Introduction to Windows XP

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Introduction to Windows XP

• Technology Training Week
• Steve Schwarz

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Operating System Software

• System software that controls your application
  software and manages how your hardware devices
  work together.
• Windows
• Linux
• Unix
• Mac OS

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Personal Operating SystemsMicrosoft

• Microsoft has been making OS software utilizing
  graphical user interfaces since around 1985.
• Windows 3.1
• Windows 95
• Windows 98
• Windows ME
• Windows XP
• Windows 2000 and Windows XP Professional are
  personal operating systems when used as stand
  alone machines but can be considered network
  operating systems when connected to a network.
  They can even run on servers.

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Toolbars

• Contain icons that execute tasks when clicked.
• In Microsoft Office, you have to click the double
  down arrows to show each toolbar on its own row.
• You can also right click on a toolbar to hide it
  or to show additional toolbars.

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Menu Bars

• Hierarchical lists of commands. If you click a
  menu bar in Office, you wont see the full list
  of commands unless you wait a few seconds or
  click the double down arrows at the bottom of the
  menu bar.
• Options that arent currently available are
  grayed out.

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Title Bars

• On the far right of the title bar there are three
  buttons found in most Windows applications
• Minimize
• Eliminate the window, but leave the program open.
  The program icon will still appear on the task
  bar.
• Restore down or maximize
• If the window is as large as possible, meaning it
  is maximized, the restore down button will be
  visible. Clicking the restore down button will
  return the window to the size it was before it
  was maximized. The size it returns to might have
  been set in a previous Windows session. If the
  Window is not maximized, the maximize button will
  appear instead
• Close
• End application and remove from memory.
• You may be prompted to save files before closing.

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Required Mouse Skills

• Pointing
• Clicking
• Right Clicking
• Double Clicking
• Dragging
• Right Dragging

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Dragging

• Dragging involves holding the left mouse button
  down while resting over an object and moving the
  mouse. Dragging is finished when the mouse button
  is released. This is another difficult skill to
  master. Many people will let go of the mouse
  while they are dragging. The only way to master
  dragging is through practice.

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Right Dragging

• Right dragging means you point to an item, hold
  down the right mouse button, drag and release.
  When you let go, a shortcut menu appears
  containing context specific options. If you drag
  with the left mouse button, releasing will
  execute the default drag option. To choose an
  option, you should right drag. The default option
  is highlighted in bold type.

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Right Clicking

• Right-clicking was new with Windows 95. The menu
  that you see when you right click will depend
  upon which program you are using and where the
  mouse pointer is currently located. Right
  clicking displays a context sensitive shortcut
  menu. Some of the options may be dimmed. This
  indicates that they are not currently available.

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Scrolling

• Clicking the scroll arrows--Best for line by line
  scrolling
• Clicking the scroll bar--Best for scrolling one
  screen at a time
• Clicking between the bar and the arrows.--Best
  for long distance scrolling.

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Windows Explorer Part One

• Windows Explorer is an application program
  included with Windows 2000 that allows you to
  view the contents of the computer, the hierarchy
  of folders on the computer, and the files and
  folders in each folder. 
• You access Windows Explorer by right clicking
  over the desktop's My Computer icon and selecting
  'Explore'
• Explorer allows you to copy, move and delete
  files and folders from your computer.
• As you can see, you are still using 'My Computer'
  but the screen is now split into two different
  panes. The folders pane is on the left and the
  Contents pane is on the right. The top level of
  the hierarch is the desktop. A plus sign
  indicates that there are sublevels. A minus sign
  means that sublevels are currently visible and
  can be collapsed by clicking the minus sign.

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Windows Explorer Part Two

• Single clicking a drive/folder in the folders
  pane will display the folder list in the contents
  pane. Double clicking a drive/folder will display
  the drive/folder contents in the folders pane as
  well.
• Notice that the title bar changes to indicate the
  currently selected drive/folder currently
  selected.
• Hidden files, which are used by software
  applications, may not be visible. 
• You can copy files from your hard drive to a
  floppy disk or any other storage media rather
  easily. The source drive is the drive that
  contains the file/s to be copied. The source
  folder is the folder that contains the file/s to
  be copied. The destination drive is the drive
  that the file/s will be copied to. The
  destination folder is the folder where the file/s
  will be copied. 

