IC3 BASICS, Internet and Computing Core Certification

1
IC3 BASICS, Internet and Computing Core
Certification

• Computing Fundamentals
• Lesson 12Introducing My Computer

2
Objectives

• Start and exit My Computer.
• Set My Computer options.
• Customize the Standard toolbar.
• Access disk drives and view their contents.
• Identify object icons.

3
Understanding File Management Concepts

• Files A named location on some storage medium to
  hold data.
• Files may be executable files, such as a program,
  or may contain a document or user data of some
  type.
• Folders are used to organize files into
  manageable groups.
• Disks are a magnetic medium on which data is
  stored.
• Disk drive The hardware device that reads and
  writes information to and from a disk.
• Floppy disk A small portable storage disk.
• Hard disk Usually a much larger disk used to
  store large quantities of data.

4
The My Computer Utility

• My Computer is a Windows utility used to access,
  manage, and organize files on disks.
• Select My Computer from the Start menu to open
  the program.
• The My Computer interface looks similar to other
  Windows programs you have seen, but it has its
  own unique features.

5
The My Computer Window
This figure shows the My Computer program window.
It has a title bar, menu bar, and Standard
toolbar like most applications.
The interface also has an Address Bar showing
what is currently displayed. There is an
Explorer bar broken into three drop-down
bars. There is a display area showing the
contents of the object shown in the address field.
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Setting My Computer Options

• You can customize My Computer in the Customize
  Toolbar dialog box.
• To open it
• Select View.
• Point to Toolbars.
• Click Customize.

7
Customizing the Standard Toolbar

• Users are able to add, remove, and rearrange
  buttons on the Standard Toolbar.
• Use the Customize Toolbar dialog box to do so.
• The dialog box shows a list on the right-hand
  side with the names of buttons that are already
  on the toolbar.
• On the left is a list of buttons that are not on
  the toolbar.
• You can use the Add and Remove buttons to change
  the current layout of the toolbar.

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The Customize Toolbar Dialog Box
Use these buttons to add or remove buttons.
This box is used to change the layout of a
toolbar. This list shows commands that are not
currently on the selected toolbar that can be
added. This list shows buttons on the bar that
can be moved or rearranged.
Use these buttons to change the button order.
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Use Windows Explorer

• Windows Explorer (also called Explorer) is
  another Windows utility for managing files and
  folders.
• To start Explorer from My Computer
• Click the View menu.
• Then click Explorer Bar.
• When you select Explorer Bar, a submenu will
  appear.
• Select an item from the submenu to explore or
  search your system from the My Computer window.

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Explorer Bar Menu
When you select the Explorer Bar option, the
submenu to the far right will appear. Select any
option from that menu to activate Explorer for
the option you have selected.
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The Search Companion
Selecting the Search option from the Explorer Bar
submenu will bring up the Search Companion shown
here.
Use the Search Companion to have your com-puter
search for specific files or folders.
12
Tip of the Day
If you selected the Tip of the Day option from
the Explorer Bar submenu, a timesaving tip or
shortcut option will be displayed.
The Tip of the Day appears here.
13
Accessing Disk Drives

• When My Computer is displayed in the Address Bar,
  the display area will show an icon for every disk
  drive in your computer.
• To select a drive and view information about it,
  click the icon for that drive.
• To access a drive, double-click the icon for that
  drive.

14
My Computer Disk Drive Display
This is a sample of how the display area will
look when My Computer is selected in the Address
Bar.
In this case, the computers hard drive is shown
as being selected.
The display area also shows that a floppy drive
and a CD drive are also installed on this system,
and there are also network drives available for
access.
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Viewing the Contents of a Drive or Folder

• You can use My Computer to view the contents of a
  selected drive or folder by double-clicking the
  object in the display area.
• The selected objects can be viewed as
• Large icons
• Small icons
• A simple list
• A detailed list
• You can select the Folder Options command from
  the Tools menu to further customize the display.

16
The Folder Options Dialog Box
This figure shows the General tab of the Folder
Options dialog box, which contains options for
styling your desk-top and for customizing the way
you organize and man-age objects and files.
You can choose to open each folder you view in
the same window, replacing the contents of the
previously displayed folder, or to open each
folder in its own window.
17
Identifying Object Icons and Using the Details
View

• Each file in a folder is preceded by a small icon
  that indicates what type of file it is.
• The more you work with file views, the more
  readily you will recognize the various icon
  types.
• For icons that you cannot recognize, you can
  switch to Details view to get more information
  about the file, including
• The size of the file.
• The file type.
• The date it was last modified.

18
My Computer Details View
This figure shows the Details view for a selected
folder. Note the additional information for each
file that is not shown in other views.
19
Summary

• Using My Computer to create folders and
  subfolders lets you group and organize electronic
  files.
• The My Computer window contains the familiar
  title bar, menu bar, display window, and status
  bar. It may also contain a toolbar and an Address
  Bar.
• The My Computer window contains two types of
  icons disk drive and folder.
• To access a drive, double-click the drive icon in
  the My Computer display window.

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Summary (continued)

• You can customize the Standard toolbar by adding
  and removing a number of editing, navigating, and
  functional buttons.
• Various types of icons represent objects within
  folders.
• You can display the contents of a drive or folder
  by double-clicking the icon in the display
  window. The contents are displayed in five views
  Thumbnails, Tiles, Icons, List, and Details.