Unit 4 Windows Vista the Basic Concepts

UNIT 4 WINDOWS VISTA THE BASIC CONCEPTS

Structure

4.1 Objectives 4.2 Introduction 4.3 Desktop 4.3.1 Taskbar 4.3.2 Start Button 4.3.3 Slide bar 4.3.4 Desktop icons 4.5 Popular File Names extensions under the Windows Vista 4.6 Components of a Window 4.6.1 Control Menu 4.6.2 Window‟s Border 4.7 Dialogue with computer 4.7.1 Command Button 4.7.2 Slide Bar 4.7.3 Text Box 4.7.4 List Box 4.7.5 Tabs 4.7.6 Option Button 4.7.7 Check Box 4.8 Computer Icon 4.9 Disk defragmentation 4.10 Recycle Bin 4.11 Copy files or folders 4.12 Move files or folders 4.13 Deleting files and folders 4.14 Rename file and folders 4.15 Create files and folders 4.16 Connecting printer to computer

4.17 Customize functioning and pointer of Mouse 4.18 Users Account 4.19 Control Panel 4.20 Backup and restore features 4.21 Let us sum up

4.1 OBJECTIVES

Windows is the most popular operating system for PCs. Window Vista is the latest version of it. This unit explains features and capability of the Windows Vista operation system. It explains procedure to perform basic operations under this version of Window operating system. After reading this unit, you will be able: To get familiar with basic concepts & elements of Windows operating system To know different parts of Windows To manage files and folders To know about shortcuts of Windows operating system To run applications under the Windows operating system

4.2 INTRODUCTION

The Windows operating system starts automatically as you switch on your computer. Computer first checks hardware components of the computer with the help of the BIOS. Once computer gets assured that all components are functioning well then computer automatically loads Windows operating system. If you have already set password for opening of computer then a small dialogue windows pop-up over the screen to enter user name and password.

Fig. 1 Once you enter users name and password correctly in the log on window and click on OK button you get access to computer. When you enter password, characters typed by you are not reflected on the monitor, you will get * symbol for each typed character so that others cannot see password typed by you. Password is case sensitive i.e. make sure small and capital letters in the password should be typed exactly in the similar fashion as you set in the password i.e. capital

2 letter of password should be typed in capital letter and small letters should be typed in small letters. Essential components of the Windows operating system are automatically loaded in computer. Windows operating system runs many system programmes in parallel to control various components of computer, application software and execute instructions assigned by users. These system Programmes are integral component of the Windows operating system. Commands and functions of the windows operating system used frequently are in the form of icons or shortcuts displayed on the screen. Therefore, users interface of the Windows operating system is placed under the category of Graphical User Interface (GUI). You can use keyboard and mouse to instruct computer or to run applications under window operating system. If you have loaded two or more operating systems over hard disk then computer will prompt for user, after BIOS check, which operating system he/she wants to load. When you start the computer under the Windows Vista operating system, you will get a screen like this on the monitor.

Fig. 2

4.3 DESKTOP

The first screen you see, when you turn on computer is popularly known as desktop. It is named due to its similarity to your desktop, which have all items needed for study and perform activities of day-to-day. Your desk may have books, exercise copies, pen, pencil etc. The desktop of computer offers access to all applications installed in computer. Objects on the desktop are broadly classified as taskbar, icons and windows sidebar. The desktop has icons and shortcut for frequently used applications. You can run any application by double clicking over its icon. You can add and remove icons from the desktop however; there are few icons on the desktop, which are integral components of the Windows operating system. Some of the icons, which are integral component of windows operating systems, are My Computer, Recycle bin, Network and My Documents.

4.3.1 TASKBAR

This is a long strip with icons and notification area to display information about the status of the computer. This is usually situated at the bottom of the desktop. A taskbar includes Start Button,

Quick launch bar, Toolbars and Notification area. You can customize the appearance and position of the Taskbar. Each running application is represented as a shortcut in the task bar. You can activate and bring a running application programme on the top by clicking over its shortcut on the Taskbar. Other applications, which disappear from the screen, are not actually closed but they are running in the background. It can be bring on top by clicking over its shortcut in the Task bar.

4.3.2 START BUTTON

Start button is used to run any of the application software installed in computer and to configure the computer. It is situated at the leftmost side of the taskbar. You can activate the Start button menu by clicking over icon. Some keyboards have special Windows logo key ( ). Once you press Windows logo key, you will get the Start button menu. The Start button menu looks like this.

Fig. 3

The installed applications are available under the Programs option of the menu. Take pointer over Programs on the menu bar, a new window reflecting all the applications installed in the computer. Some of these applications are installed by you; others are integral components of the Windows operating system. The Applications available under the Accessories option of the Programs menu are usually integral components of the Windows operating system. If you are not sure about the purpose of any application, move the pointer over its icon or title. A box appears on the screen having short description of that application. For example take mouse pointer to Microsoft Office Word 2007, a component of Microsoft Office; you get a box reflecting a brief description of this application.

Fig. 4

When can run an application by double clicking its title and icon or click on its title /icon and then press Enter key from keyboard. The application will be started in a separate window. For example, double clicking on Microsoft Office Word 2007 will result in the following window.

Fig.5 The Setting option of the Start button menu is for a group of system utilities, which are used to configure computer, set user account, and install new peripherals, application and printers. The setting option will be discussed later in this unit. Next to Start button on the right side in the Taskbar, there are shortcuts for applications, which are used frequently by you, this area is called Quick Launch Bar. You can start an application by double clicking its icon in the quick launch bar. You can add or delete icons in the Quick Launch Bar. To add a shortcut for an application to the Quick Launch toolbar, drag icon of that application to the quick launch toolbar to remove a shortcut from the quick launch toolbar, drag the shortcut from the quick launch bar to the Recycle bin. Next to quick launch bar there are shortcuts for all applications running in the computer. You can switch from one application to another by clicking on the application name on the Task bar. On the right side of on Task bar there are toolbars. Toolbars provide buttons to control frequently used applications. Buttons on the toolbars are like buttons of remote control of TV. Each application has separate toolbar. The standard toolbars supported by the Windows are Language, Internet Links, Address and Windows Media Player. Toolbars is displayed in the taskbar whenever you run the corresponding application. You can easily control application, even when it is running in background, with the help of toolbar without bringing it on the front. The toolbar of Windows Media Player in the taskbar is . On the extreme right corner on the task bar, there is notification area which displays status of the system, date, time, sound volume controller, status of internet/network connectivity. If there is >> icon on the left side of the notification area then only few items/objectives are visible in the notification Area. Click over this icon, the notification area expand and >> icon change to << icon. All information is displayed in the notification area. You can customize contents and appearance of the Task bar. Right click in the blank space on the taskbar; you will get the following pop-up menu.

