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Windows
XP Professional
PC
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Introduction to
Windows XP Professional
This page provides a brief overview of the Windows XP Professional computer
and operating system, as well as an introduction to its operation, layout,
and general use as a tool for Internet access and desktop productivity.
Return to Welcome to Windows XP at Wellesley College
CONTENTS
1. About the Windows XP Computer
The Windows XP computer, like the Macintosh computer, uses a graphics-based
operating system featuring fast, easy access to files and a user-friendly
interface. All files and folders appear as icons on the Desktop, which is the empty space on your screen
when all windows are closed, showing My Computer, Recycle Bin, and several
program shortcuts.
An icon is a small picture representing a file or folder, usually associated
with the item's name. There are also menus which allow you to use certain
commands on the computer. When you are using a program, you will see a
colored title bar with the name of the program on the top. Under it, you
will see a line of words such as 'File' and 'Edit'. These are the drop
down menus. If you click on one of these words, a menu will drop down.
You can also call up a menu of frequently used commands by clicking the
right mouse button. The mouse is an integral part of navigation through
Windows, although many operations can also be performed with keyboard shortcuts.
Your computer, along with every other computer on campus, can be connected
to the campus network. This network allows you to check E-mail, read Firstclass conferences, browse the World Wide Web, print
to networked printers, and share files with other computers on the network.
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2. Turning Power On/Off
The best way to turn ON your computer is to use the power button on the
front of the computer tower. The best way to turn OFF the computer is to
close any applications by going to the File menu and selecting "Exit" or
by clicking on the black "x" in the top right corners
of the windows that are still running. Then click on the Start menu,
which is the 'Start' button on the bottom left of your screen, and
then click on Shut Down. In the box that pops up, choose "Shut
down" and click OK. Press the power button to turn off
the computer when you see the words "It is now safe to turn your computer
off" on your monitor screen. It is best to turn off your computer
when leaving for the day.
Occasionally, your computer might produce "illegal operation" errors,
meaning that the computer is unable to complete a certain function. If
you see this error message, close all open applications and restart your
computer (under the Start menu, select Shut Down and choose "Restart
the Computer," then click on OK, or if this does not work,
press the keys Ctrl+Alt+Delete and select "Shut Down" from
the menu provided).
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3. Navigating with the Mouse
The idea of a small book hiding behind a larger book is
important when working in Windows. Sometimes you may click on a window that
takes up your full screen
and it will cover up smaller windows that are then hidden behind it.
However, the smaller windows have not disappeared. Notice that their corresponding
Task Bar buttons are still at the bottom of the screen, so that you
can easily
bring them back to the front if you want to see them. To do this, click
on the appropriate button at the bottom of your screen and the window will
appear.
Unlike books, you have the option of re-sizing a window to move it
aside or adjust its arrangement on the screen. You can change a window's
size by
positioning your mouse over the border edge of the window. When positioned
over the edge like this, the pointer will turn into a black arrow with
two ends. Simply click down to "hold" the edge of the window and
drag the edge until the window is the size you want, then release the mouse.
There are three buttons located at the top right corner of every window
that are useful to know when working with Windows:
The Minimize button
hides the window and places it down in the Task Bar. It's still available
in the background but it won't take up space on your desktop.
The Maximize button
retrieves the previously minimized window by returning it to the full area
of your desktop. Once you maximize the window, the maximize button will be
replaced with a different button. Clicking on it will shrink the window to
its previous size.
The
Close button
closes the window and removes it from the Task Bar. If the window
is an application, it closes the active document and exits from the program.
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4. Using the Desktop
When you turn on your computer, you will see the Task Bar at the bottom of the screen, which
displays all the programs you have opened; if you click on one of the programs
listed,
you will bring up the program. You will also see the Desktop, containing several icons including My
Computer, My Network Places, and the Recycle Bin.
