LIS508 lecture 5

Thomas Krichel

2003-10-29

Structure of talk

• Discusses Windows XP

• basic concepts

• customization

• follow and practice but

Literature

• Peter Norton’s Complete Guide to Windows XP by John Peter Mueller, SAMS 2002

• A good book, but expects some background with Windows

• Not really hands-on, more conceptual

DOS

• In the beginning there was DOS– Command driven– Only one user– Only one task– Could not use more than 640k of memory

• DOS is not dead– Some special files is Windows XP still use

DOS command syntax– A floppy disk with DOS can be used to boot

the computer.

Microsoft Windows

• Operating a computer with windows and mouse was as idea by Apple.

• Started life as an application that was started under DOS. This was the setup until Windows 3.1.

• Windows 95 made DOS an application running inside Windows.

• Windows 98, Windows 2000 and Windows NT have been other stages in the development.

Windows XP

• Is the latest commercially available version.• Comes in two flavors

– Home edition• Cheaper

– For people who want to play games– For parent who want to install educational software

• Limited security

– Professional edition• Better, but security still a problem

User interfaces

• There are three XP user interfaces for – Restricted user. Can only use the machine but

make no changes. This is what we have in the labs.

– Power user, can use and make some changes, like, for example, change the keyboard layout

– Administrator, can do anything

look at desktop

• icons• taskbar• start button• folder icons

– opening leads new window– buttons on window

• minimize• maximize / restore• close

mouse operation

• primary button– press: select– press and move: normal drag

• secondary button– press: context menu

• Expanded in Windows XP

– press and move: special drag

a window

• is a rectangular, bordered element on the windows 98 screen

• only one window is active at a time

• a window can be resized

• a window has a title line

• a window has a menu– activate with ALT– select using arrow keys

more about a window

• if the contents is too large to fit the size, scroll bars are displayed.

• They allow the logical contents to be navigated from the physical window.

• if all windows are closed, you see the desktop (this is how I define the desktop)

• Use ALT+TAB to move between windows

the task manager

• Can be reached from the task bar• Lists tasks that are running on the computer and

things you can do with them• Reports and sets

– applications– processes– Machine usage

• CPU• Page file usage

– Network usage.

The start menu• It shows your user name• The left column shows the applications

that you use most often (as the machine has noticed )

• The right column has three types of resources– Data resource (by decreasing closeness)– System control (much reduced for restricted

users)– Other resources

• It is customizable, but not here

Other resources on startup

• Help is a unified way to get information about windows XP.

• Search is a feature to search information– For files your disk– For other computer– People

• Run a command, like one used to do in DOS.

Desktop menu

• Arrange icons

• Refresh shows a new view of the desktop

• Display settings– Choose colors

• High color 16 bit per pixel• True color 24 bit per pixel

– Choose resolution• Higher resolution may mean lower refresh• You will see smaller icons ah higher resolution

Basic types of files

• Normal data files– Program files– Data files, usually with a program attached to it

• Directories– Contain other files– Application that is attached is Windows explorer

• Shortcut– Contain paths to other files

Windows explorer

• Can be started on its own, in the programs/accessories startup– Folder section– Drive section (not visible here)– Network section (not visible here)– Recycle bin

Delete files

• to delete file, right click on the item, select delete

• that moves it in the recycling bin

• then click right on the recycling bin and remove it from there

• Otherwise they are still around!

windows update

• http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com

• do this now to see how you can update the machine

Common keyboard shortcuts

• CONT+ARROW moves cursor one word or object at a time

• CONT+A selects all• CONT+B bold typeface • CONT+C copy to clipboard• CONT+D font selection• CONT+E centers an object• CONT+F find or search

Common keyboard shortcuts

• CONT+G goto dialog box

• CONT+H replace dialog box

• CONT+I italic fonts, sometimes insert

• CONT+L places on the left side

• CONT+N new document

• CONT+O open

• CONT+P print

Common keyboard shortcuts

• CONT+Q quits the application

• CONT+R places object on right side

• CONT+U underline

• CONT+V paste

• CONT+X cuts

• CONT+Z undoes

• SHIFT+ARROW selects text

shutting down

• start shutdown shut

• This is the best command of Microsoft windows.