Fig. 6 The Toolbar option in the popup menu allows you to select or reject toolbar to as per your preference. If quick launch bar is not visible on the taskbar then clicks on Quick Launch option. A tick mark (√) appears against the Quick Launch label and it become visible on the Taskbar. Again clicking on Quick Launch option to clear tick mark against the Quick Launch to hide it from the take bar. You can lock the position of the taskbar. Once it is locked, you cannot move it on the desktop. To lock the Taskbar, right click on the Taskbar and then click on Lock the Taskbar option. A check mark appears against the Lock the Taskbar option and your Taskbar is now locked. If you want to move Taskbar on the desktop from its traditional position i.e. bottom of the screen, first unlock the Taskbar. If there is check mark against Lock the Taskbar option than click on Lock the Taskbar option to unlock it. Once it is unlock you can move it to any corner of the desktop by dragging it. The taskbar will capture either the entire length or the wide of the monitor. The advanced features of the taskbar can be controlled by clicking on the Properties option of the popup menu of the taskbar. You will get the following dialogue window, when you click on Properties option.

Fig. 7

The Auto-hide the taskbar option will hide the Taskbar when mouse pointer focus gets away from the Taskbar. Take mouse pointer close to position of task bar, you will immediately get the Task bar. If you want Taskbar always visible on the desktop, regardless of focus of the pointer, then clear the check box of the Auto-hide the Taskbar option.

4.3.3 SLIDE BAR

There is a long and vertical slide bar on the right side of the desktop. The sidebar contains small utilities called gadgets. Gadgets are used to display information at a glance and status of computer. For example, you can use slide bar to set reminders and schedule on calendar, know about utilization of resources of computer, temperature and news headlines. Your computer needs to be connected through the Internet to see weather forecast, news headlines and other updates. You can add or delete gadgets from the sidebar. When you run any applications, the gadgets bar may be completely or partially hidden by the application windows, depending on size of application window and display attributes of the slide bar set by you. You can add or remove gadgets from the slide bar, when you take mouse pointer over a gadget, this icon appears on the right side of the gadget. Clicking on X icon to close that gadget and remove it from the slide bar. Screwdriver icon is used to customize that gadget. You can add new gadgets by right clicking in the blank area on the slide bar. You will get a pop-up menu to edit slide bar; click on Add gadget .. option to add more gadgets to the slide bar

Fig. 8

The Bring Gadget to Front option allows slide bar to be positioned on the top of application window. The Slide bar is always visible, it never been hidden by active application‟s window. The picture in the background of the desktop is called its wallpaper. You can change the picture of the wallpaper. Windows provides beautiful pictures under My Picture sub folder of My Documents folder, which can be used as wallpaper. You can also use other than pictures provided by the Windows as wallpaper. Right click in the empty space on the desktop; you will get the following pop-up menu (left side in fig. 9). Click on Personalize option and get window displayed on the right side in fig 9.

Fig 9

Click on Desktop background option to select picture for the wallpaper. Computer displays list of pictures stored in My picture sub folder under My Documents folder , which can be used as wallpaper. If you want to use picture from other folders or internet then click on Browse to search picture from computer or internet. Once you decide the picture for the wallpaper double click over it to apply it as wallpaper. The option How should the picture be poistioned define, how picture will fit on the screen as wallpaper. The picture may be placed as wallpaper used in its original shape centered on the screen or it may fit the entire screen by stretching or compressing it or it may be used as tiles i.e., repeate many times to fill the entire screen without any change in orignal size and shape of the picture.

Fig. 10

You can add more visual effects to you destop through Theme option in figure 4.1. The theme option set the apperance of menus, icons, background, screen saver, popular computer sounds cues and pointer shapes to signal various stages of processing or errors. There are various predefined themes. Select one by one different themes and see the impact.

4.3.4 DESKTOP ICONS

The left side of the desktop is occupied by icons. Icons can be defined as small pictures, drawing or graphics represents applications, files and folder. Some of the icons are integral components of the Windows operating system. You can run an application by double clicking its‟ icon. Therefore, these icons are also called shortcuts. The shortcuts can be identified by an arrow key  ) on the lower side of the icon. Icons which are integral component of Window operating system or represent standard applications are without arrow mark. You can customize this portion of the desktop by adding or deleting icons or shortcuts from the desktop. You can change the picture of the Icon. Right click on the title of the application from the Programs menu for which you want to create shortcut. Select Create Shortcut option from the popup menu to add shortcut of that application on the desktop. To delete a shortcut, right click the shortcut to be deleted and click on Delete option from the popup menu. When you delete icon or shortcut of an application, the original application remains intact. You can reposition icons on the desktop. Icons can be repositioned automatically or manually on the desktop. You can reposition icons manually by drag and drop to new position. Windows can automatically arrange icons, right click in empty area on the desktop, click on View option from the pop-up menu and then click on Auto arrange option to arrange icon automatically. If your icons are in auto arrange mode you cannot manually reposition icons by drag and drop actions. First switch off the auto arrange mode to arrange icons manually. Right click in empty space on the desktop, select View option from the pop-up menu, if there is check mark () against Auto arrange option, click on Auto arrange option to clear the check mark. Now you can manually arrange icons on the desktop. You can temporarily hide all icons on the desktop by right clicking on empty space of the desktop, click on View option and then click on Show desktop icons option to clear the check mark against this option. Icons can be made visible by clicking again on Show desktop icon. Popular Icons, which are integral components of the Windows Vista desktop, are shown in the following table.

Icons Symbol Purpose Computer Provides direct access to files, folders and applications store in all the storage drivers connected with computer. It also displays system property and configuration.

Recycle bin Provides list of files, deleted by you in the past. Recycle bin offers options to restore files listed in the When fill recycle bin or delete them

permanently. Separate icons are used to show the status of the recycle bin When empty i.e., when Recycle bin is filled i.e. have certain files to be restored (filled) and where there is no file to restore (empty) bottom icon in left column denote empty status of recycle bin. Taskbar The taskbar is located at the bottom of the desktop. It displays list of all running applications, Start button, and frequently used applications and notifications area. Start button The start button is located in the left corner of the taskbar. It provides

access to all applications, data and files loaded in the computer. It also provides access to system utilities, create user accounts and configure computer. Network Access to other computers and shareable resources available on computer network.

My document Access to documents and data created by you. My document have separate folders to store downloads, pictures (My Pictures), audio (My Music) and video (My Videos) files. Fig. 1 The Documents option in the Start button menu displays list of documents and other user defined files opened recently by you. You can open these documents by double clicking its name from the list of recent documents. You can search files, folders, applications software, audio and video streams with the help of Search option under the Start Button Menu. When you click on Search command, you will get the following window.

