Windows Basics

Read this chapter to get basic information on how to:

Work on the Windows desktop

Manage files and folders

Work with documents

Use shortcuts

Help and Support

For more information on Windows, click Start, then select Help and Support or Help.

About the Windows environment

After your computer starts, the first screen you see is the Windows desktop. The desktop is like the top of a real desk. Think of the desktop as your personalized work space where you open programs and perform other tasks.

Your desktop may be different from the example shown below, depending on how your computer is set up.

Using the desktop

The desktop contains the taskbar, the Start button, and the Recycle Bin icon.

Desktop elements	Description
	The taskbar is the bar at the bottom of the screen containing the Start button on the left and a clock on the right. Other buttons on the taskbar represent programs that are running. Click a program's button on the taskbar to open the program's window.
	The Start button provides access to programs, files, help for Windows and other programs, and computer tools and utilities. Click the Start button, then open a file or program by clicking (selecting) an item on the menu that opens.
	The Recycle Bin is where files, folders, and programs that you discarded are stored. You must empty the Recycle Bin to permanently delete them from your computer. For instructions on how to use the Recycle Bin, see Deleting files and folders.

Using the Start menu

You can start programs, open files, customize your system, get help, search for files and folders, and more using the Start menu.

To use the Start menu:

1. Click the Start button on the lower left of the Windows desktop. The Start menu opens showing you the first level of menu items.

2. To see all programs and files in the Start menu, click All Programs.

When you move the mouse pointer over any menu item that has an arrow next to it, another menu, or submenu, opens and reveals related files, programs, or commands.

3. Click a file or program to open it.

Identifying Window items

When you double-click the icon for a drive, folder, file, or program, a window opens on the desktop. This example shows the Local Disk (C:) window, which opens after double-clicking the Local Disk (C:) icon in the My Computer window.

Every program window looks a little different because each has its own menus, icons, and controls. Most windows include these items:

Window item	Description
	The title bar is the horizontal bar at the top of a window that shows the window title.
	Clicking the minimize button reduces the active window to a button on the taskbar. Clicking the program button in the taskbar opens the window again.
	Clicking the maximize button expands the active window to fit the entire screen. Clicking the maximize button again restores the window to its former size.
	Clicking the close button closes the active window or program.
	Selecting an item on the menu bar starts an action such as Print or Save.

Working with files and folders

You can organize your files and programs to suit your preferences much like you would store information in a file cabinet. You can store these files in folders and copy, move, and delete the information just as you would reorganize and throw away information in a file cabinet.

Viewing drives

Drives are like file cabinets because they hold files and folders. A computer almost always has more than one drive. Each drive has a letter, usually Local Disk (C:) for the hard drive and 3½ Floppy (A:) for the diskette drive. You may also have more drives such as a CD/DVD drive.

To view the drives on your computer:

In Windows XP, click Start, then select My Computer from the Start menu.

- OR -

In Windows Me, Windows 2000, or Windows 98, double-click the My Computer icon on the desktop.

To see the files and folders on a drive:

Double-click the drive icon. If you do not see the contents of a drive after you double-click its icon, click Show the contents of this drive or View the entire contents of this drive.

Creating folders

Folders are much like the folders in a file cabinet. They can contain files and other folders.

Files are much like paper documents--letters, spreadsheets, and pictures--that you keep on your computer. In fact, all information on a computer is stored in files.

To create a folder:

1. In Windows XP, click Start, then select My Computer from the Start menu.

- OR -

In Windows Me or Windows 2000, double-click the My Computer icon on the desktop.

2. Double-click the drive or folder, for example the Local Disk (C:), where you want to put the new folder.

The drive or folder window opens. If you do not see the contents of the drive or folder, click Show the contents of this drive or View the entire contents of this drive (or this folder).

3. Select File, then New, then Folder. The new folder is created.

4. Type a name for the folder, then press Enter. The new folder name appears by the folder icon.

Copying and moving files and folders

The skills you need to copy and move files are called copying, cutting, and pasting.

When you copy and paste a file or folder, you place a copy of the file or folder on the Windows clipboard, which stores it. Then, when you decide what folder you want the copy to go in (the destination folder), you paste it there.

When you cut and paste a file or folder, you remove the file or folder from its location and place the file or folder on the Windows clipboard. When you decide where you want the file or folder to go, you paste it there.

