Day 5 – Other Stuff

Introduction to Windows

(GEN 9/26/03)

The following items are things we talked about or that came to me and I dashed them down and am passing on to you as parting thoughts…

My DB.doc –Here is another way for you to create a personal information file and have it on your desktop. Put your mouse over the Desktop, right click, move the mouse to New, then over Microsoft Word Document and click. A MS Word document icon appears on the desktop with the name highlighted, type MY DB.doc and press Enter. The name is changed and the icon is highlighted, press Enter. MS Word opens the document MY DB.doc. Now type in your grandkids date & time of birth, weight & length and their SS#. Then put in your doctors and their phone # and others that you need to know but don’t remember. Put in those passwords for those web sites. Put in those health items and dates of occurrence. Later use Ctrl+F to bring up the Find dialog box to find the item you saved. If you do this for a long period of time you should save it to a floppy on the 1st of the month when you pay your bills. Doing it this way really stores MY DB on the Desktop.

Your computer security – If you use email you need a virus program then get a live update at least every week. If your ISP (Internet service Provider) is Cable or DSL (High speed phone line) you need a Firewall to protect your computer from intruders.

File structure – You need to keep all your documents in the My Documents folder and sub folders you create in it. I have 2,395 files in 180 folders in my My Documents folder and 5,354 photos in 231 folders in the folder named A Photo on my C: drive.

Outlook Express – Use BCC: not To: in email when sending to a Group of people. To generate the Group go open your Address Book, click on File, click on New Group…(Ctrl+G), Type the name, click OK. Now click on All Addresses, they appear in the right pane. Hold the Ctrl key down (and keep it down), in the right pane click on all the names you want to be in your new group, they highlight, release the Ctrl key. Now drag any highlighted name to your new group in the left pane and drop it when the group name highlights. Then later just drag new names to the group or delete them as you see fit.

MS Word Toolbar Buttons – In MS Word let’s add the Show All button to the ToolBar. Click on the Tools menu, click on Customize…, select the Commands tab, in the Categories: pane select View, in the Commands: pane


Day 5 – Other Stuff Continued

drag and drop the Show All icon on the ToolBar. While your there you may drag icons off the ToolBar that you will never use. Also while your there notice that when you click on any icon or menu command the Description button becomes active, click on it to find out the button’s function.

Control Panel – Open the Start menu, go to Settings and select (open) the Control Panel. Lots of things here to check out: Let look at Accessibility Options, go to Add/Remove Programs to uninstall a program, setup the Keyboard and Mouse to your taste, understand your Power Options and look at Sounds and Multimedia. There are many other things you may change, But Be Careful, change only one thing at a time.

Desktop – Have it your way! Right click on a blank place (no icons) on your desktop. A menu opens, I’ll just talk about Arrange Icons and Properties. Select Arrange Icons and play with it, you may never get them back where they started, does it matter as long as it works for you? Select Properties, now here you can change lots of things. There are many options for your Background, if you are running Windows XP or 2000 photos that you save in you’re My Pictures folder may be used. In Screen Saver you can preview them and select a time before it starts, they do not save your screen. In Appearance you have many choices, note what the settings are before you start or you may never get back to what they were, Be Careful. In Settings I use 800 by 600, larger numbers mean smaller icons. When you change this setting the screen size will not be the same, there will be more or less black around the edges. This may be adjusted with the buttons on the front of your monitor; this is a trial and error process.

Clicking and Right Clicking – Clicking means click the Left mouse button, this executes (performs) a function (command). A Right

click Always opens a menu, except in games.

Desktop Icons – You may change the Icons on your desktop, Right click on an icon, click on Properties then click on the Change Icon button. A Dialog Box will open with choices.

Function Keys – These are mostly program dependent, however F1 will usually open Help and Alt+F4 will usually close the Active window. Now let me show you an addictive game, Free Cell, its right near Solitaire in the Games menu. Here F2 selects a game, F3 selects a specific game, F4 shows you your stats, F5 brings up Options and F10 is an Undo for the last move. Help says you should be able to win every game, good luck and all the best…

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