Starting the Computer

To start the computer and press the power switch on the computer system unit. If the
monitor light does not light up then press the monitor power button also.

The computer will then go through a start up procedure to load the necessary software to
create a user interface for the user to operate through. This is known as the Booting Up
Process.

When the following screen appears you can begin to use the system.
ICONS Microsoft Office Tool Bar

The icons will not be

the same on each
computer. These are
short cuts to
applications and
system devices.
Obviously each system
can vary according to
the user’s requirements

If you right click your

mouse on the empty
desktop, this menu
will appear. Select
Arrange Icons
option to place all the
icons in a particular
order.

This screen is referred to as the Desktop

Selecting an Application:

Lists up to the last 15

documents

Allows programs to be run

or installed

Click on the start button to

display this menu

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Drag the mouse forward to highlight the word Programs. Notice another menu appears to
the right, displaying all the applications currently available on the system.

Select an application (program) by positioning the

mouse over the name and clicking the left-hand
mouse button.

Select Microsoft Word from the above list and the following screen will appear:

Type your name

on the first line
and then press
the enter key

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Saving a document
Click on File on the menu bar, then select the Save option.

Note:

The first time a document

is saved, the Save As
screen appears which will
allow the User to enter a
meaningful name and
select the drive and folder
the file is to be stored in.

This document is to be saved to floppy disk.

Place a floppy disk in drive A
Click on the Down Arrow in the Save in box
Select 3½ floppy (A):
Position the mouse in the File name box and type Practice1 as the file
name
Click the OK button

The file is now stored on the floppy disk. (Notice the green light on the floppy drive
indicating it is active).

Go back to your Word Processing Screen.

Type today’s date underneath your name. This updated document will be saved on the C:
Drive.

Click File and then Save As

Select the C: Drive within the Save In box
Now create a new Folder by clicking on this icon

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The following screen should open:

NOTE: any
highlighted text will be
overwritten as you
type!

Type your name in full in the Name box.

Click the OK button

This new folder will now appear within the list of files and folders already contained on the
C: Drive. To store the document in to it, its name must be placed in the Save In box. To
do this double click on it with the mouse.

Position the mouse in the File Name box and enter Updated Practice as the file name.

Click Save

There are now two separate files. One is stored in the floppy disk called Practice1 and
the other is stored on the C: Drive called Updated Practice

NOTE:

SAVING A DOCUMENT FOR THE FIRST TIME: FILE, SAVE

OR FILE, SAVE AS OR CAN BE USED.

SAVING A NEW VERSION OF A DOCUMENT: FILE, SAVE AS MUST BE USED!!!!

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Closing an Application

Notice the three icons at the top right-hand corner of the screen.

Minimise Close
This button will This button closes
minimise the screen the window.
and place the name of
the application or Restore / Maximise
document onto the
taskbar This button has two functions.
When the window is Full screen
size it reduces it to a smaller size. If
the window is already minimised it
restores it to Full screen size.

Click on the close icon to clear the document from the screen. Notice that Microsoft
Word is still open. Click on the Close icon again to close this application also.
Click on the Start button on the Desktop. Select the Settings option

Click on the Control

Panel

The following screen will appear:

Adjusts the monitor settings

Not all systems will have the

same icons appearing on this
screen. This depends on the
hardware and software
specification of the system.

Click on the System icon

This screen will state the

specification of the system

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By clicking on the printer icon in the control panel, you can add printers and
also Set Default Printer by right clicking on the Printer icon you wish to be
the Default, and selecting default option from the menu which will pop up.

Notice the tick beside

the printer that is
already set as default.

All programs using the Windows environment will now print from this printer unless you
manually choose another printer.

NOW CLOSE THE ABOVE SCREENS

Finding a specific file or folder

From the Desktop, click Start and select the Find option:

Click the Files or

Folders option

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The following window will appear:

Enter the name of the file or folder

in the Name box.

Use the Browse button to select the

drive and folder to be searched.

Click Find Now button to start the

search

If selecting the entire C: drive or an individual folder to search, check if the subfolders box
is required to be ticked.

Wild Cards = *

The symbol * is called a wild card i.e. it means anything

Therefore if you search for only Word documents which end in .doc
Then you type *.doc

If you search for a file with a certain name but which may be in several programs
Then you type something like report1.*

If you type *.* it means you are looking for all files with any extension and you will get
EVERYTHING!