Fig. 11 Type the name of the file to be searched in the text box situated in front of Name label. Location combo box can be used to specify the location, where that file may be probably located. If you are not sure of location of the file then search the entire drive or all storage media of the computer. If you know the date of the creation or last modification of document then specify this date in the search option labeled Date to make search more specific. You may specify a particular date or a specify period to refine the search. You can instruct search tool to select all files created before, after or within specify dates. Adding up filter criteria on search will narrow the scope of search area and expedite the searching process. A highly filtered search process results in only few files, user can easily identify files of his/her interest. Windows Vista maintains index of files and folders stored in computer to expedite the searching of files. Windows Vista performs indexing of file on periodic basis to keep index files up-to- date. If you want to use index file to search documents/files then choose Indexed Locations entry from the listing of locations displayed in the combo box of Location label. Files added or deleted after the last indexing could not be included in search process when searching is based on indexed location. If you are not sure about the name of files, you can use wild characters to search file. You can use * symbol as wild character to represent a file name with any number of characters. For example *.doc in the Name textbox, instruct computer to search files with any name and „doc‟ extension. The entry abc.* in the Name textbox will result in files with name abc but with any extension. The entry abc*.doc indicates files with name prefixed with “abc” followed by any number of characters in name and extension doc; *abc.doc indicates files name ending with abc with any number of characters in file name and extension doc. Question mark (?) is also used to represent single wild character, for example ??.txt indicates any file name with two characters length and extension txt and abc???.txt indicates, any file names with six characters with first three characters in the name of file must be „abc‟ and extension txt. The search tool has capability to identify file with specific word. Write the texts to be searched in the contents of the file in the text box of the Tags option of the search window. If you are connected with computer network then you can locate peoples, computers, shared file, folder and printers over the network with the help of the search tool.

If you are connected with Internet, you can search texts, audio and video streams over the internet with the help of Search tool. Click on Start button take pointer to Search icon, a cascade menu appear on the screen, there is an option to perform search on Internet.

4.5 POPULAR FILE NAMES EXTENSIONS UNDER THE WINDOWS VISTA File extension is an integral component of name of files. File extension is a set of characters that helps the Windows to understand characteristics and attributes of that file. The file extension is situated at the end of the file name, following a period. The extension of file name conveys to operating system how to deal with that file and which application software is to be used to work on that file. For example, the file name MOP.doc; had extension Doc and name of the file is MOP. The extension Doc conveys that it is a document file prepared with the help of the MS Word. Similarly Account.xls is a spreadsheet prepared with the help of MS Excel. A file name cannot have more that 260 characters. Usually we prefer to have short file name, as they are easy to remember. Never include special characters such as \, /, ?, :, *, ", >, <, | etc. in the file name. The popular file extensions under the Windows operating system are noted in the following table.

Extension Format Txt Text file, it can be prepared and opened with the Notepad, WordPad and MS Word. (Notepad and WordPad are available in Accessories option of Programs menu. These are integral components of Windows). You can not add style to content in text file. Doc or Docx Documents files created with the help of MS Word. Documents created by MS –Word 2007 have extension Docx. Earlier versions of MS- Word create documents with Doc file, extension. Xls or Xlsx Calculation worksheets created with the help of MS Excel. MS Excel 2007 version creates worksheet with Xlsx extension and earlier versions create worksheets with Xls. File extension. JPG, BMP, TIF, GIF, PNG, WMF Formats used to store pictures, drawing, images and photos. Zip and RAR Archive format to condense files. Files can be expanded later. It is convenient to carry or send files in Zip or Rar format. Pdf PDF documents can be read with the help of Acrobat Reader. The display of documents in PDF is close to its print form. MP3, MID, AU, RMI, AVI, WAV, WMA Audio formats MP4, 3GP, AVI, FLV, MOV. MPG, WMV Video formats Exe Executable file Dbf, mdb Data base file Bat Batch file Table 2

The Windows Explorer is a system application used to manage files and folders of computer. You can initiate the Windows Explorer by right clicking on the start button to get popup menu click on Explorer to run it. You can also use Windows logo key + E shortcut to open the Windows Explore from any place in Windows. This key is available next to space bar on left side, in some keyboards. If this key is not available in your keyboard, do not get panic, use Start Button to run the Windows Explorer. You will get a window like this on the screen

1st level folder

IInd level folder

IIIrd level folders

Figure 12

The left side pane of Explorer displays names of directories/folders. Folders/directories are containers to store files on your computer. Folder is like almirah, used to keeping inventory of documents. A folder may hold sub-folders. A folder having subfolders can be easily identified with  icon on left side of title of folder in the left pane of the above window. Earlier version of the Explorer shows + sign on the left side of such folders. Click over + sign to expand the folder and display subfolders inside it.

The folders/directories and files are displayed in a hierarchical manner in the Windows Explorer. Files and folders at the base level are located at the extreme left side of the hierarchical tree, it is called the root directory. Files and subfolders inside the root folder are shown at the second level of the hierarchical tree. Rest of the files and folders are shown in the similar fashion in the hierarchical manner. The right side pane of the Windows Explorer displays list of files and folders of active folder, selected in the left pane. The right side pane occupies the major portion of the Windows Explorer. The selected folder is highlighted with open folder ( ) icon. The

13 list of files name in the right pane is accompanied with other attributes of the file. Window Explorer in figure 12 displays name, date of modification, type and size of files. You can add or delete attributes in the display to make the listing more informative. For example, you can add authors names, when the last modification done, date of creation, title on location of file etc. in the listing. If you are not comfortable with this display mode of listing of files then you can change display mode. When you click on the arrow () next to the Views button in the title bar of the Windows Explorer, you have different options to define layouts of file names in the right side pane of windows explore. The display of listing of files names can be changed by View tab of the menu, there are options titled as Extra Large Icons, Large Icons, Medium Icons, Small Icons, List, Details and Titles to define display of files and folder in the Windows Explorer. Extra large and large icons mode display miniature preview of files in active folder. You should select all the options one by one to see the impact of each option on the display of listing of files and folders. These options can also be popped-up by clicking right button of mouse in the empty space of the right side pane of the Windows Explorer.

Each attribute of the listed file in the right pane is headed by its title such as Name, Date last modified, Type, size etc. Clicking at any of these titles to sort listing of files names on the basis of that attribute. For example clicking on Name title will sort the listing of files by their names. Files are arranged in ascending order. If you click Name title one more time, the files will be arranged in descending order of their names. In the similar fashion, you can short the listing of files on the basis of its data of creation, size and type of file etc.

You must have noticed that the extensions‟ of files names are not reflected. The Windows Explorer hides file extensions to make reading of files names easy. The hiding of files extension also prevents users to accidently rename or removes extension of files. File extension can be made visible by following steps: a) Click on Organize option of the menu bar on the Windows Explorer b) Select Folder and Search options, a new dialogue window will appear on the screen c) Go to View tab d) Clear the check box of the label Hide extension for known file types, to make extension visible

Similar to this option, there is an option button in the View tab to decide whether to hide or to show hidden files. You can see the hidden files in your computer by clicking on Show Hidden file and folder. Do not change files‟ extensions. Once you rename extension of file, it starts behaving in abnormal way. Double clicking on file name, will not open it with default application programme once you change the file extensions. Windows operating system has set attribute of all essential system files as hidden so that users would not delete these files accidently. If you change display attribute of the Windows Explorer and make hidden files visible then system files in your computer are vulnerable to get deleted or renamed accidently. Do not change display attribute of Windows explorer to make hidden files visible until there is specific purpose to do so.

You can set attributes of your files/folder to easy control of files. Files can be attributed as read only and/or hidden. You can make your file read only to protect it from accidental deletion and change. To change attributes of a file, right click on specific file. There is Property option on the lower side of the pop-up menu. Click on this option, you will get the following dialogue window.

