Basic Computer Concepts

1. Course 101 - Basic Computer Concepts Presented by

2. How Do I Connect My New Computer?

3. How Do I Connect My New Computer? Connect only one keyboard and one mouse.If you have a wireless keyboard or mouse,see the setup diagram supplied with thosedevices for setup instructions.

4. How Do I Connect My New Computer? Align and gently insert the monitor cable connector.Do not bend the connector pins.Tighten the thumbscrews firmly.

5. How Do I Connect My New Computer? Modem Option: Insert the modem connector until it clicks. You can attacha phone to the connector next to the LINE IN connector. If you have DSLservice, see your DSL setup guide for DSL and modem setup instructions.A microphone is only available with certain modems.

6. How Do I Connect My New Computer? Speaker Option: See the setup diagramsupplied with the speakers for setup instructions.

7. How Do I Connect My New Computer? Connect the monitor, computer,and speaker system to electricaloutlets.

8. How Do I Connect My New Computer? Press the power buttons to turn onyour computer and monitor. Then turn on the speakers and/or subwoofer(if necessary). Follow the instructionson the screen to complete the MicrosoftWindows operating system setup.

9. How Do I Connect My New Computer? See the documentation suppliedwith the printer for setup instructions.See the computer’s owners manual formore information on installing printers.

10. Questions?

11. Power Considerations

12. Power Considerations It is obvious from the number of cables running around that there is a lot of electricity involved in a computer system. The power in electrical lines is not as steady as you might think. It varies as demand peaks and wanes, as lightning strikes near power lines, as equipment is brought on line or taken off. This exposes the system to three kinds of damage:(1) Fried PartsA power spike is a huge jump that lasts for fractions of a second. One large spike can destroy the CPU and other chips on the motherboard.To block these fluctuations, a computer and all it's accessories should be plugged into a surge protector. These come with different protection levels for different loads, and therefore different prices. You'll have to decide how much protection you are willing to pay for. Not all devices that look alike actually are alike. Power outlet strips look very much like the strip-style surge protectors but give no surge protection at all. They are just a way to connect multiple devices to a single wall outlet. Under-the-monitor styles also can be merely a convenient way to plug everything in, with no protection. So check carefully that you are buying what you think you are buying!

13. Power Considerations (2) Accelerated AgingA power surge sends more electricity through the line than normal for several seconds. A brownout is a period of lower voltage. It causes lights to dim but it may not be low enough for devices to shut down.When the voltage fluctuates in your power line, over time the repeated small peaks and dips shorten the life span for computer parts. They wear out sooner. So, in addition to blocking high voltages, you need the ability to smooth out these variations by pumping up the voltage when it drops and stepping it down when it's too high. This is called conditioning. Most protection devices also have noise filters to remove the interference caused by the magnetic fields of nearby devices. You may have seen the speckles and lines in a TV picture when a vacuum cleaner or refrigerator motor starts up. All electrical devices have magnetic fields. Electric motors, sound speakers, and low-flying airplanes are among the worst offenders at generating interference. (3) Dead DataIf the voltage drops too low, the computer shuts down without warning. A voltage drop that makes your lights blink and the TV flicker can make the computer stop in its tracks. All unsaved changes to your documents and data are lost. You can actually damage, or corrupt, files this way. If the computer was in the act of saving data to the hard drive, the hard drive may be ruined. You need a guaranteed source of power. An Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) is a combination of surge protector, power line conditioner, and battery power supply. The least expensive ones will power your computer for 5 or 10 minutes. So in a power outage you have the time to save your work and close everything down properly. A much more expensive UPS setup can keep your network running all day when the power is completely out. If there is a brownout, the UPS cuts on instantly and keeps the computer running as if nothing had happened. When the power is stable again, it cuts itself off.

14. Questions?

15. Introduction

16. Introduction Computers are showing up everywhere you look, and even in places you can't see. Computers check out your groceries, pump your gas, dispense money at the ATM, turn the heat on and off, control the way your car runs. They're everywhere! In fact, the computer is rapidly becoming as tightly woven into the fabric of our lives as the automobile. There are different kinds of computers for different purposes. They are just as varied in size, expense, and ability as our more familiar 4-wheeled vehicles are. What is a computer? A computer is an electronic device that executes the instructions in a program. A computer has four functions: a. accepts data - Input b. processes data - Processing c. produces output - Output d. stores results - StorageSome beginning terms: Hardware the physical parts of the computerSoftware the programs (instructions) that tell the computer what to doData  individual facts like first name, price, quantity orderedInformation data which has been massaged into a useful form, like a complete mailing addressDefault the original settings; what will happen if you don't change anything. The Information Processing Cycle