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Windows Explorer Part Three

• If you are copying to an external storage media
  such as a Zip drive or a floppy, it is best to
  first create a folder to store the file/s. To
  accomplish this click the destination drive in
  the Explorer folders pane. Right click in the
  contents area and choose new--folder.
• The words 'New Folder' will be highlighted.
  Change the name of the folder to 'My Files' and
  hit the enter key. If you want to change the
  name, just click on the folder once and hit the
  F2 key.

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Windows Explorer Tips

• Holding down the control key will allow you to
  select multiple files
• Holding down the shift key will allow you to
  select contiguous files
• Hitting control--A will select all of the files
  in the contents pane
• While you are dragging the files from the
  contents panel to the drive panel, dimmed
  versions of the files will follow the mouse
  pointer.
• A file's type is indicated by the icon
  representing it.
• You can easily delete a file by right clicking a
  file name and choosing delete from the shortcut
  menu.

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File Management

• Filename Unique name given to a file.
• Extension Identifies program used to open a
  file.
• On Windows a file can be 255 characters. Spaces
  and numbers are allowed, and the name is NOT case
  sensitive. However, the following characters are
  not allowed
• \
• ?
• /

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Organizing Your Files

• A device letter is a unique identifier for each
  different storage device on a PC. The floppy disk
  is drive A. The hard drive is usually drive
  C.
• A directory is a list of the files on a
  particular storage device.
• The main directory is the root directory.
• Folders are a special portion of the root
  directory. They are hierarchical

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Save Vs. Save As

• The first time you save a file there is no
  difference between the two.
• Once youve saved a file
• Choosing save automatically saves the current
  file to the hard drive.
• Choosing save as allows you to save the file
  using a different name and/or change the files
  location
• Two files cant have the same name and file type
  if theyre located in the same folder.
• They can, however share the same name if they are
  in subfolders of one another.

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Evaluating Storage Capacity

• Byte One character typed in plain text editor.
• Cookie files and plain text files
• Kilobyte 1,024 byes.
• Web pages, Office documents
• Megabytes 1,024 kilobytes
• MP3 files, videos, larger software applications,
  RAM
• Gigabytes 1,024 megabytes
• Hard drives, RAM

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File Compression

• Allows you to a shrink a file to a smaller file.
  The smaller file is compressed.
• Compressed files must be decompressed before they
  can be read.
• File compression applications include Winzip and
  Pkzip.

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Typical Windows Desktop Icons

• My Documents--A storage area for your documents.
  Documents that you create can be stored anywhere,
  but most programs default to saving in My
  Documents.
• Folder is located under C\Documents and
  Settings\YOUR USER NAME\My Documents
• My Computer--Allows you to view the computer's
  contents.
• My Network Places--Allows you to work with other
  computers on the same network as you.
• Recycle Bin--Purgatory for deleted files. When
  you delete a file it goes to the recycle bin.
  Files can be restored from the recycle bin, but
  once the recycle bin is emptied, the files are
  gone for good.
• Internet Explorer--Web browser used extensively
  by Windows. You can download and install another
  browser such as Firefox

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The Hard Drive

• This is where every program and file on your
  computer is stored. When you start a program or
  open a file, that program/file is copied into
  memory from the hard drive. Because all of your
  files/programs are located on your hard drive,
  you need to have more storage space than memory.
  A currently acceptable drive size is 40 GB or
  larger.

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Random Access Memory (RAM)

• Any data to be processed must be stored in memory
  rather than on the hard drive. This makes access
  much faster since the RAM can be accessed quicker
  than the hard drive. When you start a program,
  the program is loaded from the hard drive into
  memory. When a computer does not have enough
  memory, information must be swapped from RAM to
  the hard drive, thus slowing down performance
  extensively. 
• When application software is running in memory,
  an icon appears on the task bar. However, system
  software does not appear on the task bar.
• You can purchase additional RAM chips to gain
  more memory for your PC. A currently acceptable
  amount of RAM is 512 MB.

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System Software uses RAM

• System software consists of programs to control
  the operations of computer equipment. This
  includes the operating system, which tells the
  computer how to load, store and execute a program
  as well as how to transfer data. Whenever you
  turn on your computer, your operating system is
  loaded into memory. Programs you wish to run have
  to compete with your OS for memory space which is
  why it is so important to have sufficient memory
  installed on your machine

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Fonts

• Stored on your hard drive
• Some fonts come with Windows. Others are added
  when you install software.