My
Computer allows you to look through the drives and files available
on your computer. When you double click My Computer, you are presented
with drives marked by letters. The letters given to each drive vary according
to what types of drives are on a particular computer. However if you
note a drive's icon it is easy to determine which drive it represents.
The
A: drive is the floppy drive. This is where you access information on removable
3.5 inch disks.
The C: drive
is usually the hard drive. This is where you access all the information
that "lives" on your computer, i.e., applications like
Word and Excel. When you double-click C: you will see folders containing
all the
software that your computer contains. All application programs are
located within the C: drive, but you can also access many of these
programs by
looking under the Start menu, located in the task bar at the bottom
of the screen. Also within the C: drive are important system files
that enable your computer to run properly, and if deleted could cause
serious problems. For this reason, we strongly recommend that you
do not delete anything that you do not recognize.
This
is the icon for the CD-ROM drive. This is where you look to play a music
CD or access information on a CD-ROM. If your CD drive has "ReWritable" on its door, or the icon for the CD drive says "CD-RW," you can also use CD-RW discs to store 650-700Mb of files to back up your documents and settings.
This is the icon for the CD-ROM drive. This is where you look to play a music CD or access information on a CD-ROM. If your CD drive has "ReWritable" on its door, or the icon for the CD drive says "CD-RW," you can also use CD-RW discs to store 650-700Mb of files to back up your documents and settings.
This is the icon for a Zip drive. Zip disks are similar to 3.5 inch floppy disks, except that they are a little thicker and are capable of storing much larger amounts of information (floppy disks hold only 1.4 MB, whereas Zip disks hold 100 MB, 250 MB or 750 MB). (Note: a Zip750 drive can READ but not WRITE to 100 MB zip disks.)
My
Network Places allows you access to shared files on different computers.
You can download useful software from folders maintained by Information
Services (such as NTM and Alice), set
up a folder for other people to access and submit documents, or access
your hard drive while working on another networked computer.
For more information on using My Network Places, visit Working with the Wellesley College Network in Windows XP
Professional.
The Recycle
Bin is much like the trash can on a Macintosh or in real life.
This is where you drag files that you no longer want. However,
files do not
get deleted immediately. So if you made a mistake and need a file
that you placed in the Recycle Bin, you can still double click
on Recycle
Bin and it will be there.
Restore lets you return a file to its original location on your
hard drive. Simply double click on Recycle Bin, highlight the file, go
to the File menu, and select Restore.
You can empty the Recycle Bin by right- clicking on it and selecting Empty
Recycle Bin. Or you can wait until the Recycle Bin is full
(taking up 10% of your hard drive space) and let it automatically
empty files
to make room for new discards. If you choose to empty the Recycle Bin
in this method, you will be asked to confirm the deletion of
the contents of the Recycle Bin once it is full, so nothing will
be deleted without your knowledge.
To launch an application, click on the Start button on the lower
left corner of the screen. It will bring up a pop up menu with applications
on the top. Click on an application to launch it. Or, click on Start,
and then go to Programs, which will bring up a bigger list of applications.
Some of the menus in various applications display a shortened list of
programs/commands that you most frequently use. To see the complete list
of items, click
on the
double
down arrows at the bottom of the menu and expand your choices.
Internet Explorer
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FirstClass
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WS_FTP
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Meeting Maker
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Netscape
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Word
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Excel
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PowerPoint
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Access
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Filemaker
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Dreamweaver
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McAfee
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5. Organizing Files
Computer files are organized within a hierarchy of folders. You can change
the view of a window by choosing a different criterion under
the View menu. It's a good idea to store all of your personal
files, such as Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and other non-system
files,
within custom-made folders in the My Documents folder,
rather than scattering your documents throughout your hard drive,
or only to your desktop. The My Documents folder
already appears on your desktop. To
make a new folder, right-click and select New
Folder,
then rename it something descriptive. Now you can move files inside
this
new folder
simply
by dragging them over
the folder icon. This is known as Drag-and-Drop, and it is very convenient
for moving files. You can also copy files in a similar fashion by
clicking the right mouse button on the file and choosing Copy,
then right-click within the folder and choose Paste. For convenience,
files or folders can be stored on the Desktop where they can be readily
opened, moved, copied,
or deleted. You can also store files inside folders within the C: drive.