17. Introduction Descriptions of Personal Computers When talking about PC computers, most people probably think of the desktop type, which are designed to sit on your desk. (Bet you figured that one out!) The tower and the smaller mini-tower style cases have become popular as people started needing more room for extra drives inside. Repairmen certainly appreciate the roominess inside for all the cables and circuit boards ... and their knuckles. A workstation is part of a computer network and generally would be expected to have more than a regular desktop PC of most everything, like memory, storage space, and speed. The market for the smallest PCs is expanding rapidly. Software is becoming available for the small types of PC like the palmtop (PPC) and handheld (HPC). This new software is based on new operating systems like Windows CE (for Consumer Electronics). You may find simplified versions of the major applications you use. One big advantage for the newer programs is the ability to link the small computers to your home or work computer and coordinate the data. So you can carry a tiny computer like a PalmPilot around to enter new phone numbers and appointments and those great ideas you just had. Then later you can move this information to your main computer. With a Tablet PC you use an electronic stylus to write on the screen, just like with a pen and paper, only your words are in digital ink. The Tablet PC saves your work just like you wrote it (as a picture), or you can let the Hand Recognition (HR) software turn your chicken-scratches into regular text.

18. Introduction • Mainframe Computers • The mainframe is the workhorse of the business world. A mainframe is the heart of a network of computers or terminals which allows hundreds of people to work at the same time on the same data. It requires a special environment - cold and dry. • SupercomputersThe supercomputer is the top of the heap in power and expense. These are used for jobs that take massive amounts of calculating, like weather forecasting, engineering design and testing, serious decryption, economic forecasting, etc. • ServersThe term server actually refers to a computer's function rather than to a specific kind of computer. A server runs a network of computers. It handles the sharing of equipment like printers and the communication between computers on the network. For such tasks a computer would need to be somewhat more capable than a desktop computer. It would need: • more power • larger memory • larger storage capacity • high speed communications • MinicomputersThe minicomputer has become less important since the PC has gotten so powerful on its own. In fact, the ordinary new PC is much more powerful than minicomputers used to be. Originally this size was developed to handle specific tasks, like engineering and CAD calculations, that tended to tie up the mainframe.

19. Introduction WindowsWindows is simply another computer program. It is similar to other programs you may have on your computer with one large difference. Windows is the program that manages all the other programs, kind of like the boss. Your boss gives out assignments, allocates resources to projects he thinks are worthwhile, and checks up on your activities. Similarly, Windows knows which file to open when you double-click on an icon on the desktop. Windows also knows how much of your computer’s memory (or resources) to give to each open program, so you can be doing many different things on your computer at once. Even when the files ("employees") start fighting for more resources (even computers play office politics), Windows ("the boss") keeps everything in order.Program Also known as software or application. A program is simply something that allows you to work or play on the computer. A game is a program, a word processor is a program, Windows is a program. Programs are used to create documents and files for the user, or to just have fun. Programs are what actually put your computer to good use. Without a program, your computer is impotent.GUI (Graphical User Interface)A Graphical User Interface (GUI - sometimes pronounced GOO-ee) uses pictures to make it easier for the user. It is more user friendly. The next slide provides more information on GUI interfaces.

20. Introduction Common features of a graphical interface: Window    Menu    Button    Icon

21. Questions?

22. Keyboard Functions In Windows

23. Keyboard Functions In Windows The Shift Key: Used exactly the same as a typewriter in Windows. Makes capital letters and allows you to use the "cursing symbols" such as @#$%. The Shift Key can also be used to highlight text, like you would do with your mouse. Try it. Hold down the shift key (don't release it), now move your cursor with the arrow keys. You should be able to highlight text this way. The Alt Key: The ALT key stands for "Alternate." When you push this key in Windows, the cursor moves to the menu bar at the top of the screen. It's the same as clicking your mouse on the "File" Menu above. From there you can use the arrow keys to select menu options. This is useful if you don't like switching between your mouse and keyboard often. Press "Alt" again to move the cursor back off of the menu bar. The Windows Key: This key opens the "Start Menu" at the lower left corner of your screen. It has the same effect as you clicking the "Start" button with your mouse. The CTRL Key: The CTRL key stands for "Control." This key is used in combination with other keys to perform specific tasks, often called shortcuts. A list of common Windows Keyboard Shortcuts is included in this presentation. One example is "CTRL+P." Often times programs automatically print the document you are using if you push the Control button and the "P" key at the same time. If you are using Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer to view a web page, you can bookmark the page using the keyboard shortcut "CTRL+D." Try it out! The Delete Key: This key erases the character directly to the right of your cursor. If you have text or graphics that are highlighted, those are erased by pushing this key as well. The Backspace Key: This key erases the character directly to the left of your cursor. If you have text or graphics that are highlighted, those are erased by pushing this key as well.