When the result of the search appears on the screen, we can manipulate it in various
ways.

Search for any file of type

.doc

C: Drive will be searched

including all the folders it
contains.

Total number of files/folders is

displayed at the bottom of the
screen. If you are asked to
count the files remember to
subtract the folders from the
total.

Remember:
Folders are yellow
Files look like pages

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 To sort the list by any of the specified column heading, click on the column heading e.g. to
sort by size click on the word “Size”. Note that this will sort the list into ascending or
alphabetical order if not already in that order. If the heading is clicked again then the sort
will give the opposite effect i.e. descending order.

If you right click on any of the listed files a menu will be displayed to allow you to perform
various operations with the selected files.

SEND TO will give you

the option of sending a Opens the selected file
file stored on the main
drive in the PC, to the Opens a new document and
floppy drive copies the contents of the
selected file to it
Use these two options
in the same way as you Prints the selected file
would text i.e. CUT is
used when you want to If you would like an icon on
move a file. the Desktop for quick and
easy access.
COPY is used when
you want to have If you want to remove a file
another version of a file. that you no longer require.
The file will be placed in the
Use RENAME if you recycle bin on the Desktop,
want to change the where you will be able to
name of a file retrieve it, if necessary.

If you want to move a file to a new location

Right click on the file

Select Cut
Minimize the Find window
On the Desktop, Double Click My Computer Icon
Open the drive you wish to use
Open the folder to be used
Now use the paste option to place the file in this location.

Use the above steps to place a copy of a file in another location, except use the COPY
option instead of the CUT option.

NOTE:
If you want to select several files positioned together simultaneously

• Select the first file

• Hold the shift key
• Select the last file

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If you want to select several files which are not positioned together

• Hold the control key while selecting the required files

Windows Explorer
Another way to move and manipulate files is within Windows Explorer. You have access
to this program from your Desktop under Start, Programs and the following icon:

Or you can right click Start, click the option Explore and the following screen will appear:

Practice makes perfect with this facility and actions happen very quickly, so be careful
where you move files to on someone else’s computer!
Ask your Tutor for help with this part. YOU MAY ONLY PRACTISE ON A FLOPPY
DISK AT THIS TIME!!!!!

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Retrieving deleted files/folders
From the Desktop double click the Recycle Bin
Select the file/folder to be retrieved
Select File from the Menu Bar
Select Restore

Or you can right click

on the file and click
Restore

Look where the file

originally came from and
will go back there when you
click restore.

NOTE: Whilst it is important to empty your Recycle Bin regularly, it is better to have a
routine. If you delete files (called Housekeeping) at a certain time each month perhaps,
then wait a week before emptying the bin – this is to allow for accidental file deletions
because programs will stop running if you have made a mistake and you can always
restore from the bin again.

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To rename a file:
Right click on the file, scroll down to rename.

Notice that it has become

Highlighted and will be
overwritten as you type.
It is ready for you to type
in the new file name.
Then Press Return.

To copy files from one location to another:

Highlight the file you want, right click on it then copy, go to the location where you want
it to be, then right click again and paste it in.

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 NOTE:
If you are making a copy within the same folder you will notice that it will call itself a ‘copy’,
the reason for that is, there cannot be two files within the same folder with the same file
name. But if you pasted it into a different folder it would be called the original filename

To move a file:
You would go through the exact same procedure though instead of copy you would be
clicking on Cut. Right click on the file you want to move and click on Cut. This will
move the file from its original location and you can paste it to another location of your
choice.

Properties of a Computer
(i.e. – Computer Processor Type)
Right click on My
Computer

Scroll down and click on

Properties

You will now see all the

information for your
computer. You can
highlight this
information and copy &
paste it into another
document.

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Using Windows online Help
Click START and select Help from the menu

The dialog box has three tabs, Contents, Index and Search. Click on the Index tab.

The Index gives an alphabetical list of every available help topic and can be searched
using the scroll bar. The required topic can also be quickly found by entering it in the box
at the top of the dialog box.

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You can type in a few keywords in what you are looking for, or scroll down and choose
from the options below:

Click on Display

You will now be faced with this screen:

Choose one of the topics

Click on Display

What has happened

now – It has given
you a detailed
summary of the
information that you
required.