The Windows XP Explorer is an alternate way of viewing information on
your computer. Simply right-click on the Start button
or on the My Computer icon on your desktop and select Explore.
Explorer is comprised of two windows. The window on the left shows how
the information is organized into folders and sub-folders. When you
select one of these folders by clicking on it (as My Computer is selected
in the
example below), all the sub-folders in that folder are shown below
it and all the files in that folder are shown in the window on the right.
The plus
and minus signs before each icon indicate whether or not the folder's
structure is expanded below it. The plus sign means that there are more
folders contained
within that particular folder. If you click on the plus sign, it
will expand the folder and show you what's inside. On the other hand the
minus sign
means the folder's structure has already been expanded below it.
If you click on the minus sign it collapses the folder's structure and
hides the
folders stored within.
Looking back at the left window, all folders are connected by a dotted
gray line that leads up to the folder they came from. Therefore you can
see that the My Computer, My Network Places, and Recycle
Bin folders are
located in the Desktop folder. You can also see that the [A:], [C:], [D:]
and [E:] drives are located in My Computer.
Since multiple users can use the Windows XP computer, their personal information
is no longer stored directly in the C: folder. Instead, every user has
a personal user folder in C:\Documents and Settings. This folder holds
a user's My Documents folder, as well as their Start
Menu and Desktop settings.
This allows every user to configure their Desktop and Start
Menu differently,
and to always have their personal preferences set for them when they log
in.
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6. Quick Reference to Common Tasks
The following table lists frequently used operations and tasks with an
explanation for accomplishing each.
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Getting help
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The Help menu, located in the Start menu, contains
information about using your computer, with step-by-step instructions
for a variety of tasks and other information about your computer
and its system software.
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Search
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Go to Start Menu > Find. Use the pop-up menu to specify
where you want to search. You can search for files or folders on
your computer, and also for computers connected to the network. Specify
the criteria for your search and the results will appear in a window.
Click once on an item to see its location, or double-click to open
the item.
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Opening disks, folders, & files
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Disks, folders, and files are all represented by an icon and a name.
An item may be opened by right-clicking on the item and choosing Open,
or by double-clicking on the item.
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Moving files
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To keep a disk organized, documents or files often need to be moved.
To move a file or a folder, drag it (point to the icon, hold down
the mouse button, and move the mouse) to its new location. Files
may be moved into or out of folders and items can be moved between
windows by dragging the item from one window to the other. To move
more than one item, point at each item and click while holding down
the Ctrl (Control) key.
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Copying files
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Drag the item you are copying onto the item of the other disk (you
may move it into a folder afterwards). Or you may copy from disk
to disk by having a window open from each disk and dragging the item
between windows. When you move an item to another disk a copy will
be left on both disks. (When moving an item from one window to another
window on the same disk, the item is actually moved but a copy is
not made. To make a copy, use the right mouse button to drag the
item and choose Copy from the pop-up menu.)
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Creating new folders
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Right-click and choose New, and then Folder, from
the pop-up menu. A folder will appear in the active window. Rename
it by right-clicking on it and choosing Rename, and then press
the Enter key.
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Naming files
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To name or rename a file, folder, or disk, click on its icon once,
then click once on the name of the icon. A rectangle will surround
the name, and the letters will be highlighted. Type the new name
and press the Enter key. If you wish to alter
an
existing
name, click on the name box and you will see the entire name
highlighted and the cursor will look like the letter "I." Move
the "I" beam
cursor where you wish to add or delete letters and click. The
cursor will be inserted where you clicked, and you may then alter
the name
a letter at a time.
