technology 101 basic computer operations “there are 10 kinds of people in this world, those who...

Technology 101Basic Computer Operations

“There are 10 kinds of people in this world, those who understand binary and those who don’t.”

What is a Computer?

dictionary: Computer - A device

that computes, especially a programmable electronic machine that performs high-speed mathematical or logical operations or that assembles, stores, correlates, or otherwise processes information.

What is a Computer?

translation: Computer - A

device that returns different information than what was put into it.

Antikythera mechanism

Choose Your Adventure Hardware

Input/Output Ports

Internal Hardware

External Devices

Windows

Using the Mouse

The Desktop

Display Properties

Windows Explorer

Files and Folders

The CPU and YouWhat We Will Cover

Become familiar with Input/Output ports. Learn the basic internal parts of a computer. Monitor functions Peripheral devices – printers, scanners, flash

drives, etc.

Basic Input/Output Port Layout

Plugs, Wires, and Blinky Lights


Power Plug – Back of power supply


Audio Plugs - Blue – Audio In

Green – Audio Out (Speakers, Headphones)

Pink - Microphone


Network port

Network Cable


Network LED lights

When the network cable is plugged in you will see two lights on the network port, One solid (link light) and one blinking (transfer light). If you don’t see lights, you don’t have a connection.


Universal Serial Bus (USB) Ports

Samples of USB Cables


PS/2 Ports - Green – Mouse

Purple - Keyboard

PS/2 Plug


Parallel Port


Serial Port


VGA (Video) Ports

VGA (Video) Cables

Dissecting Your Computer

The GUTS

MotherboardThe main circuit board in a computer that connects all other devices.

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

Speed measured in hertz, as in Megahertz (MHz) or Gigahertz (GHz)

A silicon chip that is responsible for all the computations in a computer. The “brain” of a computer.

Heat Sink w/ Fan

Random Access Memory (RAM)

Increases computational speed by allowing data to be accessed in any order.

Hard DriveA non-volatile (permanent) storage device that uses magnetic plates to store data.

Inside a Hard Drive

The Monitor

Adjust

Your

World

Printers, Scanners, and Other Things With Plugs


Input/Output Ports

Internal Hardware

External Devices

Network/Security

Logging In

Locking the Workstation

Windows

Using the Mouse

The Desktop

Display Properties

Windows Explorer

Files and Folders

Logging InIn Action

Username: HubaN

Password: ********

HubaNHarrisS YoungR

HubaNH:\

WelcomeC:\Desktop

Server

Workstation

LeeJDH:\

HubaNH:\

GarciaKH:\


Input/Output Ports

Internal Hardware

External Devices

Windows

Using the Mouse

The Desktop

Display Properties

Windows Explorer

Files and Folders

WindowsBecause “Welcome to Files” Didn’t Have the Right Ring to It.

A Brief Detour on Mousing

Left Click (Click) – refers to pressing and releasing the left mouse button. This command is used to select files and icons and move cursors. Since this is the most common button used, it is often referred to as just “Click” or “Clicking.”

Double Click (Click-Click) - refers to pressing and releasing the left mouse button twice in rapid succession. This command is often used to open folders and documents and to run programs.

Right Click - refers to pressing and releasing the right mouse button. This command is often used to bring up a list of frequently used commands within a given program or to display the properties of a selected item.


Click and Drag - refers to pressing and holding the left mouse button and then moving the mouse. This command is most often used to move icons or files around or to help select multiple files or icons.

Scroll – the process of displaying more information in a window by moving the contents of the window up and down. This can be achieved by either using the scroll wheel on the mouse or using the “scroll bar” on the selected window.

Mouse Over – the process in which the mouse cursor is moved over an item, such as a button or icon, and held in place for a brief moment to display identifying information about the item.