Fig. 13 Click on check box of Read only attribute of file to make it read only. This attribute can be removed by clearing the check box. The same procedure can also be applied to make a file hidden.

4.6 COMPONENTS OF A WINDOW Every new application, document and data are displayed in a separate window under the Windows operating system. Display of application in window is convenient and easily to control. There are certain integral components of each window. Title bar is the top most part of a window. The title bar usually shows name of the application at the center of the title bar. There are two scroll bars in a window, one is situated on the right side of the window in the vertical position, other at the bottom of the windows in the horizontal position. When a document or picture exceeds the size of its window, scroll bars allow you to see information that is currently out of view. Click on up () or down () scroll arrows on vertical scroll bar to scroll contents in up or down direction in small steps. Click continuously in the empty area in a scroll bar above or below the scroll box to scroll contents up or down. Contents can be moved by dragging the scroll box. Same procedure can also be used to control the movement of contents through horizontal scroll bar.

4.6.1 CONTROL MENU

Control menu box is situated on the upper left corner of the window, on the title bar. Click over the control menu to get commands to the control menu. Commands of the control menu allow you to customize the appearance of the window. A control menu has commands to perform the following operations a) Move window to any position over the screen,

b) Window can be enlarged, shrink, minimize and maximize, and c) Close window or application.

Fig. 14 You can move window only when its size is not maximum. Some applications, such as the latest version of the MS–Office, have disabled the control menu. Some applications have changed commands and appearance of the control menu. However, commands of the control menu mentioned earlier are retained by the most of the application software. Menu bar is situated below the title bar, it displays list of frequently used commands. This menu is like a restaurant‟s menu, you can select your favorite dishes by ticking over it in menu. Commands of similar types are grouped together in menu for the convenience of users. Only the heading of each group is visible on the menu bar to keep the screen neat and congestion free. Commands of specific group are visible, only when you click on heading of that group in the menu bar. All commands relevant to that heading of the menu will open under the menu bar. Menu structure and organization of commands change from one application to another. However, software developers are committed to retain consistency in the menu structure so that users can easily use new software. Commands of similar nature are grouped under universally accepted group title in the menu bar. For example, most of the documentation applications have file and edit menus. File menu in most the applications have commands for opening of new or existing files, printing file, print preview, importing and exporting files, save files and exit the applications. It is usually situated at the left most corner of the menu bar, similarly help menu is situated at the right most corner of the menu bar. The edit menu in most of the application has commands for editing and formatting documents, such as cutting, pasting and copying contents. For example, while typing a document in the Notepad, clicking on the Edit option on the menu bar results in the following menu. When window is not in maximum size, some of the commands of menu may not be visible. Bring the window to maximum size to view all the commands of menu.

Fig. 15 You can activate commands of specific group by clicking at its title name in the menu bar. Commands, which are used frequently, are listed with their shortcuts in the menu bar. For example, most of the applications have assigned Ctrl + S shortcut to save the active document or file. Any action can be reverted (undo) by Ctrl + Z shortcut. You can make search for specific file or folder by F3 function key. Thus shortcut can perform action without reaching that commands through the menu bar. The popular shortcuts of the Windows Vista are as follows:

Shortcuts Purpose When used F1 Seek help for specific objects. Help Anywhere in Windows document is displayed in separate window. Some application display context sensitive help. Software with context sensitive support offers assistance about function, object or procedure under focus. Other application takes user to first page of help document on pressing of F1 key F2 Rename a file Desktop or Windows Explorer, first select a file, folder or application to be renamed before pressing F2. F3 Find a file or folder. F3 function Desktop or Windows key activates search window. explorer, F5 Refresh the view in the window Desktop , Windows explorer, Internet Browsers or My computer Alt+F4 Close application and shut down Anywhere. You must first computer close all application successfully before shutting down computer. Alt + Tab Switch between different Anywhere in Windows applications running at that time Ctrl + Esc Pop up Start Button menu Anywhere in Windows

Shift + F10 View the popup menu for the Anywhere in Windows selected object of the active application Alt + Enter View of property active object Select an object on the desktop before pressing this shortcut Windows Logo + L Lock the computer Anywhere in Windows Ctrl + Alt + Del To shut down computer by Anywhere in Windows, bringing the programme manager Close all application and window save data before closing computer. Ctrl + C Copy Windows applications Ctrl + X Cut -do- Ctrl + V Paste -do- Ctrl + Z Undo -do- Ctrl + B Bold -do- Ctrl + U Underline -do- Ctrl + I Italic -do- F10 Highlighted menu bar shortcuts -do- option of active application Ctrl + F4 Close the current window Windows applications Alt + Spacebar Display control menu of the active Inside window/application application/window Arrow keys Move across objects/ programmes On the desktop/group of belong to a group or are situated on application window the desktop of Windows. Tab Move across programmes/objects On the desktop of the active group Enter Start application highlighted/ under On the desktop focus. The highlighted application can be identified by dark background color Alt + Underline Activate specific commands with Inside application windows character in the menu underline character in the label of name the command from the menu. The underline character of the menu bar of active application can be reflected when you simple press Alt or F10 key. Table 3 Menu bars, commands and shortcuts of software used frequently in offices are discussed in other units of this course. Click on start button, take pointer to programmes, take pointer to the Accessories, Click on Note Pad from the cascade menu. Some of the commands in the menu of the Note pad are listed in the

18 light gray colour. For example, Cut, Copy, Past and Delete commands under the Edit menu as displayed in gray colour. The light gray colour of commands indicates that these commands are presently disabled. Certain commands take actions only when pre-requisites of these commands are met, for example, Copy command of the Edit menu under the Notepad is enabled only when you select some texts of active document to be copied. Some commands are disabled in specific situations. Certain commands perform in mutually exclusive mode i.e. only one command of a mutually exclusive group work at a time, other commands of that group are disabled at that moment. For example, while formatting a storage device, you cannot add or edit new or existing files to that storage device until the formatting of the device is not over. Similarly, you cannot add or delete files from a folder while data is being restored in the folder. Some commands may have check marks of its left side. These check marks indicate that these commands are no longer effect and disabled in the application. Some of the entries in the menu bar are not commands but they acts as heading for a subgroup of commands. Such entries have a triangle () next to it on right side. You can invoke submenus of these entries by taking pointer over it and wait for a moment. A cascading menu will appear on the screen next to menu item highlighted by mouse pointer or keyboard. Some entries in menu bar follow ellipsis on the right side, it indicates that the execution of these commands result in dialogue box demanding certain inputs from users to complete the execution of this command. Now, most of the software have replayed ellipsis symbol by three closely placed dots Print on the right side of command (example … ), clicking over it results in dialogue box. You can shift focus from one command to another with mouse pointer, arrow keys or tab key from the keyboard or invoking specific command with the help of shortcuts. The selected command is highlighted with dark colour background. Commands from specific group in menu can be closed by clicking on the menu head of these commands again, by clicking somewhere else in the document window, by pressing the Esc key or by activating other groups of commands from menu bar. Menu bar is the MS Office is recognized as ribbon. Commands of Home tab are visible by default in the ribbon area under the MS Office.