Important

The clipboard stores whatever you cut or copy until you cut or copy again. Then the clipboard contains the new information only. Therefore, you can paste copies of a file or folder into more than one place, but as soon as you copy or cut a different file or folder, the original file or folder is deleted from the clipboard.

To copy a file or folder to another folder:

1. Right-click (press the right mouse button) the file or folder that you want to copy. A pop-up menu opens on the desktop.

2. Select Copy from the pop-up menu.

3. Open the destination folder.

4. With the pointer inside the destination folder, right-click.

5. Select Paste. A copy of the file or folder appears in the new location.

To move a file or folder to another folder:

1. Right-click (press the right mouse button) the file or folder that you want to move. A pop-up menu opens on the desktop.

2. Select Cut from the pop-up menu.

3. Open the destination folder.

4. With the pointer inside the destination folder, right-click.

5. Select Paste. The file or folder you moved appears in its new location and is removed from its old location.

Deleting files and folders

When you throw away paper files and folders, you take them from the file cabinet and put them in a trash can. Eventually the trash can is emptied.

In Windows, you throw away files and folders by first moving them to Windows trash can, called the Recycle Bin, where they remain until you decide to empty the bin.

You can recover any file in the Recycle Bin as long as the bin has not been emptied.

To delete files or folders:

1. In My Computer or Windows Explorer, select the files or folders that you want to delete. For instructions on how to select multiple files and folders, see Shortcuts.

2. Select File, then Delete. Windows moves the files and folders to the Recycle Bin.

To recover files or folders from the Recycle Bin:

1. Double-click the Recycle Bin icon. The Recycle Bin window opens and lists the files and folders you have thrown away since you last emptied it.

2. Select the files or folders that you want to restore. For instructions on how to select multiple files and folders, see Shortcuts.

3. Select File, then Restore. Windows returns the deleted files or folders to their original locations.

To empty the Recycle Bin:

Caution

Emptying the Recycle Bin permanently erases any files or folders in the bin. These files cannot be restored.

1. Double-click the Recycle Bin icon on the desktop. The Recycle Bin window opens.

2. Select File, then Empty Recycle Bin. Windows asks you if you are sure that you want to empty the bin.

3. Click Yes. Windows permanently deletes all files in the Recycle Bin.

Browsing for files and folders

A file or folder that you need is rarely right on top of your Windows desktop. It is usually on a drive inside a folder that may be inside yet another folder, and so on.

Windows drives, folders, and files are organized in the same way as a real file cabinet in that they may have many levels (usually many more levels than a file cabinet, in fact). So you usually will have to search through levels of folders to find the file or folder that you need. This is called browsing.

To browse for a file:

1. In Windows XP, click Start, then select My Computer.

- OR -

In Windows Me, Windows 2000, or Windows 98, double-click the My Computer icon on the desktop.

2. Double-click the drive or folder that you think contains the file or folder that you want to find.

3. Continue double-clicking folders and their subfolders until you find the file or folder you want. (If you do not see the contents of a folder, click Show the contents of this folder or View the entire contents of this folder.)

Searching for files

If you are looking for a particular file or folder or a set of files or folders that have characteristics in common, but you do not remember where they are stored on your hard drive, you can use the Search utility in Windows XP, Windows Me, or Windows 2000, or the Find utility in Windows 98 to search by:

Name or part of a name

Creation date

Modification date

File type

Text contained in the file

Time period in which it was created or modified

You can also combine search criteria to refine searches.

Files and folders found using these utilities can be opened, copied, cut, renamed, or deleted directly from the list in the results window.

Using the Windows XP, Windows Me, or Windows 2000 Search utility

To find files and folders using the Search utility:

1. In Windows XP, click Start, then select Search. The search window opens. Click All files and folders.

- OR -

In Windows Me or Windows 2000, click Start, then select Search, then For Files or Folders. The search window opens.

2. If you want to search by file or folder name, type in all or part of the file or folder name in the name box in the left pane of the window.

If you type all of the name, Search will list all files and folders of that name.

If you type part of the name, Search will list all of the file and folder names containing the letters you typed.

3. Click Search or Search Now. When the search is completed, Windows lists the files and folders whose names contain the text that you searched for.