Things You Double Click:

• Shortcuts

• Folders

• Documents

Things You Click Once:

• Buttons

• Hyperlinks

• Menu Selections

• Checkboxes

• Radio Buttons

A Brief Detour on MousingJoining the Right Click

The Right Click menu is a very powerful and versatile tool. Right clicking displays several options of what you can do with whatever you Right Clicked on. The most common are:

• Cut

• Copy

• Paste

• Create Shortcut

• Delete

• Rename

• Properties


Input/Output Ports

Internal Hardware

External Devices

Windows

Using the Mouse

The Desktop

Display Properties

Windows Explorer

Files and Folders

The DesktopYour Vertical . . . Well, Desktop.

The DesktopYou’re Vertical . . . Well, Desktop.

Icons

Quick Launch System Tray

Desktop

Start Button

Task Bar

The DesktopIcons, Shortcuts, and Buttons

Icon – a graphical representation of a file

Button – a one click icon that performs a predefined function.

The DesktopQuick Launch Bar

The Quick Launch bar is simply a row of shortcuts that have been turned into buttons.

To create a Quick Launch button just drag a shortcut from the desktop to the Quick Launch bar.

The DesktopQuick Launch Bar

This icon is quite possibly the most useful button on the Quick Launch Bar. It’s the “Show Desktop” icon. It will minimize EVERYTHING open and display the desktop. Very useful when you have several windows open at once. (Windows Logo Key + “M” does the same thing.)

The DesktopSystem Tray

The System Tray (also called Sys Tray) is a row of icons that shows the “background” programs that are running on the computer. Often these programs startup automatically as soon as the computer is turned on. These programs include anti-virus and management programs.

The DesktopTask Bar

The Task Bar displays all the open windows and programs started by the user. It is used to help switch between several programs easily.

The DesktopStart Menu

Clicking on the Start button will bring up the Start Menu. The Start Menu has several options in it and many more can be added. However, we will only go over a few of those options.


Programs – This option will display a list of all the programs installed on the computer and gives the user the ability to run the program from that list.


Settings – This option contains a few options the most important being “Printers and Faxes” which helps you manage the printers installed on the computer.


Search – This allows the user to search through a single folder or the entire computer for a specific file or files.


Help and Support – This is a database of frequently asked questions that a user can search through if they want to know how to do something on the computer.


Shut Down – Displays these options:

• Shutdown – Logs the User out and powers down the computer.

• Restart – Logs the User out and reboots the computer.

• Log off “username” – Logs the User out and returns the computer to the main log in window.

The DesktopImportant Icons


Internet Explorer –

Program used to connect to and browse the internet.


Recycle Bin –

When a file is “deleted” it goes to the Recycle Bin. The file can be retrieved later if the user has changed their minds. To permanently delete the files the user must “Empty” the Recycle Bin.

NOTE: This is true for LOCAL FILES ONLY! If the file is deleted from a network location it will NOT go to the Recycle Bin and, therefore, cannot be retrieved later.


My Documents –

A location unique to each user that uses the computer that stores all of that user’s documents and keeps them secure.


My Computer –

The gateway into the computer’s file system.


Input/Output Ports

Internal Hardware

External Devices

Windows

Using the Mouse

The Desktop

Display Properties

Windows Explorer

Files and Folders

Display PropertiesWhen Squinting Just isn’t Good Enough

Right Clicking on any empty desktop space will bring up the Right Click Menu and at the very bottom is the option, “Properties”. Clicking on this option brings up the Display Properties window which looks like . . .


. . . This.


The Screen Resolution slider bar is used to make the screen “bigger” and “smaller.”

Less pixels makes the screen “bigger.”

More pixels makes the screen “smaller.”


Screen Resolution is the number of pixels used to create the image on the screen.

Pixel is short for Picture Element and is a single “dot” of an entire image.

The more “dots” the clearer the image.

“Image Resolution” – wikipedia.org


Input/Output Ports

Internal Hardware

External Devices

Windows

Using the Mouse

The Desktop

Display Properties

Windows Explorer

Files and Folders

Windows ExplorerThe Bottomless File Cabinet

Windows Explorer

A list of Drives on a computer.