4.6.2 WINDOW’S BORDER It is the solid lines on the outside edges of the window, covering its circumference. Size and shape of window can be changed by dragging the border of the window, this procedure is explained shortly. There are three icons on the extreme right corner of the title bar to minimize, maximize/restore and close window. Icon to minimize the size of window is situated on the inner side and icon to close window is situated on the outer side and icon to maximize size of window is situated. The window acquires the entire screen, when you click over the maximum button. You cannot resize or move window once it is in full mode. This Button functions in toggle mode. When window is the maximum mode, the maximum button is changed to the restore button. Clicking over the restore button returns the window to previous size. The restore icon again changes to Maximum button. You can resize or move window, when window is not in maximum mode. Take mouse to the border of the window, once it is over the border, the cursor shape changes to double arrow pointer ( ). You can change size of window by drag action over the boundaries of windows, when mouse pointer is changed to double arrows icon. Take pointer to corner of the window it change to cross hair arrow ( ) drag mouse pointer to move window.

The Windows operating system allows running of multiple applications at a time. Clicking over the minimize button on the title bar that the window to an icon in the Taskbar and free desktop for other applications. Minimize button allows you to toggle from one application to another. Minimization of application does not meaning quitting of the application. It simply runs that application in the background. This application can be brought again on the screen by clicking over its icon in the taskbar.

4.7 DIALOGUE WITH COMPUTER

A window may consist of different kinds of dialogue boxes to facilitate interactions between users and computer and communicate specific kind of information. The dialogue window is used to instruct computer and make data entry convenient. A dialogue Window can have following types of dialogue boxes and options feed instructions in computer.

4.7.1 COMMAND BUTTON

Commands are displayed by rectangle box with Name of command inside it. Popular commands are displayed with icon without any text or rectangle frame. For example, most of the software use icon to display print command. Some application allows extra shadow on bottom side of rectangle to give 3-D look to command button. Command buttons looks like buttons of mobile phone or remote controller of TV. Some commands in icons form of the Acrobat Reader are listed below. These icons are used to open, print, save, search and e-mail documents in the Acrobat Reader application.

Open file Print Save Search E-mail

Fig. 16

Commands can be executed by clicking on its icon. You can also execute command by pressing enter key, when focus is on the command. Dark background of command represents focus on command. Sometime colour of the command buttons becomes gray; it indicates these commands are disabled at this position. These commands are context sensitive. Action of the context sensitive command depends upon, what are you doing at that time. Command buttons in a dialogue box are often situated at the bottom of the dialogue window to accept data entered by user, process entered data or take action on the basis of data entered by users. This button may be in the form of OK, Apply, Accept, Save etc. Cancel button discard changes in data made by user or cancel the current process and reset the dialogue box. Actions of certain commands cannot be reverted back later. Clicking over such commands lead in a small warning dialogue window, explaining the impact of running that command and alternative options applicable at that situation and possible impacts of these alternatives. For example, when

20 you close Notepad by clicking on close icon in the right corner of the title bar, you are prompted to the following window.

Fig. 17 There are three alternative commands when you close a document under the Notepad i.e. Save, Don’t Save and Cancel commands to decide the faith of document, you are working, before closing the Notepad. If you select Save command, computer will ask for file name to save the document and have a permanent copy of it in computer before closing the Notepad. If you click on Don’t Save option, the Notepad will close without saving the document typed by you. If you select Cancel command, the closing action of the Notepad will be canceled and you can continue working with current document. When you are not sure of action of any command then take mouse pointer over the command and stay for a moment, a small comment box containing a brief detail of the focused command appears over the screen. The short description may not be available in poorly designed application.

4.7.2 SLIDE BAR When value of data to be entered is continues instead of discreet values such as 1, 2, 3 then you can use slider bar to feed continuous data. For example, you can set volume of speaker with the help of slider bar. The position of slider indicator on the ruler bar indicates the current value of data, you can increase or decrease values of data by dragging slider indicator on the ruler bar. Slide bar is also used to set the zooming of display of document under the MS Office. MS Office is explained in the next unit.

Fig. 18

4.7.3 TEXT BOX

A Textbox is used to feed alpha-numeric information with the help of keyboard. When you move to a blank textbox, the cursor blinks on the left most corner of the textbox. A blinking vertical line ( I ) within text box indicates the position of typing text. If there is no blinking line in the textbox then that textbox is not active, click in the textbox to make it active and enter text. Textboxes, which require you to enter password, hide characters typed by you. Each character typed by you in password box appears as * inside the password box, so that someone pepping over your shoulder could not get your password.

4.7.4 LIST BOX A list box allows you to select items from a predefined list of items. When there are more items that cannot fit in the list box, scroll bar appears to move across the list of items. You can select item by scrolling the list and clicking on specific item in the list. When list is very long, you can type few initial characters of item you want to select, the list immediately move to items starting with characters typed by you. Suppose you have to select India in a form from a list have names of all countries of the world. The list may have about 350 countries. You can immediately reach India by typing ind, when focus is on the list. You can even type the entire name of the item to be selected. Most of the list boxes allow selection of one item, some time list box allow selection of more than one items at a time. Once you select item by clicking over it and move to other items of the dialogue box, list of items will be closed automatically and the list box only shows the item, you have selected.

Enter Favorite colour

Fig. 19 Drop Down List Box A drop down list box appears as a rectangle box with height of single item, reflecting a single entry of the list items. Only initial item of the list is visible by default. There is a triangle appears () next to rectangle box on right side, click over this triangle icon to display all items of the list, you can select one of the listed items by clicking over it. If there are more items than those can be fit in the box, scroll bar appears to move across items. Drop down list box is also known as combo box. Functions and uses of drop down box are similar to those of the list box

Spin Box

Some text box allow values to increase or decrease in systematic order such text box are accompanied with ( ) icon on the right corner of the text box. Click on above triangle increase value and clicking on lower box decrease value by single step. This box is called spin box. You can also type value directly in the spin box.

4.7.5 TABS

When there are numerous commands, text boxes and other objects to enter data inside a dialogue window, cannot be accommodated, at a time in window then commands of similar nature are grouped and placed together as frames inside the dialogue window. All the groups of commands are placed in separate frames, over lapping each other in stacked manner. Commands of only one layer are visible at a time. Each layer of command is represented as a tab in the top corner of window. Title on the tab represents that group. Headings of all groups of commands are displayed by tabs on the top side of window at the same height, like catalogue cards of library. There may be two or more tabs in a dialogue window. However, you can see commands of only one tab at a time. Click over the tab to display its commands. The selected tab appears in front of the other tabs and heading of the active tab is of bright colour. It occupies the entire window. To display commands from another tab, click on the corresponding tab.