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Deleting files
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To delete a file from a disk, drag the file into the Recycle
Bin. Drag the item until the pointer is inside the Recycle
Bin and the Recycle Bin darkens in color. When you have dragged
something to the Recycle Bin, the Recycle Bin appears to be filled
with paper to let you know there's something in it. To permanently
remove the deleted items, right-click the Recycle Bin and
choose Empty Recycle Bin.
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Ejecting disks
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To eject a floppy disk or CD-ROM, simply wait until the LED indicator
(the small light) beside the drive is NOT illuminated, and then press
the eject button.
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Finishing up
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Choose Shutdown from the Start menu and select 'Shut
down' from the drop-down menu. Click on the OK button.
This will clear the PC's memory and prepare your hard drive
for being shutdown. You may then have to physically turn
off your computer,
although in most cases it automatically powers off.
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7. Printing to Networked Printers
The majority of computers at Wellesley College are connected to network
printers. Network printing enables multiple computers to print to
the same printer. However there are some important things to remember.
Note: Some printers are not connected to the network and are local printers,
such as Epson color printers.
Unlike Windows 98, the application NIPrint is
not required to print from a Windows XP machine. Windows XP comes with its own
utility to print via TCP/IP.
To find out more information on networking printing, refer to http://www.wellesley.edu/Computing/WinXP/printing.html.
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8. Working with Zip Disks
Aside from saving your files onto the hard drive of your computer, you
can also save files onto a Zip disk. That way, you can open up and use
your files on other computers with the Zip disk that you carry with you.
Zip drives look like floppy drives but they say Zip on the left side and
have a lighted eject button on the right side. Most public PCs have
either 100MB, 250MB, or 750MB
Zip drives. All Windows XP computers have Zip drives.
The type of Zip drive your computer may have will vary.
Zip disks look similar to floppy disks, however,
they are thicker and wider than the floppy. Zip disks also have a
larger storage capacity - they come in 100MB, 250 MB, and 750 MB sizes
allowing the capacity
to archive, back up, exchange and transport your work. You can save
images, scanned photos, important documents, Internet downloads, your latest
work
project, audio files, and music just as you would on a floppy. However, zip drives are not forward-compatible; you cannot use a 750MB or 250MB zip disk in a 100MB Zip drive, nor can you use a 750MB zip disk in a 250MB Zip drive. While Zip 750 drives can READ 100 MB zip disks, they cannot WRITE to 100 MB zip disks.
For more information on installing a Zip drive, refer to http://www.wellesley.edu/Computing/Backup/pczip.html.
Disk management is extremely important. It involves making sure your Zip
disks are in good shape, that data stored on them is safe, and that you
have backups of all your important files. The Help Desk gets many calls
during the year from people who do not follow these rules for disk management
and lose very valuable data and documents. Should your disk become damaged
you can always call the Help Desk at x3333 for assistance but there is
no guarantee that your files can be recovered.
Zip disks are fragile. This means you should always keep your disks in
a storage container away from direct heat and light. Do not throw them
around your desk or stuff them in a drawer or briefcase. Do not put them
in excessively warm places or play/move the silver metal protective covering.
It is a good idea to have a cover for your disks.
Save important documents or data on more than one disk so that if one
disk is damaged you still have a backup. Keep hard (printed) copies of
important documents. At least you'll have something to work with if your
disk is irreparably damaged.
Formatting a disk:
Formatting a disk is when you prepare a Zip disk to store information.
Sometimes Zip disks come formatted for the PC. In that case you are ready
to go. However if they are not pre-formatted or if
you want to erase information on them, you must format them.
- Insert a Zip disk and double-click on the My Computer icon.
Then, right-click the Removeable Drive (sometimes D: or E:)
, and select Format.
- Choose the "1.44 Mb (3.5)" format and click Start.
The disk will be erased and formatted for the PC.
Using one floppy disk on both Macintoshes and Windows XP computers:
In order for a Zip disk to be readable to both Macs and Windows XP machines,
it must be a PC formatted disk.