A drive is a mass storage medium such as a Hard Drive or a CD.

Drives are identified with letters from the alphabet.

Windows Explorer

The C:\ drive is always the main storage volume on the local computer. It is where system critical files are stored and where programs are installed to.

Local Disk (C:)*

Windows Explorer

This drive allows the user to access or run a CD-ROM or DVD disk.

CD-ROM/DVD/CD-RW

Windows Explorer

The U:\ drive is the location of the logged in user’s personal files. This location is on a remote server and the “path” is given in the name. (Huban on BisdSAN005\elms\huban)

This drive is where to store important work-related and instructional materials you need backed up by TIMS.

(U:) Drive

Storage SpaceThe most common unit of storage is a byte.

Kilobyte (KB) 1,000 - thousand 1024

Megabyte (MB) 1,000,000 - million 1,048,576

Gigabyte (GB) 1,000,000,000 - billion 1,073,741,824

Terabyte (TB) 1,000,000,000,000 – trillion 1,099,511,627,776

An average Word document is about 20-25KB a page.

It would take approximately 42,949 Word documents to fill one gigabyte.

It takes approximately 8,388 Word documents to fill 200 megabytes.

Windows ExplorerAnatomy of a Window


Title Bar

Displays the name of the window that is open. It also contains three buttons:


Minimize Button

Reduces the window to the task bar. This can help with screen clutter when the user has several windows open.


Maximize Button

Increases the window’s size to fill the entire screen. Useful for when a user wants to focus there full attention on a particular window or when a window is not displaying its full contents.

Clicking the button again will reduce the window back to a sizable window.


Close Button

Also known as the “X” button. Closes the open window. Most often this button is used to close, or stop, a running program. Closing a program without first saving will result in data loss.


Toolbar

This bar contains several selections that allow the user to perform any of a number of actions. Most programs in publication contain a toolbar and most will have similar layouts. The three most common selections are File, Edit, and Help.


Navigation Bar

This bar works exactly like the navigation bar on a web browser.


Navigation Buttons

The “Back” and “Forward” buttons move the window through the Folders that have been opened. A kind of “history” of Folder browsing.


Search Button

Clicking this button will bring up the search feature that allows users to search for files. By default it will only search the active window.

Clicking Search again closes the search feature.


Views Button

This is simply a shortcut button that allows the user to change how they wish to view the files in that window:

• Thumbnails – Tiles the icons and, if there are pictures, displays a small sample of what the file looks like.

• Tiles – Not as big as Thumbnails and doesn’t display samples.

• Icons – Smaller than Tiles and displays no extra data about the files.

• List – Smaller than Icons and lists the files in vertical columns instead of horizontal rows.

• Details – Same size as List but displays detailed information about the files in one long column. Also allows for the use of the Sort Bar.


Sort Bar

The Sort Bar allows the user to sort files and folders in ascending or descending order by one of any number of file attributes. To do this just click on the attribute displayed in the bar.


Show in Groups

For an even cleaner look you can turn on the “Show in Groups” option. This will display files in groups according to which file attribute you clicked in the Sort Bar.


Folders Button

Clicking this button will open a Folder Tree.


Folder Tree


Folder Tree

This displays a hierarchy of files and folders. Clicking the “+” next to an icon reveals all of the folders found in, or “underneath”, that folder. Clicking the “-” will collapse the folder back up.

To display files the user must click directly on the folder.


Up Button

This button simply moves the window to the next level of folder (called a “parent folder”) up the folder tree.


Address Bar

This contains the full location of where the files displayed are located. It is simply a list of folders separated by backslashes “\” where each “\” is one step down the Folder Tree.

This list of folders is also called a path.

A user may type in a path to browse for a specific file.


Address Bar

Example: The “Junk” folder is located in the “HowTo” folder, which is located in the “temp” folder, which is found on the H: drive.


