Windows lyceum

ICT in the Workplace

Understanding the Windows Desktop

ICON

DESKTOP

MOUSE POINTER

MY COMPUTER ICON

MY DOCUMENT ICON

RECYCLE BIN

START BUTTON

START MENU

TASKBAR

CLOCK

Components of the Desktop

ICON

pictures that represented programs, files, folders etc.

DESKTOP

this area takes up the entire background of the screen.

it is a box on your screen that contains items such as icons, files or folders.

MY DOCUMENTS

Windows makes it easy for you by giving you your own personal folder, called My Documents.

Clicking the icon opens a folder that’s the holding place for everything you do.

This special folder will contain everything you create in Windows.

All the documents, graphics, worksheets and other files will be saved somewhere in this folder.

MOUSE POINTER

(usually an arrow) is used to select items and choose command.

Using the Mouse

You can use the mouse quickly to select any object on-screen, such as an icon or a window.

There are two process involve: POINTING and CLICKING

MY COMPUTER ICON

it gives you access to a window in which you can browse through the contents of your computer or find out information about the disk drive, control panel & printers that you have on your computer.

RECYCLE BIN

The Recycle bin is a holding bin for the items that the user deleted. You can go back and take the things out

of the recycle bin, should you change of heart in deleting something.

Serves as your electronic trash can

START BUTTON

It is located on the lower left corner of your screen.

By clicking the Start Button it will display the start menu, which contains a list of commands that enable you to work quickly and easily.

START MENU

The start menu is attached to the Start Button, which you’ll most likely to find in the lower-left corner of the screen. To see the start menu,

click the start button with your mouse. You can also use the Ctrl+Esc combination to pop up the start menu.

Menu Item What It Does

Programs – Displays the submenu of programs.

Documents – Displays a submenu of recent documents you’ve open.

Settings - Displays a submenu for quick access to the Windows tools.

Search - List commands that help you find files, folders and programs on disk.

Menu Item What It Does

Help - Begins the windows main help system.

Run - Opens a dialog box where you can type the name of a command to run.

Shut Down - Offers several options for quitting Windows.

TASKBAR

The Taskbar is located at the bottom of the screen. You can use the taskbar to quickly launch

programs and switch to a different documents or tasks that you have open.

CLOCK

It is located on the lower right corner of the taskbar that shows the current time.

THE CONTROL PANEL

The control panel is used to control the appearance and the behavior of Windows and the various hardware in your personal computer. The control panel contains icons that do

a variety of things including changing the way your desktop looks and setting the options for various devices in your computer.

ACCESSING THE CONTROL PANEL

1. Click the start menu button

2. Choose Settings

3. Click on Control Panel

1. Double-click on My Computer

2. Double-click on the Control Panel Icon

MY NETWORK PLACES

The My Network Places icon lets you peek at the computer at the network.

The icon is there whether or not your PC is connected to a network.

INTERNET EXPLORER

Web browser, which is your gateway to the internet.

This is a program that Microsoft adds to the desktop for easy access.

WORKING WITH A WINDOW

What is a Window?It is a rectangular area on your

screen in which you view program folders, files or icons.

Control Menu IconTitle BarMinimize buttonRestore buttonClose buttonStatus barMenu barScroll bars

CONTENTS OF A WINDOW

CONTENTS OF A WINDOW

Control Menu Icon- it contains the control menu

commands such as resize, move, maximize, close and split the active window.

Title bar- it displays the name of the program

and/ or document currently open. Minimize Button

- reduce the size of the active window

CONTENTS OF A WINDOW

Maximize button- It increases the size of the active window

Restore button- It is used to return a window to the

size it was before.

Close button- Exits the current window

Status Bar- registers the number of object on the

window that is currently open.

Menu Bar- Displays the menus available for the

program/ window you are currently working

Scroll Bars- it allows you to shift information that is

displayed in the active window to the left, right, up and down.

CONTENTS OF A WINDOW

STARTING A NEW PROGRAM

1. Click the start button

2. Choose Programs

3. Find the program that you want

4. Click your program

SIZING A WINDOW BORDER

Minimize – reduce the window to a button on the taskbar

Maximize- to enlarge the window to its maximum size

Restore- to return a window to the size it was before it was maximized.

SIZING A WINDOW BORDER

Vertical Doubled-Headed Arrows – resize the window’s height.

Horizontal Doubled-Headed Arrows – resize the window’s width.

Diagonal Doubled-Headed Arrows – resize the window’s height & width proportionally.

CLOSING A WINDOW

Click the control menu icon, choose close.

Choose the Close command to close the window.QUICKIE CLOSE

Click on the close button or press ALT+F4.

Dialog boxesDialog boxes

It is a rectangular window which varies in size and usually appears in the center of the screen.

Windows uses dialog boxes to exchange information with you (users)

COMPONENTS OF DIALOG BOX

1. Text box

2. List box

3. Drop-down list box

4. Option button

5. Check box

6. Tabbed Pages

Text box

Provides with a place to type an entry such as a name for a file you want; to save or a path you wants to use to find a specific file.

Ex. Saving file – filename

List Box

Presents a list of possible choices which you can choose.

Scroll bars often accompany a list box so that you can scroll through the list

Ex. Slide transition - slide show

Drop-down list box

This box is a single-line list box with a down arrow button to the right of it. When you click on the arrow, the drop down list box opens to displays a list of choices.

Ex. Font style & sizes

Option Button

Presents a group of related choices from which you can choose only one. Simply click on the option button you want to select, and all others become deselected.

Ex. Printing Documents

Check Boxes

Present a single option or group of related options. A check mark appears in the box next to an option to indicate that this is active.

Ex. Inserting Slide number

Tabbed Pages

Represented multiple sections of a dialog box. One tab is displayed at a time, and each tab contains related options. Choosing a tab changes the options that appear in the dialog box.

Ex. Viewing header & footer

ARRANGING WINDOWS

Cascade – lays all open windows on top of each other

Tile – if you need all open windows at the same time.Tile horizontallyTile vertically

Moving between applications

Press ALT+TAB to switch to a different application, the icons and application name of all windows appear in one dialog box.