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The Correct Procedure to Shut Down your Computer
It is very important to shut down Windows in the correct manner.

Select Start and then select Shut Down

Make sure that Shut down

is highlighted and then click
OK

When the message appears informing you to switch off, do so. Note some computers
switch themselves off. If the monitor light remains on switch the monitor off as well. Then
wait until it safe to switch off at the power.

If the computer freezes i.e. won’t allow you to do anything, then press the following keys
simultaneously to restart it

<Ctrl Alt> <Delete>

Find the program which is

not responding (it may or
may not say it is not
responding), highlight it
and press
End Task. If this does not
unfreeze your system, you
may have to reboot as
directed below.

Perform the action once and you will get the option to end the task which is causing the
system to freeze. Perform it twice and this will reboot the system.

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TIPS

Mouse techniques

Point position the mouse pointer until the tip of the pointer rests on the
required position

Click press and immediately release the left mouse button without moving the mouse

Double click the mouse button twice in rapid succession

Click

Drag press the mouse button and hold it down while the mouse is moved, then release
the button at the appropriate location

Files and Folders

In order to assist in storing and finding files and programs on the hard disk, Windows uses
Folders (directories). The hard (or floppy) disk, or CD, is split into many folders, each
containing all the files related to a specific task or program. A folder may also contain
other folders, thus sub-dividing the disk even further. The concept is much like organising
a filing cabinet by having separate drawers and files for each particular task.

A folder in Windows appears as a yellow icon

The name of the folder will be printed underneath it. When the icon is double clicked, the
folder opens, and its contents appear in a new window.

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Formatting a Floppy Disk
Before a new floppy disk is used, check if it needs to be formatted (the box will indicate if
the disks are pre-formatted). Formatting the disk makes it compatible with the system.

This menu will Use this option to copy

be displayed the contents of one floppy
disk to another

Select Format and the following screen will be displayed:

If the disk has not been formatted

before then use the Full format
option.
Otherwise use the Quick format
option to erase old files and make
the disk ready for re-using.

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File Types

The icons above show a pictorial representation of some of the many file types available.
You are not expected to know them all, but it is helpful if you can recognise the most
common. The yellow boxes are, of course, folders, not files.
For example, the little icons that look like paint pots or pots of pencils are files associated
with the program Paint and these sort of files have an extension called .bmp (or bitmap
files). Paint can open any file that has the extension .bmp

If you right click over a file and select Properties, you will be able to have a good look at
what the file extension is. Look at the following:

This is the icon

This is the file type

This is file name and

the extenstion.
Knowing the file type and the extension helps you if a program
will not open a file for you. For example, some desktop
publishing programs only accept pictures with certain file
extensions, eg .gif or .jpg

If you have been sent a file in your email, which you cannot
open, it may be that you do not have the software program in
your computer to do so. Finding out the file extension will
allow you to identify the software required.

NOTE: To ensure a file is Read-Only tick the above box. Untick Archive.

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To change the screen saver on your computer:

Click on Start then go to Settings then Control Panel. Double click on the
Display Icon.

Then when it is opened

click on Screensaver
and scroll down to the
one you want, click
apply then ok.

NOTE:
You can also set the minutes
that lapse when your computer
becomes idle, your
Screen Saver will then be
activated.

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Sizes of Files and Folders
To find out the sizes of a particular file or folder follow this simple procedure:

Click on the
arrow beside
Views.
Scroll down and
click on Details.

You can now see all

the information for all
the files.

If you click on Size it

will bring the largest
file to the top of the list,
click again and it will
bring the smallest file
to the top.

You can also see when

the file was last
modified – again click
on Modified to bring
the recently modified
file to the top or click
again to bring the
oldest file to the top.