Input/Output Ports

Internal Hardware

External Devices

Windows

Using the Mouse

The Desktop

Display Properties

Windows Explorer

Files and Folders

Files and FoldersCreating a New Folder

What is a Folder?

A Folder is a means of organizing files by creating a container that files can be placed into. Folders can contain other folders.

Files and FoldersCreating a New Folder

Right Click in a blank area and select the option “New” and then “Folder.”

Click on the “File” menu and select the option “New” and then “Folder.”

Type the name of the new folder. (France, Work, Not Work)

or

Files and FoldersAnatomy of a File

What is a File?

A file is something that contains specific information in a useable format. This information can be text, like a Word document, a picture, like a .JPEG image, or sound, like an .mp3 song.


There are four parts of a file that every user should be aware of:

Name

Extension Size

Date Modified


Name:

The name is the unique identifier for the file. NO two files IN THE SAME FOLDER can have the same name.

Name


Extension:

The extension refers to what KIND of data the file is. (i.e. a document vs. a picture vs. a music file)

Common extensions include:

Extension

.doc – Word document .pdf – Adobe Reader

.xls – Excel spreadsheet .wav – Sound file

.jpg – JPEG picture .zip – Compressed file

.exe – Executable file .html – Web file


Size:

This is the amount of space the file is using. This number is subtracted from the total space on the DRIVE. To get this space back the file must be deleted or moved to a different drive.

Size


Date Modified:

This is the date and time that the file was last modified. This usually means the last time the file was saved. This is NOT the creation date of the file.

Date Modified

Files and FoldersSelecting Files and Folders

There are several ways to select multiple files:

• Click and Drag – Box Method

• Shift + Click – Selecting a Range, Fast

• Ctrl + Click – Selecting a Scattered Group

• Shift + Arrow Keys – Selecting a Range, Slow

• Shift + “a” – Selects all files and folders

• Edit > Invert Selection – Selects everything but what was selected

Files and FoldersCut, Copy and Paste

There are several ways to Cut, Copy and Paste files:

• Edit Menu

• Shortcut Keys – Cut: Ctrl + X

Copy: Ctrl + C

Paste: Ctrl + V

• Right Click Menu

Files and FoldersCut vs. Copy

Cut removes the selected files or folders from one place and moves them to a new location. There is still only one set of files or folders.

Copy creates a duplicate of the selected files or folders in the new location but keeps a copy in the original location. There are now two sets of the same files in two different locations.

Files and FoldersThe Truth about Drag ‘n Drop

If you Drag ‘n Drop files from one folder to another and BOTH folders are located on the same DRIVE, then the files will be Cut and Pasted.

If you Drag ‘n Drop files from one folder to another and one of the folders is located on a DIFFERENT DRIVE, then the files will be Copy and Pasted.

You can manipulate files by clicking a dragging selected files from one folder to another.

So does Drag ‘n Drop Cut files or Copy them? Answer: Both

Files and FoldersRenaming Files and Folders

There are several ways to rename files:

• Select and Click

• File Menu


Files and FoldersRenaming Files and Folders

Things to watch for when renaming files:

• Two files with the same name CANNOT exist in the same folder.

• DON’T change the file extension.

• Pick a name that makes sense

Files and FoldersDeleting Files and Folders

There are several ways to delete files:

• File Menu

• Delete key


• Drag ‘n Drop to the Recycle Bin

Files and FoldersCreating Shortcuts

There are several ways to create a shortcut:

• File Menu

• Right Click Menu – Send to Desktop

• Right Click Menu – Create Shortcut


Input/Output Ports

Internal Hardware

External Devices

Windows

Using the Mouse

The Desktop

Display Properties

Windows Explorer

Files and Folders

technology 101 basic computer operations “there are 10 kinds of people in this world, those who...

Documents

folders files

selected slide

cut files

menu slide

world slide

multiple files

set of files

n drop files