA cards ......................................18
PDA.......................................................15
Pentium processor .................................38
performance, computer..........................26
Perl ........................................................95
personal computer .................................15
PHP .......................................................95
pictures
saving from Web pages....................222
plotter ....................................................59
Pocket PC ..............................................15
pointer..................................................106
pointing................................................106
ports.......................................................20
256 Index
2003 CustomGuide, Inc.
COM ................................................. 21
Ethernet............................................. 21
Firewire............................................. 21
game.................................................. 21
IEEE 1394......................................... 21
joystick.............................................. 21
keyboard ........................................... 21
line in ................................................ 21
line out .............................................. 21
LPT ................................................... 21
microphone ....................................... 21
modem .............................................. 21
monitor.............................................. 21
mouse................................................ 21
network ............................................. 21
parallel .............................................. 21
phone................................................. 21
printer................................................ 21
SCSI.................................................. 21
serial.................................................. 21
USB................................................... 21
PowerPoint, Microsoft .......................... 90
presentation software ............................ 90
Print command.................................... 151
Print Dialog box.................................. 151
printer.................................................... 17
cartridges and toner........................... 56
color .................................................. 56
color laser.......................................... 59
dot matrix.......................................... 59
grayscale ........................................... 56
InkJet................................................. 58
laser................................................... 59
multifunction..................................... 59
plotter................................................ 59
resolution .......................................... 56
speed ................................................. 56
printer port ............................................ 21
printing
e-mail .............................................. 231
number of copies............................. 151
options............................................. 151
page range....................................... 151
properties ........................................ 151
selecting printers ............................. 151
processor
286 .................................................... 39
386 .................................................... 39
486 .................................................... 39
Athlon ............................................... 38
Celeron.............................................. 38
Duron ................................................ 38
Pentium............................................. 38
programming languages........................ 94
programs
closing..............................................126
maximizing ......................................124
minimizing.......................................124
opening files in ................................146
printing from....................................151
restoring...........................................124
saving files in...................................146
starting .............................................120
switching between ...........................130
Q
QuickBooks ...........................................91
Quicken..................................................91
R
RAM ................................................18, 26
compared to ROM .............................42
measuring...........................................40
upgrading...........................................33
receiving e-mail ...................................230
Recycle Bin..........................................104
emptying ..........................................186
retrieving deleted files from.............186
refresh a Web page...............................215
refresh rate, monitor...............................53
removable drive ...................................173
renaming
files ..................................................182
folders ..............................................178
repair
hard drive...........................................67
replacing text .......................................148
reply, e-mail .........................................232
resizing a window................................128
resolution
digital cameras...................................48
printer.................................................56
screen.................................................54
Restart option.......................................115
restoring a window ..............................122
right mouse button ...............................110
right-clicking .......................................110
ROM ......................................................42
ROM-BIOS............................................18
root folder ............................................177
S
Save As command................................162
saving
files in a program.............................146
images from Web pages ...................222
scanner.............................................17, 51
screen saver............................................53
Index 257
scroll bars ....................................122, 140
SCSI.......................................................64
SCSI port ...............................................21
search
Web..................................................216
searching
for files.............................................194
help ..................................................160
selecting
multiple files and folders .................192
text...................................................144
selecting text........................................148
sending e-mail .....................................226
serial port...............................................21
shortcut menus.....................................110
Shut Down options ..............................115
Shutting down Windows XP................114
Small Icons view .................................190
SmartMedia ...........................................48
software .................................................12
accounting..........................................91
application program...........................83
database .............................................88
operating system................................83
presentation........................................90
programming languages ....................94
spreadsheet ........................................87
versions..............................................83
Web Authoring...................................93
Web browser......................................92
word processing.................................86
Solitaire
dragging and dropping.....................108
sound card..............................................60
sound card ports.....................................21
speakers ...........................................17, 60
speed, computer.....................................26
spooler, printer.......................................56
spreadsheet ............................................87
SQL .......................................................95
Stand by option....................................115
Start button ..........................................104
Start command.....................................120
starting
programs..........................................120
Windows..........................................102
Status bar .............................................122
stop transfer of Web pages...................215
storage device
CD-ROM drive..................................68
DVD drive .........................................70
flash card ...........................................74
floppy drive .......................................72
hard drive...........................................64
Jaz drive.............................................73
LS-120 SuperDrive............................74
tape drive ...........................................74
USB flash drive .................................74
Zip drive ............................................73
SuperDrive ............................................74
switching between program.................130
system unit.............................................16
systems development.............................96
T
tab key ...................................................47
Tab key ................................................ 113
tape backup............................................17
Task window........................................130
taskbar
switching between programs ...........130
taskbar .................................................104
telephone port........................................21
terabyte..................................................41
text
copying ............................................152
cutting..............................................152
deleting ............................................144
editing..............................................144
pasting .............................................152
replacing ..........................................148
selecting...........................................148
text boxes.............................................140
thumbnail...............................................82
title bar.................................................122
toner, laser .............................................56
toolbars................................................138
touch pad ...............................................51
track ball................................................51
turning off computer............................ 114
turning on computer and monitor ........102
U
underline..............................................156
Undo command ...................................150
upgrades, software.................................83
upgrading a computer............................32
USB flash drive .....................................74
USB port................................................21
V
versions, software..................................83
video card ........................................26, 54
Video port..............................................21
virus, computer......................................67
Visual Basic...........................................95
258 Index
2003 CustomGuide, Inc.
W
wallpaper
saving images from Web pages....... 222
Web ..................................................... 208
browsing ......................................... 214
downloading files............................ 222
Favorites ......................................... 218
history of viewed Web pages .......... 220
home page........................................211
home page, changing ...................... 219
saving images.................................. 222
search .............................................. 216
WEB
links................................................. 214
Web address ........................................ 212
Web Authoring software ....................... 93
Web browser ....................................... 210
web cam................................................ 48
Web server .......................................... 208
Web, moving to a specific Web page .. 212
window
closing......................................122, 126
maximizing ..................................... 124
maximizing button .......................... 122
menus.............................................. 136
minimizing...............................122, 124
moving ............................................ 127
resizing............................................ 128
restoring ...................................122, 124
switching between........................... 130
Windows XP
exiting ..............................................114
loading .............................................102
starting .............................................102
Welcome window ............................102
Windows, operating system ...................84
WinZIP program ..................................223
wireless mouse.......................................44
word processing.....................................86
Word, Microsoft.....................................86
WordPad
cutting, copying, and pasting text ....152
deleting text .....................................144
editing text .......................................144
entering text in .................................142
paragraph alignment ........................157
printing.............................................151
selecting and replacing text..............148
using Undo.......................................150
World Wide Web..................................208
X
XML ......................................................95
Y
Yahoo...................................................217
Z
Zip drive ..........................................17, 73
zipped files...........................................223
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