Fig. 20 4.7.6 OPTION BUTTONS

Option button is used to select one item from a group of mutually exclusive items. All the mutually exclusive items are listed as options, enclosed in a rectangle box with light colour border to give a unique identity to the entire group. All values within the rectangle frame are mutually exclusive. There is a circle in the left side of each item. Users need to click on this circle to select the specific item from the group. A dark dot appears inside the circle of the selected item. When you click on other items within the frame, the doted circle appears on the newly selected item and it disappears from the earlier selected items.

Enter your choice

Fig. 21

4.7.7 Check Box

Check box is used when data has only two possible values and at a time it can take only one value. There is a blank rectangle on the left side of such item/data. This rectangle box is called the check box. When you click on check box, X or  symbols appears in the check box and corresponding item is selected. When you click over these check box again, the item goes to its earlier position and X or  symbol inside the box get disappears. Some of the options, commands or check boxes label within the dialogue box are of gray colour. This colour indicates that you could not select these items at this moment. When there are numerous objects to add data in a dialogue window, you can use Tab key to move to next object within the dialogue window and Shift + Tab shortcut to move to previous objects of the active window.

Set format for texts

Fig. 22

4.8 COMPUTER ICON

When you are looking for files and folders stored on computer, or want to understand configuration of the system the most appropriate utility for this purpose is Computer icon over the desktop. Double clicking on the Computer icon will result in following window over the screen.

Fig. 23

This window display all the media storage devices attached to your computer. Some time the hard disk in your computer is partitioned into various segments. These segments are named as C, D, E, etc. by default. Partitions of hard disk are never named as A or B. These two letters were reserved for floppy drives, from the time, MS-DOS was launched in earlier 1980s. Now, floppy drive is an obsolete technology, still Windows reserve these alphabets.

Each partition of the hard disk is accompanied with a horizontal bar reflecting space utilized and still available on each drive. The above figure reflects that C drive is almost full, D is about 25% filled and E drive is 10% filled. Right click on any of the storage media results in a pop-up menu having options to Explore, Open, Format, Copy, Rename storage media and see its Property. Explore and Open options in the popup menu display listing of files and folders stored in that storage device. The display of files and folder is alike the display of Windows Explorer. The Format option will erase entire data from the hard disk. Do not run this command. Clicking on Property option from the popup memory, results in the following window.

Fig.24

The pie chart of the window displays used and free space on the drive, for example, above figure shows that 4.41 GB space in D drive is used, still there is 10.5 GB free space of this drive. There is Disk Clean command, next to the pie chart. This command makes available free space from obsolete and temporary files on the selected drive. The disk clean command locates and removes these files on the selected derive. Click over Disk Cleanup command result in the following dialogue window.

Fig. 25 Computer will prompt, whether you want to free up space occupied only by your junk files (My files only) or Junk files from all the users on the computer. If you are using computer in the administrator mode, only then you can remove temporary files from all the users. Administrator account defines and other user account types define the privileges of users. Types of user accounts are explained later in this chapter. When you have more than one storage media attached to your computer, you will be prompted to choose, which drive you want to clean. Computer scan for temporary and junk files in the selected drive and inform about space occupied by temporary files on selected storage media and prompt the following dialogue window. You are prompted to select folders, you want to clear from temporary files by clicking on checkbox against the folders. Selected folders for clearing temporary files are marked with tick mark in the check box. Click on OK command button to remove temporary and junk files from the selected folders.

Fig. 26

4.9 DISK DEFRAGMENTATION

The disk defragmentation is a process of consolidating fragmented files on your computer‟s hard disk. When you save a large size file, it often get fragmented and stored at different locations on the storage media as per availability of empty space slots on the drive. Additional changes and updates in large files are further fragmented. Over time, files are highly fragmented. This fragmentation of files slows down the processing speed of computer as computer has to access fragments of the processing files from different locations over the hard disk.

The disk defragmenter tool rearranges data on the hard disk. Relevant Fragments of each file are place together on the hard disk to improve the access time. It also accumulates collect isolated empty space patches scattered over the disk at one end of the storage disk. You should periodically run the defragmentation tools to improve the efficiency of computer. However, the defragmentation process takes long time, depends upon storage area occupied by files, extent of fragmentation and total storage capacity of the storage disk.

You can set schedule of system utilities or applications, so that computer can automatically starts these applications without any intervention or initiation from users. The defragmentation tool should be scheduled at a time when there is low workload on computer either during lunch time, late night or on holidays. The scheduled applications, it will starts automatically as per the schedule fixed by you.

Fig. 27

Take focus to Programs option of the Start button menu, take focus to Accessories option in the cascade menu, take focus to System Tools and click on Disk Defragmenter to run this tool, you get a window like this on the screen

Before

After

Fig. 28 The above window display visuals of repositioning placing of fragments of free file next to each other and impacts of this movement of fragments on the overall free space on the drive. The defragmentation process takes long time, user may assume that system is hanged and not performing any action in absence of any visual cues. Thus the display of movement of fragments also assure user that the defragmentation process is running smoothly. Impact of running this tool on the fragmentation of the storage media and compiling of isolated empty slots at other end of disk is displayed in the above window. Fig. 28 indicates that C storage device was highly fragmented before running of this tool. Fragments of individual files had been scattered across the entire storage media. Fragments of each file were reflected by separate colour. The defragmentation tool brought fragmented segments of each file together results in lot of blank space at the other end of the storage media. Do not shut down computer until the defragmentation is completed successfully. Abrupt closing of computer before completion of defragmentation may lead to crash of hard disk, it becomes inaccessible.

4.10 Recycle Bin

When you delete a file from your computer, it is listed in the Recycle Bin. The recycle bin gives you an opportunity to recover files, which are deleted accidentally. The recycle bin is reflected by icons, when there are deleted items in the recycle bin. This icon changed to when there is no entry in the recycle bin.

Double click the recycle bin icon over the desktop. You get the list of files deleted by you. You can restore these files one by one or all the deleted files at a time. If you want to restore specific file, select this file by clicking over it than click on Restore this item command button. You can also restore specific deleted file by right clicking on it, you will get pop-up menu, select Restore command to restore the specific file. If you want to restore all file than click over Restore all items command on the menu bar. The deleted files are restored to their original location on your computer.

You can permanently remove files by deleting all file from the recycle bin. All files can be deleted at a time from the recycle bin by clicking on Empty the recycle bin command from the menu bar. Once you click over this command all files listed in the recycle bin get erased. If you want to erase individual file from the recycle bin, select the desired file by right click, you get pop-up menu with one the option Delete. Click on Delete command to remove the selected file permanently by removing it from recycle bin. You can delete file permanently without sending to the recycle bin, click on the file and then press Shift + Delete shortcut.

4.11 COPY FILES OR FOLDERS

You can easily make copy of files or folders in the same or other folders with the help of Windows Explore.

1. Move to folder that contains file or folders to be copied. 2. Right-click the file or folder, you want to copy, and click on Copy option from the pop- up menu. 3. You can select multiple files and folders before right clicking on Copy command from the popup menu. 4. Move to folder, where copy of file or folder is to be kept 5. Right-click within that location and click on Paste option on the pop-up menu to get copy of files. When you make a copy in the same folder then new file is added with „copy‟ string at the end of name of file.