24. Keyboard Functions In Windows Enter: The Enter key works very much like the "Return" key on a typewriter. However, do NOT press enter after every line when you are typing a document. Windows knows when you are reaching the end of a line, and will automatically go to the next line. If you do press enter after each line, and then attempt to change the font or size of the document, you'll see some strange results! Pressing enter also usually agrees to a question that Windows asks you, similar to pressing an "OK" button, or a "Yes" button. Tab: Similar to a typewriter, the Tab key will insert indentation into a document. It also jumps from box to box when entering a form online, or in Windows. Insert: The insert mode toggles between the Insert Mode, and the Overwrite Mode. The Insert Mode will insert text where the cursor is when you type. For example, if you earlier typed the phrase "Windows is Fun", then moved your cursor between "is" and "Fun" and typed "REALLY", the result would be "Windows is REALLY Fun“. However, Overwrite Mode simply writes over anything in its path. In our last example, the word "Fun" would have been written over by "REALLY", making the sentence read "Windows is REALLY.“ Num Lock: If you look at your Numeric Keypad (that group of keys to the right with all the numbers on it), you'll see that there are arrows and words under most of the numbers. When Num Lock is turned on, you can use those keys to enter numbers (instead of using the row right above the keyboard letters). When Num Lock is turned off, you can use the arrows and commands printed below the numbers. Home / End / Pg Up / Pg Down: Often the Home key is used to move your cursor to the beginning of a line, and the End key is used to move it to the end of a line. Page Up and Page Down are slightly misleading. Often, the Page Down key won't move your cursor from Page 2 to Page 3, like you would think it would. Instead, they often move the cursor up/down one "screen-length", meaning that if you push the Page Down key, the top of the screen becomes what was just after the bottom of the screen before you pressed the key. That's hopelessly confusing, so try it out yourself. I personally use these four keys very often to navigate quickly around a document.

25. Questions?

26. Windows Keyboard Shortcuts

27. Windows Keyboard Shortcuts [Alt] and [Esc] Switch between running applications[Alt] and [Tab] Toggle between running applications [Alt] and letter Select menu item by underlined letter [Ctrl] and [Esc] Open Program Menu [Ctrl] and [F4] Close active document or group windows (does not work with some applications) [Alt] and [F4]Quit active application or close current window[Alt] and [-] Open Control menu for active document[Alt] and [Spacebar] Open Control menu for active application[Ctrl] Lft., Rt. Arrow Move cursor forward or back one word [Ctrl] Up, Down arrow Move cursor forward or back one paragraph[Ctrl] and X Cut selected text or object(s)[Ctrl] and C Copy selected text or object(s) [Ctrl] and V Paste copied text or object(s)[F1] Open Help for active applicationWindows+E Open Windows ExplorerWindows+F Open FindWindows+M Minimize all open windowsShift+Windows+M Undo minimize all open windowsWindows+R Open Run windowWindows+F1 Open Windows HelpWindows+Tab Cycle through the Taskbar buttonsWindows+Break Open the System Properties dialog box Ctrl + A Select AllCtrl + B BoldCtrl + D DuplicateCtrl + F Find Ctrl + G Go To Page Ctrl + H ReplaceCtrl + I Italic Ctrl + J Justify Text Ctrl + L Left Align TextCtrl + N Open New documentCtrl + O OpenCtrl + P PrintCtrl + Q QuitCtrl + R Right Align Text Ctrl + S SaveCtrl + U UnderlineCtrl + V PasteCtrl + W Close documentCtrl + X CutCtrl + Z Undo

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29. Text Selection Shortcuts