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Central Processing Unit (CPU)

• The brains of your computer. If you have a 1.6
  GB CPU, then your processor can handle 1.6
  billion commands a second.

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Fragmentation

• Occurs when your computer places parts of files
  over many disk areas or clusters.
• This may cause your computer to run slower
  because the hard drive must read from different
  locations.
• Defragmentation software reallocates clusters to
  decrease fragmentation. Utility suites come with
  software but so do most operating systems.

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File Allocation Tables

• The same file can be stored on the hard drive in
  multiple locations. This is because the file may
  have been edited and the surrounding areas have
  been used.
• A sector is a single area on a storage device
  that can hold a certain number of bytes in a
  file.
• Sectors are grouped into clusters. Clusters can
  hold from 512 bytes to 256 KB.
• If a file is 1KB and each cluster is 4KB, one
  cluster will be used for the file. None of the
  remaining space in the cluster will be written to
  unless that file is edited.
• Computers use a File Allocation Table (FAT) to
  track the location of files on a hard drive.

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Where are Your Deleted Files

• When you delete a file its space becomes
  available.
• However, the file itself is NOT deleted.
• Utility software exists to get the files back as
  long as they havent been overwritten.
• If you delete a file from your hard drive, you
  can usually retrieve it from your recycle bin.

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Operating System Tasks

• Common Windows OS tasks can be found in the
  control panel.
• Run programs based upon
• Icon clicked
• Location of the program on the hard drive
• Programs are loaded into memory from the hard
  drive
• The CPU is instructed to execute the program.

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Personal Operating SystemsMac OS and LINUX

• Mac OS is the operating system for todays Apple
  Computers. Its GUI is similar to Windows, but
  different enough to make you feel as if youre
  learning how to use a computer AGAIN.
• Linux is an open source operating system. Its
  used mostly with high end workstations and
  network servers.

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Device Drivers

• Software and information your operating system
  uses to communicate with a new device connected
  to your PC.
• Usually ship with hardware, but can be
  downloaded.
• Plug and Play allows your OS to locate drivers
  preinstalled on the computer. If the driver cant
  be located, it must be installed from a disk or
  downloaded.

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Three Technology Types

• Magnetic (Storage of data on a magnetic medium)
• Floppy Disk
• Hard Drive
• Optical/Laser
• CDs
• Flash Memory (Stored on a chip)
• Digital Cameras
• USB Drives
• Ipods
• Cell Phones

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Magnetic Storage Devices

• Can be internal or external.
• An internal magnetic hard disk (hard drive) is
  your primary storage device for your files,
  programs, and application system.
• Made up of one or more thin metal platters.
• External hard drives are great back up storage
  devices. They are also portable.

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Optical Storage Media

• CDs can store around 900 MB or enough for 20
  minutes of video
• DVDs can store between 90 minutes and 8 hours of
  video depending on picture quality. Traditional
  recordable DVDs can store about 4.7 GB of data.
• HD-DVD players will hit the market in spring
  2006. Discs will hold between 15 and 25 GB.

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Read Only Optical Storage Media

• ROM means Read only Memory. Discs labeled as ROM
  can only be read.
• CD-ROMs can hold about 700 MB, or the equivalent
  of 486 floppies.

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CDs

• CD players read speed is measured with an X, or
  the number of times greater than 150 Kilobytes
  per second the speed of the first CD reader. So a
  48X reader can read at 150 KB 48 per second.
• CD-R discs can be written to once. Files deleted
  from a CD-R before the disc is finalized are NOT
  deleted. They are simply no longer accessible.

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DVDs

• High capacity optical or laser disc.
• Most commercial DVDs are dual layer. Each layer
  can be written to. As a result, dual layer dvds
  can hold up to 8.5 GB of data, twice as much as a
  regular DVD.
• DVD-R can be written to just once.
• There are many dual layer burners on the market.
  They require blank dual layer DVD R discs.
• There are two competing technologies DVDR and
  DVD-R

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Fully Read and Write Optical Storage Media

• CD-RW and DVD-RW/DVDRW discs can be written to
  more than once.
• Burning is putting information onto a CD or DVD.