The copy option create duplicate of files, the original file remain intact at its existing location and another copy at the place specified by you. You can modify the duplicate file; its original file remains intact and can be made available in case of accidental change of duplicated file.

4.12 MOVE FILES OR FOLDERS

The move action shift files to new location. The moved files get deleted at the original location and shifted to new position.

1. Move to folder that contains file or folder to be moved. 2. Right-click file or folder, which you wish to move and click on Cut option from the pop- up menu. 3. You can select multiple files before clicking on Cut command. 4. Open the folder where files are to be shifted. 5. Right-click within the location and click on Paste option.

You can copy and move files or folders by drag and drop action of the mouse. You can select one and more files to be moved or copied and then drag these files to new location. Press and hold the right mouse button while dragging the selected files/folder, drag the pointer to destination location and releasing the button. It results in a pop-up menu, select one of the options Copy Here or Move Here from the pop up menu to copy and move files respectively. If

29 you press and hold the left mouse button while dragging, the release of button will result of moving of selected file to new location, where you release button of mouse.

4.13 DELETE FILES AND FOLDERS

Select the files, which you want to delete by right click, you will get a pop-up menu. Select Delete command from the pop-up menu. You can also delete file by selecting file by clicking over it and then press Delete key from the keyboard. You will you get a dialogue window, which want you to confirm the deletion of file. Click on yes command button to complete the deletion of file.

Fig. 29

4.14 RENAME FILES AND FOLDERS

 Right click at the file to be renamed, click on Rename command from the popup menu.  Type the new name and press Enter. If you are prompted to enter password for the Administrator. Enter the password to complete the renaming of files.

4.15 CREATE FILES AND FOLDERS

Every documentation/data entry applications have provision to make permanent copy of documents or data prepared with the software. Most of the application software have commands for saving data and documents under the File menu bar. File menu is replaced with Office Button menu in the MS Office. Format and extension of file names are decided by the applications used for creation of new files.

A folder or directory is like filing cabinet. You must have observed that similar types of files in your office or school are placed in the same cabinet for easy access of files. Similarly, we can create folder and directory in stored media to keep inventory of similar type of files at one location. Folders are used to collect and store important documents, data, software application and supportive data. The directory structure makes easy access to files and folders.

Open the Windows Explorer and take cursor to the position where you want to create new folder and do right click, take pointer to New option from the pop-up menu and then click on Folder option to create a folder, you are prompt to type name of newly created folder. Click at any location after typing name to take focus away from created folder.

4.16 CONNECTING PRINTER TO COMPUTER

When you connect a USB based printer, keyboard, mouse or any other peripheral, it is automatically detect by computer and appropriate drivers are installed to run these peripherals. Once drivers are installed, a comment box displays the readiness of printer or USB based peripheral, appears on the screen. Files needed for installation of printer is not available in computer than printer could not be installed automatically, you have to install it manually. Following procedure may be used to install a new printer manually

a) Click on Start button b) Take mouse pointer to Setting option of Start button menu and wait for new menu to appear c) Click on Printers option and get the following window

Fig. 30

Select Add a printer command from the menu bar. A dialogue box appears and prompts you to decide whether printer is local one or networked based. A printer directly attached to your computer is known as local printer. A printer available on computer network is identified as networked printer. The further details about installation of printer are very specific, which change from one printer to another. You have to consult manual of printer to know more about installation of specific printer. Further steps for installation of printer are beyond the scope of this course as these steps change from one printer to another.

4.17 CUSTOMIZE FUNCTIONS AND POINTER OF MOUSE

You can customized various actions and attributes of mouse such as speed of clicking, exchange roles of left and right buttons, and set icon of the pointer etc. Click on the Start button , focus on Setting, click on the Control Panel, click on Hardware and Sound, and at the last click on Mouse, you will get the following window.

Fig. 31

Click on the Buttons tab, and then do any of the following:

 You can swap functions of the right and left buttons of mouse; select the check box of the Switch primary and secondary buttons label. In default, the left button acts as the primary button and right button the secondary button. Once this box is checked, left button behaves like the right button and right button behaves like left button.

 You can set the speed of double click by moving slider on the speed slide bar. Particularly new users usually make double click at slow rate. Moving slider to left side result in slow down of speed of double click, moving to right side, increase the speed of double click. Once you set the speed of double click, you can check your speed of making double click with the help of close folder icon next to slider bar. If you are able to make double click faster than as set by you on the slider bar on the closed folder, it gets opened otherwise move slider to left side to slow down the speed of double click and again check your competency by double clicking on the closed folder icon. Repeatedly do this step until you are able to open folder in the box by double clicking.

 Turn on Clicklock feature by its check box, which enables you to highlight or drag without holding down the mouse button

Icons of mouse pointer change shape to display different states of system. These shapes are set by Windows operating system. Mouse pointer takes a particular shape depending on operation performed by computer at that time, location of pointer over the screen or objects highlighted by pointer. However, you can change default icons for mouse pointer. Click on Pointer tab in the above figure to change icons of the pointer. Left side of the list display action and status of computer and right side of the window shows the corresponding mouse pointer icon. It is advised to avoid changing of mouse pointer icons, as users are well familiar with standard icons and their meaning, set by the operating system.

Fig. 32 Adopt the Regional convention to display date, time and currency symbols. You can set your computer to display time, date and other regional conventions. Click on the Start button , take mouse to Setting option and click on the Control Panel, A new window appear on the screen, click on Clock, Language and Region option from the control panel window, you will get the following window.

Fig. 33 Click on Date and Time option to set date and time. You can make these changes only when you are running computer in administrative mode. Thus, next window appears only when you have the administrative right over the computer, otherwise you will be asked to enter the password to join computer as administrator.

Fig 34

Click on Change date and time command to set time and date of the computer system. Computer has an inbuilt timer that runs even when computer is off. This timer maintain date and time of the system. You need not to enter data and time each time you switch on computer. Click on OK button once you set the right time and date. Click on Change Time Zone command button to change the time zone on your computer, you will get a drop down box to set the time zone. There are standard and universal accepted time zones across the world. These time zones are classified in respect of the Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). For example, Indian Standard Time (IST) is five hours and thirty minutes ahead of the GMT. When your computer‟s time is automatically set from internet, then time zone of your computer assist web server to decide time and date of your system. You can change formats of the display of time, date, currency etc. with the help of Regional and Language option. For example, the display of date under the Indian system puts date first in two digits followed by two digits for month and last two or four digits for year, this kind of notion is indicated as dd/mm/yyyy. The display of date in the United State of America keep month first, followed by date and at the end year with two or four digits (mm/dd/yyyy). Date may also be set to display it in long format such as Monday, June 28, 2010. Similarly, every country has its own currency symbol and number display styles. Windows operating system can acquire these regional formats to keep record of financial accounts as per local conventions. Click on Regional and Language option under in the control panel, you would get the following windows

Fig. 35 The Windows operating system maintains a set of predefined regional settings for a number of countries, which are listed with in a combo box, select one of the predefined regional setting from the combo box. The Windows Vista supports Hindi language, as you click on Hindi (India) option, its impact on display of numbers, currency, date and time is highlighted in dialogue window shown below.