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File Extensions:

Look at the file extensions below the icons

.mdb Access/Databases

.xls Excel/Spreadsheets

.bmp Bitmap files (associated with Paint)

.ppt PowerPoint

.pub Publisher

.doc Word Processing (Opened with Word)

.rtf Rich Text Format (Opened also with Word)

.txt Text Document (Opened with a Text Editor or a

Word Processing Program)

.html html document – A Web Page

.gif image – A picture file

.jpeg image - A picture file

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Files and Folders Exercise 1
(Floppy disk should already have various files on it)

1. Create a folder in your floppy disk and name it Answers. Create a sub folder and
name it Exercise 1
2. Open MS Word and save a blank document to this sub folder and name it answer
file (record your answers in this document)
3. What is this key combination used for? Ctrl+Alt+Delete
4. Use the Help function to find information on print options and copy 3 lines of the text
into your answer file
5. Explain how to close, resize and maximise a window
6. How many files on your floppy disk are of the type .doc
7. How many files are stored on your floppy disk in total?
8. Create a folder within your floppy disk called Large (on the same level as the
Answers folder) e.g

31/2 Floppy (A)

Answers Large

9. Copy the two largest files into the Large folder

10. Explain the following file extensions
.doc .mdb
.bmp .txt
.rtf .xls
11. Print the answer file.
12. Delete the two sub folders Answers and Large

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 SAMPLE ANSWERS FOR EXERCISE 1

Re-booting the system Or End an application that has frozen the PC.

4 If you can’t print to a printer

Make sure that:

• The printer is turned on.
• The printer is in range.
• The printer is assigned to the infrared printer port.
• Infrared communication is turned on.

5
Minimise Close
This button will This button closes
minimise the screen the window.
and place the name of
the application or Restore / Maximise
document onto the
taskbar This button has two functions.
When the window is Full screen
size it reduces it to a smaller size. If
the window is already minimised it
restores it to Full screen size.

6 This answer will vary depending on the number of previous Word Processing
documents created.
7 This answer will vary.
8 This answer will vary.
9 .doc - Word Processing file
.bmp - Picture file
.rtf - Rich Text Format (this is a text file containing formatting)
.mdb - Database file
.txt - Text Document
.xls - Spreadsheet file

Your Floppy should look similar to the following:

Subfolder & Answer file

Largest files moved
Folders Answer & Large created

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 Files and Folders Exercise 2

Ask your Tutor for the Files & Folders Mock

1 Locate the Files & Folders Mock that is situated on your desktop.
2 Create a subfolder within Files & Folders and name it your Surname
3 Create the following structure within your Surname subfolder.

Your
Surname

Blue Yellow

4 Open a Word Processing application and type your name and today’s date.
Save this document as answer file to your Surname folder.
5 What is the correct procedure of shutting down your computer? Record your
answer in your answer file document.
6 Explain how to set another printer as default. Record your answer in your
answer file document.
7 Use the online help facility to find information about CD Player. Copy two lines
of the text to your answer file document.
8 How many files in the Files & Folders Mock (including sub folders) are of the
type *.xls. Record your answer to the answer file document.
9 Move the largest file from the Red Subfolder and put it in the Yellow subfolder.
10 Locate file31.doc from the Files & Folders Mock and move it to the Blue
subfolder.
11 What is the name of the most recently modified *.ppt in the Files & Folders
Mock. Record your answer to the answer file document.
12 Rename File25.txt to be called Orange.
13 Name three mouse techniques. Record your answer to the answer file
document.
14 Save, print one copy of your answer file. Your tutor will check your answers.

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 SAMPLE ANSWERS FOR EXERCISE 2
5 The correct procedure of shutting down your computer is: save and close any
opened applications. Go to start and select shut down. Click OK. When the
message appears informing you to switch off, do so. Note some computers switch
themselves off. If the monitor light remains on switch the monitor off as well. Then
wait until it safe to switch off at the power.
6 Go to start, then settings and then printers. Right Click on the printer you want to
set as default – a pop up menu will appear, click on Set as Default. You will now notice a
tick beside the printer.

7 Using CD Player

You can use CD Player to play audio compact discs on a CD-ROM drive connected
to your computer. To listen to a CD, you can use headphones that are plugged in to
the CD-ROM. If you have a sound card installed, you can listen to a CD over your
speaker system.

7 There are four files of the type .xls

11 The recently modified .ppt is called Wine Tasting.
13 Three mouse techniques – Point, Double Click & Drag.

A Sample View of your Files & Folders Structure that you have created:

Moved File31

Moved the largest file

File.25 renamed to from the Red Subfolder
orange and put into the Yellow
Subfolder

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AN EXAMPLE OF FILES & FOLDERS STRUCTURE

26