30. Text Selection Shortcuts One character right - SHIFT+RIGHT ARROWOne character left - SHIFT+LEFT ARROWTo end of a word - CTRL+SHIFT+RIGHT ARROWTo beginning of a word - CTRL+SHIFT+LEFT ARROWTo end of a line - SHIFT+ENDTo beginning of a line - SHIFT+HOMEOne line down - SHIFT+DOWN ARROWOne line up - SHIFT+UP ARROWTo the end of a paragraph - CTRL+SHIFT+DOWN ARROWTo the beginning of a paragraph - CTRL+SHIFT+UP ARROWOne screen down - SHIFT+PAGE DOWNOne screen up - SHIFT+PAGE UPTo the end of a window - ALT+CTRL+PAGE DOWNTo the beginning of a document - CTRL+SHIFT+HOMETo include the entire document - CTRL+A

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32. General Keyboard Information

33. General Keyboard Information What's the Difference Between the Backspace and Delete Key? Both keys essentially do the same thing, with one major difference. The backspace key deletes to the left of the cursor, and the delete key deletes to the right of the cursor. For instance if I had the word "trick" on my screen, with the cursor between the "i" and the "c" and pushed delete, I would end up with "trik." Conversely, if I hit backspace, the screen would read "trck.“What does the Print Screen Key do? In old DOS programs, the Print Screen key used to do just that... Print a copy of whatever was on the screen at that time. However, it didn't work with graphics, so if there were any graphics on the screen at the time, you would get a garbled mess from your printer. When Windows came along and brought pictures and icons along with it, this created a problem. Now, the Print Screen key copies a picture of whatever is on your screen to the clipboard. Then you can use Microsoft Paint, or another graphics editor to paste it and print it, or put it on your web page.

34. Mouse Essentials

35. Mouse Essentials In order to use Windows and other programs you need to know how to use a mouse. Let’s take a break from the presentation and try some exercises. Click on the Mouse Tutorial link in the column to the left “Mouserobics”

36. Questions?

37. General Information

38. General Information File A file is a collection of information that a computer uses. It is always in a particular format. For example, if you created a Microsoft Word document, the file is saved so that Microsoft Word can read it and open it. Often files cannot be opened to read, they are simply data files the computer and techno-weenies understand. Files are made up of the filename, and the extension.Document A document is a file that contains information that the user (you) can view or hear. It is most often a word processed letter, a picture, a sound byte, or something similar. Documents are usually created and edited using programs such as Microsoft Word, or Adobe Photoshop.File Name The file name is the first part of the file, and is sometimes referred to as just the "name." This name can be up to 255 characters in Windows 95, 98, or 2000, as opposed to 8 characters in Windows 3.x and DOS. This name is set by the computer user (you). It should be descriptive of what the particular file or document consists. For example, if the document is a Birthday Card for Mikey's 9th birthday, set the file name equal to "Mikey's 9th Birthday Card". The second part of the file is the extension. Extension The extension is the second part of the name of the file. It is often three characters long, but can be longer. The extension tells the computer which program, or application, to associate the file with. For example, if you create a document in Microsoft Word, the computer automatically assigns that file the extension "doc". That code tells the computer that it is an MS Word document, and should be opened using Word. The first part of the file is the filename.

39. Questions?

40. Backing Up Your System

41. Backing Up Your System BackupsBecause your computer has many important personal files on its hard drive, if they all disappeared one day, you would probably be devastated. Hard drives don’t live forever, as some people seem to think, therefore it’s important to back up your personal hard drive files regularly. Our first recommendation is to buy a good backup program, or use Microsoft Backup that comes with Windows. There are several good programs out there that will do the job, but make sure that you buy one that is current for your version of Windows. A backup system designed for Windows 98 may not be reliable for Windows 2000 or Windows XP. QuickTipsThere are many mediums on which you can backup your information. The most common right now are CD-Rewritable Drives, Zip Drives, and Flash Drives. CD-Rewritable Drives are different than CD-Writeable drives, the difference being that with Rewritables, you can erase and copy over the same CD, much like you can with a floppy disk. Zip disks look like over sized floppy disks, and can hold about 100 MB of information each. CDs can hold about 700 MB of information each. Flash drives vary, but the most popular ones hold between 128MB and 2GB of data. Others use less popular mediums such as tape backup units (computerized tape recorder) or even using many floppy disks. If you use either of these methods, only backup your essentials. Floppy disks only hold 1.44 MB of information, and therefore will take all Saturday afternoon and a thousand disks to back up even a small hard drive.