Fig. 36 Once you are satisfied with the display of date, time, currency and number click on Apply to set the regional setting. If predefined regional format failed to meet your display requirement then click on Customize this format to define your own format. Once you define the formats click on Apply command in the window.

Fig. 37 4.18 USERS ACCOUNT

Windows operating system allows a number of users to work on the same computer and each user can set computer as per his/her preferences and needs. You can customize setting of machine for each user. User account system allows you to share computer with other users and still keep personal files/data and computer setting of each, user private. Each user is issued a user‟s name and password. When you open your computer a dialogue window appears asking for users name and password. Once you enter your name and password, your personal setting will be automatically loaded in the computer.

You are assigned a specific users accounts type by system administrator. Users‟ accounts types decides the access power of users what files, folder, applications and system utilities can be accessed by individual user . The Windows operating system allows three types of user accounts i.e. Standard, Administrator and Guest user accounts. These account types differ on their access privileges. Administrator account is the most powerful account. As an administrator, you can install and uninstall applications and adjust security features of the system. You have access to all applications installed in computer. Users with administrator power have control over the

35 entire computer. This privilege is given to very few users, only when it is necessary. The Standard Account type can be used for everyday computing. Users with Standard Account cannot install or uninstall applications, changes system configuration and delete files of other users. You should use computer as standard account user even when you are allowed the administrative power. The guest account type is primarily for people who need temporary access to the computer. Every user under the guest accounts has access to specific applications, folders and files on the hard disk. He/she cannot access private areas of other users also can not make change in the configuration of the system. While running a computer, you can easily switch to other user account by right clicking on, Start button. Click on Shut down and get the following window.

Fig. 38

Click on Log Off option from the combo box and then click on OK command button. The log off option allows you to log off the current user account session on the computer and make it ready to be used by other users. The log-off option successfully closes all running applications of the current users, before switching the machine for new user. You can also switch user account by selecting Switch Users option from the drop down box and press OK command button, you are prompted to enter users name and password. Click on Shut Down option from the combo box to switch off the computer.

The Lock option allows you to avoid illegal access to your computer, when you are away for a short time, from your computer. You can lock computer with Log Off option of the Start button or by using shortcut Ctl + Alt + Delete. This shortcut results in following dialogue box. Click on Lock this computer command from the available options. Once computer is locked, you have to enter user name and password to unlock it.

Fig. 39

Restart option from the shutdown window box, allows the restarting of computer, all applications should be successfully closed before the restarting of computer. Sometime corrupt or badly programmed applications block the primary memory and other resources of the system. Corrupt files or virus infected other files/programmes by encroaching their private areas and by stealing their resources. These illegal activities reduce the computing efficiency, even sometime it leads to the hanging of computer. Computer behaves like a dead machine, when hanged. The Restart option removes unwanted programmes and contents from the memory and brings the system out of the hanging state. However, there is a fear of loss of important data once system enters in the hanging state. It is advisable to take back up of important files periodically to minimize damage due to break down of computer.

You can change account type of users or add new user accounts only when you have administrative power. Creation and changing of account type is beyond the scope of this course. When you with to run some applications or access files or folders, but denied access as you do not have access privilege, then you should approach administrator of the system to get access to those resources.

4.19 The Control panel

The Control panel represents a number of system utilities to configure computer and install new hardware and peripheral devices. You can also add new user account and customized computer for individual user. Utilities under the control panel are classified in various groups. The popular groups of the utilities under the Control Panel are Appearance and Personalized, User Accounts and Family safety, Security, System and Maintenance, Network and Internet, Clock, Language and Region, Add and Remove Programmes, Ease of Access, Printers and other Hardware. The Ease of Access group offers utilities to improve accessibility of computer among differently-abled users. To start Control panel click the Start button, take pointer to Setting option wait for cascade menu and then click on Control Panel option to get system utilities in a separate Control panel window. Click over any title, of group of related utilizes, to display commands and functions available under that group. The Control Panel window looks like this

Fig. 40 If you are more comfortable with display of control panel of the earlier version of the Windows operating system and not feeling easy with display of the Control Panel window offered by the Windows Vista operating system then you can get old appearance of the Control Panel window by clicking over Classic View option available on the left side pane of the control panel windows. Now the display of the Control Panel window looks like as it was in the earlier version of the Widows operating system.

4.20 BACKUP AND RESTORE FEATURE Every version of Windows operating system has utilities for backing up and restoring data. Data and useful information can be backed up by using following procedure:

1. Click on the Start button, take pointer to Setting and click on Control Panel

Fig. 41

2. Select Backup and Restore Center Point, you will get the following windows

Fig. 42

You have to decide whether you want to take backup of the entire system or only specific files or folders from the system. Select one of the options i.e., Back up files or Back up computer by clicking over it. A dialogue box appears on the screen to confirm your action, click Continue command button and get the following window. This window offers a wizard to do backup of the system.

Fig. 43

Steps in the wizard are very simple and self-explanatory. You should carefully read instruction on the screen and perform the steps guided by wizard. Decide the destination to keep the backup of the files, and then press Next button; you will get the following window.

Fig. 44 Click on Start backup command button to initiate the backup process. You will get a message on successful completion of the backup of action.

RESTORE The restore option will take your system back to position, when you have taken the backup of the system. The restore system automatically replace existing file from corresponding files store in the backup. Take the following steps to restore files from the resources generated by backup process. Click on the Start button, take pointer to Setting and click on Control Panel. Select Backup and Restore Center Point option, you will get the following windows

Fig. 45 There are two options to restore file i.e. Restore Files, and Restore Computer. The Restore File options have one more option under it i.e. Advanced Restore. Advanced restore option is used when files are restored from the backup made on another computer. If back up files is on the same computer then simple use Restore file or Restore computer option. The restore file option restores specific files as instructed by you. Click on one of the option leads to this window.

Fig. 46 Now make a decision whether files are restored from the latest backup or from older backup. If you select Files from an older backup option then the next window display list of all available back up. Select one of the backup and click Next button. The restore operation is initiated now. After successful completion of the restoration of specific file or storage media as decided by you, restart the computer to bring into effect the new changes.

4.21 LET US SUM UP The Windows is the most popular operating system for PCs. Its user interface is based on the GUI. The Windows Vista is the latest version of it. This unit explained features and capability of the Windows Vista operating system. It also explains procedures to perform basic operations under this operating system. The first screen, when you turn computer under Window Vista is known as desktop. The desktop consists of taskbar, icons and slide bars. Every application is run

40 in a separate window. The structure of the window consists of control menu, button to control size of window i.e. minimize, maximize, close buttons, boarders, scroll bars and menu bar. Users can interact with computer through commands buttons, slide bars, list boxes, drop down list boxes, spin boxes, text boxes, tabs, options buttons and check boxes. You have learnt steps and procedure to do various system functions and manage files and folder under the Windows Vista operating system. Practice these procedure/steps to gain mastery in using the Windows Vista operating system.