4. Open a file, folder, or program by double-clicking the name in the list.

Using advanced search options

Search can find files meeting more criteria than file name. You can narrow your search by selecting the search options that you want. You can search by the:

Date the file was created or modified.

Size of the file.

Type of file, such as a program or a text document.

Using the Windows 98 Find utility

To find files and folders using the Find utility:

1. Click Start, then select Find, then Files or Folders. The Find: All Files dialog box opens.

2. If you want to search by file or folder name, click the Name & Location tab, then type in all or part of the file or folder name in the Named text box.

If you type all of the name, Find will list all files and folders of that name.

If you type part of the name, Find will list all of the file and folder names containing the letters you typed.

3. Click Find Now. When the search is completed, Windows lists the files and folders whose names contain the text that you searched for.

4. Open a file, folder, or program by double-clicking the name in the list.

Using advanced search options

You can find files meeting more criteria than file name. You can narrow your search by clicking the Date or Advanced tabs and selecting the options that you want:

Date searches for files that were created or modified on a specific date or during a specific period.

Size searches for files of a specific size.

Type searches for files of a specific type, such as a program or a text document.

Working with documents

Documents are commonly word processing files, spreadsheet files, or other similar files. The basic methods of creating, saving, opening, and printing a document apply to most of these types of files.

The following examples illustrate the concepts for creating, saving, opening, and printing a document in Microsoft® Word. Though these examples use Microsoft Word, similar procedures apply to other programs such as Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Works, and Microsoft Publisher.

For more information about using a program, select Help on the menu bar.

Creating a new document

Help and Support

For more information on creating a document, click Start, then select Help and Support or Help.

To create a new document:

1. Click Start, then select All Programs, then Microsoft Word. Microsoft Word starts and a blank document opens.

2. Select File, then select New. The New Document pane opens.

3. Click General Templates. The Templates dialog box opens.

4. Click a tab for the type of document you want to create, select a document template style, then click OK . The document template opens.

5. Begin composing your document. Use the menus and toolbar buttons at the top of the window to format the document.

Saving a document

After you create a document, you need to save it if you want to use it later.

Help and Support

For more information on saving a document, click Start, then select Help and Support or Help.

To save a document in Microsoft Word:

1. Select File, then Save. The Save As dialog box opens.

2. Select the folder in which you plan to save the file from the Save in list.

3. Type the new file name.

4. Click Save.

Opening a document

To view, revise, or print an existing document, you need to open it. Open the document in the program it was created in.

Help and Support

For more information on opening a document, click Start, then select Help and Support or Help.

To open a document in Microsoft Word:

1. Click Start, then select All Programs, then Microsoft Word. Microsoft Word starts and a blank document opens.

2. Select File, then Open.

3. Find the folder you want to open in the Look in list.

4. Double-click the document file name. The document opens.

Printing a document

To print a document, you must have a printer connected to your computer or have access to a network printer. For more information about installing or using your printer, refer to the printer documentation.

Help and Support

For more information on printing a document, click Start, then select Help and Support or Help.

To print a document in Microsoft Word:

1. Make sure that the printer is turned on and loaded with paper.

2. Start Microsoft Word and open a document.

3. Select File, then Print. The Print dialog box opens.

4. Select the print options, then click OK. The document prints.

Shortcuts

The following table shows a few shortcuts that you can use in Windows and almost all programs that run in Windows. For more information on Windows shortcuts, see your Windows or program documentation.

To...	Do this...
Copy a file, folder, text, or graphic	Select the item, then press Ctrl  +  C.
Cut a file, folder, text, or graphic	Select the item, then press Ctrl + X.
Paste a file, folder, text, or graphic	Click inside the folder or window where you want to paste the object, then press Ctrl  +  V.
Select multiple items in a list or in a window	Click the first item, press and hold down the Ctrl key, then click each of the remaining items.
Select multiple adjacent items in a list or window	Click the first item in the list, press and hold down the Shift key, then click the last item in the list.
Permanently delete a file or folder	Click the file or folder, then press Shift + Delete. The file is permanently deleted. The file or folder is not stored in the Recycle Bin.
Rename a file or folder	Select the file or folder, press F2, type the new name, then press Enter.
Close the active window or program	Press Alt  +  F4.
Switch to a different file, folder, or running program	Press Alt  +  Tab.