42. Questions?

43. File Size Information

44. File Size Information Computer files are measured in units called "bytes" (pronounced "bites"). A byte roughly translates into a character or letter. For example, if I type "Love & War", I have typed in 10 bytes (7 letters, 1 symbol, 2 spaces). Special formatting codes such as Bold, Italics, or Underline add bytes to the document, as well as different fonts or font sizes. Bytes are measured in the metric system, which won't be unfamiliar to you if you live outside the US. But for those of you that are confused when you buy a 2-Liter from the grocery store, this table may help you figure out what people are talking about when they refer to a Megabyte. Floppy Disks hold about 1.44 MB. CD's hold about 600-700 MB. Hard Drives hold anywhere from 800 MB to 400+ GB. Flash drives hold anywhere from 128MB to 10GB. Text is not the only information that takes up room on your disk. Images and Graphics are recorded in bytes as well.

45. File Size Information How to Determine a File's Size in WindowsThere are a couple ways to determine a file's size in Windows. If the file you are trying to open is a document, usually you can open the document, click on the File menu, and choose the "Properties" selection. This will normally give you the size of your file. If that doesn't work, open Windows Explorer. Once Explorer is open, find the file that you are wanting to check. Once you find the file, open the directory (or folder) that contains it in Windows Explorer. You should see every file in that folder on the right side of the screen. Click the "View" menu, and select "Details." All the file sizes should appear.How to Open Windows ExplorerThere are two ways to open Explorer in Windows. The first way is to right-click the Start Button at the bottom-left corner of the screen. You should see an option which says "Explore." Click on this to bring up Windows Explorer. The second way also involves the Start Button. This time, left-click on the Start Button to bring up the Start Menu. In the Start Menu, hover your cursor over the Programs option. You should see an option for Windows Explorer.Directory A directory is often referred to as a folder in newer versions of Windows. Just like in a file cabinet, your computer divides up files into folders (or directories) to organize them and make them easily accessible. For instance, if you had a "Fruit" folder, you may have files in it called "Peach" and "Grape". Folders can have sub-folders as well for further organization. You may put a “Living Room” sub-folder inside your “House” folder.

46. Questions?

47. Finding Files

48. Finding Files Missing Files!Have you ever needed a file on your computer that you never thought you would use again? Maybe you wrote a letter to someone, and need to see exactly what you said. Or maybe you have saved old reports from your job somewhere on your computer, and are now frantically trying to find them. If this hasn't happened to you yet, it will eventually, and that is why it's helpful to know how to find files on your computer's hard drive using Microsoft Windows. There are two ways to find a file in Windows. The easiest way is by clicking the "Start" button at the bottom-left of your screen and hovering over the word “Search”. There are several options that will appear next to the word Search, including “For Files or Folders”. Choose this option.Click on the “All Files and Folders" option. A screen comes up, as shown below asking you to provide the computer with information about the file you are searching for. There are several things that you can tell the computer to do. First of all, if you know what the file was called, simply type it in and the computer will find it. But we all know that most of the time we just know that the "file starts with the letter B" or "I know it's a Microsoft Word file, but I don't remember anything else!" In order to find files with limited information, you must know a little bit about the file names themselves.Your computer's files have names like myletter.doc or finance.xls. The part before the "dot" (such as myletter) is your description of the file. The part after the "dot" (such as doc) is called the extension. It tells the computer which type of file it is. Because myletter.doc has the extension of doc, the computer knows it is a Microsoft Word file, because doc is the extension associated with Microsoft Word.

49. Finding Files

50. Finding Files Using “Wildcards”You may be asking, what does playing cards have to do with computers (besides the Solitaire game, that is)? Wild cards are used in a similar way on computers that they are in playing cards. For instance, if in the Search Box that we opened earlier we placed our cursor in the file name field and typed B*.* you would find every file that started with the letter B. "Wait a minute!" you say. "How did you figure that out?“ The * (located above the 8) is the character that Windows interprets as "one or more characters". Therefore, by saying B*.* we're telling the computer to find files that start with B, and have one or more characters (such as A-Z or numbers, etc.) after that B. Then the dot comes. The last * is the extension. Do you remember from the last page? The * after the dot tells the computer that any extension is O.K. For instance, if you asked the computer to find files named B*.doc the computer will try to find all files that start with B, and have the extension doc. If you ask the computer to find the files Bulldog.* your computer will search for all files named Bulldog (exactly, because there is no * before the dot) that have any extension (because of the * after the dot). If you ask the computer to find Bulld*.* it will find all files that start with Bulld and have any extension. NOTE: One thing to remember. Wild cards are not always necessary, but they will be to perform certain searches. You should have a basic knowledge of how they work, and when to use them. We will discuss this more in the pages to come.